I have recently begun a study series at our church entitled SWAG: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God. In preparing for this series I have, of course, gone back and revisited God's Word on the topic in my own personal times with God. Over the course of the next several blogs I wanted to share what God is teaching me.
In Ephesians 6:10-18 we see God's insights on spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is real and until we accept that fact we can never truly experience victory over our temptations and sins. Each of us have areas in our lives in which we are going to be under attack from the evil forces around us; and that attack will depend on where we are most vulnerable. I know that for me spiritual warfare is a reality that I can never escape. But what has bugged me the most is why it seems that when I have finally gotten victory I turn right around and succumb to the same old temptations and weaknesses. So I decided that I needed to address this issue for myself before I even thought about teaching these lessons to the young adults in our group. With that said, let me share what God has taught me is the foundational building block to victory during spiritual warfare.
Finally brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. - Ephesians 6:10
This simple verse hit me like a ton of bricks when I read it, for it lays bare my own worst enemy...self. Notice that the Apostle Paul provides for us two clues to victory in this passage that I know I needed to come to grips with.
Be Strong In The Lord
Wow!. When I look back at the times that I have sought to experience victory over my areas of weakness and eventual sin I have made one big drastic mistake. I have stood strong...in myself. "I am a 'man of God' so certainly I know what it takes to beat the devil," I would say to myself. I would read the Bible and pray, while all the time being confident in my belief that I was strong enough to stand against all that this world and the devil might throw at me. And so naturally I would fail time and time again. Simply put, when we are standing in our own spirituality, confidence and personal pride we will lose the battles.
We must "stand strong in the Lord." It is He who fought the grand battle for our souls on the cross. It is He who descended into hell and took the power of life and death from the grave. It is He who rose and assured the victory. And it is He whom we must trust. To stand on Christ is to stand on the Solid Rock of salvation. To stand on self is to stand on the shifting sands of weakness and unworthiness.
In The Power Of His Might
Closely related to the truth that we must stand on Christ if we are going to experience victory is that we must also trust in His power and not our own. I do not know about you but one reality has hit me hard in recent days, I am not strong enough in and of myself to win the battles. For my own personal battlegrounds I find that when I stand on my own pride and trust in my "inner strength" I will fail every time. Oh, I might have victory for a season, but ultimately I will fail because my strength and power reserves are limited. God's strength and power is not limited!
If we are going to find victory in times of spiritual warfare it must begin with the Lord. We in and of ourselves cannot win these battles, but He has already won the war. And when we put our trust in Him, stand on His assurances and fight with His might then victory is assured. There is one simple truth that we must never forget. GOD ALWAYS WINS! Victory in spiritual warfare begins and ends with the Lord and so we must choose to begin our march towards victory with Him.
Dear Lord, You know that I am weak. Yet I know that You are strong. I struggle on a daily basis with the spiritual warfare that threatens to overwhelm me. Please help me to get out of the way and to stand on You, and trust in Your power to defeat the temptations in my life. I need You to win these battles. So here I am Lord, I choose to trust Your battle plan as You go before me into the land that You have given me. Thank You Lord for being my...Lord. Amen.
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