For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12 (ESV)
Within Us – Part 4
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3
The battle is within us. It's in the unseen.
One of my favourite series of books is ‘This Present Darkness’ and ‘Piercing the Darkness’ by Frank Peretti – absolute classics! They opened up for me the spiritual world and how it impacts lives in a supernaturally natural way, every single day. And mostly, we are unaware and asleep to its activities. Now, I’m not one to believe that there are demons in every corner, lurking behind doors and in dark places. I don’t spend much time at all rebuking the devil and casting out evil spirits and cleansing rooms and houses… although, I don’t discount that either. I’ve had some experiences, as I’m sure many of you have too, that I can’t explain. I’ve felt the presence of evil and the oppression of something otherworldly close by.
What does evil do? What are the weapons of the present darkness in the world? Perhaps they are things like hatred, fear, greed, depression, anxiety, anger, violence, abuse, selfishness… These things and more are the sources of so much pain in the earth. At the end of the day, we can rebuke and pray against the devil all we like, and still ignore the hatred and fear that dwells within in our own hearts. I once knew a lady who said she could see demons and cast them out of people. That same lady treated me with so much hatred, I wondered if she might have been a devil herself! Ha! In our humanity, we are so focused on the tangible, that when it comes to evil we give it a personality, a body and a name. But that in and of itself can be a distraction to the daily discipline of fighting hate with love, battling fear with hope and peace, bitterness with forgiveness, and wrestling out our worthiness with the grace and acceptance of God himself.
Once we learn how to battle these things within ourselves (it’s a life-long struggle that morphs and changes with our differing seasons and circumstances), we can come alongside others and help them fight that same battle within themselves. And as love continually wins in our own hearts and lives, it starts to win in the world around us too. Instead of fighting our haters with more hate, we fight the darkness of their hate with love. Instead of fighting those who’ve caused us pain with bitterness and resentment, we struggle with the darkness of their affliction upon us with forgiveness and blessing.
What's more powerful? Beating someone with your fists? Or loving someone with their fists raised towards you?
The only power the ‘enemy’ has over you is what you give it. In all things, God has given us the appropriate tools to fight the wars that rage within and without. The only question is, will you lay down the weapons you’ve picked up along the way and trade them for the ones originally made for you?
Go to Part 5 – Armour Ready
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