Ephesians 6:12-13 - Not Flesh-and-Blood Enemies

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:12-13 (NLT, BSB, respectively)

With everything going on recently, our problems seem magnified beyond belief. Everyone is politically charged. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone feels that they have the moral high ground. Everyone is focusing on his/her ideals. 

And, as in anything, no one is pleased. 

It's this thing we've fought for in this country so long - the democratic process. It's messy and annoying and frustrating as all get out. Social media further amplifies each voice, sending each message out to others who, inevitably, may not agree. As my husband puts it, what once was just shared over a bowl of cereal is out there for hundreds of people to see. Even the Presidential candidates are using this medium in a very unprofessional way. There is something about social media and something about this election; in my experience so far, no one really has wanted to engage and explore and try to come up with a solution.

Everyone has their thoughts and opinions and beliefs and whoever doesn't agree is a a villain. Attacks instead of intelligent and productive conversations are the rule of the day. 

Do we just stop the conversation and keep to the whole, "Don't talk about money, politics, or religion" rot? I'm an idealist who truly believes that it's part of our rights as citizens to debate, discuss, and grow from one another even if we have completely polar opposite ideas. Maybe I'm just a nerd because I love hearing what others think. 

But....

When did disagreeing with someone's ideas become hate?

When did Christians decide that it was an effective way to show Christ's love by publicly scathing each other in front of all their friends and relatives online? [preaching to myself here, too]

And how do we expect to solve any problems - left, right, or center - by parroting nonsense and telling others to delete their accounts?

How do we show human compassion in the wake of a tragedy by arguing about guns, terrorism, gender issues, and religion?

I'm not advocating relativism, but we have some complex problems and a complex world.

We - as Christians and as humans - do not need to be attacking each other or the people we disagree with or any person. We need to realize that we have a common Enemy. Satan is a destroyer and a deceiver, the source of all evil, and as long as we use human wisdom and point fingers at people we disagree with, we're never going to "get it."

There are politicians out there right now that make my flesh crawl to think about. But they are not my enemy. Those who are trying to equate what this terrorist did in Orlando to what Christians think are not my enemies.

According to this scripture, my only enemies are:

• evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world
  
  
• mighty powers in this dark world
  
  
• evil spirits in the heavenly places. 

Those are the entities I need to be fighting by using the one offensive weapon that consistently works - constant, constant prayer. Satan probably just laughs to himself when I get all riled up on Facebook. It's just a distraction that pulls more people in, keeping us from doing what we're called to do and not glorifying Christ in the process.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." (2 Corinthians 10:4)

When I see things online that I disagree with I'm going to try to follow my recent rule to just stay out of it, but if I can't, I am going to remember that I'm truly wrestling with the prince of darkness - not my friends, acquaintances, etc.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - Taking Every Thought Captive

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Paul is using aspects of physical war to highlight the elements of our spiritual battle. Even though we are alive and breathing and have actual people that sometimes oppose us, our struggle is a spiritual one. 

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul states:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We wage our war against Satan and his demons, against his influences in the world, against his lies.

These faulty ideas (imaginations, arguments, lofty things) create strongholds in our lives. In ancient times, strongholds were the fortresses created to keep the enemy out. There is also what is known as field fortification, or building up places to stand against an enemy using the natural landscape, digging trenches, etc. Since Satan's enemy is us, he makes use of our weaknesses to build up places of power for himself in the territory of our lives.

If there is even the tiniest place we are not grounded in truth or not submissive to the will of God, the enemy can and does use it to maximize his hold on us. The more undefended areas in our minds, hearts, and lives, the more places he can gain the advantage and influence us.

So what do we do with this? We're imperfect people, and life is incredibly complex. We have so many distractions and so much information coming at us that it's often difficult to discern where certain ideas or behavior patterns even came from originally.

It's easy to give in to fear or to just pretend this cosmic struggle doesn't even exist, but this passage says that the weapons of our warfare are mighty enough to cast down strongholds. We don't have to wring our hands helplessly because we are being attacked.

We attack.

Other versions talk of demolishing, destroying, pulling down these strongholds. I picture us with a crowbar tearing out drywall or US soldiers tearing down the statue of Saddam Hussein and covering his face with an American flag or bombing terrorist foxholes. This is the kind of destruction we as Christians have been called to wreak on Satan's kingdom.

What weapons are we supposed to use? This has been detailed in Ephesians 6:

• Belt of truth
• Breastplate of righteousness
• Shoes of the gospel of peace
• Shield of faith
• Helmet of salvation
• Sword of the spirit (word of God)
• Prayer

Sometimes it's hard to disengage these concepts from a flannel graph we may or may not have seen in Sunday school as a child. But the words in the Bible aren't just random scribblings: they are the knives, swords, semi-automatic weapons, rifles, grenades, missiles, and atom bombs in our arsenal. 

Satan is seriously messing with our minds, trying to destroy us using the destructive forces in his arsenal - lies, evil, anxiety, fear, doubt, condemnation, false propaganda, and hate. 

The ultimate battle has been won by Jesus Christ. Believers can have the assurance that, even when these fortresses do form in our minds, the power of Jesus can help us destroy them. 

The problem that I find with myself and other God-loving Christians that I know is that, for the most part, we leave these areas unchecked. We aren't even paying attention while certain lies and habits grow and grow. We leave our powerful weapons unused and wonder why we aren't experiencing the victorious life we have been promised.

We have to bring EVERY THOUGHT (yes, capslock means yelling here) to the obedience of Christ. There is no middle ground area for thoughts. Either they are based on truth and influenced by the Holy Spirit, or they are based on lies and influenced by the evil one. When we bring it back down to black and white level, it's a lot easier to see areas where we need to start bombing the lies we believe.

Every thought should belong to Christ.

Life Verse: 1 Kings 19:11-12 - A Still Small Voice

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-12

Elijah has just shut down all the prophets of Baal in a major showdown over who is really God. Literal fire from heaven provided an amazing proof of God's presence and power. It was an enormous victory of faith for a man whose lifestyle was hardcore - living in the wilderness and praying so effectually that God listened and mightily displayed His splendor.

This victory placed an enormous target on Elijah's back. Jezebel's threats and maybe just physical exhaustion took their toll. Elijah is depressed and anxious to the point of wanting to give up, begging God to take his life because he is "no better than [his] fathers." 

His perspective drops from an in-your-face Satan attitude to one of total defeat. He seems to believe that God's unique calling on his life is, after all, not valid. That he will be yet another failure that cannot be used for God's purposes. All he can see are the obstacles that still stand in the way plus his own tiny abilities. This happens to Christians so easily when we are not focusing on God's power in us. Considering the prospect of standing against the enemy in our own strength is legitimately terrifying. 

So God sends a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire to Elijah as he stands on the mountain before Him. All these seem to be stereotypical ways we would expect God to speak. Awe inspiring, somewhat terrifying. But the Lord was not in any of those. Like Elijah, we expect our walk with God to always entail big, dramatic things we can look at and say, "Yep, there's God at work." Obviously, God does things like that. He has just done that with Elijah prior to our focus verse.  But that's not the only way He works.

Last comes the still small voice, or gentle whisper. More often than not, we experience God in a much subtler but just as real way. A still, small voice - the Holy Spirit - guiding us through situations, speaking truth into our lives, telling us where to go next.

In this case, God reveals other prophets who have not worshipped Baal. Soon after, he sends Elisha to comfort Elijah and take up the torch. His gentle whisperings offer hope and perspective. God can and does send fire from heaven in miraculous displays, but he also directs our path in ways that we don't expect and works his purposes in ways that aren't always immediately apparent.

God constantly reminds us that it's not just us working by ourselves against all the dark things in this world. It's Him that gives us strength to do the impossible and to become more than we actually are, ever reflecting his glory as the Spirit makes us more and more like him (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Psalm 3:5-6 - I Lay Down and Sleep

I lay down and slept; 

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

Psalm 3:5-6

I have always had trouble sleeping. My imagination gets away from me, forming new ideas, plotting stories, making plans, and ... worrying! It's difficult to get certain mental pictures of what could possibly happen in the future out of my head. At times, it's simply the stuff of every day life, but recently I have been thinking about bigger themes such as spiritual warfare and the end times. 

Spiritual realities such as how real and how powerful the forces of evil are really disturb me when I think about them too hard and too long. 

As believers we are called to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). The difficulty for me with contemplating spiritual darkness and demonic influence is the fact that it is true. Since it does exist, in my opinion, a biblical worldview includes a belief in and awareness of these issues. 

Watching end time prophecy play out in all of my online feeds is disheartening and scary. Too much imagination applied in these areas is not constantly helpful or needed. Yes, evil is real. Yes, Satan is real. Yes, the clock is ticking.

So what to do when it's time to actually sleep? How do I feel the peace of what I believe? How do I lay down and actually sleep? I'm finding that I have to renew my mind to the truth.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

Evil is not the only part of the story.

Evil has not won and will not win, no matter what happens.

God is the one who protects and sustains. He places a hedge of protection around those he has called by His name. Even if disaster strikes, His love is a constant reality in my life.

That is something that I can lay down into and sleep in.