I struggle with the way our culture is going.  Gain the World; Forfeit Your Soul.  It sums up America as I observe it.  Everywhere I look, it seems there are people out to gain power, prestige, prominence, and control for themselves.  We see it in politics, the popular media, at crime scenes, and in the city streets.

Instead of running to help someone who is hurting (or staying out of the way of those who are trying to help), we have become a generation of people who crowd into the too-close-for-comfort-zones with our smart phones to capture the video clip, upload it really fast, and then dream it goes viral.  O to be famous for 15 minutes…

What is especially troubling is how often this is done at the expense of a person’s conscience and any sense of moral concern for others!  Wouldn’t it be better to ensure the timely arrival of valued help by calling 911 instead of filming for YouTube or posting your status to Facebook?

If Jesus were to return in the moment of a crisis, would He really give a rip about someone’s video clip or Facebook status?  Gain the World; Forfeit Your Soul.

When we encounter troubles and we wonder where God is, Scripture reminds us that God says His grace is sufficient.  Sometimes His grace means He covers over the problem.  Sometimes His grace means we don’t feel the pain as acutely.  Sometimes His grace means that His hope sustains us for another day.  Sometimes His grace overflows so powerfully we become ashamed at our little problems and feel totally unworthy of His outpouring of mercy.

But sometimes, the pain hurts too deeply, the troubles are far beyond our ability to cope, the sadness is too profound, and the distress cannot be corrected by any man.  Sometimes God knows the benefit of our suffering is worth His not stepping in and solving it.  At these times, God wants for His glory to shine in the midst of our suffering.  When we’re tempted to give up because His grace seems far off from our present grief, Scripture reminds us that His grace is sufficient.  Maybe not lavish, over the top, wow-factor type grace…but enough to see you through.  What seems on the surface to be not quite enough somehow ends up growing and stretching and multiplying in our faith until it becomes a display of God’s amazing grace.

Where are you today?  Do you know His grace is sufficient?

Among the most effective strategies in fighting the spiritual battle is to take up the Weapon of Prayer.

Consider this odd exchange between the crowd, the teachers of the law, a man and his suffering son, Jesus and His disciples:

Mark 9:14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Many people discount the power of prayer and ridicule the spiritual realm of demons and spirits as a sad figment of an overactive imagination.  But to downplay the spiritual battle as nothing more than fantasy is to put oneself at danger from the very thing one ridicules.  Jesus took the spiritual realm seriously and so should we.

While most of us aren’t called to perform exorcisms or rebuke spirits, it is noteworthy that Jesus’ prayer wasn’t recorded for us to read but was clearly prayed.  The power of God was unleashed in the prayer of Jesus to His Father and we know that because the spirit was driven out and it can only come out by prayer.

The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by spiritual enemies of discouragement, doubt, anger, thoughts of self-hatred, suicide, or despair, take up the Weapon of Prayer.

Do you want to read the rest of the Armor of God series? Click the following links:

The sword of the Spirit is the Weapon of the Word.  In the spiritual battle, it’s the only offensive weapon available to us.  And that’s a good thing since we fight an invisible enemy.

In the movie Monsters, INC. Randall is Boo’s monster who can become invisible and change his appearance like a chameleon to be rendered difficult to see against a backdrop.  When the hero Sully was trying to fight against him to save Boo, the evil Randall’s invisibility made him hard to fight.  Sully may have been bigger and stronger, but deprived of his sight, this gave him no edge.  Likewise, in horror movies, the invisible enemy is always the scariest.  You can’t fight what you can’t see.  At least in the movies.

In the spiritual battle, we can indeed fight what we do not see.  We use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.  The simple reason is this: words have invisible power.  Better yet, the Word of God never fails to be victorious because it is the invisible power…of God.

So when insults come your way; when you’re weary of standing firm; when the illness is taking its toll; when doubts crowd your mind or when discouragement sneaks upon you and pounces, strike the enemy with the Word of God.  Stand firm upon His promises.  Scripture has spiritual power to fight an invisible enemy.

Once upon a time, I did a short stint as a telemarketer for a philanthropic organization.  I suppose I ought to be embarrassed admitting having done the job that so many of us hate on the receiving end.  But I was going on a mission trip and I wanted to pay my own way.  Lacking my own funding, I told God I would not look down on any legitimate job He provided.  And so I did it.  Fortunately God provided a different job after about 4 weeks.  I wasn’t sure how much more of telemarketing I could take.

It was an instructive experience for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was having ample opportunity to realize that fighting the spiritual battle frequently results in blows to the head.

Discouragement!  Doubt!  Rejection!  Resentment!

These beat up our minds and the shockwaves get carried throughout our entire bodies.  One day when I got home from work, I realized that discouragement from rejection enters through the mind and gets firmly lodged in our flesh.  No amount of washing will wash it away.  I learned a profound truth about the spiritual battle from that job.  Spiritual battles cannot be fought with earthly weapons.

Just as a person riding a bicycle or motorcycle wears a helmet to protect against head injury, the spiritual warrior needs a good helmet of salvation.  In the full armor of God, we’re covered head-to-toe with the powerful protective weapons of God.  The helmet of salvation protects the mind.  When discouragement comes because of the world and its troubles, the mind is protected with knowledge that salvation has been accomplished.  Doubt?  How can we doubt when God gave us His Son Jesus to save us?  Will He not give us what we need?  Rejection?  God has not rejected us.  He has elected us to have salvation in Jesus Christ!  Resentment at life’s circumstances and questioning God’s goodness will be washed away by His love for us.

To keep ourselves from injury in the head games of the evil one, put on that helmet of salvation.  In doing so, you will have the complete set of God’s protective armor to carry you through the spiritual battle.  From head to toe, you will be standing firm in the truth God’s love for us and the salvation He provides in Jesus Christ.

When you’re feeling attacked by negative thoughts, when everything seems to be imploding around you, when it feels like stinging words or hurtful actions come at your heart out of nowhere, it’s time to raise your shield of faith.

Raising a shield of faith as part of your readiness for the spiritual battle is a matter of believing the battle is already won.  Fiery arrows of  negative thoughts? Stopped by the knowledge that you are not judged by a God who hates you but One who loves you.  Everything imploding? Stopped by the knowledge that a house of faith, built on the solid rock will withstand any storm!  Stinging words or hurtful actions of other human beings?  Stopped by the knowledge that God will right every wrong, wipe every tear, heal every wound, and restore every heart of those who belong to Him by faith.

God’s full armor will protect you.  You put it on by faith and actively take that shield into your ready stance as you face a troubled world.  Be strong.  You’re well equipped for any battle you face when you have faith in God who fights for you.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

We don’t usually think of shoes as weapons.  Even throwing slippers at someone doesn’t seem very effective, particularly fuzzy bunny ones.  But shoes as a protective weapon can be remarkably supportive and helpful.

For the Roman soldier, the protective footgear pictured in this Scripture would have helped the soldier to avoid injury, to get a good grip for quickly running into battle, to support the rest of the body, and to maintain a ready stance for long periods without fatigue.

In our Christian walk, if our feet aren’t fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of peace, we are unprepared to stand firm in the spiritual battle against an unseen enemy.  We must view the Gospel as being our best instruction for protection, support, encouragement, and direction.

When a relentless pursuit of the truth becomes lived out as our routine, there results a righteousness to guard our hearts.  If truth secures and preserves our inner core as a belt, righteousness protects our hearts as a breastplate.  At that point, the torso of the armor of God is complete.

When a police officer wears a bulletproof vest or an umpire wears a chest guard, the purpose is to protect the soft tissues and vital organs from projectiles.  When the Christian dons the breastplate of righteousness, no matter what comes to attack our decisive will or our heart for God, the force of the attack will be absorbed and injury will be minimized.

How do we put on a breastplate of righteousness?

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

We gain it every time we recognize God’s truth, embrace it, and apply it.  Living a life of righteousness isn’t easy in our culture, but it’s a necessary part of the protective gear for every Christian who stands his ground.

One doesn’t need to hang around me very long before one realizes how important the truth is to me. 

Stop and think about it: if you don’t have the truth, what do you really have?

(Think about that for a second.  I’ll wait while you put names to what you have if you don’t have the truth.)

So the next time someone in Washington, DC; or Springfield or Chicago, Illinois;  or some other entity tries to obfuscate the truth and give you something else in its place, ask yourself what you’re really getting.  Someone has the truth.  Someone knows the truth.  It takes someone to speak the truth and it takes someone to hide the truth.

But make no mistake: the truth always comes out!

Romans 2:6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger

Do you see?  Those who uphold the truth will be honored.  Those who revere it will be rewarded.  Those who rejected it will be held accountable.  Those who hid it will be disclosed and put to shame.  Those who clung to it will be comforted and emerge victorious.  Those who cast it aside will be cast aside themselves.

John 8: 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Perhaps it is for this reason—the vast importance of the truth—that it is the first of the weapons listed for the Christian to use in standing his ground against an invisible and evil enemy. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Standing your ground includes mental, physical, and strategic self-preparedness for battle.  I was thinking about how it’s easier to prepare for an enemy you can see than for an invisible enemy.  Interestingly, when the enemy is invisible it is more necessary to stand our ground.  Firing randomly, shooting from the hip out of panic or fear is unlikely to help us to see the battle in the heavenly realms.

Do you remember the famous order “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes”?  It is often attributed to the battle of Bunker Hill although it was apparently a somewhat common order in the 1700s to keep the combatants from wasting their limited ammunition by panicked shooting before it might accomplish any possible pushing back the enemy.

When we cannot see our enemy, all firing on our part is shooting in the dark.  So what does God tell us to do?  Put on the full armor of God, prepare, do what we can, and then stand.  It is good advice for us, especially since the spiritual battle is His to fight.