We Are Strong In The Lord

I don’t know about you, but since coming to know Jesus, my life has been anything but easy. Why is that? Because the enemy of God - the Liar - Satan - wants to bring such massive discouragement to the body of Christ that we get to the point of simply giving up. In other words, if he can silence the testimonies of those whom God has redeemed, he has effectively cut off the light of the redeeming love of Christ that the Lord wants to pour out of every believer’s life. God’s Word tells us that if we are redeemed we are to ‘say so’! The Liar has basically declared war on the followers of Jesus Christ. If we are at war, we need to know how to fight and we need to know the weapons of our warfare.

What gets me riled up the most - what keeps me in a constant state of spiritual warfare - is when the enemy messes with my family. I fight by crying out to God, specifically in songs of worship and spiritual warfare. I fight by declaring the written Word of God over my family. I remind myself to put on and to use the whole armor of God He has provided for me. Here it is in a nutshell:

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 on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet 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.

Many years ago now, while leading the body of Christ in praise, it became apparent to me that part of my job as a worship leader is to encourage the body of Christ to rise up and assume the identity God has given them. Overcomers. Victors. Mighty Men and Women of Valor. We are triumphant because Christ is triumphant over sin, over death, and over the enemy!

We are strong in the Lord, not by our own strength, but by His. We are called to be warriors who do not allow the enemy to overrun us. Rather, we are called to storm the very gates of hell. We need to remember that people are not our enemy. Th enemy of God is the enemy. We wage war against the enemy of God by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle 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 arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…

One of the things my wife and I practice is speaking the truth out loud to God, to our own minds, and to the Liar. We verbally and mentally and spiritually put him and his lies underneath our feet by faith in the Word of God. We also remind ourselves of who and Whose we are - out loud. There just is something powerful about speaking God’s truth into our own atmosphere.

And even when we fail or when we fall or when we feel wounded by the lies of the enemy, we do not become victims. We rise up as victors over the Liar and his lies by getting up from where we fell and heading with all our might toward the finish line. And what is that? Jesus! We head right to Jesus! The only failure is the man or woman who falls or gets knocked down and just decides to not get back up.

Let’s be the soldiers of the cross we are called to be and let’s boldly speak forth the word of truth in spiritual warfare against the enemy. And while we’re at it, let’s help others in their battles. Fight for your spouse. Fight for your children and grandchildren. Fight for your friends. Help bind up the wounds of the fallen and help them get back up and get back to fighting. I’ll tell you this: Knowing Jesus Christ intimately is worth every battle and every struggle I have ever had to go through. To Him, I was worth dying for. To me, He is worth dying for…and worth living for.

And remember this: the loss of one battle does not equal the loss of the war. Just keep getting back up. War is devastating at times, yet necessary in the spiritual realm in which we live our true reality. Don’t be a timid warrior. Be a bold and relentless warrior in the army of God. That’s really who you are.

Dennis Jernigan

To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this blog and to hear the song of warfare, We Are Strong In The Lord, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/we-are-strong-in-the-lord/

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