Topic: Spiritual War
As we go with our lives, there are many challenging that are waiting for us to step in the battlefield. As we are living for Christ, we would already go through some warfare that are related to physical and spiritual issues. The most problems are occurred in marriage and family problems, financial issues, friendships, and people in our workplaces. As we see on the media, many people faced the tragedies and had resulted as broken hearts. Also, throughout the biblical period, there were many issues as people were going through the battles.
For the next two issues on "Spiritual Warfare," we are not looking only into the physical problems and the spiritual causes, but, also, look into what God told us about the issues we are facing. The first issue is about how we can be ready for any battles. Second message is dealing with sufferings and struggles. And the final message is on the solution to the problems and that is called the "Finishing Line."
As we read from Paul's advice on how we need to prepare for the spiritual battles (Ephesians 6), we will also be looking at the physical issues. Read Ephesians 6:10. Paul told us (as the body of Christ) that we need to be brave and strong.
How we need to be strong and brave in the spiritual battles? We need to trust God the Almighty. Proverbs 3:5-6 said that we need "trust the Lord with all" our hearts "and he [God] will give" us "success." As we can see many people want to have power, fame, and wealth. If we turn on the TV, we would see many violent and sex activities. Look what had happened at Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. We saw that many people had injured and killed because of some plane hijackers. Look on the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF) for our retire benefit. Although this ministry doesn’t believe every doctrine from the radio and television Christian evangelists, I have found the information about what our government is doing with our money. Pat Robertson, a founder of Christian Broadcasting Network, mentioned that politicians are trying to use our money through the Social Security Trust Fund advertisement, so they can use it for their political reasons. These or more tricks we can be sure of. But we need to be alert everyday by listening and trusting God.
But look Ephesians 6:11-12 and see that what kinds of weapons we need to fight against the devil's tricks. Notice and understand from these verses that we are not planning to against the other people. From the childhood to the adulthood, we have learned that we feel to fight against our neighbors, family members, friends, co-workers, and other people. This is a difficult task for most of us, because we easily see that the people have made mistakes and can't forgive them until we would get the revenge. But look what Paul is saying that we need to fight against the devil only. Although we can't see the devil, he is trying to work in us.
So how can we prepare for the warfare we face?
First, we need to have God's truth. Read Ephesians 6:14 and see that we need to know God's truth to get through the spiritual battles. Also, read Proverbs 3:5-6.
Second, we need to have the Word of God to stand against the Prince of Darkness. In Ephesians 6:15, Paul reminded us the Word of God is a tool to stand against that enemy. For example, three times Jesus used the Scripture from the Old Testament to fight against the tempter (see Matthew 4). He didn't lose the battle, because God's Word is so powerful that the enemy of Christ cannot stand against it. We need to use the Bible and mediate on God's Word to exercise our faiths each day. We do not know what kinds of troubles would come next. Also, we need to exercise our faiths, so we can touch the people into Jesus Christ.
But we need to accept God's salvation before we ask Him for help. "Accept God's salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17 NCV.)
Finally, we need to pray all kinds of prayers (see Ephesians 6:18). We can't lose the spiritual war if we pray to God. Our prayers can be any problem that occurred to our lives.
Are you ready for your upcoming battles as you walk with Christ in your daily lives? Take God's Word before you open your door and walk with all kinds of frustration. Try reading a couple verses each morning and let God show you the way through your busy schedule.
