Won and done!

I have my PhD in Spiritual warfare.  This is not Christianity 101.  This is for the warriors who have been in this for decades with the Lord.  

Your wounded-ness - the devil knows your Achilles heel.  He is not going after your strengths  He's going to where you've been hurt before, to reopen that wound to get you in a state of fear, anxiety, doubting God, anger - whatever it is - he only has a few tools in his toolbox that he uses over and over again, each one lousy!

Recently, one Friday morning, all of these awful thoughts came at me.  I knew they were not my own thoughts, that it was a spiritual attack.  I was at work so I couldn't pray or speak the Word out loud. But in my heart I was praying, worshiping the Lord, knowing that the victory was coming.

How did I know the victory was coming?  Because Christ promises to always lead us in triumph.  That doesn't mean there won't be battles; there will.  But it's a done deal.  Not a one and done, but won and done!

But it took a while for this one last Friday to be won.  Why isn't this Christianity 101 but getting your PhD in spiritual warfare?  Because you need to know that some battles take time.  You could be prayed up, you could be wearing the full armor of God, you can know in your heart that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. But the fact of the matter is we're still going to get it. We're still a target for the enemy because he knows that we are a threat to his diabolical stuff.

Know that the battle is the Lord's.  Don't give up because it is taking a couple hours and not a couple of seconds!  That means that, boy, the Lord is using you where you are!  His Presence is powerful in You!

Even if you never spoke a word about Jesus, His Presence in you is enough to send them packing!  Enough to make them feel uncomfortable.  

Instead of them giving into that conviction of sin that they feel, they cling to their puny, small lives because they want to be lord of their own lives.  They don't want Jesus as Lord over their lives! If everyone "controlling" their own lives really worked, wouldn't the world be a better place by now?!

So stand strong!  Wait it out.  Worship it out.  Remember, that it is won and done because you are in Christ! No matter what it "feels" like or how intense the battle is, you must remember this!

So how to stop living in Christianity 101 and moving on to your PhD?  Stop raising your hands on Sunday, then living like the world on Monday! God needs worshipers who worship Him in Spirit and in truth every day of the week.  

And, sorry to break it to you, but it will make your life worse in some ways.  Why?  Because when you are serious with the Lord, wholehearted with Him, the enemy is really after your hide!  I'm not talking about your "ministry" on Sunday morning.  I'm talking about every day, the ins and outs, on the battlefield, in the trenches, out there on the front lines - that's every day.

Think of those precious men and women battling it out in real wars overseas. God bless them.  When you are in an actual war, there is no nap time!  Remember Pearl Harbor - how they were caught off guard because it was a Sunday morning - they thought there were not "at war" then.  But real wars happen 24/7. So it is with us, too, in our spiritual warfare!

Why does He allow these battles? That's a big question.  I don't have the answer to that.  I really wish He wouldn't allow them.  But we live in this fallen world until Christ banishes the devil to hell for all eternity - and that with one word!  I want a front row seat for that!  Then, we will no longer have these wretched battles.

But!  For now, stand strong, stay encouraged, stay in the Lord.  You are never alone in this!  God will win the battle!