We Are the Army

Whether we like it or not, we are in some kind of battle each and every day of our lives…especially those of the spiritual kind. The enemy of God - the liar - goes around seeking to destroy us. The battleground which he launches his attacks? Our mind. His only power is that of deception and we fight deception with the Truth of God’s Word.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NASB says, 8 Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in [your] faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

Not only is he seeking to devour us - consume us in our thoughts - but we tend to do most of his work for him. Whenever he plants a negative thought in our minds that is contrary to who we are in Christ and we choose to believe it, he has won. But never fear. God has made a way for us to overcome the liar:

Revelation 12:11 NASB says, 11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

One of the ways I put off the lies of the enemy and replace it with the Word of God is through worship. Worship is one of the most effective weapons in our spiritual arsenal. I want to share two songs that I have sung for years that I have found personally helpful. They are the songs The World’s Mistaken and We Are the Army. I will share the lyrics at the end of this blog.

These songs came as a reminder of who and Whose I am…and that I am an overcomer because of the overcoming work of Jesus Christ when He defeated sin, death, and the grave! He bore all our burdens on the cross and gives us the power to share those burdens with Him. His shoulders are much broader and stronger than mine, how about yours?

Is He strong enough to bear the burden of what we are presently experiencing due to the spread of the coronavirus? Is He strong enough to bear the burden of my battle with Parkinson’s? Is He strong enough to bear the burden of financial difficulties or relational issues? We will never know until we share them in honest confession to Him! And we will never walk in victory over our circumstances until we believe we are who our Father says we are! Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Guys, we are victors! We are not victims!

These songs came as one song…but came to be used as two separate songs! Part of realizing who we are in Christ is to realize our priestly and royal function as warriors! For Paul to say “We wrestle not…” indicates that we are in battle! This song was birthed as a call to arms to the church. We must stand and fight! Our main problem is following the commands of the Lord of Hosts, our Captain, Jesus! We can save ourselves a lot of heartache by simply warring against the things He is calling us to war against…WHEN He says to do it! We must be wise as serpents and as blameless as doves. Again, transparency/intimacy is the key. Here’s another way to think about it: How can the enemy harm what can be seen right through?!? He can’t!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB says, 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…

Let us not shy away from spiritual battles, brothers and sisters! Let us run to the battle rather than cower in fear from it…rather than run away from it. Let us take up the weapons of our warfare and use them against the liar and the lies he spews out into the world. Let us put on the garment - or the armor - of praise today. Let me remind you of the words of Paul to the church in Ephesus:

Let me remind you what God’s Word tells us about our spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:10-17 NASB:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.] 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil [one.] 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Regardless of what the world believes, the world is mistaken. Regardless of the fact that the enemy wants you to feel powerless today, remember you are part of the army of God…and best of all…read the end of the book. We win!
Dennis Jernigan

To listen to the songs in today’s teaching, listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/the-worlds-mistaken-we-are-the-army/

Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2010/12/06/22/soldiers-1002_1280.jpg

The World’s Mistaken
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
June 27, 1987

The world’s mistaken but we must stand
By the Spirit drive the enemy from the land
For Satan’s seeking the Kingdom land
But he is defeated by the Lord’s own mighty hand

We Are the Army
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
June 27, 1987

We are the army shielded in the blood
And we are crushing the enemy like a mighty flood
Oh, Lord of Hosts strong in victory
Oh, Lord of Hosts, rise up, Oh God, in me

For it is by the blood of the Lamb that we will stand
By the blood of the Lamb we will stand
For it is by the blood of the Lamb that we will stand
By the blood of the Lamb we will stand