Are You In A Battle? (part 1)

What do you think when you first read this question? Did you think of the battle you’re in with your abuser? Did you feel like he/she is your enemy in this battle?

I’m talking about an entirely different kind of battle with an enemy you can’t see with your physical eyes. We are told in God’s word that, as Christians, we are fighting against an adversary that not only wants to kill our bodies but destroy our very souls.  This enemy is none other than Satan. I Peter 5:8 tells us of this enemy.  Peters says, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  As believers, we battle the evil one every day. He plans to discourage and defeat us at every turn!  Our hope in defeating this enemy is found in I Peter 5:9, where he says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Your next question might be, “But how do we fight?” and “How do we resist?” God knew that his children would need weapons to fight this enemy. These weapons are revealed to us in His word which is an armory allowing us to select weapons for specific battles.

In the very beginning, Satan knew God created the family unit. Issues in families are seen throughout the Scriptures. Our enemy knows how much God loves His children and their families. He knows he cannot defeat God, so he attacks those near and dear to His heart. He sets about with strategies to destroy entire families. One of his most effective weapons against God’s children is domestic violence of all kinds. With this huge weapon, he knows if he can destroy the parents, he can also destroy the children. He has destroyed entire generations with the weapon of family violence.

Amid the chaos in the battleground of our home, it’s very difficult to see anything except the actions of this person who is inflicting such pain on ourselves and our children. We must consider that the enemy is using this person as a tool of destruction. God tells us in Eph. 6: 10-13, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  Knowing this doesn’t always make the battle easier, but it tells us how to fight to win, God’s way.

This continuous battle is called spiritual warfare. Christians face some type of battle, small or great, daily. Satan is relentless.  However, it isn’t just Satan that we must fight, it’s our own fleshly desires as well as everything the world throws at us.

Make no mistake, whether you are aware of it or not and whether you believe it or not, all Christians are engaged in a real spiritual battle between two opposing kingdoms, God’s and Satan’s. These two kingdoms are not equal in any respect. And those who do not understand or believe it are usually the first casualties.

For our use in the battle, we have been given a self-defense course.  We find our armor and instructions in Eph. 6:14 – 18 which says, “Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication to the saints.”

Thankfully, our spiritual armor is to be used in a war that has already been won! With our armor, we are protected by the only person Satan has never defeated, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:37 says, “Yet, in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

To those who have never accepted Jesus as their Savior, you have no such armor.  In fact, you have no defense at all against the evil one. He considers you one of his own and you are easy prey to his tactics.  You have no promise of victory in this life. You must choose on which side you want to fight.  You have only two choices:

1. God, our creator and Father, who loved us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we could have eternal life in Heaven in His presence, or,

2. Satan, who is the evil father of lies and plots only your destruction.  He also has a plan for you to spend eternity with him; in a miserable, dark, place of eternal torment, totally separated from God.

I urge you to choose wisely!