I have never been one to buy into the whole spiritual warfare 'thing'. And, when I say 'whole,' I mean that I know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. But, I suppose I am just too logical to agree that when I have a bad day it is because the devil is working against me. I just can't see letting him have that much credit. And, I think that this might have been to my detriment.
I have been reading a lot of Peretti and Dekker lately. And, while I realize the situations their characters find themselves in are entirely fictional, there is usually a very logical argument for the supernatural. Of course, I believe in the supernatural. But, I tend to think that posession and intense spiritual warfare against the devils and his lackey demons is something for those crazy new testament apostles.
But, some situations in my life couple with the books I've been reading lately are leading me to believe that my insistent downplay of the supernatural battle going on is actually causing some problems in my spiritual life. And, yesterday, some of those situations really seem to come to a head. And, then this morning, what does Pastor Will say in sunday school? He says that we have to remember that witchcraft is real, the devil is out to get us, and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. He quotes the very scripture that has been running through my head for a week.
I have been going out onto the battlefield with only half my armor on, believing that if I didn't give the devil credit for the bullets they wouldn't hurt me. Instead, I should have been in the word, putting on that full armor of God and rebuking any and every hold Satan found in my life. And, trust me, he has found some.
Fortunately, I serve an amazing God. The very mention of His son's name makes those demons tremble. The Light lives in me and any darkness cannot exist where there is Light. So, as painful as it is, it is time for me to turn that Light inward and start finding those holds that Satan has in my life. And, I need to start believing in the power of my prayers because besides the Word of God, those are the most powerful weapons I have.
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It's blogs like this that make me mad at you that you don't blog more! Let's pray together during nap :)
ReplyDeleteI love Peretti! But I definitely get what you're saying. As the daughter of a mother who is WAY into the whole spiritual warfare "thing", it's been easy for me to get a little cynical to the point where I discount that satan is at work at all. But my pastor preached an amazing sermon today (and used that very verse - confirmation much?) about Beelzebub - literally, the Lord of the Flies (who knew?). Long sermon short, we need to stay in the house (i.e. God's presence), where we will not have to continually swat at those pesky flies. Sure, some may get in, but then they're on our turf, and we can deal with them and move on, rather than continually getting distracted while we're trying to fight against them. Not sure if that makes sense in super-long-comment-form, but it was a GREAT sermon!
ReplyDeleteHere's more confirmation for you: I got to church tonight and the pastor's sermon was on spiritual warfare and the role of the sheild of faith...
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