I know. The topic seems a bit "dark" today. It's not something we typically like to bring up on a day to day basis and it may even be something that we like to pretend isn't really relevant in our present-day lives. Nevertheless, spiritual warfare is something that is alive and I believe as real today as it ever has been. When you think of spiritual warfare, I'm sure images of angels and demons fighting in a final bloody battle for control over this earth and its occupants may cross your mind. I know my mind could easily play play with that idea. But what is spiritual warfare really? Is it still relevant in this day and age? What does it have to do with us? Growing up, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. (OCD) This is an entirely different topic for an entirely different day, but what OCD has truly taught me is how prevalent spiritual warfare truly is. OCD, also referred to as "The Doubting Disease" is essentially your mind playing tricks on you, causing you to perceive something as truth that is actually a lie. Sounds frightening, and it is. The other thing about OCD is that these "tricks", we'll call them "bad thoughts" won't go away. They are intrusive, repetitive, and tormenting. Imagine a record, playing a song that is building up to some resolution but, instead, begins to skip, and continues to play the same unsettling portion over and over and over again. That's OCD in a nutshell, folks. But to me, it has helped shape my perception of spiritual warfare and has taught me to fight. On my good days, I can now see my OCD as a blessing.
Spiritual warfare is the battle between good and evil. It's the battle between light and darkness. It's the battle between God and Satan. It's the battle between sanctification and condemnation. While spiritual warfare may come in some very dark and evil ways like the stories of possession we read about in the bible, I believe that most often, it's happening around us in almost undetectable ways. Spiritual warfare can be as simple as feeling tempted to do something bad or feeling pressure from our society to be or act a certain way that doesn't feel quite right. But often times, for me at least, it happens in my mind. I begin hearing these lies, floating on the brink of my subconscious, just waiting for me to accept them as truth and reel them into my reality. Spiritual warfare still affects us and we need to be aware, discerning, and vigilant, always ready to fight. I'm going to list off attributes, characteristics and schemes that pertain to Satan to help us recognize what we are dealing with. He works the same way he always does, his tactics don't change. Tactic #1: He Challenges God's Word: Genesis 3:1: "Now the snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ This is the first time we see Satan or hear anything about or from him and he introduces himself by challenging God's word. "Did He really say that?" Is that really what God's word meant? Don't you want to take a moment to make sure you remember that correctly? We must be watchful in this. We know that if God says it, He meant it. Psalm 33:4 says, "For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all he does." Often times I'll be doing something out of obedience to God and I'll hear a faint whisper in the back of my head saying, "Is that really what God wants you to do? Is that really what He has shown you?" and it tries to challenge what I have heard the Lord say to me or close the door that the Lord has opened for me. If we have a close and prayerful relationship with God, we must be able to discern whether or not we are in His will for us or not. We can do that often times by making sure what we are doing is in line and obedient with what God's word says. Tactic #2: He Twists the Word of God: This is very similar to the first one in the sense that it's conniving and dishonest but one thing is different: Sometimes Satan acknowledges the word of God, but just twists it to his own liking, or even worse, uses it out of context. This can make it even more confusing and difficult to be discerning. Genesis 3:4 continues on saying, "‘You will not certainly die,’ the snake said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’", There is some partial truth in what the snake is saying, but he is using it out of context and is twisting it to suit his purpose. God said that they would surely die if they ate this fruit, this of course meant spiritually and, eventually, physically. Satan decided to use the word "die" in it's immediate physical sense in that they wouldn't die right when they ate it. He also decided to go another step and explain to them why God didn't want them to eat the fruit but not giving any explanation as to why He set those boundaries. He just sets God up to look like He is being selfish and is wanting to withhold the "good stuff" from Adam and Eve. Another place we see Satan use God's own word out of context for his own purposes is in the New Testament when Jesus is out in the desert for 40 days being tempted by Satan. Satan tries to use scripture to stump the Son of God. Hah! Matthew 4:1-11 shows Satan trying to trip Jesus by using scripture. Luckily, Jesus knew the scriptures and was able to use His discerning spirit to fight back with verses in their actual context. How important it is to know our Bibles and to know what it says. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light". He disguises himself! There will be times when we will hear a verse out of context and we will be challenged to believe it as truth at base value not looking at the surrounding verses and seeing who it was said to, what it was regarding and who it was said by. But we must be cautious, challenging what we hear. If we don't understand a verse we read or a concept in the Bible, we must go to the Lord in prayer, asking for His perspective and understanding on this topic and trusting Him to reveal His truth in His time. "God is not a God of confusion but of peace.." 1 Corinthians 14:33. I have seen so much twisting of the truth in our world today. All of the religions that recognize parts of the Bible as truth but leave out the actual gospel, and churches that proclaim themselves as "Christian" that allow Satan to warp the Word in their body. Satan uses his deception and cunningness to make so many people in our world just miss the truth of the gospel. He's fine if there is just parts of the Word in there, as long as it's not in it's entirety. Tactic #3: He Accuses: If you ever hear a voice in your head saying you are a failure, you could never rise above sin, you are broken, you are bad, you are failing at your relationship with God, or you aren't growing at all, ask yourself this question: Would God say that to you? God is a God who disciplines and He guides His children to the Truth and He tries to correct them when they are going astray, but He would never sit there and accuse us and tell us we could never succeed! What we do know, however, is that Satan is an accuser. Revelation 12:10 tells us Satan is "...the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night.." I don't know what Satan thinks he will accomplish by accusing us in front of God day and night, but I'm assuming in hopes that God will hand us over! How do we know we don't have to believe his accusations? Because we know that he is a liar! John 8:44 says, "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." So when I hear that voice telling me I did something wrong, that I am falling away from the Lord or that I'm not strong enough to fight the fight, I just try and take it to the Lord, recognizing that I am sanctified and if there is anything God would like me to improve on or if there was any sin that I need forgiveness for that He would tell me in His way, which is gentle and sweet. For I Know that "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." (Psalm 103:8). He wouldn't try to discourage us! So, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Tactic #4: He is on the Hunt: You needn't ever be surprised if he shows up because "... the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8). Not only that but he ..".comes only to steal and kill and destroy.." (John 10:10), so we must know what to expect. What is Satan's criteria for someone to "devour"? I'm sure it would be anyone he could get his hands on. Unfortunately, don't be surprised if it is someone who is more naive. In the Parable of the Sower, in Matthew 13, we read that "...when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart..." We must be sure to plant our seed among good soil, tending to it and taking care of it, making sure that we take the time to understand it and hide it away in our hearts. Tactic # 5: He Harasses and Torments: Sometimes Satan's schemes aren't so subtle. He can be very obvious at times. But it doesn't mean the fight isn't as hard, sometimes it's when he decides to come on stronger. When I know I'm being spiritually attacked, it doesn't always help, he still torments me and harasses me just as hard. Paul had a similar situation that he mentions in 2 Corinthians 12:7, "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me." So we can't be surprised if we are tormented by him for a period of time. What we must do, however, is recognize it for what it is and not be discouraged. These are just some of the tactics that I see Satan use all of the time, but there are much more. Satan wants to breed disbelief, make us doubt God's word, twist the word of God, masquerade as light, accuse us, hunt for us, and take us down by terrorizing us. We must be aware of his schemes. There is so much hope though! We have our own tactics to use against Satan! We are able to use God's Word, prayer, and the Holy Spirit to help us fight back in spiritual warfare. God has not left us for dead, in fact, we have already won! Isn't that funny how we sometimes forget that? the fact that Satan has already been defeated, death has been overcome and nothing can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:31-39)! We have the Holy Spirit which gives us power to overcome! Luke 10:19 says, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." We may be hurt, but we won't be harmed. And in 2 Timothy 1:7 we see that we have a spirit of "...power and love and self discipline." We have God on our side! We just saw that nothing can separate us from His love, and earlier we were reminded that "If God is for us, nothing can be against us!" (Romans 8:31). If we can't be separated from His love and He is for us, what are we afraid of? David recognizes the same thing in Psalm 27:1, "The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?" We have the assurance that Christ's grace is sufficient for us! When Paul was given his thorn to keep him humble, he begged the Lord to take it away from him, three times in fact. But Jesus had a bigger picture in mind. Each time Jesus replied to Paul saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul rejoiced in that. We can't do anything, but by the grace of Jesus we can. James 1:2-3 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." I want to do a whole other entry on trials, but we are called to be joyful and encouraged when we face trials of testing and tempting, because we are getting our faith strengthened! The stronger and more obedient we are, the better we will be at resisting the devil and when we do, we are told he will flee from us (James 4:7). Being tempted, attacked and harassed by Satan is draining, unsettling, and sometimes scary, but the sooner we can recognize that it's him, the sooner we can prepare for battle. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," Ephesians 6:10-18
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About Me:Hello! I'm Roxy. Enjoy reading my thoughts as I strive to understand God's character and truth and admonish it faithfully to His church. Please email at [email protected] with inquiries. Archives
September 2018
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