“Be sober-minded; be watchful. You adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:9-10 (ESV)
There is no tapping out with the devil. He doesn’t back down when we grow weary. He doesn’t take a break, need to sleep at night. He is the author of wickedness and of human wars which are just a shadow of the wickedness of the spiritual war. The human voice screaming when being tortured or under terrible physical pain is but a shadow of the soul screaming as it is dragged to hell.
The battle we are in is not just about the enemy attacking us, though he is like a lion looking for his prey. Too many refer to spiritual warfare as when the enemy attacks us. Most believers don’t realize that we are born into a war that we are meant to be the aggressors. We are commissioned as the Church, the very body of Christ, to overcome the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and we’re called and commissioned to finish His work (Matthew 28:18-20)!
Yet so much of the church is demoralized and afraid, and has bunkered in, choosing to be silent, or worse, closing down! As the Church goes so goes the culture. We are the ones who preserve the earth by our saltiness (Matthew 5:13). Saints are to be trained and mobilized to fight. God is about to give us a breach in the enemy’s walls. But we must be ready to advance and occupy! Unless we are ready the condition could be far worse than it is now (Luke 11:24-26)! The fiercest battles of WW2 came after the outcome was already determined. We must stand, and we must stand together! Yes, the real war is spiritual, and we, the Church must rise up and fight the good fight for the kingdom of God!
Thank the Lord that many are waking up to the reality of the spiritual war we are in. Thank Him that the remnant is growing and choosing to stand in this hour. Cry out for God to awaken your pastor and church (if they are not yet awakened) to the reality of spiritual war, and that your church would begin to actively and intentionally train the saints to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Ask the Lord what assignment He has for you in the day of battle. Ask Him to grant you a sober mind and alert spirit! Thank Him for the privilege you have to serve under His command!!! Thank Him that as bad as it looks, and really is, the ultimate victory belongs to God and God alone!!!
