A Call To Arms Part 8

When it comes to weapons, there are weapons of defense, weapons of attack, and weapons that in a pinch can pull double duty and be used both for attack as well as for defense. The believer’s arsenal of weapons is clearly itemized within God’s Word, and this is done so we can go through the checklist, inventory our gear, see if anything is missing, and if we are, in fact, ready for battle.

Although the notion of preparedness has fallen out of favor in recent times, like so many other practical and necessary virtues, one understands the true importance of preparedness only when it’s too late.

If I realize my shield is rusty and my blade is dull only as I take my stand on the battlefield, it is likely too late to do anything about it. In the event that we did not do our utmost to prepare for the eventuality of battle, even before the battle begins, the enemy has a distinct advantage because of our failure to assign the correct level of importance to the task of making sure our armor and our weapons are as they ought to be.

Nowadays Christians seem to be suffering defeat at the hands of the enemy more than at any other time in history not because the enemy has gotten better at what he does, but because the average believer has grown more slothful, more indifferent, and more concerned with the affairs of this life rather than the life to come.

The devil is still the devil, but the caliber of soldier has consistently decreased over the years to what is now a woeful, unacceptable level.

We play church, we play soldier, we play at being saved and at obeying God’s word, then wonder to ourselves why defeat seems to be a constant, like an ever present shadow, never far, and always in sight.

There was a time when believers were encouraged to spend time with God in prayer, when they were encouraged to read the Word of God and learn to hear His voice rather than buy the latest and greatest teaching series on how positivity can transform your life, or how you can spice up your love life the Christian way.

Incrementally but consistently we’ve made the Christian walk about ourselves rather than about servitude toward God, and every teaching seems to be focused on how we can better enjoy this present life, and exploit God’s love for us by continually demanding material excess.

It is a sad and tragic thing when an entire generation goes from knowing God on a personal and intimate level, to only knowing men who know God and speaking of them in hushed and reverent tones as though they were something more than mere men because they have a relationship with the Father.

It is in the fact that we see things such as prophecy, dreams, visions, revelation, gifts of healing, discernment, tongues or interpretation of tongues as special or rare that we can know just how off track the church has gotten, and how ill prepared we are when it comes to the spiritual aspect of our existence.

Such things ought not to be the exception within the house of God!

The power of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the leading and guidance of God, all these things ought to be a given for believers, for fellowships, for congregations, and for all who name the name of Christ.

If the biggest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn’t exist, the second biggest trick he ever pulled was to convince the church that it is powerless, and absent of authority.

We have adopted and embraced this victim mentality, wherein ‘the devil made me do it’ becomes our go to motto, and rather than stand and do all to stand, we accept defeat as a given, as something we are meant to experience as sons and daughters of God.

It is a lie! We are not meant to suffer defeat at the hands of the enemy. We are no meant to be vanquished by the darkness. We are meant to overcome evil, we are meant to overcome the darkness, we are meant to fight against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age.

We suffer defeat at the hands of the enemy because we’ve talked ourselves into believing that we can be defeated. Rather than stand, we justify cowardice by telling ourselves there’s nothing sinful in going along to get along, and rather than fight we do our utmost to be inoffensive to the enemy, being silent when we ought to speak, and being static when we ought to act.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.