THE BATTLE RAGES WITHIN AND WITHOUT!

The earth  has seen hundreds and hundreds of wars since sin entered into the world in the garden via Adam and Eve.  There have been local wars, regional wars, civil wars, and world wars. At any given moment of human history there has been wars rooted in government form, land squabbles, power hungry dictators, money and possessions, race prejudice and of course religion. These of course are not the only reasons for war but at the heart of war is just that, the heart.  Since the fall of man when sin entered into the world mans heart has been filled with hate, jealousy, greed and lust.  The book of James 4:1  teaches us that wars come from the evil desires that are within us. They are a result of falling to the temptation of the devil in the garden of Eden.  Ever since man has fought each other and will continue to do so until Jesus returns to destroy the Kingdom of this World and to set up the Kingdom of God!

Man at war is linked to a greater war that is raging and has since Lucifer was cast out of heaven and became Satan. That war is the WAR of the AGES! It is God against Satan, good against evil, darkness against light. This war has raged since the beginning of God's creation and will only conclude when Jesus destroys this world and casts Satan into the Lake of Fire. At the end of this world God will make a new earth, new heaven and new Jerusalem and  then there will be no more war.

Until that time each redeemed follower of Jesus Christ must understand clearly that they are in a 24 hour a day battle with the forces of darkness. We must determine to be Good Soldiers of Jesus Christ.  Our war is more than physical it is spiritual. We don't fight flesh and blood but principalities and powers of the spirit world.  It takes spiritual weapons to win spiritual battles. And our Lord has provided those weapons for his children to daily "put on" and be ready for the  skirmishes we will face.  Ephesians 6:10-20  presents the Armor of God which our Lord provides for our warfare. The purpose of this blog is not to teach on each piece of armor but to encourage you to have an personal study of this passage  sometime soon.   I want to encourage each reader to take the battle more seriously and to not lose your battles simply because you are failing to put on God's provisions for victory. We must realize the battle is raging and to not show up for the fight will only bring  disastrous defeat. And worse yet if we show up for the fight with the wrong weapons. I plead with you to prepare for war in God's way. Learn the spiritual discipline of praying on the armor of God each and every day! 

Prayer is so important to the believer soldier. S.D. Gordon once said, " Prayer strikes the winning blow and service is gathering up the results". Satan trembles when he sees the weakest christian on his knees. In fact Ephesians 6:18-20 teaches that the way we are to put on the armor is by praying it on. Prayer is the victory and the place of prayer is the place of victory. We will never know how many battles were won because of God's faithful people who have been on their knees in the closet of prayer. Think about  the Old Testament people of Israel.  Often they had less soldiers, not supreme weapons, not better strategies,  but when they prayed and leaned on God the Lord in answer to prayer came down and fought the battles for them and through them. Prayer is something we each can do no matter our ages and abilities. So much is at stake in this War of the Ages. May we get serious minded about being GOOD SOLDIERS!