Are You Wrestling

Have you ever been in a wrestling match with someone?  In order to win the match you need some hands on experience, a certain amount of knowledge and a strong body, as well as a strong mind.  In order to overpower your opponent you need some good strategies and you should have a good bit of knowledge about the person you are wrestling and how they wrestle.  Working out, building the muscles you need for the match is a good idea.  Watching and studying video clips on the way they fight would be another good idea.  I am not talking about the W.W.F which, for the most part, is fake but even in that kind of match you need to know how to fall and you need to know how to make it look as real as possible with as little injuries as possible.

Did you know that every born-again believer is a wrestler, whether they know it or not or whether they are prepared or not?  I am afraid that many are not prepared and they are losing battles daily because either they don’t know that they are in a battle for their lives or they don’t know who their enemy is, outside of what he is called.  Many lose battles against sin and temptation because they think the enemy has been ‘knocked out for the count’ to never rise again and that is not true.  Yes, the enemy has been defeated at the cross and he will never be able to overcome the church because Jesus rose from the grave and because the ultimate outcome has already been determined, but he is still very much alive and we are in a fierce battle every day with him.

Read what it says in Revelations 12:7-17, “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.’”

The evil one is seeking out weak, venerable believers so that he can try to devour them, it says this in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”   Lions and other animals of prey seek out the sick, weakened, vulnerable and secluded animals to destroy and devour them and that is the way the evil one works also, that could be why he is compared to a lion.

So many times, we believers wrestle with people, judging and running down those we don‘t agree with instead of loving them, choosing to disagree but not alienating ourselves from them.  I have been guilty of this many times, but if you really look at this issue reasonably who is behind all the bickering, fighting, bitterness and unforgiveness?  It is the evil one who the scriptures say we are wrestling with.  If we can’t get along with one another we will end up devouring one another.

It says this in Galatians 5:14-15, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

The evil one is very pleased when we get our eyes on people, and some of the cruel things that they may say, factually or imagined, and get our eyes off the Lord.  I wonder how many people really know what, “love your neighbor as yourself,” really means?  Love is one of the main ingredients that should be seen in a Christian’s life, without it we have been defeated and will accomplish nothing and the evil one will win every time.  Remember when we start battling, or wrestling, with our brothers and sisters we are helping the evil one further his cause here on earth.  We are not to wrestle against people, but against the evil one and his wicked forces.  

What we need to do is to put on the whole armor of God each morning and walk in the Spirit and His power, resisting the evil one so he will have to flee from us, praise the Lord.  We need to start putting time in the Word so we can learn more about the enemy and his tactics, then instead of giving in to him, expose him for who he really is; a killer, thief, liar and an accuser of the brethren and everything that is wicked and everything that stands against the Lord.  Something to think about, may the good Lord bless you and yours and have a super day!!