What Is The battlefield

Remember: The enemy lies to us to make problems Appear Bigger than the solutions we carry!
**2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

When it comes to the Christian life, we will either gain or lose ground. We will either win or lose.
** But we have to be involved in the spiritual battle.
The Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground!!!

It is up to us to fight the good fight of faith. So we need to suit up and learn the principles from God’s Word that teach us how to be more than conquerors in Jesus Christ.
**1 Timothy 6: 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

First, we need to put on the full armor of God as we engage in the spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”.
The phrase “put on” carries the idea of doing something once and for all. It speaks of permanence.
The full armor of God is not something we put on and then take off again. We are to keep it on all the time.

Second, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan is NOT the equal of God. The devil would like us to think that whatever God can do, he can do, as though they were two sides of the same force.
1John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
*To have Jesus in you. In your heart. Then you have it all!!!!
Although Satan is a powerful spirit being, he is far from God’s equal. You see, God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. God can do anything that He wants to do, anywhere and anytime.
Satan is NONE of those things. He has limitations as to what he can do.

Third, we need to realize that the devil will primarily attack us in the realm of the imagination. The apostle Paul mentioned this in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”.

The devil knows that if he can get us to think about something, we are only a step away from actually doing it. He knows that our minds are “command central.” It is here that we reason. It is here that we remember. It is here that we dream.
Our minds are the hard drive, the place where everything originates. Satan knows that it is only a short step from a thought to an act.
Eph. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Last, we need to understand that the devil works with two very close allies: the world and the flesh.
*“The world” is the world system that is hostile toward God. It is living for personal gratification, our own will above all else.
*Then there is the flesh. When the Bible speaks of the flesh, it speaks more of the depraved, fallen human nature in which we are gratifying sensual appetites.
**Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
***Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

“All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered”.  (1 Timothy 6:1).
*The Bible never looks at people as being worthless. The Bible’s view is that humans are God’s creation made in God’s image, and, though they have fallen, they are not worthless.

*Satan thinks people are worthless; he regards them with scorn and despising.  *Christians are to treat each other and all other people as “worthy of full respect”, so that the name of God will not be defamed.

We love others by being real and genuine with them. If we are being transparent with God (on the inside), He will enable us to be real and genuine with others (on the outside).
*  “…in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.”
2 Corinthians 1:12

Beloved, rise up in faith to know that no weapon formed against you will prosper.  It doesn’t matter what the enemy brings against you, you belong to Jesus.  You will have to take a stand and resist his maneuvers, but the Lord has  already given you the power to defeat him soundly.  Refuse to allow his tactics to overwhelm you or bring discouragement.  It is the Lord’s will that you obtain and maintain the victory, which is “IN CHRIST”.
**Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.

One of the main weapons the Apostle Paul speaks of IS the Gospel, which is the Sword of the Spirit, (the Word of God). It’s the Word backed by God’s Spirit that can pull down and crush the strongholds of Satan.
*2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
**Every Christian is at war. There is a perpetual struggle against Satan and his kingdom from which there are no “leaves” or “discharges.” Our enemy goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8).
*You cannot walk daily in victory if you do not get the Word in you daily. You won’t know how to respond when there is an attack against you.
* Does your belief come from the scripture or man?
If you don’t know scripture to back up what you believe you could be wrong because the enemy is deceiving us!
*Those of us who are under the blood of Jesus who know who we are in Christ and what His blood has done for us–need not give into the devil–we tell the devil to flee. Those who resist the devil will see him flee.  (Jas. 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.).
The only ones whom he devours are those who don’t actively fight against him.
*” He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed”. (1 Peter 2:24).

Thank You, Lord, that You have placed me where I am for a purpose. Help me to treat those around me as “worthy of all respect”.  Give me wisdom and guidence to Know that we fight From Your Victory at the Cross-NOT for Victory.  GOD: I ask that I continue to grow in Your Word, Your Honor, and Your Truth. For I now truly know that greater is HE that is in me.  Thank You for taking me from glory to glory to glory, higher than I ever imagine. through Your grace and mercy  I can DO ALL THINGS THROUGH JESUS Christ.  Purify my heart Lord. Create in my a clean heart. Forgive me of my self focused ways and give me a passion for your will. I give up to your Word. I give in to your voice. May I stand. May a little bit of me die to you today, and a little bit more live for you. Amen.