In the same
way, we as Christians are in the battle trenches of spiritual warfare. When we
belong to God we face a daily enemy who seeks to thwart everything that God
does. The enemy has lost us to the Light of the World, but this doesn’t
stop him from trying to disrupt God’s purposes. The enemy will try his best to
discourage and distract us from living as God intends…abundantly and with
effectiveness.
As we discover
what Scripture says about our enemy and about God, the One who is already
victorious over Satan. We learn that God
has a plan for us and everything that happens to us, Romans 8:28 says, will
work for our good. But the enemy will try to take those same things and work
them for his own purposes—Ephesians 6:12 says he schemes against us. So it is important
to see and react to things with God’s perspective with the knowledge of His working
it all for good so that we don’t fall prey to the enemy’s tactic of discouragement.
We get weary
from the stuff that goes on in our lives—physically and spiritually. But we
will discover that there are things that we can do in the midst of the battles
that will help us turn our eyes to the Lord and experience His deliverance.
And, we will see the enemy routed by God’s mighty power.
Look at
Ephesians 6:11-12 – Stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Our struggle
is not against flesh and blood…but against spiritual forces.
Look at
Jeremiah 29:11 – He (God) knows the plans He has for us…
Look at
Romans 8:28 – He (God) causes ALL things to work together for good...
Battles are
part of the Christian’s walk because we are treading in the spiritual realm. We
belong to God and the enemy is not happy about it. So he will do anything to
thwart God’s work through deception, discouragement and distraction.
Just like
those soldiers on the frontlines, we need to work together as a team to
encourage and hold one another up, especially when facing intense battles. We
have the weapons. We have the survival skills. And we have a Victor in Jesus
Christ—who won the battle on Calvary’s cross.
Next time, we
will take a look at some sources of our battles….
Until then, Stand
Firm!!
Jeanne
* This is an excerpt from theBible study called, Battle Worn, Battle Weary: Finding Victory in Surrender
* This is an excerpt from theBible study called, Battle Worn, Battle Weary: Finding Victory in Surrender
