This Is War

For me, it’s funny to listen to my boys play together (that is, when they’re not arguing) because they play such different things than I did as a young child. Most recently, they have converted one of the closets in their shared bedroom into a “Secret Hideout”. Sure I made “forts” out of blankets and my Nana’s dining room chairs, but my forts were nothing more than a hangout—not a staging ground for waging war. C2 like to “fight the bad guys” and they have a gun case filled with noise-making, dart shooting, light flashing guns (and don’t forget the light sabers!) and a lock on their hideout. They are staged and ready for full out battle! Is it because I was a girl, or because their parents are in the Army? God only knows...

Thinking about Americans in war, what was the most deadly – most costly war in our history?

Deaths                         War

116,516                       World War I

405,399                       World War II

625,000                       Civil War

Over 33% more deadly than the next on the list, the Civil War cost the most in American lives… 2% of the entire population during that time! Why is civil war, in any country or capacity so costly? Because it’s always lose-lose. The most effective (or ineffective) campaign by either side inevitably adds to the numbers of casualties for the whole.

Have you ever thought of our Spiritual War (meaning Heaven vs Hell) as a civil war? Our Enemy was once a resident of Heaven, a faithful worker in the Lord’s legion, but there was a rebellion, and it was extensive. Heaven lost 1/3 of its population of Angels! I think all too often we conveniently (for the Enemy) forget about this powerful foe. I say “conveniently” because if we don’t think he is there, or we pretend his power isn’t something to be concerned with, then we actually fuel the flame with which he burns us.

I see this civil war most evidently active within ourselves. We want others to see us as competent, confident, beautiful, successful, capable… you fill in the adjective, but it’s as though we are engaged in self-sabotage with our negative thoughts and projections of ourselves. We think thoughts: “I can’t”, “I’m not”, “they think”, “I’ll never be able…”  Believer STOP!!! Stop It! You Can! You Are! You can't know what they think, and you ARE able!

Look here double agent, infiltrator, mole, spy… it’s time to pick a side! Swear your allegiance to the side of Victory—and follow the battle plan. Renounce the Devil- our enemy, from any stronghold within your mind. You can say for certain that you are in enemy territory, but you are never alone—and you’re not just some “private first class”… you are a part of the plan!

Okay—so here’s what I know so far:

1. Victory is Guaranteed with Christ.(1Cor 15:57)

2. Apart from Christ, victory is Impossible.(John 15:5)

3. The Enemy is REAL, powerful, and cunning.(Rev 12:9; 2 Cor 11:14)

Reflection Question: Will you join with me to stop being a self-defeating double agent? Today choose to affirm the promises of Christ to be victorious, capture Enemy thoughts and destroy them!