In the throws of this pandemic I’ve sensed the Lord encouraging me to
lay hold of truths I have put on the back burner. Oh, I have not forgotten
these truths, but neither am I laying hold of them, and herein lies the foundation
for anxiety, fears, speculations and strongholds of the enemy running amuck and
strangle-holding even believers, when our rightful place is in the safe, sure,
impenetrable Stronghold of our Lord.
Fear and isolation are two of Satan’s most-played fiery darts,
and why? Because with these two, mankind can be immobilized and/or driven to
absurd manias. Our flesh and blood is told its only options are fight or take
flight, and while this might have valid applications, these are not the only options
for the people of God. IT IS TIME to shut these voices up and tune our heart,
our mind and our ears to the voice of our victorious Lord. Our God’s promises are
yes and amen, and they are always dependent on HIM fighting our battles.
Battles belong to God because only God knows specific strategies necessary to
take the unseen enemy down. God’s word reminds us 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 (Ephesians 6:12), and He also reminds us the weapons we fight
with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have
divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians. 10:4) IT IS
TIME to remember this is a spiritual battle, and our God has not given us a fight
or flight mentality, rather we are to stand, and having done all, to stand firm
when Satan rears his ugly, defeated head!
I sense an urgency for the people of God to take our
positions in the midst of this pandemic, to put on and take up the weapons of our
warfare, to stop listening to voices that are hell-bent on pulling us down into
the muck and mire, or at least keeping us in deep trenches. It is time to lift
our eyes to the Lord who is our help, our shield, our defender and THE weapon
of our warfare.
OUR GOD – FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT – AND OUR POSITION AS
THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD ARE THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE.
It isn’t our faith that shields us, but the fact that God
has given us faith as a shield in this and every battle. We lift up
declarations of faith, then stand and watch as God extinguishes all the fiery
darts of Satan.
We don’t fashion a belt of truth for this battle, we simply declare
HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIGHT. Jesus, The Word, became flesh and dwelt
among us, died on Calvary’s Cross so that we might live and breathe and find
our being in Him, in His resurrection power. Jesus is our TRUTH, our
intercessor, our Victor, soon and coming King! He is our belt of truth; His
Word holds us altogether. We must read and commit it to memory, so we have the
Words of Truth at hand when Satan spews out his diabolical lies. It is God’s
truth that sets us free in the midst of the battle.
There is no one righteous, no not one, the Bible tells us,
and that same chapter in Romans (3) defines our breastplate as the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. As
we take our stand, Satan sees JESUS, risen and triumphantly leading us into
victory.
We should follow the guidelines set out by our various
government agencies, because God tells us to and because we love and care for the
safety of all the one anothers in our world, but that does not negate His
mandate for us to stand in the resurrection power of Jesus, covered by His
blood, appropriately dressed for the battle raging all around us; STAND fully
equipped with all God has granted us in Christ Jesus, and watch our God battle
on our behalf, on behalf of the world and all peoples whom He created and
loves.
There is a huge enemy, affecting every one of us in ways too
numerous to mention, and just as the CDC and every other agency is joining
forces to fight this pandemic in the flesh, we need to join forces as the
people of God under the banner of God’s almighty love. We need to know, in the
depths of our innermost being, and we need to declare that the weapons of our warfare are mighty
and powerful, fully capable of defeating every attack of Satan, even this
pandemic which he is using to isolate mankind, to drive daggers of fear into
hearts, to raise every kind of suspicion and mistrust. This battle is not flesh
and blood. This battle is much larger, and more sinister than this world can imagine,
and this battle belongs to the Lord who has equipped us with weapons of warfare
that are mighty and powerful to tearing down every stronghold! We need to know
what they are and, having done all to stand, we need to stand firm in HIM. Here
are just a few of our weapons…
OUR SALVATION is our mighty weapon. The blood of Jesus
Christ is our covering and protection.
THE TRUTH – not all the hyperbole prevalent today – THE TRUTH
found in God’s Word, is our mighty weapon. KNOW IT AND USE IT!
THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, leading and guiding us into all
truth, is our mighty weapon. Stop the thought-talk, shut off the television, and
LISTEN to the Holy Spirit, who reveals the Father’s heart to us.
OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE PRAYERS, sweet incense coming
before the throne of God, is our mighty weapon. CALL SOMEONE TODAY AND PRAY,
TOGETHER. Start a prayer vigil over any one of the available ‘social media’
venues. Or join some already doing this.
THE INTERCESSION OF JESUS, seated at the right hand of God,
is our mighty weapon, so enter into way more conversations with Jesus than with
others about the dilemma we are in.
THE WORDS OF OUR MOUTHS AND MEDITATIONS OF OUR HEARTS will either
be weapons of mass destruction, or mighty to the tearing down of strongholds! Speak
peace. Speak comfort. Speak joy. Oh God, may our words and meditations be acceptable
to You.
OUR GLOBAL WORSHIP – on FB Live, or our own newly created TV
channels, or YouTube live, or any other way we are gathering together as the
Body of Christ, is our mighty weapon. We are not alone. We are not isolated. Church
doors may have been forced shut, but it just means we get to be connected in
most unexpected and highly effective ways these days.
OUR ZOOM, etc. FELLOWSHIP is our mighty weapon. Don’t sit
home isolated when you have the opportunity to join others. Who would have
dreamed God would radically redeem social media platforms for His glory and
transform online office conference call venues into fellowship halls!!
The weapons of our warfare tear down strongholds for us
personally, for one another, and indeed for this entire world. I’ve listed just
some of our artillery that readily come to mind this Sunday morning April 19th
2020. I know you can name even more. But we gotta do more than know them. There
is an urgent need for us to really lay hold of the fact we do not fight this
battle; it belongs to the LORD, and He has equipped us with weapons of warfare which
are mighty and powerful to the tearing down of strongholds.
There is a physical pandemic ravishing the world, no doubt
about that. But the real battle is not flesh and blood, and WE KNOW the enemy has
already been defeated by the Blood of the Lamb. So, lets SUIT UP! SHOW UP! And STAND
UP together, equipped with every weapon in God’s arsenal, and under the
banner of God’s love, let’s lift up a mighty victorious shout as we exhort and
encourage one another to hold fast the hope and high calling we have in Christ
Jesus. Let’s sing and shout the victory for the honor of Jesus, our resurrected
Savior, through the power of the Indwelling Holy Spirit, for the hope of the
world, and for the Glory of God. IMUA!
May His Kingdom come; may His will be done on earth just as
it is in Heaven.
Amen and amen,
Sistah Sue – just one among many in Christ’s mighty army.
And, having done all to stand, WE STAND!
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