an enemy on the prowl
01-17-2022
flaming arrows
Though our battle is not of flesh and blood, the spiritual war rages on behind the scenes. If you feel spiritually attacked then chances are you are a Christian and you finally begin to make some headway in your relationship with the Lord.
Because of this, what comes is often a slurry of attacks, sometimes minor things and sometimes major things. We misplace our keys, our wallet, we can’t sleep, the car battery is dead, somebody steals your debit card info, you feel dizzy, weak, lightheaded, somebody gives you the finger, somebody in your family gets COVID, someone you know dies from COVID, you fall off a curb... the list goes on.
When working against enemy battle lines, the most important targets are usually the most heavily defended and have the highest propensity for resistance. Satan doesn’t want you to draw closer to God, draw closer to the Holy Spirit, read your Bible, write that Instagram post, remain calm with your family, pray with your friends, hug your wife, etc. Satan will always attack us when he has the most to lose so we need to be ready for flanking attacks.
Ultimately, never be afraid of Satan and his schemes. He may be the master of lies and deceit but he is no match for us or the God whom we serve. So next time he is bothering you, you tell that slimy bastard to go fuck himself, because your house serves the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
men at home
During Paul’s fourth missionary journey he wrote letters instructing Timothy to care for the church at Ephesus while he went on to Macedonia. When Paul realized he might not return to Ephesus in the near future, he wrote this first letter to Timothy to take on the charge he had given his young assistant: 1) Refute false teachings 2) Supervise the affairs of the growing Ephesian church 3) Appoint qualified church leaders.
“Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions.”
- 1 Timothy 6:4
The enemy uses division, slander, conspiracy, and suspicion to divide us as Christians. In order to know our enemy, we need to understand all aspects of the battle we are entering; the phycological and the physical. God knows we must study the tactics of the enemy and gives us a direct command in Mathew 10:16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
How do we seek wisdom in this calling? We should be studying the history of the Bible, warriors of battlefields lost, and enemy tactics within, so we can better understand darkness, know its seems, and ask God to help us discern when we have played into the Enemy’s trap. If wisdom is said to be knowledge put into action, then we must first know the tactics of war in order to overcome the Enemy.
Lord, Jesus, I need you. I want you. I’m sorry for my sins. Please, was my sins away with the blood of Christ. I welcome your Holy Spirit into my heart. As best I know how I give you my life. Use me as a Watchman and give me your wisdom, Lord.
Go Forth. Keep Watch!
Ezekiel 33:1-9
quenching faith
As we grow in our faith journey with the Lord our faith goes through periods of heating, hammering, heating, and hammering to draw out the width and breadth of our faith into the tool or vessel God has designed for our lives. God is taking soft raw steel and is beginning to forge our faith into something special.
Psalm 19:7-11 - “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.”
At times our faith will be molded and shaped under the power of the Holy Spirits’ hammer and fire until we take our proper shape. Once we have been shaped and inspected, our faith will be tested by the Enemy. This point of God’s related to a quench.
Quenching in forging terms is when you superheat the metal to the proper temperature, then it is dipped in a special oil to immediately and dramatically reduce the temperature of the metal, hardening the steel. If we pass the quench test and our faith is sufficiently hardened, we are ready to be shaped down into our final form.