Ephesians 6:10-12 – Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
THEME OF THE DAY: THE PLACES WHERE BATTLES ARE FOUGHT. Every Christian knows by their knowledge of God’s Word and personal experience the life of following Christ is a daily spiritual war of great spiritual intensity. Some days more so than others, but the reality of the Christian life is summed up in one word – conflict. It is a conflict that will never cease in this life; will take no vacation or offer any terms of surrender. And always remember that true spiritual warfare has one objective – divert us away from Christ in our minds, affections, and wills. We may rightly recognize the tactics of the devil, the world and flesh by one simple thing; is the circumstance, situation, or relationship causing us to lose our focus on Christ? Not everything that happens to us is spiritual warfare so don’t be quick to label a tough situation and circumstance as such. If it is inconveniencing us in life, altering our schedules, or causing irritation and worry, it might be spiritual warfare but only so if whatever is happening is pulling our minds, hearts, and wills away from keeping all three centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When it comes to identifying the battlefield of this lifelong spiritual conflict, it is our minds or in our thinking. As we think, so we are. The Christian life is a thinking life. How we think determines our affections and combined, our thinking and affections will direct our will. Basically, the Christian life is a life of following Him who captivates our mind, enflames our hearts, and moves our will to obey His Word. So the mind is the place of conflict but on the battlefield are three specific environments where the battle against the devil, world, and flesh is ferociously fought. Let’s identify these three “battlefield theaters of conflict.”
First, we do battle in our minds in the area of time in our Bibles. Every warring Christian knows the tremendous mental conflict when we set aside time for the scriptures. A million things to do flood our minds when we attempt to be in the Scriptures. We feel the constant mental bombardment that has one single objective; make our time in the Word hurried, mindless, and unprofitable. The devil, the world, and flesh may not be able to keep us from getting into the Bible, but they are great forces to keep the Bible from getting in us. Merely reading the Bible without meditating, studying, and prayerfully seeking to apply what we discover is a victory for our spiritual foes.
The second “theater of operations” in our spiritual war is the conflict with prayer. Here the battle rages. Our foes come with well-thought out assaults and one is convincing us we are too busy to pray either alone or attend the church prayer meeting and praying with other believers. If we find our lives too busy for prayer, we are simply too busy. And guard against this . . . busyness is the road to spiritual barrenness.
The third place of battle on the battlefield of our minds is in our churches every Lord’s Day. Our enemies come at us with all kinds of distractions to draw us away from worship in spirit and truth. Not a few Christians faithfully attend weekly worship but rarely engage the Lord we worship. Our minds have become casualties of spiritual war with the cause of our wounds being the allowance of spiritual, physical, and emotional distractions.
Yes, the Christian life is a constant war. God has ordained it to be so for it causes us to walk closer to Him in the spirit of dependence. May He help us fight successfully, bringing every thought captive to Christ.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to arm myself for battle when I am called to Your Word, prayer, and worship.”
QUOTE: “The Christian life is a war from start to finish. It is a fight which will never give us one day of peace in this life.”