Scripture: 2 Timothy 2 v 1 - 4: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
Joshua 8 v 18 - 19: "And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire."
When we realise that becoming a born again Christian puts us smack into the middle of a live war zone, we will begin to understand that we must learn how to fight, and how to determine where our unseen enemies are shooting from.
2 Corinthians 10 v 4 - 6: "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."
Our security lies in being part of the Body of Christ, the Rock that shelters us. We are inside the Rock of Ages which is as safe as an Embassy in a foreign country. As long as we do not venture into foreign territory we are protected.
By foreign territory I mean spiritually dangerous areas called sin, disobedience, cursing, backsliding, unbelief, drugs, rebellion against authority, sex sins, pride, false religion and false doctrines. These are all highly charged danger zones that make us very vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Our enemy is camouflaged by misinformation about his existence. He is a myth, a figment of overheated imagination, anyone who seriously believes he is real and dangerous is cuckoo. That is the lie he has brainwashed humanity with. Much easier to have us blame God for his evil acts.
Only when we become born again can we perceive the kingdom of Heaven, and are now eligible to enter therein. Our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that is our only passport for eternal life. If we are sitting in mainline churches that do not preach the full gospel of salvation, we still need to make sure we are born again believers, or we will be lost for eternity.
They Christen us as babies, pronounce us saved and teach once saved always saved. But we are far from the true salvation in Jesus Christ through His shed Blood. To get past that confused entry into the Church roll, they overcome objections by getting us to go through Confirmation as teens. It warms the heart, makes a good photo opportunity but nowhere near to the "I Surrender All" experience we must have to be born again.
Our spiritual war zone is just as, if not even more than, the Ukrainian and Israeli nightmares. Satan is so well hidden and disguised that most people do blame God for the horrible things that happen on this planet. If God is real can't He stop the wars, diseases, crime, tornados and hurricanes like what's hitting Florida, USA right now? 130 tornados hitting that state with a category 5 hurricane now upon them.
Our Father gave the best He had. He gave us His Beloved Son, Jesus, to tell us why we were dead in sin and until we conquer that, we have no access to our Father. Sin is the enemy tactics to keep God out of our lives. Jesus broke the power of sin on the Cross for anyone who believes in Him. But we have to fight our way out of the consequences of sin and disobedience. We have to rise as an army with one single purpose! Discern and defeat evil spirits that cause us mayhem.
John 10 v 10: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
These words of Jesus to His followers describes Satan as the thief, and his crimes as to steal, kill and destroy. It is our enemy's complete plan to destroy this planet and everything on it in his rage against our God who has condemned him to eternity in the Lake of Fire. It's a war we are caught up in that the majority of people, even Christians, are ignorant about.
With the swing to Interfaith and the One World Church, the born again message has been severely diluted to the point that people in those assemblies never hear it. We need to fight against such lukewarm Christianity and be a soldier for Jesus Christ. We need to be like the Ukrainians who send the vulnerable to safety and stand against the enemy.
We cannot be passive spectators in this war zone. We must use our spiritual weapons plus the gifts of the Holy Spirit to full advantage. Our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ, will warn us through prophecy and discerning of spirits and words of knowledge so as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 v 26 - 27: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
Paul knows exactly what he is warring against, and how to overcome it. He is not flailing ineffectively against an invisible foe! The gifts of the Spirit give us "night vision goggles" that highlight the presence of evil spirits for accurate destruction of same.
We need this help just as much now, if not more than Paul did back then. The only weapon the enemy has is bluff, but he is a master of it. Jesus calls him the father of lies, and the god of this world. The god that is a despotic megalomaniac as manifested through Putin, Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong Un, Nero, Nimrod, Iran's Regime, Hamas, Hezbollah militants amongst others. We have been given the spiritual equipment to overcome this enemy, except many reject it as not practical. Not for today!
When we pray for deliverance from our enemies and God sends Israel to do the practical warfare, we cannot wave banners for Palestine. We cannot cry foul to Israel. When Armageddon arrives and Jesus Himself kills two thirds of the enemy in one moment of time to save Israel, will we murmur and tut tut at the utter destruction of the enemy?
The importance of being informed of the minefield around us can not be overstated. Our God expects us to be alert, ready and able to take care of ourselves and those around us. The Bible contains all the information we need, and Jesus will be with us as He was with Joshua, guiding him in the battle against Ai.
We must endure hardness as a soldier of Jesus Christ, and not be entangled in the affairs of the world, but rather please Him by our ability to fight in this spiritual war. We are fighting against evil spirits which control people to utterly to kill, maim and destroy innocent life. It's a frightening situation that will continue while the forces of Antichrist fully manifest their evil nature.
Only if people truly repent and are completely delivered of these demons, can they be born again and join the army of God to defeat other onslaughts that will increase from now till the Battle of Armageddon. The enemy, Satan, knows he has but a short time before he is thrown into the lake of fire, and he will not surrender gracefully.
We must find our place in this army and fight to liberate the souls that are held captive in the enemy camp. We must not try to fight it in the physical realm as the words in Ephesians 6 are the proper way.
Ephesians 6 v 12 - 13: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Put on your armour soldier of Christ and fight against spiritual wickedness in high places with the greater weapons our God has provided through the Holy Spirit. Come what may, we shall overcome.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us for complacency and passivity as the war rages around us. There is none so deaf and blind as those who don't want to hear or see. Father open our ears and eyes and give us spiritual understanding because Your people perish from lack of knowledge. We are ready O Lord to fight the good fight because we want to turn this world upside down and set it aflame with the love of Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen.