It’s Warfare, Not Vacation

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

One victorious battle doesn’t mean the war is over. Defeating the Enemy in a spiritual skirmish does not mean he will suddenly go away with his tail between his legs, never to bother you again. To the contrary, he will usually double down in his attack and come at you again—often right away. That is just who your Enemy is and how he operates. Get used to it. C.S. Lewis described it this way, “The enemy will not see you vanish into God’s company without an effort to reclaim you.” And it will be thus until Almighty God throws Satan and his demonic hordes into the lake of fire at the end of the age—where they will remain forever and ever. So just keep that in mind: this is not a vacation, it is war! But it is a war you can win.

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 20:1-2

There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bicri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant: “Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Come on, you men of Israel, back to your homes!” So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri.

If you haven’t noticed yet, your Christianity is no vacation. Sorry to break it to you this way, but when you signed up to follow Jesus, you entered a battle of cosmic proportions, and you are a foot soldier. By the way, no matter how someone else recruited you to faith, Jesus was pretty clear about following him:

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)

Now one of the things this means is that one victorious battle doesn’t mean the war is over. Defeating the Enemy in a spiritual skirmish does not mean he will suddenly go away with his tail between his legs, never to bother you again. To the contrary, he will usually double down in his attack and come at you again—often right away. That is just who your Enemy is and how he operates. Get used to it. C.S. Lewis described it this way,

The enemy will not see you vanish into God’s company without an effort to reclaim you.

And it will be thus until Almighty God throws Satan and his demonic hordes into the lake of fire at the end of the age—where they will remain forever and ever. So just keep that in mind: this is not a vacation, it is war!

King David found that out after his troops defeated the rebellion of Absalom. No sooner had the victory cheer ended when another rebel got on the bullhorn and pulled a significant number of troops from the Israelite army to follow him. Immediately, David was faced with yet another challenge to the kingdom, and as a battle-hardened warrior must, he dealt with it—decisively.

Until Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire, spiritual warfare in the unseen dimension will continue to be a reality of your life and mine. Often, that unseen realm will spill over into the real world of our lives. But the good news is, we know the final outcome. God wins—Satan loses! And all who belong to God will be victorious.

In the meantime, as the battle rages, we would do well to stay alert to it, armor up, as Paul teaches in Ephesians 6:13, and fight the good fight!

Yes, the battle rages—all round you—but you are on God’s side and he is on yours, so get out there today, and go give ‘em heaven!

Going Deeper With God: Join me in this prayer today: Lord, before I begin my day I put on the whole armor of God. I am ready for battle, and I will not be unaware of the devil and his devices. I will fight the good fight and I will walk in the victory that you have already secured for me. I will overcome.

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