Ephesians 6:11-13
NIV
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
We are in a spiritual battle between God and Satan. With Jesus dieing on the cross the war has been won but the individual battles will continue until the last Gentile, Romans 11:25, has given their life to Christ. Only God will give the victory over Satan so we must fight in the spiritual not the physical. How do we accomplish taking our physical selves with material needs and focusing on the spiritual, something we cannot see? By turning our mind towards love, because love covers all and God is love. Matthew 7:7 tells us to ask and we will receive. Ask God to fill you up with His love for His people and He will for this pleases Him. If we go into this spiritual battle without love then we are only asking to be beaten up and shot. Only God is able to win the battles against Satan for Satan is spirit and so is God. This is His fight and although we are caught in the middle of it we are not capable of battling this in our own strength for we are carnal and Satan uses the flesh to fight and win. We need to go into the deep love of Jesus and the word of God in order to win and we accomplish this by praising God and worshiping Him.
King Jehoshaphat was told that the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites were preparing to wage war against him. Jehoshaphat went straight to the Lord for help and instructions on what to do.
2 Chronicles 20:14-24
Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”
Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
“Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever.”
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
Did you catch that? Jehoshaphat sent out in front of the army, men to sing worship and praises to God. It says that as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set up ambushes. Now how cool is that! Prayer and worship to our God is very powerful. I guess if I had to compare spiritual warfare to something tangible I would liken it to biological warfare towards people and the internet. It sneaks in without us knowing, is very deadly and spreads rapidly. God has given us the key to use on spiritual warfare, the antidote to the poison that Satan spreads through hate, and it begins with loving God, praising and worshiping Him and taking that love and loving the people that God created in His image. This is the switch and when we flick this switch then God goes ahead and does His thing by reversing the effects of hate and evil.
We have all heard it said that the truth will set you free but the knowledge of this phrase cannot do anything to stop Satan. The more information we know only allows for more places that Satan can come in and warp our minds. Even if you did find a way to stop Satan from twisting your mind around to suit his pleasure then he would just attack you physically through our senses, illness or financially or come in through relationships and so on. The truth that sets us free is through a personal ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. In an intimate relationship with Jesus we engage all aspects of ourselves through, thoughts, knowledge, wisdom, feelings, experiences, memories, deeds, tastes, time and so on. If every part of you is involved with Jesus it won't matter how Satan attacks because Jesus will be there to deflect and counter the poison that Satan tries to ooze into us. Even the worst tricks and schemes from Satan can be turned into good to glorify God.
A good place start this spiritual warfare is by loving God and worshiping Him, so go ahead and find some worship music and pour your heart out to God in songs of praise and watch Satan melt way like the witch from Dorthy in the Wizard of Oz.
Philippians 4:4 NIV
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
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