Insight for Leaders [A.W. Tozer Devotional]

Literature Ministries International ^ | November 03 | A. W. Tozer

[Sopater]

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Satan's Strategy

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
--Ephesians 6:13

Now I do not think that Satan much cares to destroy us Christians
physically. The soldier dead in battle who died performing some deed
of heroism is not a great loss to the army but may rather be an
object of pride to his country. On the other hand the soldier who
cannot or will not fight but runs away at the sound of the first
enemy gun is a shame to his family and a disgrace to his nation. So
a Christian who dies in the faith represents no irreparable loss to
the forces of righteousness on earth and certainly no victory for
the devil. But when whole regiments of professed believers are too
timid to fight and too smug to be ashamed, surely it must bring an
astringent smile to the face of the enemy; and it should bring a
blush to the cheeks of the whole Church of Christ.

The devil's master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill
us physically (though there may be some special situations where
physical death fits into his plan better), but to destroy our power
to wage spiritual warfare. And how well he has succeeded. The
average Christian these days is a harmless enough thing. God knows.
He is a child wearing with considerable self-consciousness the
harness of the warrior; he is a sick eaglet that can never mount
up with wings; he is a spent pilgrim who has given up the journey
and sits with a waxy smile trying to get what pleasure he can from
sniffing the wilted flowers he has plucked by the way. That
Incredible Christian, 72.

"Oh God, may I never be 'a harmless enough thing,' 'a child
wearing...the harness of the warrior,' 'a sick eaglet,' 'a spent
pilgrim.' Give me grace to fight valiantly. Amen."

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Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

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This Insight for Leaders devotional is also available in a print-friendly format here on the LMI web site.

[Sopater]

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"Insight for Leaders"
From the writings of A. W. Tozer

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God bless you.

[metmom]

We have been so conditioned to think that anger and fighting are wrong that we have been rendered almost incapable of being righteously angry at sin and the devil and lost the will to fight to the point where we don’t even resist the devil.

There is a time and place for righteous anger and for fighting. God gave us spiritual weapons for a reason. It’s well past time to start using them and fighting in the right way for the right reasons.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

[smvoice]

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season: reprove, rebuke, exhort with all lonsuffering and doctrine." 2 Tim. 4:2.

And why would we be charged to do this, and not just love them no matter what they say?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they sall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:3,4.

If sound doctrine is not being given we are charged to reprove and rebuke with sound doctrine.

[metmom]

Ephesians 4:11-16 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Jesus didn't mince any words when needed. I think the turn the other cheek and don't offend anybody teachings have been mistaught for so long that it's turned the church into a bunch of wimps. We let anyone (or spiritually anything) walk all over us and anyone who dares to take a stand and fight back is criticized.

[.30Carbine]

“Give me grace to fight valiantly. Amen.”

Amen. I love that word!

So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Zechariah 4:6

[mitch5501]

"We let anyone (or spiritually anything) walk all over us and anyone who dares to take a stand and fight back is criticized."

Criticized because it's just your interpretation of something that leads you to think we are being walked over.You shouldn't take this stuff so seriously metmom.Remember God is love and you shouldn't judge!Just try and be a good person and stop filling your head with all that crazy talk.

[metmom]

Back to sitting around and singing Kumbya, then, eh?

[Sopater]

If sound doctrine is not being given we are charged to reprove and rebuke with sound doctrine.

Yes indeed, we are charged to do so.

[mitch5501]

Actually I think it’s more akin to fiddling while Rome burns.

[metmom]

Yeah, but then at least we’d FEEL good about it.