"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (NKJV)
"And Jesus, answering them, began to say: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.’" (Mark 13:5-9 NKJV).
We live in distressing times. Not only are there many instances of wars and fighting going on, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but with the advent of technology, we can hear and see examples everyday. We can also share opinions and ideas and "facts" of all these conflicts.
It saddens me that I see Christians taking sides in such conflicts against other Christians, not only those Christians involved in the direct fighting, but even more so, Christians on the sidelines, demanding that their opinions are right and trying, in many ways, to coerce other Christians to agree with them against those they believe are in the wrong.
We are the ones who know the Truth, not only the written Truth (the Word of God), but the Truth embodied in our Lord Jesus Christ! We know that the battles being fought are first, and most importantly, spiritual battles. The people who are involved are simply pawns being used by our one adversary, the devil, and all his minions. "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood!" In any conflict, whether it is a nation-against-nation war or a person-to-person fight, as believers we have the obligation to remember this! "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood!" The Lord Jesus died for everyone, Russian and Ukrainian, Iraqi and Kurd, Jew and Palestinian. He loves us all! It is God’s will that "none will perish, but all will come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
As Christians, our weapons are spiritual, not carnal. Our primary weapon, first and foremost, is prayer . . . and then prayer with fasting. The Lord never said that our weapons were public opinion or voting or demonstrating. And while the Lord may ask you to peaceably do any one of those things, it will always be through the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we begin to war against other Christians in order to promote our opinion about the rightness of something, we are warring against the Body of Christ.
I would plead with my brothers and sisters, in this desperate time, to begin to fall to their knees, to give up their recreations and other pleasures, and seek the face of God. Living as a Christian is never about being right, but always about being righteous, worshiping at the Throne of Him who loves us. We worship the God of the universe who is in control. We fight against one adversary, the devil. All those who are unsaved aren’t our enemies, but rather our harvest field. We are commanded to pray for even the most evil of them for it’s our Father’s will that none should perish. Pray that God will soften our hearts that we can love as our Lord Jesus loved. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 NKJV). While they are still sinners, let us at least be willing to pray for them.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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