Soul Warfare



In high school, I had a desire to enter the military. My hope was to join with either the Army or Marines through the officer training track. It was looking good for me until that dreaded physical revealed my seasonal asthma. That was an immediate rejection.


Ugh. I was heartbroken. Turns out God had other things in store for me which I'm grateful for!

It was only after I'd been walking with Jesus for a while that I realized that military service or not, I was in a battle - one fought for my soul and others. Early church leader Paul spoke about this in Ephesians 6 where he reveals that our real battle or struggle isn't against humans but spiritual forces of evil!

In a video talking about his book "Live No Lies", author John Mark Comer reminds us that we're born into a warzone where there's a battle raging all around us - a battle between truth and lies, spirit and flesh, and God's kingdom versus the systems of the world. Further, while this battle isn't fought with earthly weapons, by faith in Christ we have "divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor 10:4)!"

He pointed out that since early church days, many have viewed this battle in terms of a fight for faith requiring the full armor of God to defeat the attacks that come from the evil one, the flesh, and the world. We can see a glimpse of this battle in Jesus' struggle in the desert against satan in Matthew 4.

Our struggle is real and has eternal weight.

In Christ, we have the ultimate victory which helps spur us on. As Jesus said, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

Our next teaching series in June will focus on this spiritual battle reality and I'm praying God will empower and equip us all to stand firm!

Pastor Ben

PS Here's a link to that video from John Mark Comer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcWYIg0WL74


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