The Battle Belongs To The Lord

Question:  How are you holding up in the battles you are, or have been, facing?

As a Christian we are in a battle for our souls and many other things.  We have a powerful enemy who comes to kill, steal and destroy.  He hates the fact that we are believers and have escaped his grip on our lives through the grace of God.  He will never give up fighting against us for the purpose of our demise and destruction.  What you have to understand is, this is not just our enemy but he is an enemy to nonbelievers as well.  He knows his time is short and fire and brimstone await him.  Our enemy is very cunning and crafty and he has had a lot of practice at destroying people’s lives.

Remember Eve, the first woman who was created?  She was created without a sin nature, she was perfect, never having sinned until our enemy deceived her through the serpent.  Her problem was she listened to the serpent and was taken in by his lies then she took of the fruit and gave some to Adam and he partook of it also.  Adam wasn’t deceived, Eve was.  Now think about this, the third of the angels that fell with Lucifer were perfect without a sin nature but somehow the enemy of our souls deceived them also.  Then think about us, we are all born with a sin nature because of Adam and Eve’s sin, how much easier would it be for our enemy to deceive us.

But Praise God, he hasn’t left us defenseless, he has given each born–again believer a weapon that is stronger and mightier and much more powerful than our enemy.  He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us, to teach us, to comfort us and to convict us and to bring all things back to our remembrance whatsoever Jesus has taught us.  Praise His Name!

If we walk by the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  In Galatians chapter 5: it says in verses 16–26, “So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit.  Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.  The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are just the opposite than what the sinful nature wants.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.  But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results, sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activate, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again as I have before that anyone living in that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God!

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  Here there is no conflict with the law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.  If we are living now by the Holy Spirit let us follow the Holy Spirit leading in every part of our lives.  Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.  And be sure to do unto others as you would have them do unto you because you will always reap what you sow.”

As you can see, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives.  And don’t forget the battle belongs to the Lord and He has given us all the power we need to be overcomers.

But like I said before, our enemy is also cunning and crafty so don’t underestimate him.  He has destroyed many, many lives and God and Paul knew it, so God used Paul to warn us and to encourage us to stand strong in the faith.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6: verses 10–18, “A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.  For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.  Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm.  Stand your ground putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.  For shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news, so that you will be fully prepared.  In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.”

When we take these words into our hearts and are persistent to apply them to our lives we will not grieve the precious Spirit of God and we will be overcomers in the Lord, standing firm resisting the evil one and making him flee.

Then we will understand that the battle is the Lord’s and He will fight with us to conquer our enemy.  Praise God!  Have a great day and may God bless you.