DAY 39: THE KINGDOM AT WAR

DAY 39: THE KINGDOM AT WAR

SCRIPTURE:

If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Matthew 12:28)

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

OBSERVATION:

Once every Christian receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, he not only enters the kingdom of God, but becomes part of God’s army. We are saved for a purpose, and one of those primary purposes is to push back the kingdom of Satan.

When Jesus started His ministry on earth 2,000 years ago, he immediately proceeded to attack the kingdom of Satan, healing the sick, casting out demons, and turning around lives wherever He went. The devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but our Lord came to give us life, and life to the full. Wherever we give life, and undo the works of evil with good, we are advancing God’s kingdom.

When we drive back poverty, and give the hopeless hope, when we teach the poor children, and give them hope for the future, when we reach out to the drug addict, and bring him back to usefulness in society, we undo the works of the evil one. When we live lives of prayer for our nation and our leaders, when we worship and commit our workplaces to the Lord, when we stand firm in righteousness in a world of compromise, we likewise push the kingdom forward!

How truly important here is our mindset! Do we even realize we are at war? Do we realize that the devil sends forth snares and traps to distract us and make us ineffective? Every moment, every situation is an opportunity for us to advance God’s kingdom in one way or another, to strike blows against the enemy, to reclaim lost territory and bring light in darkness.

APPLICATION:

Fix firmly in our minds the reality of our position as part of God’s army. God has given His Holy Spirit, and the Word of God to us. We have everything we need. However, it is up to us to take the initiative to go out and work with God to engage the enemy and extend His kingdom. The evil one sets up traps and snares to entangle us. We need to be aware of this and capture every thought and make it obedient to Christ Jesus! Praying in tongues is so important in our spiritual warfare, for it builds up our Spirit man and makes us strong in the Lord! We also need to know the Word of God well, to read it often and always, for it is the Sword of the Spirit. And there is our primary weapon, prayer, which we need to cultivate as a lifestyle, for prayer in faith moves angels and advances God’s army in ways we could not imagine. In fighting distractions or problems, there is always the fight of our will. The old man in us waves about trying to exert himself to get us to go back to our old ways. We need to constantly reckon him dead by faith. Here is where we need to exercise our will in strength to crucify our old man, to consider him dead.

PRAYER:

We praise thee and worship thee, Father God, for You are the Lord of Hosts, our great Commander in Heaven. You hold all things in Your hands, and in Your wisdom, You have also allowed us to join with You to war against the evil one. Give us that strong mindset O Lord, to remember and know that we are at war, and that we need to be constantly involved in prayer and advancing Your kingdom. Inspire us O Lord, and lead us, that we might work with You to do much good, and grow from strength to strength, from glory to glory. May Your name be praised always, precious Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.