Be vigilant at all times, the battle never ends

In our day to day battle it is very important to remember that Jesus Christ alone is the one, the only one that we should be totally dependent upon, it is in Christ we move and have our being

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Did you know that we are in a war? We must be aware that we are living in a war zone; the Christian life is a war and we have a very real enemy who hates us and seeks our down fall daily, he is called lucifer or satan and he has other names. He will use every tactic he can against us and one of his most powerful weapons is deception. 2 Corinthians 11:3 ‘But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ’. He tells us that we are not good enough; you can’t preach like them; you can’t pray like them; look how you have messed things up; a Holy God can’t use you; play it safe, go home, what do you know; don’t go to church, and so on…. All these lies are from satan who will do all he can to stop us from serving God, however God has given every one of us gifts which we can use to counteract satan and to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven; John 16:33 ‘These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace; in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world’.

In the Second World War both the Germans and Japanese used radio propaganda. The Germans had 'Axis Sally' (a nickname given by American GI’s) and the Japanese had 'Tokyo Rose' who were a group of presenters who would play the latest hits such as the Glen Miller Band etc, and at the same time they would feed false information such as; ‘many American troops missing or dead’; 'American boys you are too young to die’; ‘You are far from home’; ‘Your family miss you’ and so on… They would then go on to discourage the troops by saying things like; ‘This is an unjust war’; ‘You can’t win’; ‘Surrender to us’; ‘Give up and go home’. This is exactly the same way in which the devil speaks lies to discourage us constantly; Psalm 120:2 ‘Save me, LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues’.

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We should always be aware and rebuke the lies of the devil and confidently know who we are in Christ Jesus. We must not let the lies of the devil effect our Christian walk or our church. We must encourage and pray for one another, nor forgetting the Pastor and the Church Leadership Team who are on the front line of spiritual attacks. Satan will be constantly trying to discourage them (and us), in every possible way, so we should always be on our guard and be vigilant.1 Peter 1:13 ‘Therefore prepare your minds for action, keep sober in Spirit, fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ’.

Just before a serious message one Sunday morning on Spiritual warfare the Pastor said; ‘sometimes I feel like I am in a trench with a crash helmet on, being bombarded on every side with arrows from the devil 24/7’. This really emphasised the constant battle we are in, a battle that never ends, even when we are sleeping. If the battle is constant then so should our vigilance and protection also be; Ephesians 6:11 ’Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes’ and Ephesians 6:6 ‘in addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’. 

Do you know that Pastors are probably the most noble of the fivefold ministry? They are stayers. The Teacher and the Evangelists move on, but the Pastor sticks around. They are available all hours of the day and night, regardless of how much they get paid. Many Pastors battle to survive month after month with very little financial help from their congregation and yet they remain faithful to the ministry (they stick around). The Pastor and his wife have a lot of responsibility. Many people need their attention and support after a service, so the question I ask myself is how can I best help to support the Pastor and his wife. My prayer before God is that I never add to their pressures. Come on brothers and sisters lets be a blessing to the church God has called us to and use our gifting’s to edify the church and bring Glory to God.

In praying for our Pastors nothing releases the power of a Pastor’s ministry like the prayers of their flock. The Apostle Paul recognised that his effectiveness in ministry depended on the people’s prayers; Ephesians 6:19 ‘Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel’. Satan targets pastors who preach the truth and the thing he hates and fears the most is God’s Word. Often when Pastors are preaching, the spiritual struggle is so intense that afterwards they find themselves drained. This emphasizes why we need to fight the battle alongside our Pastors, to help to shield them with prayer and support to ensure that they are continually protected so that they can go fearlessly into battle each day.

In our day to day battle it is very important to remember that Jesus Christ alone is the one, the only one that we should be totally dependent upon, it is in Christ we move and have our being; Isaiah 40:10 So do not fear, I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will up hold you with my righteous right hand’.

I pray that you will be encouraged by the song at the end of this blog which is about overcoming the lies of the evil one and knowing who we are in Christ. May the Lord Bless you.

Author : Eileen Greaves

May God bless and enrich your life

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