Spiritual Warfare

As a young man, Philip was kidnapped and held hostage in Greece. There he remained for several years. During this time he received a military education. Then he returned to his homeland, which had conceded many defeats and had lost much land. Within five years he had become king. Philip II of Macedon desperately needed his army to stand firm. He is remembered for two major innovations. First is the *sarissa*, a very long spear. Second is the re-development of a rectangular…

The Arrows strike at the most vital places in our hearts, the things we care most about. The deepest questions we ever ask are directly related to our hearts' greatest needs and the answers life gives us shape our images of ourselves, of life, and of God. Who am I? The Romance whispers that we are someone special, that our heart is good because it is made for someone good; the Arrows tell us we are a dime a dozen, worthless, even dark and twisted, dirty. Where is life…

Webster defines hijacked in this way; to steal or to commandeer. Have you ever felt as if your true self, the one that God made you to be, has been commandeered? Stolen? Hijacked? You’re not alone. Ever since that fateful day when we surrendered to an enemy that was hell bent on tricking us into submission, we’ve been struggling to get back that one thing that was stolen from us. That one thing is simply the knowledge of our true self as we desperately look to…

I recently saw an interview with Dana White, the head of the UFC (Ultimate Fight Championship). As an entrepreneur, he’s pretty impressive. He cares about his employees, his fighters, and his bottom line and backs it up with the loyalty and the investment necessary to make it the most popular full-contact combat sport in the world. I remember when boxing was just that. The "Thrilla in Manila" was the third and final boxing match between WBA, WBC, and The…

Many years ago, Joni Mitchell wrote a song called “Woodstock” in which she saw the human race trapped in a “bargain” with the devil. Urging her listeners to seek a simpler, more peaceful existence, she sang of a return to “the garden.” Mitchell spoke for a generation longing for purpose and meaning. Mitchell’s poetical “garden” is Eden, of course. Eden was the paradise God created for us back in the beginning. In this,…

In order for us to live in freedom and become the women we are to become, we need to receive God’s love even in our lowest places. Spiritual warfare is designed to separate you from the love of God. Its goal is to keep you from living in the freedom that Jesus has purchased for you. Satan whispers to us when we have failed or sinned or are feeling horrid that we are nothing and no one. He is a liar. And our fight for our freedom involves exposing him for who he is…

Now—what is your part? What is your role in the Story? In truth, the only one who can tell you that is the Author. To find our lives, we must turn to Jesus. We must yield our all to him and ask him to restore us as his own. We ask his forgiveness for our betrayal of him. We ask him to make us all he intended us to be—to tell us who we are and what we are now to do. We ask him to remove the veil from our eyes and from our hearts.The Story God is telling&mdash…

The question is not, Are we spiritually oppressed, but Where and How? Think of it—why does every story have a villain? Little Red Riding Hood is attacked by a wolf. Dorothy must face and bring down the Wicked Witch of the West. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi go hand to hand against Darth Maul. To release the captives of the Matrix, Neo battles the powerful "agents." Frodo is hunted by the Black Riders. (The Morgul blade that the Black Riders pierced Frodo…

You shall know them, Jesus said, by their fruit. The principle holds true for anything in life. It is especially helpful in diagnosing what the enemy might be up to. What is the fruit of what you’re experiencing? What is its effect? If it continues, what will the results of that be? What will be lost? Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it abundantly. He also warned that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Is something being stolen? That&rsquo…