THE TEMPORAL BATTLEFIELD! TO FIGHT OR FLIGHT?

Ep 6: 12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

I have been teaching Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere this year and something caught my eye.  When I read that we really don't fight against anyone we know.  What?  As human beings, I see us thinking that we know exactly who we come up against.  We could even put names to some of those conflicts.  However she is right, our real battle is against the enemy and what distractions and influences he sends our way.

Just as we can count on the fact that labor precedes natural birth, there are those temporal battles before eternal dreams.  What does the word Temporal mean exactly.  If you look it up in the dictionary you learn it is something that goes on for a short time here in our life.  What I like about this concept is the two words. . .short time.  If you are like me we think what we go through sometimes is going to be forever.  What we can count on from God is that this whole thing here is temporal and then when we go to be with Him, it is eternal and the battle is over.  These episodes in our lives are temporal.

Our job is take sword, God's Word and stick it right in the face of the enemy.  He can't take three things.  He will back down when you use the tools of three major things.

1).  The Word -  James 4: 7 -  Submit yourself unto God, resist the enemy and he will flee
      Luke 10:19  I have been given the authority to trample on scorpions and snakes and to overcome the power of the enemy and that no harm shall come unto me.

2).  The Blood of Jesus - Satan and his dark world can't take the blood of Jesus because it was shed on Calvary for us - each one.   Rev. 12: 11 . . .they overcame them by the blood and their testimony.

3.  The Name of Jesus -  Phil 2: 9, 10, and 11   God gave him the name that rises above all names - Jesus.  Etc.

Once we start throwing our weight around in the name of Jesus, the enemy backs off.  Even though it is temporal while here on earth, keep that sword where you can get it at all times.  The enemy hates it when we fight for the Lord, when we love in the name of Jesus, when we behave in the name of the Lord.  One day it won't have to be this way, and that we can celebrate.