Tuesday, March 29, 2016

What brought me to begin the process of learning about spiritual warfare?


What brought me to begin the process of learning about spiritual warfare?
Blog post series: What is Spiritual Warfare?: My personal journaling of my journey learning about this topic
I have spent gobs of time today researching all of the books out there on spiritual warfare and the full armor of God and have found that there is no book out there like what I am looking for. Is this why I am prayer journaling my way of learning about spiritual warfare? Is this, Lord, why you have out it on my heart? Please lead me and guide me, Lord. Only you. None of me. Only your glory. I cannot help but pray as I write. 
I keep getting pressed to pray through the news each day all day long.
The terror attack in Brussels and the presidential elections of the United States, combined with the latest news of the Hillary Clinton email scandal have me at a tipping point where I realize I am desperate for this world to change and fight terror as a united front. I am at the point of desparation to have not only have a worldwide prayer revival, but a reading of the Holy Bible revival.
When I hear of a dog found... raped and hung on a tree in Seattle over the weekend...
When I see the moral depravity of the world, but most importantly of the Church, I cannot help but feel a fire inside
I realize I cannot change anyone. So, I will not try. It's futile.
Most of the time I have a hard time changing myself. However, I am now desparate. This world is going down in flames... and so is my nation. 
I realize I have something most people do not have. I have time. This is why yesterday you, Lord, called me to become a full-time Bible student, which I know goes hand-in-hand with becoming a full-time prayer warrior. To be in the Holy Bible is to pray and to pray is to be in the sacred word of God. You cannot have one without the other. 
And, I am still shocked that the first topic is spiritual warfare. Gulp. No pressure. 
You see... I do not have the background to wage war. Not a recent one or a thorough one. I have missed this important spiritual discipline, as in missed the mark. Therefore, it is time for me to change this.
So, what kind of book am I looking for on spiritual warfare? A simple, practical one which looks thoroughly at everything the Bible says. And I mean everything. I am looking for head knowledge, heart knowledge, and practical application, without all of the Christianese and lingo. Something written with the emphasis that not everyone knows what they know. 
I also have found that I have trouble with books that have topical prayers or chapters in them, when most of the book or prayers do not apply to me. If they only have a quarter of the book applicable to me, I won't waste my time or my money. Therefore, I'm looking for a book that is more applicable to everyone and every issue. I pray I am making sense.
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A new day 03/29/2016
It is 538 a.m. and I sit on my teal colored sofa in our living room with the fireplace on, coffee nearby, and I hear our turtle tanks' water filters, which sound like a fountain. I sit here in the stillness, where I am the only one awake and stirring in the house. I know it is early when not even the turtles stir. 
As I sit here, I cannot help but get a little weepy as I realize in this new journaling series is a call home for me. At least, that is how it feels. It is like I have come home to a place of refuge, this new journaling track of learning through 5 w's and an h of the Bible today. And, with this first focus being on journaling about spiritual warfare. 
Thank you, Lord, for the call home to where I belong. To what I am supposed to be doing. 
Note: By the way, I am including the dates only to show my progression with my journaling. Each journaling entry (or blog post) is meant to be timeless. Each can be read today or in fifty years and still apply. 
Thank you for the vision you have given me. 
Now, it is time to pull out Ephesians 6:10-20 and I will make sure to read as slowly as possible and digest word by word. I have a printed out paper copy and a digital copy. I will read both versions and will share my thoughts here, along with anything, Lord, you share. 
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What is Spiritual Warfare?
Reading word by word of my printed out copy of the full armor of God passage...
Be strong in the resurrection power of the Lord. 
That reminds me of this passage:
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Ephesians 1:18-21 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Verse 10 of Ephesians 6 tells us to be strong in God and in his great power. It isn't just any power. It is in the resurrection power. And this power wasn't just of the resurrection, but the power was found in everything that came with the resurrection: forgiveness of sin; Christ now placed at the right hand of God and given power over every nation, everyone, and everything; fulfillment of prophecy; God reversing what was done in the Garden of Eden; etc. This power is neverending and is all-powerful. This power never weakens or dims. 
I am to be strong in God and in his resurrection power. 
Put on the full armor of God and do not forget a piece or your fight against evil will not be as effective. 
If I were to focus more on the spiritual fight than on the earthly one, and I prayed so God would then act, and I freed him to do so through my prayers, then I bet this world would be less insane, self-centered, lazy, ungodly, and unbiblical. If I were to fight the spiritual battle, and not the earthly, I would then attack the root and source of the problem, not an offshoot. My spiritual battle waged is far more effective than the earthly battles.  
What can I do to bring God the most glory? It would be through freeing people and circumstances to him and his blessings. When we are in bondage, the blessings cannot get through to us. We cannot see them and do not accept them. After all, we are in bondage and are blinded. 
Moreover, if I am already in battle, or at least am ready for battle, then I have that mindset already and it is easier to see the enemy and his work so I can then engage him in battle. If I was not prepared, I would surely lose that battle... and I surely have... for years...
If I am armed with my weapons, and have the battle mindset and am prepared for battle, it is much harder to be tricked by the enemy. Therefore, why would I ever want to not be ready? But, is this not what I have done for years, the not being prepared for battle part?
Just because I forget about something, deny it, or ignore it, it does not make it any less real or any less of a threat. I cannot wish the enemy away. I must fight. 
How many others are not fighting? Someone has to. And, I refuse to submit to the enemy. 
All of this sounds great. Furthermore, it is true. But, now what? How do I engage in this war? How do I prepare myselt for it? What are the battle plans, Lord, you have for me?
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What is Spiritual Warfare? Ephesians 6:10-20 definitely answers this question. The only problem is, that if I am honest, I do not know what it means or understand? Paul wrote Ephesians and he understood what he said within context of the time and place he lived. His readers did as well. Therefore, I find it tricky to fully grasp what it means today. Therefore, I need to thoroughly study the passage and everything I can about spiritual warfare. 
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The background of Ephesians 6
The Book of Ephesians was written by Paul,  an apostle of Jesus. The ruins of Ephesus are barely there today. It had not survived as well as some of the seven churches of Revelation found in modern day Turkey. They say that only fifteen percent of the city has been dug and found by archaeologists. 
Ephesus was a port city along the coast of the Aegean Sea and was the forth largest city in the Roman Empire. It is estimated the city held between 225,000 and 250,000 people at its height. Plus all of the tourists who visited the Temple of Artemis, who was also known as Diana, the fertility goddess. These tourists went to Ephesus in order to worship her. Ephesus also helps the Library of Celsus and a medical school back in the day.
Many Ephesians became rich because of the worshippers of Artemis. Since these people journeyed there, they needed a place to stay, a place to eat, and they usually bought trinkets as well. The fact that the temple was one of the seven wonders of the world only added to this. It made more flock there. 
Since Artemis was the deity of fertility,  it meant that prostitution was common there in Ephesus, and it was not looked down on since it was part of the worship. The prostitutes lived in a brothel along through Marble Road. 
How do I use my body in ways that are not godly or biblical? Ahh. Yes. The quality and quantity of food I eat. Lord, help me to always put you first and to treat my body as your temple. 
Reading the full armor of God again, slowly, word by word. 

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