Faith Wars
A War of Flesh and Spirit.
There are two wars going on in the life of a Christian; a war of the flesh and a war of the spirit. A fight of light against darkness, of good over evil. Success in the flesh determines our success in the spirit. We will not see the enemy defeated, if we don’t conquer the flesh, for they’re closely linked.
When we fight in the natural realm, we’re dealing with natural appetites, not always and not necessarily, the work of the devil. Natural desires are not demonic, however God puts the responsibility on us, to make sure we say no to the appetites of the flesh. We need to do the right thing, even when it's hard.
We pray in the spirit to build ourselves up. God doesn’t act on the natural, He expects us to do that. He expects us to be overcomers. He may help, but mostly we need to make the right choices. Praying in the spirit guides us in areas we need to be praying, even when we don’t understand the words we’re speaking.
Spiritual weapons are used in both war of the flesh and spirit. Spiritual strength is given by God to deal with our flesh and we do it through spiritual weapons. We put on the armour of God and then wield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of the Lord.
Paul said in Romans 7:15; For what am I doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Paul is telling us; we can’t win by willpower alone. Willpower is about feelings and feelings don’t last. Feelings are fickle and when we go by feelings we’re trying to deal with the war in the natural. We need to pray in the spirit and then choose to make the right decision.
Each of us have different areas we struggle through, but God expects us to conquer all of these areas. He won’t do in the spirit realm, if we don’t do our part in the natural. It’s harder to have spiritual success, when we’re making wrong choices.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 states; For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
There’s a lot of the demonic activity happening in the world right now. The devil has set his demonic weapons and we are to fight against the demonic beings he’s sent, all the while using the weapons God’s given us. Often, we don’t use the weapons God’s given us, but instead we pray and wait for God to move. God, however, is waiting for us to move.
The weapons God has given us are to pray, speak in tongues and take our authority seriously. We really are no match for the devil – our strength comes from the Lord - so we must take advantage of His weapons.
We come against all evil in the name of the Lord. As I mentioned earlier; the flesh and the enemy are closely linked, but we need to make right choices. We need to read our bible, to pray, to speak in tongues, to stay out of worry, anxiety and depression and stay in faith. And it’s all easier said than done, especially when we aren’t seeing results. Sometimes it takes years and years, before we see results. It’s hard not to fall into discouragement, as time passes and nothing appears to be happening.
We want God’s protection. We want to win our battle, but often we don’t want to set up for battle. Here on earth there are natural battles, a different form of battle to the spiritual and we have to learn how to manage that battle. It might be food, pornography, alcohol, deceit, or any one of a number of other things.
The Holy Spirit is our helper and we need to call on Him every time we feel tempted, or frail. It’s essential to stay close to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t leave us but He will step back when we make choices we shouldn’t be making. We’re given the freedom to choose, however there is a consequence to pay, should we make an unwise choice.
We must keep ourselves clean, or at least try to, by doing the right thing as much as we possibly can. There are certain things we shouldn’t be watching, reading, eating. These are the entry gates; what we see, what we hear, what we put in our mouth, what comes out of our mouth and we need to be sure what enters and exits the body is wholesome. Making wrong choices in these areas stems the flow of living water. It slows and restricts the outpouring of the Spirit and we need the outpouring of the Spirit to overcome our issues.
When we’re clean (doing all the right things), we become a channel for God’s Spirit to flow with no obstacles. The flesh battle is ours – if we don’t read the bible and don’t go to church, but succumb to procrastinations, or addictions, we block the flow of the living water.
John 7:37-38 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
God looks for men and women whom He can trust, who’ve conquered the earthly realm. They’re the people He uses. That doesn’t mean we lose our salvation. It doesn’t mean God can’t use us. He’s the King. He can do anything and He loves us (enormously) either way. But perhaps we might consider helping Him along, by overcoming our shortfalls.
Besides, if we’re lukewarm, our children will be lukewarm and none of us will be overcomers. If we want to see our children at church, we need let them see us going to church. If we want our children to be mighty prayer warriors for the Lord, we need to be a mighty prayer warrior. If we can’t do what needs to be done, our children won’t.
If we want to see victory; stand with God, don’t try to go it alone. Do what you need to do and God will do what He needs to, and then we shall be an overcomer.
We often pray for the armour of God, but it’s not only the armour of God we need, we also need the weapon of God. What is the weapon of God? It’s the sword - the word of God - and we need to be wielding the word.
Read what God’s word tells you to do about your issue. Decree and declare what you want to see happen in your life and in the lives of those you love, have faith that you’ll see it come to pass and don’t quit until it does.
Note: Biblical references from the NKJV
About the author:
Alexandra Grose – An investigative photojournalist and author for over twenty years. Writing is her passion and her dream and helping others achieve their dreams, through her written work, is Alexandra's greatest aspiration.
#Integrity; truthfulness, honesty and reliability, in all things.
I believe one should....be truthful in everything you say and do. Keep all relationships open and honest. Be reliable, punctual and organised and if you say you'll do it - do it.
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This work is based on the belief of the writer. All she asks, is that you study and form your own opinion, as to the validity of her beliefs. You can’t assume you’re right on any given topic, you have to prove it.
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