Spiritual Warfare: How to become a warrior
We are surrounded, we are bombarded. Today… and every day. It seems the activity is increasing. Do you notice the fog? Sometimes the questioning of what you have always believed, sometimes the question of your purpose, of destiny? Those things that once burned inside of you, where are they? Well, they have been called into question. However, the questions are not from you… although it seems like they are. In reality, the questions have been planted there by the enemy. How do you stop it? How do you get back control?
The answers to these questions I will unpack in this session: Spiritual Warfare: How to become a warrior.
Let me say first off, that this is a messy, hard issue, the study of becoming a warrior for the Lord. There are no easy routes, no bootcamp that packages the training over 8 – 12 weeks and then you are ready to go into battle. I’m afraid it’s worse than that – it’s train as you go, learn as you fight. When you get knocked down and lose a fight, as you get back on your feet, it’s important find out what happened. You need to ask the question, “Why?… why did I lose that fight?”
If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you are automatically invited into a battle. The forces of hell are waging war 24/7, 365. They hate us. We are image-bearers of the one true God and replicas in the making of His son, Jesus Christ. We are mercenaries, hand-picked by our commanding officer to go into battle, bringing His kingdom here on earth to the territory we reside in. We have been set in motion to carry out the specific mission God determined would be ours – together with brothers and sisters, in establishing His kingdom here on earth. To do this, we must disrupt and destroy the works of the devil, just as it is written Jesus was sent to do. In 1 John 3:8 we read,”The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” That is pretty clear.
The place to start is to realize you have a Father who loves you dearly, and he wants you to win every battle. You will never be placed in a battle you are not able to win. To emphasize this, let’s look at Exodus 13 vs. 17-18:
“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.
While the scripture states, “The Israelites went up ready for battle.” yet they weren’t ready for the battle with the Philistines. God knew that and allowed them to circumvent the Philistine territory. Was it because it was too early in their Journey? Were the Philistines, too many, too well-prepared? We don’t have the answer to those questions, except to realize the Lord was well acquainted with their capabilities – as he is with us. It’s interesting to follow the progression of events in Exodus, because just about two months later, the Israelites face their first battle – against the Amelakites. If you recall, this is the time when Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands. While Moses’ hands were up, the Israelites won the battle. There are several important truths in this scenario that deserve time and attention, but for our purposes, we will settle on the key here – the Lord knows our readiness and knows when and where to employ our abilities!
To wrap up this segment, let’s complete the thoughts here. We all as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ have been placed into battles. We have the opportunity to win, based on God’s methodology and gracious counsel. The battles are hard, they can be messy, and at times, even excruciating. The great news is that as we seek the Lord and spend time with those who are serious about winning for Jesus Christ, we too learn how to wage war and wield a sword like an expert warrior.
Blessings to you in every battle!
Jeff Henderson
99:1 Ministries