Your Place in the Spiritual Battle预览

Your Place in the Spiritual Battle Day 1 – Perspective

War is violent, bloody, devastating, full of injury and death. Casualties mount daily. War is something we take seriously. We hesitate to send our children to fight in it, even if we are proud that they want to. But we are afraid they won’t come back to us. We are afraid if they do return they may not be the same physically, mentally, or psychologically. War is gruesome.

That is what we think of when we think of war, right? Not always. The vast majority of Christians who are even willing to acknowledge spiritual warfare do not see spiritual warfare in the same light as earthly warfare. I say those that acknowledge warfare because many Christians never give a thought to spiritual warfare. Many of those who have, blow it off as something that doesn’t happen anymore, only happens to pastors or important people, or is just what people say when they are going through a hard time.

The New Testament is full of verses about our warfare. From Ephesians 6, which prods us to gear up for war, to 2 Corinthians 10, telling us we are not waging war according to the flesh. These verses and others remind us we are in a fight. 1 Peter 5 tells us our enemy is trying to devour us. John 10:10 tells us our enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy.

Somehow, though, we have diminished these warnings. We no longer take our enemy seriously. We no longer take our war seriously. This is not laser tag or paintball at summer camp. We aren’t playing cowboys and Indians with finger guns in the backyard. We are in a very real fight for our lives! There have been casualties, and there will be more. Our enemy has lulled us to sleep, convincing us there is nothing to worry about.

Sure, there are those who acknowledge the war we are in and fight with all the weapons available to them. However, the majority have their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears. Some people just don’t think it would happen to them.

Let me be as clear as I can be. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are in a war. Your acceptance of Him as your savior drafted you in. There is no dodging it. If you aren’t fighting, you are doing yourself and your fellow soldiers a disservice and are ultimately aiding the enemy. If you don’t believe this is true, you have been deceived. It is time we open our eyes. Look around us at the condition we have let our culture and our world fall into. It is time we pick up our gear and go to war!

The next few days will look at different aspects of this war and our place in it. There have been many books written on this topic. This series is in no way intended to replace the vast amounts of information that can be found in them. This is meant to be a starting point. A point of encouragement and motivation. Pray that God would open your eyes to the battles around you. Ask Him to prepare you for the fight He has drafted you into. Pray for the strength to carry out the orders He has given you.