The Reality of Spiritual Warfare - Evangelical Caucus/Devotional

Gracetoyou.org ^ | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

"Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:10-12).

Victory in battle comes when you identify the enemy, resist his attacks, and then take the initiative against him.

Our nation has known many wars, but Vietnam was an especially frustrating campaign. Thick jungle terrain made the enemy hard to find and guerrilla warfare made him hard to fight. Many Vietnamese who peacefully worked the rice paddies by day donned the black garb of the Viet Cong soldier by night and invaded unsuspecting U.S. forces camped nearby. American public opinion was strongly anti-war and morale among our troops was often low.

Spiritual warfare has similar parallels. Subtly and deceitfully, Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and "prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). His emissaries disguise themselves as apostles of Christ and servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:13-15). It takes wisdom and discernment to identify them and defend yourself against their attacks.

Most people are defenseless, however, because they scoff at the supernatural and deny the reality of spiritual warfare. They think Satan may be fine for movie plots and book sales, but assume only the superstitious and credulous take him seriously. Unfortunately, many Christians have succumbed to their ridicule and forsaken the battle.

Ephesians 6:10-24 reminds us that spiritual warfare is real and that God has given us all the resources we need— not only to defend ourselves, but also to take the initiative and win the victory over the forces of darkness.

I pray that our studies this month will encourage you in the battle and challenge you to always have on "the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:11).

Suggestions for Prayer

-Seek discernment and grace to identify the enemy and stand against him courageously.

For Further Study

-Read Ephesians 6:10-24. What armor has God supplied to protect you in spiritual warfare?

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TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: gty

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[Psalm 73]

Re-reading Derek Prince’s “Spiritual Warfare” - a great treatise on what the reality of this battle is.

[metmom]

He’s got some good insight about it.

[high info voter]

WELL DUH!!! Do you understand we're in spiritual warfare???

HISTORY - 1400 years / over 300 MILLION innocent people murdered by Muslims!

“Muslims” A mass of people who carry a "holy" book that says to murder all Jews and Christians who won't bow to their prophet.
And now we're flooding them into our country and even putting them into our government.

Can American voters be more stupid or are we trying to destroy ourselves, our kids and grand-kids AND our future???

BTW - That first Muslim president Obama said he "had a plan for America" .... and it was NOT for our good!

[Democrat = party of treason]

It took the Crusades to drive Satan’s physical army back into the sand Nations, now our Godless left welcomes them with open arms. The world is far too woke for another Crusade...