SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY
In our daily walk, sometimes, it is hard to recognize just who our real enemies are. As we deal with broken, damaged and difficult relationships, it becomes easy to see people as our enemies. An important reminder, for those of us who walk with Christ is that, people are NOT the enemy! The enemy who is behind our hurts, hindrances, and heartaches is satan--and only satan. Sometimes, when things happen, in our lives--we begin to view our attacks as if they come from people--as if they are conceived in the mind and spirit of the individual. Truth is, satan is the author of all of the confusion. satan plants every single one of those destructive seeds.
When we focus on people, as our enemy, we step right into the snare, that the true enemy has set for us. We lose sight of the bigger picture--we miss that what satan meant for evil--and to destroy us, God will use to perfect and mold us. Ofttimes, we are so focused on human beings as the enemy, that we miss our victory. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal--why? Because the enemy is a spiritual being, not the person who seems to be in your life, only to make you miserable. When we miss that fact, we begin to try to change people, when what needs to be changed is our outlook and our target of revenge.
Whatever difficulty you may be facing, remember, it is not the person, but a/some spirit/s. This is why we need the Holy Spirit to be effective in our battles. If our war was against flesh and blood--then we would need carnal weapons--swords, guns, grenades, bombs. If our enemy was mortal, we would not be given spiritual weapons to withstand the enemy. Our battleground is in spiritual territory and to be an effective warrior, you need to know your opponent, satan. satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. his goal is to confuse us in the battle--by making us forget about his hand in the attack, but focus on a person. If we could just keep in mind, that the devil is behind the discord, the strife, the gossip, the backbiting and the meanness we experience, then we would react differently toward those who have offended us. It would allow us to see beyond our hurt, and recognize that the person we thought was out to get us, is only being used and abused by satan. When we realize this, we will begin to pray for the deliverance of that person, rather than fighting that person, in retaliation. As long as we view people as our enemy--our reaction will be in error, and completely misguided.
It takes sensitivity to the Spirit of God, to recognize the enemy--and then to respond spiritually, rather than naturally. We cannot afford to let the "old nature" fight spiritual battles--the old nature is ill-equipped, and will lose every time, sinking us into greater misery. It takes spiritual weapons to fight spiritual battles. Trying to fight a spiritual battle with a carnal weapon, would be akin to using a plastic toy soldier, on the front line of heated warfare against the Taliban. Are you getting a clearer picture, now! It is a waste of time--and gravely dangerous to misinterpret the enemy and his strategies. If we are wrong in our assessment of the enemy, we will be wrong in our method of counterattack--and, that is deadly. It is deadly, to us, as eternal beings, it is deadly to the Kingdom--Body of Christ, it is deadly, to all. To defy death, you need weapons of life and light--you need the Sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness (not our righteousness, that's self! But God's righteousness), the shoes of the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith and truth, to protect our innermost being. Any other weapons, not ordained by God, just hand victory over to the enemy, and wounds us, making us all casualties.
We cannot afford to fight with earthly, natural weapons--our mouths, our ungodly behaviors/treatment of each other. We have to grow up and become skillfully trained soldiers fit for the battle. Then we must aim at the correct target--not each other. We have become so wrapped up in what people think, say and do--that we have gotten completely, off course. That was satan's plan--as long as we are fighting each other, we will not strike him. We cannot afford to make it safe for satan to thrive in our churches, our homes, our communities and our personal lives!
It's time to reassess. Stop cozying up to satan--and his attacks against your brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. Whatever is keeping you from the battle--whatever has your mind preoccupied, let it go and get back to the front line--properly outfitted with the weapons of warfare prepared for us by God--they work! Furthermore, we need each other to have them work properly, so we must stop fighting one another--and be bound to one another in love against our common enemy, who is satan.
Get to know your armor--become familiar with it. Do you know that the armor Paul was most familiar with was that of the Roman soldiers of his day? Therefore, when he describes our armor--he patterns it after their armor to provide a picture, that we can understand--much like Christ used parables in His earthly ministry. For example, the shield of faith is modeled after the shield of the Roman soldier. His shield was very large--about 2' by 4'. In the heat of the battle, the soldier could crouch down and have his head and vital organs protected. It was made of wood, covered with cloth and leather, which would then be dipped in water, so that when the fiery darts of the enemy came in contact with it, they would be extinguished. The shield was capable of protecting the soldier and the rest of the armor! Note, too, that the edges of the shield were beveled in such a way, that when things became too intense, the soldiers could link up their shield with the fellow-soldiers--forming a continuous, impenetrable wall to block the enemy's attack, then they were safe to advance. BUT, they had to stay together!
The lesson for us is, we have been fighting the wrong enemy. We have "shielded" ourselves against each other, and have left ourselves and our brothers and sisters, in the Body open to the attacks of the adversary. We have been fighting more like the Midianites and the Amalekites were, in the valley of Jezreel (Judges, 7th chapter), rather than Gideon, who heard from God, and won the battle with trumpets, empty pitchers and lamps--and GOD!!! It's time for a change--abandon your course of warfare, your plan against your supposed "enemy". See, the real enemy, and don your real armor, and fight the "good fight of FAITH"!
No more sleeping with the enemy--"the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force". Let's come together against the real enemy, and take back everything that he has stolen, and claim true victory!
When we focus on people, as our enemy, we step right into the snare, that the true enemy has set for us. We lose sight of the bigger picture--we miss that what satan meant for evil--and to destroy us, God will use to perfect and mold us. Ofttimes, we are so focused on human beings as the enemy, that we miss our victory. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal--why? Because the enemy is a spiritual being, not the person who seems to be in your life, only to make you miserable. When we miss that fact, we begin to try to change people, when what needs to be changed is our outlook and our target of revenge.
Whatever difficulty you may be facing, remember, it is not the person, but a/some spirit/s. This is why we need the Holy Spirit to be effective in our battles. If our war was against flesh and blood--then we would need carnal weapons--swords, guns, grenades, bombs. If our enemy was mortal, we would not be given spiritual weapons to withstand the enemy. Our battleground is in spiritual territory and to be an effective warrior, you need to know your opponent, satan. satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. his goal is to confuse us in the battle--by making us forget about his hand in the attack, but focus on a person. If we could just keep in mind, that the devil is behind the discord, the strife, the gossip, the backbiting and the meanness we experience, then we would react differently toward those who have offended us. It would allow us to see beyond our hurt, and recognize that the person we thought was out to get us, is only being used and abused by satan. When we realize this, we will begin to pray for the deliverance of that person, rather than fighting that person, in retaliation. As long as we view people as our enemy--our reaction will be in error, and completely misguided.
It takes sensitivity to the Spirit of God, to recognize the enemy--and then to respond spiritually, rather than naturally. We cannot afford to let the "old nature" fight spiritual battles--the old nature is ill-equipped, and will lose every time, sinking us into greater misery. It takes spiritual weapons to fight spiritual battles. Trying to fight a spiritual battle with a carnal weapon, would be akin to using a plastic toy soldier, on the front line of heated warfare against the Taliban. Are you getting a clearer picture, now! It is a waste of time--and gravely dangerous to misinterpret the enemy and his strategies. If we are wrong in our assessment of the enemy, we will be wrong in our method of counterattack--and, that is deadly. It is deadly, to us, as eternal beings, it is deadly to the Kingdom--Body of Christ, it is deadly, to all. To defy death, you need weapons of life and light--you need the Sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness (not our righteousness, that's self! But God's righteousness), the shoes of the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith and truth, to protect our innermost being. Any other weapons, not ordained by God, just hand victory over to the enemy, and wounds us, making us all casualties.
We cannot afford to fight with earthly, natural weapons--our mouths, our ungodly behaviors/treatment of each other. We have to grow up and become skillfully trained soldiers fit for the battle. Then we must aim at the correct target--not each other. We have become so wrapped up in what people think, say and do--that we have gotten completely, off course. That was satan's plan--as long as we are fighting each other, we will not strike him. We cannot afford to make it safe for satan to thrive in our churches, our homes, our communities and our personal lives!
It's time to reassess. Stop cozying up to satan--and his attacks against your brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. Whatever is keeping you from the battle--whatever has your mind preoccupied, let it go and get back to the front line--properly outfitted with the weapons of warfare prepared for us by God--they work! Furthermore, we need each other to have them work properly, so we must stop fighting one another--and be bound to one another in love against our common enemy, who is satan.
Get to know your armor--become familiar with it. Do you know that the armor Paul was most familiar with was that of the Roman soldiers of his day? Therefore, when he describes our armor--he patterns it after their armor to provide a picture, that we can understand--much like Christ used parables in His earthly ministry. For example, the shield of faith is modeled after the shield of the Roman soldier. His shield was very large--about 2' by 4'. In the heat of the battle, the soldier could crouch down and have his head and vital organs protected. It was made of wood, covered with cloth and leather, which would then be dipped in water, so that when the fiery darts of the enemy came in contact with it, they would be extinguished. The shield was capable of protecting the soldier and the rest of the armor! Note, too, that the edges of the shield were beveled in such a way, that when things became too intense, the soldiers could link up their shield with the fellow-soldiers--forming a continuous, impenetrable wall to block the enemy's attack, then they were safe to advance. BUT, they had to stay together!
The lesson for us is, we have been fighting the wrong enemy. We have "shielded" ourselves against each other, and have left ourselves and our brothers and sisters, in the Body open to the attacks of the adversary. We have been fighting more like the Midianites and the Amalekites were, in the valley of Jezreel (Judges, 7th chapter), rather than Gideon, who heard from God, and won the battle with trumpets, empty pitchers and lamps--and GOD!!! It's time for a change--abandon your course of warfare, your plan against your supposed "enemy". See, the real enemy, and don your real armor, and fight the "good fight of FAITH"!
No more sleeping with the enemy--"the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force". Let's come together against the real enemy, and take back everything that he has stolen, and claim true victory!
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