The Ene(me)

One thing to always keep in mind is that we live in a fallen world. We are at war and warfare is a task for soldiers. I do not claim to be an expert in the area, but I will say that I have been studying this for close to a year straight. Some of what I have found in my research you will find in my blog.
There are certain things a soldier must know in order to be effective on the field of battle. There is no difference when it comes to spiritual warfare. As warriors, we must know the answers to very important questions if we are to fight the war properly. The first and most important question is “who is the enemy?”

There is more than one way that enemy reveals itself to us – for the sake of this blog and where my heart sits today, I am going to focus on ourself. The reason I have chosen this is because without conquering our internal enemy, we cannot defeat the external enemy. I have been on a personal mission to cover myself in the armor of God on a daily basis (Ephesians, Chapter 6) and wage war against a strong and determined enemy. As you can see in recent posts, I have been struggling with my own personal sinful nature – the sinful nature that was bestowed upon me 2000 years ago in a beautiful garden - not placing blame here, its a fact. The bible tells us to take care of our own sin prior to go after the sin of others.

Matthew 7:3-5 (New Living Translation)

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend,‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

It is very telling that Jesus calls a person who does not deal with his own sin first a “hypocrite”. Hypocrisy is condemned in a number of places in the NT (Mat 7:5, Mat 23:28, Mk 12:15, Lk 6:42, Lk 12:1, Lk 13:15, 1 Ti 4:2, Jam 3:17). I will only mention Luke 12:1 here because it is key in understanding what is happening when we act in hypocrisy.

Luke 12:1 (New Living Translation)

Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.

When we are hypocrites we follow the teaching of the Pharisees, not the teaching of Jesus. If we act under any teaching or authority except that of Jesus, we cannot fight the enemy. Look at what happened to the sons of Sceva when they tried to cast out evil spirits . . .

Acts 19:13-16 (New Living Translation)

A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

When we do not fight our own sin first and act under the authority and teaching of Jesus, we will be overcome by the enemy and lose the battle.

Hipocracy is a formidable opponent in the spiritual battle. How can I expect that I will not be judged if I continue to pass judgment on others.The bible teaches us not to judge and is very specific on this point.

Matthew 7:1 (New Living Translation)

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged."

I have spoken in previous blogs about my resentment and judgmental behavior toward my extended family and San Diego and this is the sin that I live with. Along the lines of resentment and judgment comes different forms of anger – more sin.

In this war, in this battle, the enemy is entrenched on the battlefield. The confidence of the enemy will be his downfall. As I sit here writing this, my wife sent me a text message that read:

Genesis 20:50

Joseph said to his brothers “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

Joseph knew that God had a plan.
Joseph trusted in God,
And now Joseph forgave his brothers.
God planned for Josephs good.

This is exactly the scripture I needed at exactly this point in time. Not that my brothers "intended to harm me", but certainly the enemy did. The take away here is forgiveness and placing faith in God and His plan. My wife and kids are working/attending Vacation Bible School at OCC this week and this is the story they are studying today.

Its important not to beat ourselves up too much as this is also the enemy working in us to keep push us away from our Father. It would be much easier to deal with sin if we were not held accountable you know(?) No matter what sin(s) we have committed – no matter how big or small – we can surrender those and leave them at the cross. What happens after we do that is what most important – sustaining the win. We must never forget that the war is ongoing, there are many battles to won.

As many of you know, I love epic films and watch movies through a lens that allows God to speak to my heart. As I am writing this post, I am reminded of the speech that Lieutenant Colonel Harold “Hal” G. Moore gave when addressing the 7th Cavalry in the movie “We Were Soldiers”. Here is a small piece of this speech that was given just before the soldiers deployed:

“We’re moving into the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ – where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours. And you won’t care what color he is or by what name he calls God. They say we’re leavin’ home. We’re going to what home was always suppose to be. So let us understand the situation. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy.”

These soldiers were going to what “home was always suppose to be” – we were always meant to be in the war – in the battle for good. The enemy has convinced us otherwise through his sinister ways… Take a stand and allow the enemy to gain no more ground. I will see you there - I will watch your back!

Love and Warfare

Last night I spent a lot of time with the Holy Spirit. I am finding it somewhat difficult to rid myself of the resentment and judgmental behavior that I have toward my brothers as it relates to my grandmothers passing away. I hate the sin! It seems every time I ask God to reveal to me the sin in my life, this always comes up - the enemy knows how important this is to me and therefore continues to assault me and try to wound me in this area of my life. I read Ephesians 6 for encouragement - this is a spiritual battle. I was in tears last night because I continue to sin by continuing to pass judgment on the perceived actions of my family even though I am consciously trying to rid myself of this behavior - its really hard.

There is one other place in my life that I struggle with as well – my father that lives in Oregon. This also seems to come up every time I ask God to reveal to me those areas of sin in my life that I need to deal with. I was adopted and my birth father lives in Oregon and I just cannot get that relationship off the ground. Part of it is because I feel judged by him and his wife every time I see him. I think that this is what pushed my older brother (same father) and his wife away from them many years ago. I am trying to find a way to tell my father this, but it’s difficult – that arrow is placed deep in the most sensitive corner of heart.

I think as humans living in a fallen world, we all have those areas of sin that are hard to separate us from. As I continue to grow in my faith and become closer and closer to Him, I feel a sense of freedom. Occasionally I can taste the feeling of pure holiness before God. This is what I long for - pure transparency and cleansing of my soul before my Father. The enemy is fully aware of my desire and is using the things that are closest to my heart to trip me up. I long to have a rich relationship with my family - I long to see everybody sitting around the table at my house enjoying the company of one another. I long for God to reveal himself to those that closest to me. I long for my family to know how much I love them and how much I want them to be a part of my life.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
1 Peter 5:8-9

The Lord Is a Warrior

Good stuff!

I think even a quick read of the Old Testament would be enough to convince you that war is a central theme of God’s activity. There is the Exodus, where God goes to war to set his captive people free. Blood. Hail. Locusts. Darkness. Death. Plague after plague descends on Egypt like a boxer’s one-two punch, like the blows of some great ax. Pharaoh releases his grip, but only for a moment. The fleeing slaves are pinned against the Red Sea when Egypt makes a last charge, hurtling down on them in chariots. God drowns those soldiers in the sea, every last one of them. Standing in shock and joy on the opposite shore, the Hebrews proclaim, “The LORD is a warrior!” (Ex. 15:3). Yahweh is a warrior.

Then it’s war to get to the Promised Land. Moses and company have to do battle against the Amalekites; again God comes through, and Moses shouts, “The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation” (Ex.17:16). Yahweh will be at war. Indeed. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Then it’s war to get into the Promised Land—Joshua and the battle of Jericho, and all that. After the Jews gain the Promised Land, it’s war after war to keep it. Israel battles the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Midianites, the Egyptians again, the Babylonians—and on and on it goes. Deborah goes to war; Gideon goes to war; King David goes to war. Elijah wars against the prophets of Baal; Jehoshaphat battles the Edomites. Are you getting the picture?

(Waking the Dead, 14–15)