THE WAR TO BE FOUGHT

The warfare that we Christians are engaged in is not against any physical enemy and the weapons that the world uses will not work in our battle. It requires the spiritual weapons that God alone can give. Speaking about the nature of our warfare, Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-13, Phillips Version translates verse 12 in this way: “For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organisations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.” That is the kind of struggle in which we are engaged. Recognizing our tendency to try to fight the Lord’s battles with the arm of flesh, Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Christians fail when the wrong weapons are used. Failure is written across the shattered efforts of so many who have named the name of Christ. They either misunderstood the nature of the struggle in which we are involved or they somehow were trying to contend using the natural weapons of this world rather than the supernatural weapons that God provides. It is no wonder that we fail. We answer human arguments with human arguments. We fight powerful organizations by founding powerful organizations of our own. We meet worldly power with worldly methods. We get nowhere. We fail because these are the approaches, weapons, and strategies the world uses and they will not work. They will not be effective. They will not give the victory in the type of struggle in which we are engaged. The battle in which we are involved is a spiritual battle for the minds of men and women, and there is no human wisdom by which we can win that battle.

In this warfare God is the commander-in-chief, and He gives us the power and the weapons we need to wage this battle. What are our weapons? They are the invisible and invincible weapons of the power of a risen and triumphant Christ; the power of the printed word of God; the power of the preached word of God; the power of the Holy Spirit; the power of prayer; the power of the study of the word of God; the power of a life that exhibits the transforming presence of Jesus Christ; the power of faith in the promises of our God; and finally, the power of an unselfish love. To the world, weapons like these look as if they are meaningless. They look weak. They look powerless. But to those of us who use them in faith, these weapons are precisely and exclusively the means of our spiritual victory. Never relent in your efforts to win your battle, do not lose focus, victory is assured.

Word Affirmation: “ Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." – 2 Chronicles 20:15 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“ The battle is of the Lord’s. "
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