Relevant Life

She was telling me her story about being a Christian and how the devil was really after her.( She referred to herself as a strong believer.)  She told me about a trip she was making for vacation. Before she left to go on vacation her battery died in her car. She stated that the devil did not want her to go on vacation. As she was traveling to her vacation destination she had a flat tire on her car. She stated again that the devil was really after her. After she got back from vacation, a medical bill came in the mail and now she had to find money to pay for it. She stated again that the devil was doing everything he can to ruin her life.

Is it truly a spiritual battle? Did the devil make her battery go dead? Did the devil make her car tire go flat? Did the devil magically make a medical bill appear out of thin air? Are normal human actions and reactions spiritual warfare? First off, the devil is not an all powerful being. He is not omnipresent nor is he all knowing. Satan uses his demons to interact with the people of this world. They don’t spend their time on flattening Christians car tires nor do they stand in the post office to secretly mail Christians medical bills. They spend their time deceiving the masses into living life without Christ as their center. They know their future in the Lake of Fire and want to take as many with them as possible. Like suicide bombers in our day, they hide in plain sight, cause mass hysteria, and destroy as much life as possible.

Satan, who use to be called Lucifer, was kicked out of heaven. ( Read Isaiah 14) He thought he could over throw God and his glory.  He found out the hard way that the creation can never rise up  and conquer the creator. Jesus was there when Satan was kicked out too. Luke 3: 10:18 GW  Jesus said to them, \”I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ( He spoke this when the 70 disciples came back from a short term mission trip.) Satan is a spiritual being who is limited to space and whose time is running out.

So if Satan and his demons are not going around and slashing tires, what are they doing?

Simple. They are deceiving the masses both Christian and non. This is all they can do. They are like the Japanese soldiers who led the Kuching POW camp during WWII. The Japanese nation had surrendered on August 15, 1945 but the camp was not liberated until September 11, 1945 from the Australian Army. The Japanese soldiers  had convinced their captives that freedom would never occur. When the Australians liberated the camp they found two death orders. One of the death orders was to occur on September 15, 1945. The order was to kill all the POWs in the camp which numbered over 2,000 people. Many today are like these POWs; they are bound to the lie that the war is not over and that freedom will never come. Satan has signed a death order that he can never truly make happen. Simply put, Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and gives all of mankind freedom from Satan’s lies and from sin’s control.

So is it truly a spiritual battle? Yes we are in a SPIRITUAL battle. The emphasis is on the SPIRITUAL. Satan and his followers desire to destroy us and to kill us physically and spiritually. The death order was  issued but Jesus came to liberate.

We are called to fight against the enemy’s lies. We are fighting an enemy who desires to not concede to his defeat by Jesus. ( Jesus beat him over the face with an ugly stick, the cross.)The scripture below discusses our ability to have spiritual weapons for warfare. The warfare is against Satan’s trickery. The scripture states we are wrestling against the powers of evil. The weapons are spiritual constructs which empower every believer to break free.

Weapons:

1. Truth 2. Righteousness 3. Peace 4. Faith 5. Salvation 6. Word of God 7. Prayer 8. Standing firm.

Ephesians  6:11-19 GW  Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil\’s strategies.  (12)  This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world.  (13)  For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.  (14)  So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God\’s approval as your breastplate.  (15)  Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace.  (16)  In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  (17)  Also take salvation as your helmet and the word of God as the sword that the Spirit supplies.  (18)  Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God\’s people.  (19)  Also pray that God will give me the right words to say. Then I will speak boldly when I reveal the mystery of the Good News.

Let’s recap below with what is Spiritual warfare and what is not.

NOT SPIRITUAL WARFARE	SPIRITUAL WARFARE
1. Flat tire	1. Doubting God and his truth
2. Financial bills or no money	2. Lack of Responsibility
3. Storms	3. Fighting addictions
4. Failing a test	4. Temptations
5. Phone gets broken	5. No prayer life
6. Natural death at an old age	6. Feeling unclean and unloved
7. Stumping your big toe	7. Twisted thoughts from the truth

There is a spiritual battle or battles going out against mankind. It is from an enemy who refuses defeat which is the worse kind of enemy. This means they will never stop until they have accomplished their goals. We should not be naïve to their trickery nor should we call everything that happens in life a spiritual attack. The enemy is  good at getting people to focus on the wrong things.

I had forgotten this truth these past few years from time to time. I have struggled off and on with several different temptations and sins. Sometimes I have fallen and sometimes I have been victorious. I have noticed when I don’t invoke the Armor of God for my life my falls into sin become more often. When I have the Armor working in my life then my victories are many. It is that simple. When the Earth gets further away from the sun then the bitter winter cold settles in. It is the same with us when we get further away from the SON, then the bitterness of sin begins to settle in. We have to stay battle ready at all times. When we get complacent then the enemy comes and deception sneaks into our lives. The world will judge us and try to reveal our sins to the world as a trophy for why serving God is not real. I declare that our struggles prove there is a God. For only through Him can we overcome.We can’t overcome in our own strength. The spiritual battle is real and the victory is always on the side of the righteous.