2001-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
In the course of my study and prayer time, the Lord sometimes takes me back to a passage of Scripture to reveal something more about it to me. I hope that has been your experience with Him too. He does this through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Our eyes must be open, our ears must be ready to hear, our hearts must be softened, and our spiritual vessels must be emptied of human agendas to create the conditions for this to happen. When the demands of one's work or other relationships get in the way, Satan loves this. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't see to our temporal responsibilities, but a classmate of mine really put her finger on the problem. She said, we must make the Lord our first priority. If we do this, He will see to it that the other things get taken care of. She's right!
In any event, the Lord leads me to return to EPH 1: 15-23 to examine three strategic truths that aid us in battling spiritual warfare. 1) The Spirit will share God's wisdom with us and reveal God to us, so we will know Him (17). 2) When God opens one's mind, His light will let us know the hope He has for us and the blessings that He promises His people (18). 3) God uses the same power He used to raise Christ from death to life and to grant Christ authority to rule at His right side over the world to work in us (19-20). Please don't take that to me that He is making us equal with Him. What is meant here is that He is granting us extraordinary power to help Him defeat Satan. Let's examine each of these in the context of sound cross-references to have a better understanding of just what this Spirit, light, and power mean in empowering us to carry out God's commands and to join Him in His work.
We already know that God is much wiser than we will ever be [IS 55: 8-9]. However, God wants us to use what He teaches us in the Scriptures and what we hear from Him in prayer to go into the battle with evil with confidence that if we persist, we can win. When King Solomon asked God for wisdom in 1 K 3: 8-9, God was pleased. "Here I am among the people you have chosen to be Your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. So give me the wisdom I need to rule Your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of Yours?" King Solomon may not have known it was through God's Spirit that he would get his answer, but his humility and acknowledgment of God's omniscience was not lost on our Deity. Note God's response in 1 K 3: 10-12. "The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this, and so He said to him, 'Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again.'" People who are wise hear God through His word. When they read other books or find themselves with their faith challenged, they use the template of the Scriptures (in other words, their understanding of God's teaching) in deciding how to size up the situation and take action on it. JAS 1: 5 puts it right to us. "But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, Who will give it to him; because God give generously and graciously to all." A key element of wisdom is knowledge of God's will for us. He wants us to seek Him out and is eager to let us know that, if we will only ask for it. The better we know God, the better we are equipped to wage spiritual warfare.
When God sheds His light on the challenges that befall us, we can see them for what they really are. PS 119: 105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path." JER 29: 11-13, "I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring out the future you hope for. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find me because you will seek Me with all your heart." Through Paul in RO 5: 3-4, God has even told us how to approach the pain and suffering of spiritual warfare so as to bring His hope into our lives. "We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God's approval, and His approval creates hope." When we think of how God allowed people like Daniel, who was a captive amidst Israel's enemies, to see the future and not be afraid, we can see exactly how this principle of letting God's light into our lives works.
When we think about the power that God has to do things no ordinary man could do without Him, we are brought to a realization that with Him as our covenant Partner fighting beside us, we too can accomplish amazing things. Think of young David who felled the giant, Goliath, with a simple sling shot [1 SAM 17: 45-47]. David prevailed because God was with Him. We will prevail if we face our own battles side by side with God too. Remember PS 110: 1, "The Lord said to my Lord the King, 'Sit here at My right side until I put Your enemies under Your feet.'"
PRAYER: O Lord, because You love us so much, You empower us to go to victory against the devil in Christ's name by Your Spirit, Your light, and Your power. How fair, just, and compassionate You are! Your wisdom causes You to know that to become sanctified, we must be placed on the front-lines of spiritual warfare and persist through it. To prepare us, You give us Your word, cause the Holy Spirit to dwell within us so we can understand it, and open the channel of prayer so we can get even further instruction. Then, You equip us with Your full armor for the battle. By commanding us to live "in Christ" with these gifts, Your bring us to full readiness to join You in Your work against the adversary. To top it off You give us hope and remove our reasons to fear. As the Psalmist says in PS 115: 1, "To You alone, O Lord, to You alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of Your constant love and faithfulness." PS 112: 1 sheds light on Your truth for us. "Happy is the person who has reverence for the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying His commands." Today, in humility, we bring before You confession of our sins and grateful adoration of You. Our worship is directed at opening ourselves to Your superior wisdom, light, and power. We beseech you to continue empowering us to wage war against the devil and his followers in a way that will reveal Your glory and honor You. We pledge our loyalty, diligence, obedience, and trust. Our praise and thanks to You is continuous, as is our need for Your leadership in our lives. We are Your children, and You are our One and only God. In Christ's name, amen.
Tomorrow, if you will bear with me, I'm led to return to a topic that matters tremendously to me. We will look at how to approach studying God's word, so that we give Him the full opportunity to impact our lives with it. I admit, you may think I'm on my soap box, but it isn't for naught. God leads me to this, because He wants it said. In the meanwhile, we need to think about the manifestations of His great love for us which are His Spirit, His light, and His power and how they affect the spiritual warfare we have in our own lives. If we are feeling loved by Him, then we really understand from whence He is coming. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn