Observations From Hadleyville: SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Sunday, January 1, 2012

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

When my friend Herb was a rifleman in Vietnam he figured it would be the toughest thing he would ever do in his life. He has discovered he was dead wrong. Some years after he rotated home he became a Christian. Now he knows that living for Christ is the toughest thing in life.

We are engaged in spiritual warfare. We are deployed in hostile territory with a mission to win hearts and minds. We have orders to train up our troops and go behind the lines on Combat Search and Rescue missions.

God has given us spiritual weapons: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

and spiritual armor with which to withstand the enemy: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:10-18

We are not to use the weapons of our enemies—intimidation, guilt, whining, etc. When the battle gets hot and the enemy is pressing hard we have the ability to call in God’s Air Strike through prayer. It is God’s responsibility to provide the power, the means and the protection. It is our responsibility to stand firm using the weapons God has provided.

2 comments:

Eric said...: Love the airstrike analogy. Much easier to trust in a rifle or other weapon in our hands. Much better to trust in the awesome power that can be brought by contacting HQ and requesting air support.; January 1, 2012 at 10:45 AM
blunoz said...: I agree with Eric - I love the airstrike analogy.

It's tough when others are trying to do you harm not to fight back using their same techniques. It's also challenging when in a leadership position to take the high road and pray for them rather than give in to the temptation to fight back.; January 1, 2012 at 11:19 AM

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
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WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”