A couple of weeks ago, I shared what the Lord is teaching me in regards to spiritual warfare.
If you don't believe in the existence of spiritual warfare, you are in denial. It doesn't matter whether or not you want to be in a spiritual battle--you are in one. This battle is between good and evil and you are the prize. God wants to have a personal, intimate, transparent relationship with you and me, to bless us and to live with us forever. Satan wants to keep us from all that God wants for us. Satan is the enemy of all of us, whether we are Christ followers or not. Ephesians 6:12 says, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.."
As a Christian, I know my spirit already belongs to God and the devil cannot keep me from my eternal home in heaven. But, he can have a field day in other areas of my life. He can drag me down into the depths of depression and a kind of bondage that will take away my joy for living. If the devil can get me in some sort of bondage, whether it be depression, oppression or addiction, then I won't have peace. He will do anything he can to destroy anything essential to having a God-filled life.
When I was growing up and living at home, my daddy would talk about the importance of getting an education. He would say, "People can take away your car, your house, your clothes. But they can't take away what you've learned and the education you have." So true.
Satan will do what he can to work against you and me, to keep us from having a positive witness for Christ. He'll do what he can to steal resources we might use to further the gospel in this world, destroy your reputation so that others question your faith walk, and kill relationships with people so that you and I believe we cannot have influence on others for Christ.
Jesus said it best in John 8:44, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Jesus went on to say in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."
Satan is real. He never gives up his pursuit of destroying us and his demonic forces have a plan of attack. What is yours?
2 comments:
I can for sure relate to all that. My ticket may be punched, but satan sure doesn't want us to be effective. Hate doing battle with him, but when he does. Consider it all joy because satan views you as a threat.
Barbie, thank you for a very timely post. I have been going through a difficult time dealing with aging parents while still having my own young children at home to care for. I needed this encouragement today!
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