The War we must each fight

THE WAR WE MUST EACH FIGHT
Christianity is a religion that ushers its believers into peace beyond human understanding. {John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid / John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. }
Nevertheless Christianity is not a passive or timid religion like many mistakenly believe. Bible Scholars and historians agree that Jesus Christ had an action oriented and many times controversial / confrontational personality. He actively confronted the religious and social ‘status quo’. That is why the religious leaders of His days {the Pharisees and the Sadducees} viewed him as ‘public enemy number one’ and a dangerous revolutionary that needed to be eliminated.
The following statement Jesus Christ made describes the conflicts that He and his followers would face while on earth and he sounds more as an army general than a timid pacified religious leader; Mathew 10: 33 – 39 “ But whosever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword .For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
As a Christian believer it is impossible to realize the purposes of God in your life by being passive, timid and desiring not to “rock the boat”. Yes it is true that we have received the most fundamental objects of our Christianity without any effort on our part. We did not work for our salvation, it is a gift from a loving heavenly Father, paid for at the cross by His loving Son Jesus Christ. {Rom 5: 15 -18/ Rom 6:23). However after we receive the free gifts of God, of salvation and his grace, we are empowered to work and fight to possess all that God has for us. The Apostle Paul gives the church at Ephesians the blueprint on how to engage in this war that each believer must fight be a victorious Christian.
EPHESIANS 6:10- 18
Lastly(finally) be strong(be strengthened)[Greek :- “endoonamo’o “ –be strong , endue with strength , receive strength , increase in strength , also be bold , headstrong ] in the Lord, and in the strength of his power(his mighty strength/the power of his might). [ Greek :- “krat’-os” – force , power , great power , dominion ]
God expects us to be Strong. They will be moments you will feel weak, feeble and exhausted, but you must encourage yourself in the Lord. The challenges that will come your way will require strength and determination to overcome. Your strength levels will vary depending with your circumstances. When you are low in strength, God’s strength will be available. You only need to ask. Your battle is spiritual, therefore you will need supernatural strength available only from, God the Holy Spirit.
Take up the instruments of war (Put on the whole armor of God) so that you may be able to keep your position (to stand) against all the deceits (the wiles/schemes of the devil) of the Evil One.
Some believers still feel that they do not need to fight, because Jesus did it all for us at the cross. No doubt the work of Calvary is complete and perfect. However we must execute what was established at the cross by our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ in our personal lives. If we did not need to fight anymore, they would be no need to put on the armour of God or to take up the instruments of war. The enemy strives to deceive you and move you out of your God ordained position, using evil tricks and schemes.
For our fight (struggle/wrestle/ wrestling) is not against flesh and blood (human opponents), but against authorities (principalities) and powers (cosmic powers), against the world – rulers of this dark night (darkness around us/ this world / this age), against the spirit of evil in the heavens (evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm / spiritual wickedness in high places).
The scripture confirms that there is a battle, a struggle, a fight every believer must engage in. In the Old Testament the children of Israel had to battle their enemies before they could enter into the” promised land”. Joshua and the Israelites had to physically battle the heathen nations in Canaan to possess the their land of inheritance. Believers today have to do a similar battle. Only it is not a physical battle like that of the Israelites of Old, it is a spiritual war that the believers engage in. Apostle Paul tells the Church that “Our battle is not against flesh and blood (human opponents)”. In other words, the arena for the believers battle is different. The tools and equipment for this war are also different. Even the motives for this fight is different, unlike other battles that are for the ego and glory of man, in this battle God Almighty receives all the glory. The scripture goes ahead and identifies the enemy. The enemy is not a physical one, but a spiritual enemy, the eternal enemy of God – Satan. Who has mobilized demonic powers to fight against the purposes of God on the earth. The purposes of God on earth are personified in the Christian believer, hence the believer automatically becomes an enemy of the devil. Despite that fact, we are comforted by the words of Jesus when He declares that he has overcome the world and that ‘greater is He that is in us than the one in the world.
For this reason take up all the arms (amour/ the whole armour/ full armour) of God, so that you may be able to be strong (take a stand / withstand / stand your ground) in the evil day (whenever evil comes), and having done all( have done everything you could) , keep your place(stand firm/ stand ).
The bible instructs the believer to take up arms /armour/full armour of God. The Christians arms are not guns, bombs, jet fighters or missiles. The Christian armour is spiritual and may seem useless to the carnal mind, but is extremely potent spiritually and ultimately affects even the physical world. Everything that happens in the physical world, first took place in the spiritual realm. The first chapter of the book of Job , clearly illustrates this reality. The book begins in the natural realm with Job’s family going about their normal daily business in the first five verses. In the sixth verse the scene seamlessly moves to the spiritual realm. Amazingly the conversations that are going on between God and the devil about Job adversely transforms Job’s situation in the natural realm, although Job and his family are not aware of what is going on in the spiritual realm. We must be aware that there are conversations in the spiritual realm about us and not all the spiritual transactions about us are beneficial. Therefore we must be ready to engage, converse, transact and even war in the spiritual realm in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
The word of God advises us to “stand”. We cannot expect God or others to stand for us. In order for you to stand, it takes effort on your part to succeed. Hence we also have a role to excel in our ‘walk with God ‘and there are powers which are working contrary to our “standing”.
Take your place (stand, stand firm , stand therefore) , then having(having/your loins girt about with truth / fastened the belt of truth around your waist / by fastening the belt of truth around your waist/utility belt of truth buckled around your waist ) your body clothed with the true word, and having put(putting on) on the breastplate of righteousness ;
Our first armour is the belt of truth. The enemy biggest weapon is lies. Many world wars have began because of lies and propaganda. Scriptures teaches us that the devil is the father of all lies. We can counter his lies with the truth. The Word of God is the truth. Today, new age and eastern religious teaching suggest that truth is relative. That is truth depends on the situation and the person that behold it. This removes all universal standards to truth making truth vague and unattainable. The bible doctrine is clear on the subject stating that God and his word are truth. What the bible declares over you and me is what is absolute truth to stand on. If the bible says am I healed then that is truth, If the bible says that fornication and adultery is wrong then it is.
The second armour is the breast place of righteousness. The word of God teaches us that we serve a holy God and therefore must be holy ourselves. The devil is the direct opposite of holiness and righteousness. For us to overcome the wiles of the enemy, we must be righteous. This is a problem for the human race. After the fall of man in the garden of Eden we lost our ability to be righteous. The very nature of man is evil. The prophet Isaiah states the condition of man as follows “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away. ISAIAH 64:4. The best intentions, thoughts and nature of the fallen man are evil before a holy and perfect God. What can we as believers do to attain righteousness then? Since we cannot obtain this condition on our own we need help from elsewhere. And that was Jesus Christ major mission here on earth. He came to avail God’s righteousness to humanity. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away behold all things are become new. We are to put on Christ’s righteousness. We do not rely on our own righteousness to overcome the enemy, but that which was purchased for us at the cross of calvary. We depend on the righteous of Jesus Christ, that we then put on as our breastplate. Ancient armies put on the breastplate to protect the area around the heart. The word of God cautions us to protect our heart above all else. It further reveals to us that out of the heart the issues of life emerge. In other words the condition of your heart, ultimately determines the quality of life you will have. Therefore it is vital that the righteousness of Jesus Christ protects the condition of your heart, especially against bitterness and unforgiveness that the enemy would love to throw at you.
Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet ; / being firm – footed in the gospel of peace. / and shod with preparation of the gospel of peace / by fitting your feet with preparation that comes from the good news of peace.
One of the greatest spiritual weapons we have is the opportunity to share the good news / the gospel of peace with others. Every time we evangelize , we have a chance to plunder the kingdom of darkness. Revelation 12: 11 “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die”. When we share the gospel of Jesus Christ in love we are fighting and defeating the kingdom of darkness no matter the outcome. Our part is to proclaim the gospel of peace and God’s part is to bring in the harvest. We are co-workers together with Christ.

And most of all (Above all), taking (shield of faith) using faith as a cover to keep off (put out / quench / extinguish )all the flaming arrows( fiery darts) of the Evil One(wicked) .
The next spiritual artillery is faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews states that it is impossible to please God without faith. We must believe that he is God , he loves us and has the ability to help us even when our circumstances sometime speak contrary. The enemies strategy is normally to instill doubt and rob us of our faith. Someone once said doubt is faith in the devil. The bible does not advocate for blind faith. It points to the source of our faith in Rom 10:17 “So faith comes by hearing , and hearing by the word of Christ”. We believe what the word of God says about us to be the true reality even before it manifests in the physical. Abraham believed that he will be a father of nations although he was an old man without a son. Moses believed that he would rescue the children of Israel from captivity although he did not have an army. David believed that he would be king although he was not of royal blood. Jeremiah believed he spoke the word of God despite his young age. Esther believed she could be queen although she came from the politically wrong nation. Ruth believed she could be part of the chosen nation of God although she came from the wrong tribe. The list of those who chose to believe continues… You too will fight and defeat the enemy of your destiny if you can believe.
And salvation for your headdress and the sword of the Spirit, which is word of God. / also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of Spirit, which is the (spoken )word of God.
Our last and not least of the weapons is” the helmet of salvation”. Salvation is the state of being saved. When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ we enter into a state of salvation. This state is not dependent on how we feel or what we face. We did not earn salvation it is God’s gift to us. All the benefits of salvation are available to us. We do not need to work to receive this free gift of God. The enemy would like to make us to think that we need to struggle and work to receive salvation. When we clearly understand that God has already saved us and that salvation depends on the work of the cross of Jesus not our own efforts , we will be restful in our minds , putting on the helmet of salvation covering our thought life and living a victorious life.
(Pray in the Spirit at all times )With prayers and deep desires (Praying always with all prayer and supplication / request in the Spirit and watching thereunto / With every prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit)), (with every kind of prayer and request)making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch(be alert with your most diligent efforts), with strong purpose, in prayer for all saints.( and all supplication / request for all saints ).
Finally the best medium to execute this war with the above weapons is the medium of prayer. The Lord Jesus talked extensively about prayer , he taught his disciples how to pray , some of his prayers are recorded in the gospels and most importantly he had a lifestyle of prayer that every believer needs to emulate. Mark 1:35 ‘’And in the morning , a long time before daylight, he got up and went out to a quiet place , and there he gave himself up to prayer.” I urge you to rise up and engage in the fight for your life and destiny. Do not settle for less. God has a great purpose and destiny for your life. Take up the spiritual weapons available to you and move into the arena of prayer. Partner with the Holy Spirit and take back what rightfully belongs to you in the spiritual realm, it will soon manifest in the physical realm. Prayer changes things.

Pst. Willy Ochieng.
Senior Pastor,
Busia Lighthouse Church.