1 Peter 5:8 Be sober be vigilant; becouse your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE? Lets start like this: when you begin your spiritual walk with God as a Christian, it dont take long to find out that you have an adversary, who is out to abort your walk with Jesus. Hes out to rob you of any kind of peace and happiness that you will find in serving God. Lets put it in an example. Just say you just got saved, it want take long for the devil to send somebody along, it could be an old friend , relative, or someone you dont even know, but he'll send someone along to offer you sins of the flesh. It may be something that you have been fighting and trying to get deleverence over. He will use that person to try to influence you to partake in the sin. I call this physical war between the devil and man. A war you can see. But what about a war you can not see, the war that goes on inside of you. Paul talked about such wars in Ephesians 6:12 We wrestle not against principalites, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES. This is the battle that goes on inside of you. In your mind, your spirite, your emotions, your feelings, and your attitudes. And the way you speak to and treat others can be the outcome of what you are going through spiritualy. Some of you may be battling with anger, you dont know why you get angery, you just do. You walk around with that dont look at me , dont talk to me, just pass me by, Attitude. You dont understand why you feel like this, and you dont want to be like this. But there is a battle going on inside of you and its affecting the way you act. You may be battling Failure. You feel like quiting, giving up, throwing in the towel, a feeling of being empty inside. And its becouse of that battle inside you, that battle you are fighting spiritualy with the the devil, that will cause you not to try, not to do something you desire to do. You may be called to preach, teach, sing, or play an instrument, but becouse of the battle you dont do it becouse your afraid you may fail. There are many battles you can face in the spiritual realm. Battles between your spirit and your flesh. Your flesh says to get drunk, smoke dope, or any other kind of sin it can throw at you, but your spirit is fighting against your flesh working and trying to keep you from giving in to the things of the flesh. It would be easier if we could fight every battle in the physcial realm, couse you could see where the enemy is comming from, But Paul said we wrestle against spiritual wickedness. And they come to rob your mind, rob your sanity, rob your joy, rob your peace, and to rob your emotions and feelings. BUT PRAISE GOD my friends, WE CAN OVERCOME THE ENEMY, I SAID WE CAN OVERCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all we got to do is Submit ourselves unto God, RESIST the devil and he will flee from you ( James 4:7). The key to overcomming is resisting. When the enemy comes and begins to put things in your mind, things that you know are not of God, say " get thee behind me devil, Iam not going to listen to you." The Bible says "whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report if ther be any virtue or praise THINK ON THESE THINGS (Philippians 4:8). You may be devorced, seperated, married or single, you may be living in a garage apartment , a one room apartment, or whereever, but " Greater is he thats in you than he thats in the world. You got to feel your mind with the things of God and when you feel your mind with Godly things, the devil may try, but there want be any room for the things of this world. In conclusion: You are a winner, you are a overcomer, and not even the gates of hell can prevail over you. May God Bless, Love, David |
