December 10, 2022 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John
When Did God Say, “It’s going to be easy.”
The Kingdom of God has never been easy. As the Bible says, “The Kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). It is a fight, a battle, and God does not take prisoners.
With that being said, the battles you and I struggle with are mostly the ‘internal’ varieties. It is the old man/woman within, that gives us the longest and hardest-fought battles, we will ever encounter. Most Christians have to transition from internal to external battles.
Remembers this rule: “You only have one problem and that is being spiritual (or Christ-like)”. As Jesus told Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail you.” Or, if you need another example here is Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
We do not fight against flesh & blood as the Bible says but against powers of darkness and every evil thing. Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
So, your battle is against evil on earth and evil in heavenly arenas. If it is not against fleshly things, then swords or guns do not work here, but you need spiritual weapons and spiritual armor. Your bulletproof vest will not help you either. That is why you need the armor of God—the ‘suit for spiritual warfare’. The full armor of God that Christians are called to put on comprises the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-18).
This is your and mine battle requirements, and the fight will not be easy. There is no retreat, often no rest, we are always attacked, and our evil foes come in numbers of 6 to 666. It is never a gentleman’s fight or a fair ‘1 on 1’ encounter. There has never been a battle in the Bible that was numerically fair—evil and darkness consider you the enemy. Your enemy hates you and would like you dead not only spiritually but physically as well.
You will be hated, and you will be spoken of as being evil, lying, deceitful, and untruthful person. Christians are hated just like Jewish people. As the Bible states, “We are as sheep for the slaughter.” Jesus said you would be persecuted and hated by all people, but He said you need to rejoice—you have a great reward. Matthew 5:12, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
It’s time to rumble! If you are not hated, you are not in the fight God called you to. If you are not persecuted, you are doing something wrong. If you are not ‘suiting-up’ with armor, you will not win the battle. You need to be humble as a lamb but as dangerous as a serpent and lion. This is what God has called all His people to do—to fight and win
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What would Jesus want me to do?
Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com
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