spiritual warfare

When we believe that people or circumstances are our enemy we eventually fight against them, becoming bitter at our losses in this life. But they aren’t our enemy. Ever since Jesus brought the Kingdom of God down to earth, our enemy has been exposed as the spirits, principalities, and lords of the darkness that rebelled against God. Paul writes that we war not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12) . . . our fight is no longer with people who treat us bad, but with the spirit that influences the bad treatment, satan.

Jesus brought His kingdom down to earth so that He could be the ruler of that kingdom. Every kingdom has a king, yet Jesus delegated the rulership to us, until His return. Though Jesus taught us how to live, and how to rule, He leaves this earth in our hands and left His Spirit inside of us to guide us. He is never far, if we seek Him with a listening ear to hear His counsel.

Paul prayed the eyes of our understanding would be opened so that we could understand the riches of our inheritance (Eph 1;18). As in the Old Testament when the Jewish nation would inherite the Promised Land, so we too have a kingdom to inherit. And as the Jewish tribes had to take their land by force, Jesus said that we too must take the kingdom by force (Mt 11:12). Since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, it is plain to see that the fighting we will be doing is against satan and his evil followers.

This is not a subject taught from many pulpits, for it is nicer to speak about the Love and Power of God towards us, and to hope that all evil will flee from us. Yet that is not how the kingdom was won by our fathers of faith, nor how it will be won by us. I remember in the past being so frustrated with the repeated evil that tumbled unannounced into my life that one day I asked God where He was. I quoted His promises from the Bible and asked Him why He didn’t keep them. He had said He would be a lamp unto our feet, and that when we walked we would hear a voice behind us saying “This is the way, walk in it.” (Is 30:21). My tears of frustration were probably not the first ones the Lord had seen. He answered me in a very kind and gentle way. He reminded me of dreams He had given me . . . dreams I hadn’t believed were from Him. These dreams had guidance in them, and information on how to avoid or expose satan’s snares. From that day on I paid attention to His messages in my dreams. And I learned about spiritual warfare.

The battles of spiritual warfare are fought with truth, during times of prayer. It takes faith to stand on the truth, and for the truth. It takes abiding in the righteousness of Christ (for we have none of our own) to not back down under satan’s flaming arrows of accusations, insults and lies. It takes preparation to be skilled in rightly handling God’s word so that we don’t use it deceitfully. And yes, it takes obedience to the Holy Spirit to catch wrong thoughts so that we can abide in the Spirit. Yet the battle is worth it, and every victory blesses our hearts to understand and spiritually “see” more of our inheritance while we live.

If we expect our inheritance to come to us without taking a stand, and without a fight, we will be like the Jewish tribes that did not take their allotted land in Israel. God stopped fighting for them, and their enemies became snares and traps for them. Though they had authority given to them to rule, because they did not use their authority, they became a people who were ruled over. And such are we, if we do not use the authority God gave us in our prayers and proclamations, overcoming satan’s kingdom.

This battle is spiritual because our enemy is spiritual. It is futile to argue and fight with men, for our wrestling with them will not change them. The anger of man works not the righteousness of God (Jms 1:20). We must lay our angers and frustrations at Jesus’ feet and submit to His way of warring. He will teach us about every weapon that is valuable for our victory, and we will gain the benefit of gaining an inheritance that is imperishable. Amen