God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: Our Battle is not with Flesh and Blood!
In the previous three posts, I wrote about the talents/gifts that God has given each of us according to His plan for our lives. How faithful we are at using the talents we are entrusted with is very, very important! That is why I spent the last three weeks discussing this issue.
Today I would like to talk about a matter of concern that the Lord has been impressing on my heart and mind for several weeks now. What He has had me focusing on is the fact that our battle is not with flesh and blood, as the title of this post suggests.
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that our battle is not with governments or people or companies or circumstances. We participate in the real battle, the unseen battle, when we fight against evil in prayer. I’m talking about Spiritual Warfare Prayer!!! I’m talking about pleading with Jesus to engage and rebuke the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms!!! We can’t afford to ignore them or they will continue to wreak havoc in all levels of society around the world!!!
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NLT2)
3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Please be assured… I’m not suggesting that we only pray and do not get involved in the affairs of the natural world! We have a God-given responsibility to get involved! I just spent three weeks talking about getting involved, and using the talents/gifts that God so graciously prepared us with. However… we must not lose sight of the fact that, at the root of every issue, we will find the battle between the spiritual forces of the devil and the spiritual forces of Almighty God!
The spiritual forces of our enemy, the devil, influence people to do his bidding whether they realize it or not. We need to be praying for the eternal souls of the people who are engaged in doing his bidding! Pray whether it happens to be the President of the United States or the school board member, who is making bad or sometimes blatantly evil decisions. Please remember who the real enemy is! It is not flesh and blood!
Romans 12:17-21 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Think about this: God’s way always challenges our fleshly human nature!
The old saying is so true: we should work like the outcome depends on us, and pray knowing that the outcome depends on the Lord! Because it does!
Reminder… We must remember to constantly have on the Full Armor of God so we can stand our ground against evil!