Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

“Suffering, a Privilege?” Or: “It’s War!”

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Phil 1:29-30)

The Apostle Paul tells the Philippians here that grace has not given them the privilege of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to experience pain, punishment, and distress–for his sake. The privilege is to be engaged in the cosmic war, doing our divinely assigned part to advance the gospel. The more suffering we endure in our calling, as a direct result of obeying clear  instructions from the Lord, the greater of a position in the war effort we have.

Now, the riveter building warplanes has as vital a role as the soldier on the front lines, and the riveter may suffer sore muscles for his or her task to stop the forces of evil, but the soldier on the front lines has the greater glory for he (or she nowadays) bears the greatest risk.  The higher the price we pay in a godly war effort, in theory, the greater the glory.

Christianity today has become wishy-washy in some circles, all about the promises of comfort and peace and joy and forgiveness, prosperity and healing. Turning the other cheek, agreeing quickly with your adversary, avoiding conflict and being a peace-maker who is slow to judgment and quick to listen and respectful and loving to all.

That’s taking a cookie cutter to the Bible.  Our war is not against flesh and blood, but we are in a war, brothers and sisters.

Now, we should follow the rules of engagement, and the human lives around us are the territories being fought over, not the enemy, and we must stay alert. To the enemy, we are either combatants to neutralize or eliminate from the arena of war, or we are ourselves territory to seek to retake and oppress.

In this world, no suffering means we’ve either been neutralized by the enemy via deception like the cookie cutter approach to scripture, we’ve been taken captive by the enemy to do his will and haven’t manifested the bitter fruits of oppression yet,  or we’ve been given leave between battles so we can refresh and refill in preparation for a battle as great as the amount of rest we’ve been given.

Suffering means we are either hot or cold, actively doing what the Lord has called us to and facing the opposition, or a POW taken captive. It is vital we discern the source of our present suffering or its absence.

Lord, give me wisdom to discern the season I am in and ears that hear your call. Grant me a courageous heart willing to fight the good fight according to your principles, when and where you call me. Grant me eyes that see clearly who our enemy is and that perceive as you do the lives around me that are being fought over, used against what you have sent me to do, and who are fighting beside me or in other arenas of the cosmic war. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Dreams and Spiritual Warfare, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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Are you a citizen of Israel, or a Gentile foreigner?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (Ephesians 2:19)

If you’re a Christian and you weren’t born Jewish, you’ve probably been told at some point that you’re a gentile. By birth, that is true. But you’re also a naturalized citizen of Spiritual Israel, aka the Kingdom of God. We have equal rights with the other spiritual heirs of Abraham, Issac and Jacob–while those with the physical bloodline are cut off from Israel if they’ve rejected Israel’s king (Jesus) and hence themselves renounced their citizenship.  We should of course still love, treat kindly and respectfully, and pray for the siblings who have disowned our eldest brother (Jesus) and deserted the family, but we do need to recognize the sad state of their relationship with Christ, the God of the bible, and hence also with us even as we long for their reconciliation.

We should be humble about it, as Paul says elsewhere. We’re also capable of being complete fools, renouncing our citizenship in Heaven, and disowning our spiritual family as well. But we are no longer gentiles, we are God’s adopted children, and adopted citizens of God’s nation, and God’s nation was always, is still, and always will be Israel. That’s why Christians from ancient times have felt a tie to the physical land both promised and given to our spiritual ancestors.

But our greatest promised land is the coming new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem Christ shall reign from.

Lord, we thank you for your finished work on the cross, reconciling your people to you and to each other. We thank you for adopting us and giving us an inheritance along side our brothers in the Kingdom. We pray for those who have departed from you and your household by rejecting the Firstborn, only begotten son, our eldest brother, Jesus. Reach out to the today, righteous father, with your loving hands and draw them (back) to the savior. Release our captive siblings from the chains of our enemies–and us where we are bound. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Prayer and Devotions

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Full Armor of God Commentary #1,0627,003

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

I was really reluctant to write a devotional based on today’s verse of the day. Tons of commentaries have been done on this passage, and entire books written on the armor of God.

We can apply the same lens we’ve held up before to the scripture: what God commands us to do, he will empower us to do. View this as a blessing and a promise and allow the verse to strengthen you rather than beat you up for feeling weak. And lets strip out the lovely metaphors that have been dissected at length elsewhere.  For protection and strength to stand against the enemy:

  • Know the truth and be truthful
  • Be righteous (i.e stop sinning and walk in the spirit, not the flesh)
  • Know the gospel so you’ll be prepared to act when God calls on you.
  • Have Faith
  • Pray and Study the Bible

The list is a bit simpler and straightforward than we thought, isn’t it?

Lord, we thank you for your truth, we thank you for your righteousness, we thank you for grace and forgiveness, and the finished work of the cross. Increase our faith, increase our knowledge of the truth. Grant us the will and the hunger today to study your word. Show us how we can carve more time out of our busy schedules for the spiritual preparation we need to stand against that onslaught of the evil one. Increase our dedication and discipline. If there is any pet sin in our lives opening us up for attack, reveal it to us, take away the desire for it, and enable us, by your grace, to be so repulsed by it, we will lean on your grace to cleanse us of this evil and turn away from it. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, Gospel, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

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The Lord your Shepherd Restores your soul

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

These words of comfort reach across ages. The promise is true today. Humble yourself under the Lord’s rod and His staff and trust and hear no other voice. You know his voice, for you are his, chosen out of the world, beautiful and precious in his eyes. If you are tired, wrung out, stressed out, discouraged, and/or afraid, allow him to lay you down in green pastures and beside still waters in His Spirit today. Take time out of your busy schedule to throw yourself into the Shepherd’s arms, awaiting his promise of restoration.  Whatever time it takes to work through it will be time well invested.

However, before he can restore us, we must first both stop listening and believing the lies of fear and doubt and hate and any other wicked voice that may be oppressing us today. Let him reveal your heart to you today and pour it out before him. Let us not forget, it is for His name’s sake that He leads us. He loves us unconditionally, no matter our failures or mistakes, especially in regard to earthly things.

Lord, forgive us for the lies we have believed. Let us no longer give the enemy a foothold. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts. Help us to identify fears as for what they are and eradicate any negative, self-defeating ways of thinking today. We ask you to restore our souls today, Father, and we thank you, that even if our human fathers actually were evil enough to give us snakes and stones when we asked for fish and bread, you are not that way. You give good gifts to us, your children, when we ask you. We confess it today and we ask you inscribe the truth of your loving-kindness on our hearts today. We are asking you today, in faith, Father, grant us our need and our rest according to your will, as we present before you now:

In Jesus’ name we pray, Lord, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, God's promises, Lament, Prayer and Devotions

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Unlike Some Fathers, God Loves Unconditionally

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

As we observed yesterday, Paul is long winded, so for the full scope of what he is saying, we need to read chapters seven and eight of Romans in one sitting, or at least 8:26-39. Today’s verses are merely finishing the thoughts from yesterday’s verses. But today lets focus on the traditional emphasis and primary thought rather than the backdrop of suffering that we examined yesterday. If you come from a loving Christian home with a father who perfectly exemplified the love of God, then the full power of this passage goes right by you, since your heart takes it for granted that God, like your human father, will love you no matter what.

For the rest of us, we can’t recite this to our hearts often enough. Often in this world even small petty things can separate us from someone’s love. People judge by outward appearances and from limited, incomplete knowledge. And those of us from emotionally abusive backgrounds* often allow others to define who we are, letting every criticism sink deep into our psyche. We let others with their words and deeds tell us we’re not good enough. And Satan comes along and whisperers in our ears, if this sinner cannot love someone as filthy and flawed as we are, however could a holy God love us? So we hide in shame and separate from Him.

Next time quote this passage to the enemy. God’s ways are not Man’s ways. His ways are higher. Nothing can separate us from God’s love, least of all the judgments of  others he created. Sin separates us from God, but not from his love, and the cross stands ready to reconcile us. We must not forget that context of the promise given here. Get it under the blood, turn from your wicked way, and return to the Father watching down the road, ready to run to you with open arms. Come to Him, weary one, He will give you rest. Let Him tell you today who you are.

God, strengthen our boundaries today, so we will allow you alone to define who we are and stand firm in what you have said about us. We pray we would be sure of your promises to us and confident in your love. Forgive us our trespasses and grant us forgiving hearts free of bitterness today. Cleanse us, Lord, and keep our eyes on you. Let us not forget Gethsemane or Golgotha. Remind us of who you are–remind us of who you created us to be. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

*This includes loving homes where our parents were abused as children and have simply passed down their own dysfunctional attitudes to us.

Posted in abuse, Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, God's promises, Grace, Prayer and Devotions

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