Hebrews 12:4,
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,striving against sin.
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE?
This is a fight of resistance and enforcement against the forces of evil. It is also the fight of winning victory and freeing yourself from Satan's bondage.
The Bible in John 10:10a says,
The thief cometh not,but for to steal,and to kill,and to destroy.
Who is the thief here? It is Satan. His main target is the believers so that he can gain through them and make them fall in his hands.
The devil has no business with the unbelievers (sinners) because he has already known their destination and wouldn't want to disturb them but he is actually after the Children of God. That is why the Bible warns us not to rest but always pray and resist the devil and his cohorts.
An unbeliever cannot fight the devil to victory because he has no access to the decrees and authorities God had given to His children. When you decide to confront the devil with just yourself alone without God in this,Devil will only be laughing at you because he knows you are not going anywhere.
Satan is the Prince of this world and he leads a coalition of forces against God and anything connected to His purpose on earth.
Regardless of your academics qualification,personality status,age,gender and so on,Satan is not concerned about that,he is ever concerned of pulling you down from God's kingdom into his everlasting torment in hell.
When you go out seeking for natural or scientific solutions to problems,it is bound to end in total failure. An adage will say,
When Satan gives you a cap,he collects in return a big head
So when you look for something unnecessary, you see something bigger than you and becomes a big problem to you and your generations.
As Christians, we engage in a fight of faith to live in the reality of victory that Christ has won and given to us over the devil and the flesh.
Hebrews 2:14-15,
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,he also himself likewise took part of the same;that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is,the devil;
15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Satan deploys his attacks on Christians from two major fronts.
He empowers the world system to attack and work against Christians externally through persecution, deception and seduction.
He attacks Christians internally by using the weaknesses of the natural body they possess to try to frustrate our commitment to serving God completely.
The major focus of the devil is to entice people into sin,so that he can break the relationship between them and God. As Christians, we should learn from Jesus example. Despite the trials and temptations he went through when he was on earth, yet He didn't sin against God.
Another example is Joseph,when he was sold to Potiphar and Potiphar's wife tried to lure him to have sex with her. But Joseph made a statement which I like so much. He said,
There is none greater in this house than I;neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee,because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9)
We would see that Joseph was in God and because of the post he held,he never take it for granted. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? I love this part.
Many people because of a position they are,they use it anyhow and forget about God, Joseph didn't want to sin against God that was why he didn't do such.
Here we can say Potiphar's wife was an agent of the devil that was why she was used to carry out the assignment. Had it been Joseph succumb to her devilish act,the Glory of God would have departed from his life long ago. We won't be talking about him for good today.
We all should no matter how we are tempted, fall into sin and commit a crime before God. He expects us to be determined to resist sin,no matter the cost.
Satan can promise you the whole world with his tricks and when you fall into it,it will take the grace of God to come out of it because he would have tied you down,will never even allow you think of taking a decision to come out.
Our loving Father has perfected the mechanism to assist us triumph over the wicked attacks of the devil,but He expects us to resist the temptation to sin with everything we have and not to fall prey to the antics of the devil like weaklings.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,that ye may be able to bear it.
For you to fight the devil in the spiritual realm,it is not only by mouth or by physical strength but you need the weapons to fight him spiritually.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,but against principalities, against powers,against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.(Ephesians 6:12).
The above scripture explains that we cannot fight the spiritual with the physical, we need backbones from above to face these powers. They don't wrestle in the physical but in the spirit realm. So we need to be fortified with God's power.
Satan and his fallen angels are organized into a well coordinated army that is skilful in carrying out devastating attacks on their victims. We must therefore be strategic and confront them from a position of knowledge and strength.
Our fight of faith calls for courage to withstand dreadful circumstances, determination to overcome at all costs and persistent prayers.
For though we walk in the flesh,we do not war after the flesh:(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)
We are commanded in the book of Ephesians 6:11 & 13, to "put on" and "take on" the whole armour of God.
WHAT ARE ARMOUR OF GOD?
- TRUTH
Jesus himself is the truth,in John 14:6,He says,
I am the way,the truth,and the life:no man cometh unto the Father,but by me.
The first armour of God is truth,it is only when you come to the truth that Jesus can help you. He doesn't accept those that keeps lies deceit and so on,He only accepts the truth. Say the truth,and the truth shall set you free.
HOLINESS
Holiness means total obedience. When you are obedient to God's commands,He will guide and help you to fight the devil. When a son doesn't obey his father,the father is not happy and wouldn't want to give the child support, that is in the case of God.FAITH IN GOD
Believe in God and have in Him. Put your trust in Him and He will never fail you.SALVATION
When you are saved,you are counted as one of His children and will be happy to help you in all situations you are in. Without being saved,you cannot enjoy His benefits.THE WORD OF GOD
Meditate on the word of God everyday so that it can be part and parcel of you,when you read the word everyday at all times,it will give you guides on how to face the devil. It will help you in the right word to use when confronting Satan.PERSISTENT PRAYER
The Bible urge Christians never to relent in prayer because devil himself is always roaming about,roaring like a lion,looking for whom to devour. Pray without ceasing. Always pray because it will make Satan far away from you and be afraid of coming near you.WATCHING AND PERSEVERANCE
Finally,as Christians, we must be watchful because devil is not resting,always ready and on the road monitoring the Christians so that he can penetrate into their life.
The Bible assures us that when you have all these armour of God in you,they will be effective in pulling down the strongholds of the devil,casting down every imagination of the enemy that is contrary to the purpose of God,and bringing into captivity every thought and device to the obedience of Christ.
Let us all put on the whole armour of God and face the devil. We will be rest assured that the battle will be won in Jesus name.
Thanks for reading