The Weapons of Our Warfare

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Imagine if you will... a scene from the spiritual realm, in the demonic 'Situation Room,' where Satan, his captains, and strategists are scheming and planning how best to neutralize followers of Christ.

It's not hard to imagine that he might say something like:

"If we can get these Christians to take their focus off of God and His Word, and off of their real purpose of spreading the message of the Gospel throughout the world, and instead get them to focus on political issues, and on protecting their rights—such as owning guns—we could diffuse this whole nasty Christian business of 'saving people!' We could render them powerless and ineffective, in short order!"

Sound far-fetched?

I personally believe that this is a demonic strategy that Satan is proving to be very effective at in America today.

Please don't misunderstand my intent here. I am not at all against the Constitution, and I support our 2nd Amendment right to own and bear arms. I learned to hunt and shoot at a very young age. And while I have made the personal choice to no longer own any guns, I owned firearms for much of my adult life.

But I do believe a good portion of the Church has been distracted and side-tracked by the Enemy of our souls, by allowing him to get us to the point where many are practically ready to go to war over the issue of gun control and gun owners rights. For many who profess to be Christians, this issue seems to have taken center-stage, while the high calling of spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ appears to have been pushed to the back burner.

When contemplating this hot-button issue of gun control, consider the following words from the Apostle Paul, who suffered under a far more perverse, oppressive, and corrupt government than we do today:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

We do not war against people—against flesh and blood. 

Our true enemy is not a perverse Liberal administration.

Our battle—our war—is against unseen spiritual entities. Against the spiritual rulers of the darkness of this age. Against spiritual hosts (organized ranks of armies) of wickedness in the spiritual (heavenly) realm. Therefore, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10, the weapons of this spiritual battle we are locked in, are not, cannot be, carnal, or physical.

How do you fight against an unseen spiritual enemy?

Not with an AR-15 assault rifle.

Here is the whole Armor of God, as Paul details in his letter to the Ephesian Christians:

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:14-18)

What most people don't see, or refuse to see, is the real "war" is a spiritual war. And Satan is the "Oz" behind the curtain; the Demonic 'Commander and Chief.' The reason Jesus and His early disciples did not fight against the tyrannical government of their day was because they clearly understood the battle was spiritual, not political. 

Ultimately; a nation, a people, can only be changed from the inside out—by the Spirit of God. 

Concerning His own personal 'rights,' when Jesus' enemies came to kill Him, He said, 

"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews." (John 18:36)

As Christians we are never to be spiritually passive. But our only truly effective 'weapons' are prayer, the Gospel, faith and love. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit.

And no government can ever take away these weapons.

—God is Love and Love Never fails.

Love Never Fails

We have all suffered loss. 

Our beloved family pet dies. A friend or family member passes on. A relationship dies. A beloved spouse steps into eternity.

Even though He was crucified and died, was buried and rose again, and ascended back to the heavens where He came from, our Bridegroom, Jesus, left us with this comforting promise: 

"Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20)

He is with us in Spirit, in our hearts. He never leaves us. His love is with us, in our hearts, to be poured out. 

God is love.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails."  (1 Corinthians 13:1-8)

You are not alone.

Jesus said,

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18)

Jesus came to us through His indwelling Holy Spirit. He did not leave us alone as orphans. He kept His promise. He came to us, and He lives in us.

Just reach out to Him today, cry out His name.

You are not alone.

—God is love and Love Never Fails.

Walk in the Spirit

“But the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

(1 Kings 19:12-13)

"Well, I thought I was hearing from God."

Have you ever done something you told others you, "felt God led you to do," but you later came to realize that it was a big mistake? It wasn't God at all, but simply you leaning to your own understanding, shooting from the hip.

Doing what you wanted to do.

Maybe you then acknowledged that God in fact did not tell you to do it, and you fessed up, came clean.

Or perhaps you're still hiding it....too proud to confess your mistake.

Why do we so often blaze out ahead of God? Trying to make things happen, which He never told us to do?

There are basically two approaches in how most people try to live the "Christian life."

1.  (Not so common):  Pray and ask God for daily wisdom, strength and direction. Spend some time being quiet, listening for His still small voice. And then only moving forward, as the Spirit leads—with the strength which God supplies.

Or -

2.  (All too common, especially with men):  Blaze ahead trying to 'git er done' in your own strength and wisdom—striving to make things happen on the hamster wheel of man's performance.

The first typically results in peace and fruitfulness. While the second can only result in stress, weariness and frustration.

Speaking as a man, I can say that most guys want to grab a hammer, get some nails, a big pile of lumber, and go out and build something. Most men don't wait well. We tend to get easily impatient. "Sit around praying and waiting on God?" That's not in our nature. We're doers.

The truth is, most guys don't stop and ask God, "What do you want me to do today Lord?" They just want to saddle up and ride. Ask God for wisdom each morning? Most guys don't have time for that.

Way too much to get done.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the workmen labor in vain who build it." (Psalm 127:1)

I once heard a wise man say, "I believe most Christians are trying to 'do' far more than God ever intended for them to do."

He's right on, in my opinion. More often than not, people are striving to make things happen, that God never called, or empowered them to do.

Jesus said:

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

If your yoke is continuously wrought with strife, always burning you out, and your burden is crushing you, trust me, it isn't from the Lord. You took it upon yourself, thinking that if you can only do more, make things happen, that you'll somehow earn more favor from God.

That's not bearing fruit, that's futility.

Jesus said, "Without Me you can do nothing." So why do men plow ahead trying to make things happen without asking Him for His wisdom, direction and strength?

God wants to break the prideful bone of our self-sufficiency. 

The other common mistake people make is to assume that what worked yesterday will automatically work again today.

Do a careful study of the book of Joshua and you will learn that whenever Israel failed to ask God for new wisdom and direction each day, they suffered greatly when they assumed that yesterday's strategies would win today's battles.

You don't know what each new day holds.

So start your morning early by spending some quiet time talking to God, asking Him for fresh wisdom and revelation for each new day. For fresh strength and anointing to be His witness wherever He sends you.

And for fresh strength for where He already has you. Maybe you're in a tough job. A tough ministry. Or in a tough marriage. Trust me, you can't make these things work without the love, patience, anointing and strength that only God can supply.

I try to confess to God as often as I can, "Lord, without You, I can do nothing." 

God said, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

That could not be any clearer.  

God perfects and completes His strength only in those who acknowledge they are weak and powerless without Him.

Walking in the Spirit, is being fully dependent on God, asking Him moment-by-moment, for His wisdom, strength and direction; knowing that without Him—you can do nothing.

He is glorified in weak vessels of clay.

     -Even cracked-pots like us. :)

—God is Love and Love Never Fails. 

Why Do They Hate Us?

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)

As a follower of Christ, have you ever experienced hatred from people you know? From co-workers? From friends? How about from your own family?

That hatred cuts especially deep when it comes from the people you love.

It's an extremely difficult thing to deal with. How can they hate me? Don't they know how much I love them?

They hate you, because they hated Jesus first.

Why?

Jesus said:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:18-20)

When the Light of the World came into the world to save people from their sins, they hated the light because they love the darkness. They hate Jesus—the Light of the world—because they practice evil and don't want their evil deeds exposed.

When Jesus called us as His people, He said, "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)

The light shines in the darkness of this wretched world. Light exposes sin and man's need for God's salvation. But men love darkness rather than light.

However, much of today's modern 'Christianity' promotes a watered-down, sugar-coated religion that says, "If I just love people and be nice, not making waves, certainly not offending anyone, they will want what I have."

That kind of 'easy-believism' is both unbiblical and ineffective.

No one in the Bible ever came up to Jesus or any of His disciples and said, "Gee, I want what you have!"

Quite the contrary. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 19 saying His people will say, "We will not have this man rule over us!"

If Jesus and His disciples had practiced the kind of sugar-coated Christianity that many people do today, they would not have been persecuted, crucified and killed.

Faithful followers of Christ down through the ages have been sawn in two, fed to lions, and burned alive as human candles, having been dipped in pitch and set ablaze. Do you think that nice, tolerant Christian people who 'just loved others', and not offending anyone, would be persecuted and murdered in such horrible ways?

Absolutely not.

The message from God in Acts 17 proclaims:

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Repentance and judgment.

That's a very unpopular message today. But is was at the heart of the message 2,000 years ago, and it still is today. Jesus Christ the Savior—God almighty who is Love—will judge the world in righteousness sometime in the near future. And He commands all men everywhere to repent—to turn from their sin, and turn to Him.

And all men means all. Straight or gay. Buddhist or Muslim. Black or white. Male or female. Young or old.

Jesus the Savior did not come to a world that did not need saving.

The Bible says of mankind, "There is none righteous; no, not one." (Romans 3:10)

Modern Christianity tries to look like the world, play the same music as the world, and attract people to 'want what we 'have' using worldly methods.

That doesn't point people to Jesus. It just promotes an unbiblical, worldly, religious sub-culture. And that is not going to save anyone. Oh, they may want to join your cool Christian club, for awhile. But there is no repentance, new life, or salvation in that kind of dead religion.

Most people love to hear John 3:16. God so loved us. He gave for us. Everlasting life is ours.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

But the message of love is clear and conditional: only if we believe In Him shall we not perish.

How about those who do not believe in Him? That part of the message in John chapter 3 from Jesus is almost always left out of the conversation:

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

There it is again; judgment, condemnation. People don't want to hear that. They say that is bigoted, hateful, and intolerant.

Jesus the Savior did not come to a world of people who have no need of saving. A Savior saves. The name, "Jesus" means;

"He will save His people from their sins."

People hate anyone who would suggest they are a sinner and have need of saving. That's why they hate Jesus.

And that is why they will hate you—if you truly are a disciple and follower of Jesus. 

If you share what Jesus said, that He came into the world to save people from their sins, then you are a disciple of Christ. 

But if you just want to be in a cool Christian band, or go to a cool church and make Jesus cool to people so they will "want what you have" but you never love people enough to mention that God commands all men everywhere to repent; turning from their sin, and turning to Him, then you're really not a disciple of Jesus.

You are not following Him, you're just a benign spectator. 

...And no one ever crucified, tortured, or burned alive a benign spectator. 

Think about it.

No one hates a benign spectator.

—God is love and Love Never Fails.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.” (Revelation 21:6-8)

God is Love.

So how could a loving God impose such a fearful sentence of fire and brimstone in a lake which burns with fire?

The atheists and unbelievers will scoff at this, but those who have their part in the lake of fire will have willfully chosen to be there.

How so?

Jesus says in the first part of the verses quoted above: 

"I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."

Thirsts for what?

For righteousness—or, being 'right with God.' 

In the opening section of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

All those who hunger and thirst to be right with God, will be filled freely, from the fountain of the water of life.

That's right. It's free.

You don't have to work for it. You can't earn it. You just have to want it.

You have to believe it.

And something that all Christians and non-Christians alike need to remember is, Jesus does not single out any certain group as having a part in the lake of fire.

He groups all liars together with murderers. Cowards together with the sexually immoral. Idolaters together with the abominable.

What ultimately keeps people out of Heaven is a refusal to thirst for and receive Jesus Christ—the free gift of Eternal Life.

Those who are self-righteous see no need for a Savior. They don't thirst to be right with God because they are already right in their own eyes. They see themselves as 'evolved' individuals, with their own goodness already inside of them. They are the unbelieving. They are liars.

But those who hunger for righteousness—who thirst to be right with God—shall be filled with the water of life.

Jesus said:

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

People don't like it when conditions are placed on them. But Jesus puts very specific conditions on receiving His rivers of living water.

You must thirst for righteousness—for being right with Him.

You must come to Him and drink—freely receiving Him.

You must believe in Him—as the scriptures have said.

What often happens with people who are righteous in their own eyes, is they consider themselves to be a follower of Christ because they think they are so much like Him. They refuse to come to Him because they see no personal need of a Savior, thinking they are already such a good person. 

What does the Bible say about good people?

“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)

Many people consider Jesus to be a good teacher, or even a prophet. The bible is full of Jesus' sayings, but self-righteous people take only certain verses that they like, claiming that the rest—the parts that put specific, (unwanted) conditions on them—are all just an invention of man.

No.  

Jesus said you must believe as the Scriptures have said. Not according to the ungodly philosophies of the world.

Christ the Savior did not come to die for a world filled with people who have no need of saving. The bible says, 

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

All mankind have sinned. All need a Savior.

But you must choose for yourself.

To all men Jesus says:  "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."

But to the proud, who reject Him, thinking they are already righteous and have no need of a Savior, and who therefore have ultimately chosen their part in the lake of fire, He says: 

"But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."

Perfect Love laid down His life so that all who willingly receive Him may freely drink of the fountain of the water of life. In Him is life eternal. In Him is joy and peace forever more.

Perfect Love casts out all fear for those who will choose to believe in Him—as the Scriptures have said.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

     Will you believe?

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.