Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #7

Romans 8 is full of spiritual battles: The enemy uses the sins of our past to haunt our minds with guilt; our flesh keeps trying to pull us back into sin; the struggles of life in this fallen world seek to weigh us down; sometimes we even struggle to know how to talk with God.  In each of these attacks and attempts, Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit is at work within us to help us. He then summarizes in the last paragraph:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Paul points us not only to the work of the Holy Spirit presently, but back to the work of Christ, past and present. He is standing next to the Father testifying on our behalf as Satan accuses us in our minds and interceding for us as we struggle. God's love still holds us strong, and He is much more powerful than the enemy. What we are going through is not unique - as the Old Testament quote reminds us, God's people have always faced such things. But God is unique and will make us super conquerors in the spiritual battles.

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #6

No discussion of Spiritual Victory would be complete without Ephesians 6:

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 13 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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 

Paul says: "know the enemy."  Satan, sin and self-sufficiency are devious, persistent, and persuasive. In order to defend and win against such enemies, we need to be ready at all times, with  a mental and spiritual awareness that does not wear us out. That means a commitment to truth, keeping our relationships with God and others right, showing people what we believe by how we live, so they are not surprised. These need to be on at all times, so we do not live in fear, having the adrenaline flowing, which will wear us out.  Then, we also need to have readily available our trust in Christ, assurance of salvation and such a familiarity with scripture that we will be ready to respond when the actual attack comes. Stand ready. 

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #5

Today we go to the Old Testament for a principle of Spiritual Warfare, looking a prophecy given through Isaiah in chapter 54:

15 If anyone stirs up strife,
    it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
    shall fall because of you.
16 Behold, I have created the smith
    who blows the fire of coals
    and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
17     no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
    and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

What makes spiritual warfare so difficult is how to fight an invisible battle of thoughts and words.  It is hard when people say things about you, falsely accusing you.  But that is one of Satan's greatest strategies. He is the great accuser, using lies, half-truths, forgiven sins and failure to assail God's people. God points this out to His people here. God will vindicate us when we are faithful to Him. That does not mean that we will never be falsely accused nor that people will not believe the lies, but that ultimately the truth will be shown and his people vindicated. God had a greater weapon than Satan's weapon, and that is the Truth. And He has an army we cannot see protecting the souls of His people.  Satan can never beat that. 

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #4

We've seen what James, John, and Paul have to say about spiritual victory. Today we look in I Peter 5:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 

We've already talked about the great humility and submission we need to have before God for victory, as well as the core issue of Satan's attack on the mind. He is devious and relentless.  Something else this passage reminds us of is how much our emotions can mislead us. Our anxieties, fears and worries which are not submitted to God can wreak havoc on how we respond to trials and temptations; we need to give them all to God.  Another key element of spiritual battle is to constantly remember that we are not alone in our struggles: believers throughout the world are under attack as well, remaining faithful in even more severe and difficult situations. In spiritual warfare it is easy for us to think we are a special case - worse than any other case, and that this gives us an excuse for giving in, letting up, responding to temptations and trials with less dedication to being victorious. Peter says: that is simply not the case. 

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #3

In II Corinthians 10, Paul talks tough about the Spiritual Battle we are in:

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

We have already seen the need we have to submit to God and depend on the Holy Spirit to have victory. Here Paul talks about the weapons and ammunition we are to use.  The weapons are our minds: fully under the control of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We are not talking about being smart or crafty in debating - it is actually the proud enemy who thinks he is smarter and he is tricky- he is the great deceiver; we are not going to out-trick the great trickster. We need to begin from a humble perspective, like Paul does, making sure our hearts and minds are protected with truth. What is truth? Reality as God sees it. And when Truth guides our thinking, victorious obedience follows. Today, may God and His truth take every thought captive, and may we humbly obey and serve Him. 

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #2

Today we look at another of the shorter letters of the New Testament: I John chapter 4.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

As we face the daily, and sometimes, intense spiritual battles, we need to have the perspective we talked about yesterday: humility.  We should not have the attitude that we are big, bad adults, but young children. Yet that does not make us weak, because as followers of Christ, we have withing us the indwelling powerful Spirit of God. We need to be very aware and in tune to His speaking and His leading. We also need to be aware that there is another spirit at work in the world - the spirit of the enemy. We are not to live in fear of his spirit, but we are to be very aware of his influence, and not allow him to sway us, be it emotionally, mentally, or spiritually.  This all leads us to our key verse for the day, verse 4: When we have this in balance, we can overcome, we can have the victory in our daily lives. Face today depending on Him.

Scriptures for Spiritual Victory #1

Today, as we enter into a weekend of celebration and commemoration of our nation's freedom, we begin a new series of studies on Scriptures for Spiritual Victory.  There is war going on all around us and within us - an unseen battle of heart, soul and mind. We want to be prepared for these battles we encounter daily. James 4 says:

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

Our core verse is brief and succinct, but we need to make sure we keep things in order. We cannot fight this war on our own, and we are not in charge. We must first submit ourselves to the authority and power of our Commander and Creator; we need to draw closer to Him; we need to recognize Him as "in charge." The other half of the command is to resist the enemy general, refusing to fall into his plan. And what is his main plan? Pride. He wants us to think and act like he does; he wants us to think that it's all about me, and how I feel, what I want.  Spiritual victory is best for me, but it's not all about me. We cannot be double-minded or two-faced about this. We can only serve one Commander, and that requires that we report to Him, and have Him inspect our hands and hearts, our actions and motives, to make sure we are fighting for Him, and not the enemy.