Spiritual Warfare

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

This is a very broad topic, and my understanding of it just hits the tip of the iceberg. Actually, my understanding of it probably hits the frost on the tip of the iceberg…or maybe even the foam coming off the frost on the tip of the iceberg. You catch my drift.

That being said, there are some things I DO know and I know these things simply because God said them in His Word and if He said it, then I believe it. No doubting, no second-guessing, no questions asked.

Here are three things that I believe every Bible-believing Christian needs to STOP or START doing to truly walk in the freedom that Jesus died for us to have.

1) STOP AGREEING WITH THE DEVIL.

Have you ever heard yourself saying something along these lines: “I’ve been struggling with anxiety my whole life and it’s just something I will have to deal with until I get to heaven.” Or “Satan’s just really got a hold over me in this area of depression.” Or maybe what you do is allow yourself to be consumed with worry, fear, and shame. What are we doing when we say this? What message are we sending to the spiritual realm when we not only BELIEVE these things, but SPEAK them into existence? Essentially what we are doing is giving Satan the PERMISSION to continue tormenting us. We need to stop meditating on the lies of the devil, and start believing the truths of the scripture. You can start with not just reading, but BELIEVING the following verses:

GENERAL:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. –Philippians 4:8

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. –John 8:36

WORRY:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

SHAME:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. –Psalm 51:7

FEAR:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. –John 14:27

2) STOP BEING TIMID

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7

Imagine little Johnny, a 6^th grader on the playground at recess, is being bullied by an older, bigger kid named Gus. Gus tells Johnny to do his homework, and Johnny does not enjoy his evening, instead he spends it doing something he was never meant to do. Why does Gus tell Johnny what to do? Is it really about the homework? No, it’s about the control Gus has over Johnny’s mind.

Now, any adult’s advice would be to stand up to the bully. With this advice, Johnny has two choices: 1) Refuse to believe that this advice will help, or 2) Come in the next day with no homework, but with authority to tell Gus to back off.

If choosing option 2, Johnny might get punched out. And maybe the next day he’ll get beaten up again. And maybe even the next day. But Gus will inevitably lose interest in Johnny. Why is that? Because no matter how many times Johnny goes down physically, he does not back down mentally or emotionally. He no longer has control over Johnny’s mind. The fun for Gus is gone, so he goes and finds someone else to control.

I’m sure in reading this you already made the connection between Gus/Johnny and Satan/Christian. It’s funny how we can give this advice to children, and not believe it ourselves. Satan is out for control of our mind, and as soon as we “get mean” with the demon who is trying to torment us, he will eventually give up and look for someone else to devour.

3) KNOW YOUR SCRIPTURE AND WEAR YOUR ARMOR.

If you read Matthew 4:1-11, Satan tempts Jesus. In every circumstance, Jesus had a Scripture reference to “fight back” with. Here are three things Jesus didn’t do when being tormented by Satan:

1) Jesus didn’t tell Satan to “hold on one second” as He flipped through His Bible to find the appropriate verse. It’s so important for us to know the Word because when we are in the moment of sinful temptation, we are in a weak, vulnerable place, and it’s so much harder for us to get the energy to find a fitting Bible verse in that situation. If you are in a fight, you cannot tell the opponent to “hold on one second” as you grab your sword without getting struck down in the process.

2) Jesus wasn’t timid and He fully believed what He said in His responses to Satan. In Matthew 4:10, when Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan!” I can’t imagine Jesus requesting that timidly, or with a soft voice, or in disbelief that He could do anything about Satan. I imagine Jesus taking FULL authority.

Could you imagine being a teacher, and timidly asking your class of 4^th grade students “Um..settle down. Please settle down.” And when that doesn’t work, calling the principal and pleading, “Please, make the students settle down.”

Why in the world would there be anything but chaos? The students don’t believe the teacher has authority, the teacher doesn’t believe he has authority, and the principal is not about to do the teacher’s job and take authority.

We need to see ourselves as school teachers. We need to be in charge. We need to take control. We need to “get mean” with this spirit of torment and we need to STOP tolerating it.

3) Jesus didn’t merely think His responses in His mind or simply believe His responses, He spoke them out loud. He made sure Satan heard Him.

I once heard Beth Moore say, “the devil can’t hear what’s in your mind, but he’s forced to hear what comes out of your mouth.” This quote resonated with me for a very important, valid reason: there is so much POWER in our words and what we do with them actually affects the spiritual realm.

Proverbs 18:21 says: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

There is nothing wrong with believing the truth that you have complete freedom and authority through Jesus. And there’s also nothing wrong with constantly thinking about it (Philippians 4:8). But when we are being tormented, there is so much importance in actually saying Scripture out loud and using it to fight off the evil one.

Take a second to read the Scripture on the Armor of God:

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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Notice how the belt, the breastplate, the shield, and the helmet are all things one would wear to protect himself, but a sword is something used to fight someone off? There is so much power in scripture, and we must use this scripture as a sword and AUDIBLY REMIND SATAN what is true each time he tries to attack our minds.

Let’s also remember that unlike God, Satan and his demons are not omnipresent. In the grand scheme of things, they are NOTHING when they come up against the power of the almighty God. So what you need to do is completely CHANGE YOUR FRAME OF MIND. You were not meant to live in timidity and shame, so keep SPEAKING TRUTH. Keep BELIEVING the authority you have in Christ. And keep FIGHTING. You already have the victory, now walk in it. And trust me, Satan will stop wasting his time on you. After all…he doesn’t have much of it left.