Spiritual Warfare

I never quite understood what spiritual warfare was and looked like until I went to serve in SOuthEast Asia this year. In training I heard I would soon encounter it. That you could immediately feel the tension in the air and it would be so thick you could cut it with a knife...That as soon I would get out of the plane I would know there was a war going on. A war between what is Righteous and what is wicked. A war between pureness and unclean lips. A war between the spirit and the flesh. A war between what I believe in so dearly and what the world believes. I know God is real. I'd be foolish to deny the power, provision, strength, protection, wisdom, and sovereignty of God after I've seen countless ways of how He works. I now know that satan is very real also. He's drinking lots of coffee, staying awake to ace his tests. He studies your every move and plans every way possible to try and stop God from working through you. He's not worried about those who have not accepted Christ...they're already wrapped around his fingers. Those who believe in Jesus and radically follow Him are his target. As if he suddenly forgets that he has are been defeated and the true battle was already won on the cross...

So after being informed that I would encounter spiritual warfare in the near future I began to pray more intentionally for strength to fight against it. Throughout this past month my team and I have seen God do some pretty insanely awesome things. Both in us and through us as well as other believers. We have also seen Satan at work. We've seen him stirring up our wants, tricking us into thinking that a lot of our wants were needs. He tried to cause simple frustrations to erupt into volcanoes. He was trying everything possible to have doubt, fear, and selfishness creep into our hearts. Satan knows your weakness and knows how to make you at your most vulnerable state of mind. He knows how to make you insecure and timid. That's why it is so important to renew the mind daily especially when traveling to foreign lands out of typical comfort zones.

"For God has not given us the spirit of Timidity, but of power Love,and self-discipline. So Never be afraid to tell others about the Lord." -2 Timothy 1:7

What a blessing it is that The Most High God, Shang Di, is Above All and created all.

"We are indestructable until God says so."

How many times are you doing work in the harvest and when it starts to rain, you go back inside where it's dry...? How many times do you run in the fire then peace out when it begins to get  really hot...? How many times do you go and go and go but one negative opinion causes you to completely shut down...? How many times is it dark outside and you don't even realize you have a flashlight in your backpack...? How many times do you see God working but as soon as you are uncomfortable you want to go home...?

I'm not saying these things out of condemnation, but out of love. Most of the time that's the way Satan works. Things go good, heck things go great! Then all of a sudden tension builds, the waters rise, and Satan starts the battle within a fortress of the mind that he loves to dwell in.

During the greatest of opportunities to share Christ with others...Satan is running a marathon. What a blessing it is to have discernment, to know and realize when Satan is at work. Praise God for the understanding that it's not simply ironic when you feel like quitting and giving up. Satan wants culture shock to get the best of you. It's one of the greatest mind games ever. It says in the word that even your heart can be deceitful. This means we must place our trust, hope, and complete faith in Christ because on our own we are weak.

Spiritual Warfare is real. It's everywhere and it's a constant battle. It's important to seek God's guidance in fighting against fleshly desires. REST is essential and the armor has to be put on daily as well as time spent in the war room/secret place.

Don't buy into the lies. Don't allow yourself to stop serving the Lord. Don't back out when you feel led and called to Go. Never turn down an opportunity to share the gospel with others.