October 12th

OCTOBER 12th

One thing about difficult circumstances is that sometimes they get our attention when they are not even the real problem. We have talked about our real enemy before but let’s take another perspective today. First to review:

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So our battle is not against physical enemies. Our battle is against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We don’t fight our battles the way the world does, we use our spiritual weapons to fight. Scripture, prayer, praise, worship, intercession.

Let’s take another look, say that someone falsely accuses you of something and they spread that all over to others, maybe they even threaten to take you to court. In your physical mind you want to sue them for slander or whatever you can to make them pay for their evil accusations. How do we look at this “battle” in light of these scriptures?

Well we realize that our enemy is not the physical person, they are just a lost soul trapped in darkness. We realize that satan is our real enemy and we pull out our spiritual weapons to deal with him. We take captive our hateful thoughts about it all and we give them to Jesus asking Him to help us have His forgiveness for them, etc.

But let’s look further…

We think the earthly harassment is the battle. But what if the battle is really over that part of our heart that reserves the right for vengeance? What if the whole point of the hardship is to wage war over our heart? Will we surrender that part of our heart that wants to prove them wrong, us right and make them pay for their actions?

What if these battles we face are just to prepare our hearts for Heaven? What if they happen so that every last bit of selfishness is weeded out and surrendered? I can think of two instances in the Word where this was the case…

Peter -before he denied Jesus 3 times in one night, Jesus told him that satan asked to sift him like wheat but Jesus prayed for him that his faith would not fail.

Luke 22:31-32 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

And Job -satan told God that Job’s faith really was not strong, but God said it was. So satan harassed Job, and he lost everything, family, riches, his health, but his faith never failed and then in the end God blessed Job with more than he had ever had.

Job 42:10,12a After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. Verse 12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.

What are we facing in our lives today that is really a battle for our heart? Let’s ask the Lord to show us.

Lord thank you for your perfect plan, for your love and for your grace for me. Help me to be mindful of the reality of the situations in my life. Help me to let go of my desire for vengeance against those who have wronged me. Help me to trust you with vengeance instead. Thank you that I don’t have to worry about that. Help me to look to you for the answer when I want to try to seek my own justice. Forgive me for keeping that part of my heart from you, help me to surrender my whole heart to you. Thank you for your forgiveness.