Ok, so God's put this on my heart to share and in order to do so I'm going to have to be pretty blunt. Firstly, we are all in a war. Whether you like it or not doesn't change the fact that we are at war. The war doesn't stop because you decide to be a pacifist or dig a hole and hide your head in the sand and think only about pink bunnies and rainbows. Take one look around you and you'll see that death, disease, depression, suicide, greed and corruption is rife in this world. Just turn on the radio or the evening news and it's impossible to miss. Fear reigns in this world. This world is badly broken and desperately in need of saving. As a matter of fact, that's precisely why Jesus came - to save us. Now to clarify what I said earlier about war - the war is an unseen war - a spiritual war. While this war is unseen, it's effects can very much be seen in the world we live in. Paul the Apostle talked about this in Ephesians 6 saying "we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers of darkness that rule this world..." As people who believe in Jesus we need to constantly remind ourselves that our war is NOT with people.
It's not a war of racial intolerance, it's not a war of territory, its not a war of controlling others. This is the part that God wanted me to really focus on. In this war we are called to be salt which brings taste and life to a bland, empty and dead world and in turn prompts them to ask the question "why are you that way...?" We are also called to be light in the darkness which put simply means we are meant to be a contrast to what the world looks and sounds like. Were called to be living truth that points people to Jesus who sets us free. Please don't misunderstand me, this isn't about a dress code or a pretty little Christian uniform that identifies us with a movement or denomination - it's far more to do with your heart and what people see in you when they come in contact with you. So how do we fight then? Well, Jesus gave us all that we need. He said "Don't return evil for evil". Put simply, when someone does something really bad to you, resist the urge to run your mouth and bury them in a barrage of insults and accusations. Jesus said "pray for your enemies and show them love...". One of the simplest ways of showing love is exactly what Jesus said above "Don't fight back".
This doesn't mean you become a doormat, that your value decreases in any way or that you aren't allowed to say "no". Jesus said that our "yes" should be "yes" and our "no" should be "no". Not "yes" is "maybe... but the truth is I don't want to" or "no" is "i don't know...". There's nothing wrong with being clear and deliberate. In fact you're doing yourself and everyone else a favor by being up front. Don't concern yourself whether people like your response or not - that's entirely up to them. Now this is the part that really needs to be said... As believers in Jesus and ones who are called to be salt and light to this empty and dark world we should never, EVER use the weapons of our enemy. I know you're probably thinking "but I would NEVER do that..." Don't be so sure. Before I go on I want to lay down something that forms the basis of what I believe about God. God is love. God always gives a choice. When you read the Bible you'll see many conditional phrases such as "If my people humble themselves..." and "If we confess our sins...". The word "if" is a conditional phrase. It denotes choice. What this means is this - the choice is yours.
God never makes anyone do anything. He's more than happy to help us if we want to take His hand of love but ultimately the choice is up to us. If that wasn't true then the whole world would have been saved simply by Jesus dying and coming back to life. But the whole world isn't saved like that... We are saved by making a choice to believe in Jesus through faith. Our enemy the Devil on the other hand is the complete opposite of God. He always tries to remove choice by coercing us to do what he wants using deception, manipulation, temptation and fear. OK, so back to the enemies weapons. The leader of the enemies forces is Satan the Devil. Now, he's been around for a long, long time. He knows humans like the back of his hand. He knows our behavioral patterns, what we like and what we don't like. He knows that as humans we're very predictable and he knows how to push our buttons to get a reaction. He knows we are inherently prone to pride, lust, greed, fear and all things evil. Why? because of what happened in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Because they sinned, evil flooded through humanity like a virus. Passed on through generation after generation.
The devil knows he can use this bloodline curse of corruption to bend us to his will if we give in to him. This is why Jesus was born from a virgin, it means He broke the line of sin and didn't come from the male bloodline that has corruption and contamination right through it. In the Bible Jesus is referred to as "The Second Adam". He is the new beginning. So we have two sides in this war. Good and Evil. Jesus is the commander of the good, true and the light. Satan is the commander of evil, deception and darkness. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 10 that "the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but mighty in power to destroy the enemies fortifications..." Our weapons are Love, Truth, Peace, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Prayer, The Word of God and many others that God provides to His soldiers who fight for His Kingdom. The Devil's weapons are Fear, Hate, Lust, Rage, Greed, Deception, Manipulation, Witchcraft, Murder plus many more that wreak havoc on God's great world. What God wants me to say is this... As soldiers in the army of light, don't pick up and use the enemies weapons while you're on the battlefield.
The Devil will make sure that those weapons are always nearby and available but as the Bible says "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you..." Resist the urge to return hatred when someone throws mean and hurtful words in your face. Resist the urge to fight back when you're provoked because Jesus promises in Exodus 14:14 that if you don't fight - He will fight for you. Resist the urge to manipulate others for your own gain - remember God never removes choice and we are called to be like Him. Using deception, manipulation, intimidation or domination to get what you want is picking up a dirty, black evil sword on the battlefield and thinking you can still fight on the side of good. It just doesn't work. So how do we fight then? The answer is surprisingly simple yet extremely profound. We fight using love - the most powerful enduring weapon there is. God is love. Love is God. The simple heart test when were about to jump into the ring to fight is this... Is it love that's motivating me? 1 Corinthians 16:14 says "Let everything you do be done in love". If the answer to this heart test is yes, then you have God with you and for you and there isn't anything that can stand against God.
But it's it not love that's your motivating force and it's pride, greed, fear, lust, anger or anything else that's not from God then your enemy is going to use that weapon in your hand against you as soon as he gets the chance. So how does love fight? Love is selfless. Love is kind. Love is bold. Love is strong. Love is fearless. Love is passionate. Love is sacrifice. Love doesn't count the cost it counts the lost. Something extremely powerful that God revealed to me a few years ago was this. He showed me a vision of a gigantic sword wedged into the ground. It's scale was absolutely massive. I'd never seen a weapon like this ever before. God told me to pick it up but as much as I tried I couldn't even budge this enormous blade at all. I used up every ounce of strength and yet couldn't even move it an inch. Exhausted and puzzled I told God "I can't move it at all let alone pick it up!". He told me to read the sword. Above the hilt was inscribed in ancient text four letters in red. I couldn't read it at first until God opened my eyes and taught me the meaning of the letters. The letters were the name of God but also the name of love. What God told me next explained everything.
This is what He said "Mark, you can't hold, grasp or control love... instead let it control you..." This time I walked up the sword and slowly reached out a single hand to the hilt, eyes closed and praying "Use me... Control me... I give myself to you God..." I opened my eyes and saw the cords that were wound around the hilt unraveling and now winding themselves around my hand and up my arm like a whirlwind. Then in an instant the sword that I couldn't even budge at all before sprung out of the ground and clung to my hand. Weightless, perfect, synchronized yet unimaginably vast and powerful. I understood now... You can't possibly think or dream to control God - no - you must let Him control you. "This is how you fight" God told me. So today, you're going to presented with conflict - it's just the reality of life. The choice is yours as to what weapon you use... There are many to choose from. Some good, some evil. But the best one you could ever hope to use is... LOVE. Surrender to love and let it use you. God loves you.
[ 1 Corinthians13:13 - So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love ]
It's not a war of racial intolerance, it's not a war of territory, its not a war of controlling others. This is the part that God wanted me to really focus on. In this war we are called to be salt which brings taste and life to a bland, empty and dead world and in turn prompts them to ask the question "why are you that way...?" We are also called to be light in the darkness which put simply means we are meant to be a contrast to what the world looks and sounds like. Were called to be living truth that points people to Jesus who sets us free. Please don't misunderstand me, this isn't about a dress code or a pretty little Christian uniform that identifies us with a movement or denomination - it's far more to do with your heart and what people see in you when they come in contact with you. So how do we fight then? Well, Jesus gave us all that we need. He said "Don't return evil for evil". Put simply, when someone does something really bad to you, resist the urge to run your mouth and bury them in a barrage of insults and accusations. Jesus said "pray for your enemies and show them love...". One of the simplest ways of showing love is exactly what Jesus said above "Don't fight back".
This doesn't mean you become a doormat, that your value decreases in any way or that you aren't allowed to say "no". Jesus said that our "yes" should be "yes" and our "no" should be "no". Not "yes" is "maybe... but the truth is I don't want to" or "no" is "i don't know...". There's nothing wrong with being clear and deliberate. In fact you're doing yourself and everyone else a favor by being up front. Don't concern yourself whether people like your response or not - that's entirely up to them. Now this is the part that really needs to be said... As believers in Jesus and ones who are called to be salt and light to this empty and dark world we should never, EVER use the weapons of our enemy. I know you're probably thinking "but I would NEVER do that..." Don't be so sure. Before I go on I want to lay down something that forms the basis of what I believe about God. God is love. God always gives a choice. When you read the Bible you'll see many conditional phrases such as "If my people humble themselves..." and "If we confess our sins...". The word "if" is a conditional phrase. It denotes choice. What this means is this - the choice is yours.
God never makes anyone do anything. He's more than happy to help us if we want to take His hand of love but ultimately the choice is up to us. If that wasn't true then the whole world would have been saved simply by Jesus dying and coming back to life. But the whole world isn't saved like that... We are saved by making a choice to believe in Jesus through faith. Our enemy the Devil on the other hand is the complete opposite of God. He always tries to remove choice by coercing us to do what he wants using deception, manipulation, temptation and fear. OK, so back to the enemies weapons. The leader of the enemies forces is Satan the Devil. Now, he's been around for a long, long time. He knows humans like the back of his hand. He knows our behavioral patterns, what we like and what we don't like. He knows that as humans we're very predictable and he knows how to push our buttons to get a reaction. He knows we are inherently prone to pride, lust, greed, fear and all things evil. Why? because of what happened in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Because they sinned, evil flooded through humanity like a virus. Passed on through generation after generation.
The devil knows he can use this bloodline curse of corruption to bend us to his will if we give in to him. This is why Jesus was born from a virgin, it means He broke the line of sin and didn't come from the male bloodline that has corruption and contamination right through it. In the Bible Jesus is referred to as "The Second Adam". He is the new beginning. So we have two sides in this war. Good and Evil. Jesus is the commander of the good, true and the light. Satan is the commander of evil, deception and darkness. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 10 that "the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but mighty in power to destroy the enemies fortifications..." Our weapons are Love, Truth, Peace, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Prayer, The Word of God and many others that God provides to His soldiers who fight for His Kingdom. The Devil's weapons are Fear, Hate, Lust, Rage, Greed, Deception, Manipulation, Witchcraft, Murder plus many more that wreak havoc on God's great world. What God wants me to say is this... As soldiers in the army of light, don't pick up and use the enemies weapons while you're on the battlefield.
The Devil will make sure that those weapons are always nearby and available but as the Bible says "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you..." Resist the urge to return hatred when someone throws mean and hurtful words in your face. Resist the urge to fight back when you're provoked because Jesus promises in Exodus 14:14 that if you don't fight - He will fight for you. Resist the urge to manipulate others for your own gain - remember God never removes choice and we are called to be like Him. Using deception, manipulation, intimidation or domination to get what you want is picking up a dirty, black evil sword on the battlefield and thinking you can still fight on the side of good. It just doesn't work. So how do we fight then? The answer is surprisingly simple yet extremely profound. We fight using love - the most powerful enduring weapon there is. God is love. Love is God. The simple heart test when were about to jump into the ring to fight is this... Is it love that's motivating me? 1 Corinthians 16:14 says "Let everything you do be done in love". If the answer to this heart test is yes, then you have God with you and for you and there isn't anything that can stand against God.
But it's it not love that's your motivating force and it's pride, greed, fear, lust, anger or anything else that's not from God then your enemy is going to use that weapon in your hand against you as soon as he gets the chance. So how does love fight? Love is selfless. Love is kind. Love is bold. Love is strong. Love is fearless. Love is passionate. Love is sacrifice. Love doesn't count the cost it counts the lost. Something extremely powerful that God revealed to me a few years ago was this. He showed me a vision of a gigantic sword wedged into the ground. It's scale was absolutely massive. I'd never seen a weapon like this ever before. God told me to pick it up but as much as I tried I couldn't even budge this enormous blade at all. I used up every ounce of strength and yet couldn't even move it an inch. Exhausted and puzzled I told God "I can't move it at all let alone pick it up!". He told me to read the sword. Above the hilt was inscribed in ancient text four letters in red. I couldn't read it at first until God opened my eyes and taught me the meaning of the letters. The letters were the name of God but also the name of love. What God told me next explained everything.
This is what He said "Mark, you can't hold, grasp or control love... instead let it control you..." This time I walked up the sword and slowly reached out a single hand to the hilt, eyes closed and praying "Use me... Control me... I give myself to you God..." I opened my eyes and saw the cords that were wound around the hilt unraveling and now winding themselves around my hand and up my arm like a whirlwind. Then in an instant the sword that I couldn't even budge at all before sprung out of the ground and clung to my hand. Weightless, perfect, synchronized yet unimaginably vast and powerful. I understood now... You can't possibly think or dream to control God - no - you must let Him control you. "This is how you fight" God told me. So today, you're going to presented with conflict - it's just the reality of life. The choice is yours as to what weapon you use... There are many to choose from. Some good, some evil. But the best one you could ever hope to use is... LOVE. Surrender to love and let it use you. God loves you.
[ 1 Corinthians13:13 - So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love ]
