Serving Christ: Spiritual Warfare
How do we explain the evil of Christian persecution? What is the reason that a believer in Egypt is arrested and jailed for posting a message on social mediate that offended his Muslim neighbors? How do we understand when missionaries are kidnapped in South Niger? How do we account for a 13-year-old Christian girl who is forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan (persecution.org)? How do we make sense of the disintegration of marriage, believers who fall into sexual infidelity, or our own self-destructive behavior?
We have an enemy. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesian 6:12).
General Omar Bradley wrote of his fist meeting with William Westmoreland, who would later become commander of the American forces in Vietnam. At, the time Westmoreland was a cadet in the West Point class of 1936. During the summer war games he commanded a battalion defending a hill. He failed the task. The hill was over run by the enemy. Bradley pulled the young officer aside and gave this advice: "Mr. Westmoreland, look back at that hill. Look at it form the standpoint of the enemy. It is fundamental to put yourself in the position of the enemy."
Know your enemy. The Devil is a roaring lion seeking to devour your relationship with Jesus. He uses temptations, accusations, deceptions, and direct attacks to keep you from enjoying the joy and glory of God.
As powerful as the evil one appears to be; we have the strong Man on our side. The power that raised Jesus from Satan's grasp is available to us. Place your thoughts on God's grace in the weak moments. Praise Him for the victory you have over sin and death. Ask for His strength to spend the next few moments knowing that through Him we have over come all the evil that world has to offer.
Christ has already secured you during the struggles. Take your rest in Him.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
Matt Emerson
Taken from Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden
We have an enemy. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesian 6:12).
General Omar Bradley wrote of his fist meeting with William Westmoreland, who would later become commander of the American forces in Vietnam. At, the time Westmoreland was a cadet in the West Point class of 1936. During the summer war games he commanded a battalion defending a hill. He failed the task. The hill was over run by the enemy. Bradley pulled the young officer aside and gave this advice: "Mr. Westmoreland, look back at that hill. Look at it form the standpoint of the enemy. It is fundamental to put yourself in the position of the enemy."
Know your enemy. The Devil is a roaring lion seeking to devour your relationship with Jesus. He uses temptations, accusations, deceptions, and direct attacks to keep you from enjoying the joy and glory of God.
As powerful as the evil one appears to be; we have the strong Man on our side. The power that raised Jesus from Satan's grasp is available to us. Place your thoughts on God's grace in the weak moments. Praise Him for the victory you have over sin and death. Ask for His strength to spend the next few moments knowing that through Him we have over come all the evil that world has to offer.
Christ has already secured you during the struggles. Take your rest in Him.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
Matt Emerson
Taken from Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden