The Spiritual Competition: Attack!
Blog Repost
Being a Marine veteran I find this section of scripture found in Ephesians rather intriguing. Does it literally refer to spiritual warfare? How can someone in this physical realm war against spirit? What is literal in this? Or. Is it all just a figure of speech referring to the struggle of life? Is there really a difference between the two? How would one participate in a "spiritual competition?" Who can participate in the spiritual competition? Why would I want to get off the couch in the first place?!
Ephesians 6:11-20 (KJV)
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 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.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
The reason described for putting on the "whole armour of God" is so we may wrestle, overcome and stand victorious in this present evil day. As in a sporting event. And yet the instruments described are tools of war. It is easy to see how one may be confused. The whole bible is confusing to anyone not trained in the Biblical Research Principles. It is a spiritual competition in that Satan, the god of this world and his host (army) of devils has been defeated. The war is already won! Won by what Jesus accomplished. And yet... in this physical timeline they operate in this world hindering our God and the household. Maybe you've gotta excuse my jarhead mentality but having lost my two oldest young adult children to suicide and my marriage destroyed I'll tell ya... I'm at war! I'm out to do as much damage as I can to the spiritual hierarchy that infests this realm while I can! According to the rules. By speaking the truth in love... whether it's to myself (first and foremost!), in face-to-face situations, on this blog or online witnessing situations I'm doing what I can to dismantle the lies propagated by our adversary and bring those that want to know to the household. This is how we take the offensive and shred the lies that darken peoples' minds and keeps them from God!
The opponent, the enemy is all around us. Hidden from our senses. The rightly divided Word of God is the only thing that can equip and assist man while he's in this physical realm. God lays everything out so lovingly, so simply really but it takes a trained mind with an accurate knowledge of His Word to see it. You'll never see it with your physical eyes! But once born again you do acquire "spiritual eyes". When trained properly you learn how to use them effectively. You see the error manifested in this realm and the effects it has on people's lives. We gain the defensive ability to see any openings for attack. We have the resources to repel any attack. We are equipped and enabled to... "run through a troop and leap over the wall." Mentally we train ourselves spiritually, disciplining ourselves to the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is after all his whose disciples we are! There are many like me, trained in the scriptures and disciplining ourselves to the best of our ability... out of love... around the world... for decades! Why?! To please our Father and to bring into manifestation the life that He intends for us (His people) that is overflowing in abundance! Like any athlete or warrior, it takes time and training to become the best.
A little Biblical Research Principle here. Ephesians is addressed to "saints" (all believers) and to the "faithful in Christ Jesus", the spiritually mature believers (disciples.). Corinthians is addressed to all believers.
This post originally published on my blog TheHollerinStump.com on 02/12/2012. The blog is built on Blogger and hosted by Google. They have locked me out of my account there until I update my payment details. Therefore it won’t be getting registered and will cease to be available in the late spring of 2023. I am reposting as many of these posts here as I see relevant before then.
25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The (*Olympic) runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. (*added for clarification)
26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing.
27 Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.
Mentally we subdue ourselves physically to the written Word of God and beat the old man nature out of ourselves. Well... maybe I'm putting that too lightly. God tells us to crucify the old man. Scriptural training tortures the old man nature in neophyte disciples but eventually kills it as one stays faithful and matures. The more you "purify" yourself of your old man nature, the more clearly your spiritual goal becomes. And the more impact you can have on the spiritual realm! Mentally and physically it is a competition. Can you train and conduct yourself in the physical realm according to the spiritual rules laid out before us by our Father? Can you take the necessary believing action to get a need met? Can you beat back the devilish influences in and outside of your mind that distracts you from living according to God's standard for us? The "evil day" is now! The time is now! There is no tomorrow! It's on baby! Train! Train! Train!
Spiritually it is warfare in that we are competing, or fighting if you will, for the physical lives of... and quality of it for... ourselves, our loved ones, and each other. Make no mistake. The devil is out tostealthe word of God from our minds,killour physical bodies anddestroywhatever impact we make or have made on this physical realm. He is continually probing for weakness to attack. Especially those of us that train according to God's Word as we are a threat to his hierarchy. Why are we a threat? Because we know the god of this world no longer has authority over us being born again of God's spirit and through proper and diligent training have put on "the whole armour of God!" Which is by which we can make an impact on the spiritual darkness that he saturates this world with. How do we make the most impact? By utilizing the spiritual sword we've been given! By speaking Truth! (Ephesians 6:19) Not by speaking what you think or what you feel or what you've experienced. It is byspeaking the truth of God's Word in love that we mature, that we break out of the amature rankings. Look atthe examplegiven us in God's Word of the life of Jesus in the gospels. Deliverance came to people by his proper understanding and application of God's Word he had in his time. When deliverance from uncertainty (doubt, worry, fear,) comes to a human (saved or not!) by way of the spoken Word believed... well... it's like a grenade going off in the spiritual realm! The darkness gets shredded and people break through it! The same isavailable for usto do! And so much more!
God though way of His Word and through His household offers the Truth of LIFE! In all categories of life! To those unsaved we offer the gift of holy spirit AND an accurate knowledge of God's Word. Which contains the promises God has for His children and the "weaponry" to back off the one who would use men and women to further his own evil agenda! To those saved we offer a more detailed knowledge than what religion offers and in turn help them to sharpen their skills and the resources they already have. And maybe show them some they didn't know of! One of those resources is the household itself. Made up of many personalities and ethnicity's. Can I tell ya?! I'm thankful for all ya'll! I see it like this... one of the things that makes America so wonderful is the diversity of backgrounds and abilities of its people. In the household I see that same diversity magnified, (as long as our minds are established in and with Truth) which makes us a force that can't be ignored. Spiritually and politically! It's with this varied multitude of divergent disciples in the physical realm we build the spiritual walls of Zion wherein we train, find encouragement and... at times... take refuge. We are at war in the spiritual realm in that our physical lives and eternal rewards are at stake. But we "war" as if in a competition. Training ourselves diligently in a detailed knowledge and application of the rules. And not always on the defensive either! Disciples seize the opportunities to attack! To speak the Truth in love. And yes... sometimes our adversary does get some points in. Occasionally. By way of the old man nature. Our greatest weakness.
Nothing personal... but… it's gotta die!
12 Indeed all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution [will be made to suffer because of their stand].
13 But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves.
14 But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learned [them]
This world's gonna kill me sooner or later if I don't make it to The Return. But as long as my brain's (somewhat) functioning (lol!), I can speak and/or type I'm goin' down swinging! And! If I'm found worthy I expect to be on or at least near the front lines in the last battle! Of which I've put in a request to get my hands on the devil spirits responsible for the deaths of my children and my marriage. Until then? I'm swinging that sword and lobbing grenades every opportunity I get! Wan'a toss some grenades with me? Get trained for the competition and join the fight!
Links
Ephesians 6:11-20 (AMP) Ephesians 4:14-15 2 Timothy 3:12- 14 (KJV)
Revelation 19:11-21 II Timothy 2:10-19 Ephesians 1:1
1 Corinthians 1:1-2 2 Corinthians 5:19-31 John 14:10-13
This post originally published on my blog TheHollerinStump.com on 06/24/2014. The blog is built on Blogger and hosted by Google. They have locked me out of my account there until I update my payment details. Therefore it won’t be getting registered and will cease to be available in the late spring of 2023. I am reposting as many of these posts here as I see relevant before then.
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