Pick Your God and Start a War

CATEGORY: Religious War

TAG: war, religion

COMMENTARY: The Good Reverend nails it - weep over real war, but make sure to wage your own war on a spiritual level where there can be no questioning or reasoning. The Satan bogeyman is always there, ready to take you on.

So what are you waiting for?! Pick your God and start fighting! Spiritual war makes the world go around. And the Modern Evil Company will be there to supply you with all your warfare needs.

We Have Special Weapons for the Fight Against Evil

By REV. JERRY FORTUNATO

Sat, Aug 05, 12:58 ET

THERE ARE times when we see evil so blatant, so powerful that we shudder with fear and weep in despair. The last several weeks our world has witnessed the horrific loss of lives and devastation in the Middle East as the battle between Israel and Lebanon has escalated and so many lives have been lost. Our world is filled with pain, suffering, cruelty, and exploitation - the result, directly or indirectly, of evil.

I have a declaration to make. You and I are at war right at the moment. In fact, we are engaged right now in the mother of all battles. No war in history can compare with the battle you and I are fighting. If you are a Christian, it can be either the cause of your greatest joy, or your deepest pain. The war I am talking about is the spiritual warfare that you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, became a part of the day you trusted him as your personal savior.

This war affects every area of our lives. There is no way we can avoid the conflict. There is no bunker or foxhole we can crawl into that will shield us from the effects of this battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan.

Since we are at war, how do we fight the battle and become successful? The apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus said: "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." (Eph. 6:12, NLT) So the real enemy then is demonic forces, not people, although we cannot excuse the wrong they do.

God has, however, placed at our disposal adequate spiritual weapons for the battle at hand and promises that we will not fight alone. And through faith in him we can be a victor and not a victim.

First, choose to live in truth. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Truth is not knowledge, nor is it education. Education is the favored weapon of those attacking our problems today as the most effective way of solving them. However, we must be committed to truth, which is found only in God's Word. It is not only our responsibility to know the truth; we must demonstrate it as well. Our lives are to be characterized by openness and honesty.

The second weapon is love. What a tired word. We love our spouse, ice cream, our dog, and our children - all different feelings. Biblical love, though, is without self-interest and Paul describes it in detail in I Corinthians (13th chapter), "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

This is the way we must love others. Godly love is a mighty weapon. It is a powerful change agent that transforms people caught in webs of sin into saints who honor God.

The third weapon is righteousness. Paul reminded the Ephesians to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Translated: Allow the Lord to change your life for the better. We replace common human traits with the character of Christ who is tenderhearted, accepting, forgiving, and loving. Because of the Spirit in us, there should be a quality, a radiance, which cannot be explained except by the fact that God is at work in you.

The fourth weapon is prayer. Prayer is a mysterious way to become an agent of good in a world besieged by evil and suffering. What a mighty weapon is put in our hands when we pray and believe that God hears and answers.

Truth, love, righteousness and prayer, these four all work together. We cannot isolate one from the other: They are all necessary. And when we begin to major on these weapons, we will be a tremendously potent force for God and the kingdom of heaven.

There is no place we can go to escape the effect of spiritual warfare. We need to learn how to fight. We can be victorious. That is God's promise.