Scripture: Revelation 12 v 9 - 12: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
We are sometimes ignorant of the unseen war being played out around us in the realm of the Spirit. Jesus tells us we must overcome this dark realm to live in the light and enjoy life.
To really succeed we must follow His footsteps through the minefield all around us for there is no margin for error. Being saved from sin and Hell puts us on the pathway of this safe zone, but we must never stray off it because when we do we become very vulnerable targets.
Some victims have learned their lesson well and have a healthy fear of stumbling in the dark. Others seem to be repeat offenders who never seem to get the message. We cannot live in the world and in the Kingdom of God simultaneously!
These two domains are spiritually exclusive. We can go into the world and deliver the message of salvation, but we cannot conform to its way of life. Jesus said that He is not of the world and that it has no part in Him. So we must know our battlefield and what is permitted for us and what is forbidden.
In the Kingdom of God we have complete freedom as we take authority over every contrary thing and refuse to conform to the world. We can control our environment, our space, by living a sinless life, witnessing to others about the ability to abide with God and be obedient to Him.
In the world Satan controls his hostages by sin and demonic strongholds. He is an ironclad legalistic who demands, compels, forces and manipulates people through their slavish habits, to follow his agenda for their lives. He may make them rich and famous just so he can destroy their proud image of themselves.
He may make them poor, diseased and starving, the beggars of humanity, its very dregs, and coerce them to steal, burn, protest, or demand humanitarian aid. He has bestowed of every type of human misery. Jesus calls him the thief who comes to kill, maim and destroy.
If we are in the world and bound by a habitual, sinful lifestyle, from which we cannot change or leave at will, we are victims of battlefield earth. We are wounded, lying low and hurt. The enemy has captured our souls through false religion, drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, and forced us to accept his norms as perfectly acceptable.
To the world this is the way things are and will always be but in the Kingdom of God where it is always light, no darkness nor unrighteousness can dwell. When we come out of the world into His Kingdom we must leave every worldly thing behind and allow Jesus to change us into His likeness.
This is called dying to self. Our dead spirit was placed into a living soul to bring every human to salvation. Many rejected God, heaven and refused His salvation. Those who believe in God and His Son, Jesus, come alive in Him and become obedient to the joyful way of eternal life.
It is the way of truth, love, peace and freedom from oppression, depression, compulsion, shame, envy, sin, dark deeds and rejection. We become a new creation filled with the desire to bring others into this state of true life and joy.
With Jesus in our hearts we can overcome battlefield earth, overcome the world controlled by God's enemy, overcome every emotional, financial, habitual, spiritual battle. He overcame it all when He defied Satan for forty days in the Wilderness, and when He rose from the dead. He did that as a perfect example of how its done.
We were in Him when He was crucified and when He rose again. We are seated in Him in heavenly places. If we neglect our place in Him, if we turn back into the world or back to the Judaic law, or back into sin, we will need to repent and do the first works to be restored. Some never do, and that is a great loss.
Some never allow God to change them the way He needs to do. They justify and cling to their old baggage for fear of becoming someone they have no knowledge of. Jesus calls them strangers to His Body. He sends us to bring them nearer to reveal His plan for them, which cannot fully kick in until they submit their will to Him. He will always upgrade us and never degrade us. He only wants to restore us to the way He made us.
Do not fear the war zone of battlefield earth. Jesus overcame it and showed us how. Follow His ways and precepts, conform to Him and we will be safe and protected from every evil thing.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am ready to leave the things of the world behind me and submit to Your perfect will for my life. Change me into the likeness of Jesus and let Him shine through me so others may see the truth and be free. In Jesus' name. Amen.
