2 Cor 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Spiritual warfare is a calling. It is not a calling to the weak and limp wristed “ Christian” nor does it consist of a fraternity of only those few who are considered Holy Ghost extremists. It is a calling to each and every person who considers themselves a child of God. I have found that those who do not consider themselves “warfare Christians” are usually worthless pew warmers who would rather observe and critique those who have invested their lives whole heartedly into this battle. Some say that they will wait for a demonic manifestation to come and only then will they turn on the “spiritual warfare switch”. If that is you, I want to tell you that you will not be prepared for direct spiritual confrontation with the enemy. This battle is already going on as you read this sentence. The reason you can’t see it is because you are looking through fleshly eyes, but the spiritual battle is just that…spiritual. Satan does not take a day off, so we as well cannot afford to waste a day. The battle must be a daily one. Every day we get out of bed, we must remember that we are called to be soldiers. Too many of us have gone AWOL because we have gotten too busy with our secular lives. We have become inoperative soldiers. We have knowledge and ability but we become spiritual gluttons because we don’t exercise our true potential in God. We are soldiers in God’s Salvation Army and we cannot afford opting out of this battle. We must re-discipline ourselves back to the basics of spiritual soldiering. Spiritual authority is not attainable only by those who can walk on water, but as well for the babe in Christ. The youngest saint of God can set to flight a legion of demons if they will dedicate themselves to spiritual discipline.
Ps 56:1-2 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. 2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
We have to learn how to fight the daily fight of faith. We must learn how to mortify the deeds of this flesh daily so that we can be fit for spiritual warfare. Some people think that it is needful to get close to Satan to defeat him. I have heard of some who try to call up unclean spirits in some aboriginal dialect and then cast them out. I don’t buy it! We should follow the example of Esther. Spiritual warfare is not entered into by drawing close to the Enemy but rather by getting close to the King. Esther and Mordecai cared nothing about getting close to Haman. Getting close to Haman would do nothing to save the Jews. They realized that they must get close to the King in order to change the futile future of the Jews. To defeat enemies that are warring against our families, communities and countries, we have but one prerequisite and that is get close to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
The fight is a daily one. I am going to talk about 5 disciplines that we must establish to be effective in spiritual warfare. We must have consistency in these areas. Through this we will form a daily walk with God. Your daily walk with God is your daily march to the gates of Hell. When the children of Israel came to Jericho, they were instructed to walk around the wall daily. Only on the seventh day were they instructed to shout. We like to shout on Sunday without walking on the other six days. Walls will never fall without both the shout and the daily walk. I hope that these 5 disciplines will help us in that daily walk so that we can live a life of victory of the enemy of our souls.
