DAY 18: WINNING THE WAR AGAINST JEZEBEL I (SPIRITUAL WARFARE)

 PHRONESIS DEVOTIONAL

30 DAYS DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM

September 18, 2023.

Topic: WINNING THE WAR AGAINST JEZEBEL I (SPIRITUAL WARFARE)

Bible Reading: Ephesians 6:10-18

Verse for Meditation: 2 Corinthians 10:4 NKJV

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

Winning the war against Jezebel? Are we to engage ourselves in any warfare? And who is Jezebel that we are to war against?

The first place in the Bible where warfare is mentioned is in Isaiah 40:2.

Isaiah 40:2 NKJV

“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”

The first place where warfare is mentioned in the Bible was used in the context of an ended warfare because Jerusalem’s iniquity was pardoned. So does that mean that the moment we got saved, every kind of warfare ended?

But Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, he mentioned the weapons of our warfare (10:4), that means there is still an ongoing warfare. In Ephesians 6:11, he called the weapons of our warfare as the whole armour of God. Why mention weapons if there is no longer warfare?

Back to Genesis accounts, God put enmity between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed (3:15). That looks like when warfare began, but no. Before the fall, God told the man to tend and keep the Garden of Eden (2:15). To tend means to work, and to keep means to guard and to protect. To guard and to protect are military terms, and that’s warfare. Here is the catch! Before the fall, man fought from victory; but after the fall, man fought for victory.

Let’s bring it to legal terms, when a man is arrested for a crime he never committed, he would have to fight for his freedom to prove his innocence. And after the court has found him not guilty he would be declared free. Now he is still held bound in chains, even though the charges had been dropped, he would need the chains to be taken off in order to actualize his freedom. That is what it means that the warfare that came as a result of man’s fall was ended in Christ’s finished works, but we still need to fight from this victory we now have in Christ to really actualize it. Thus, the need for the weapons of our warfare.

Colossians 2:15 NLT

In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.

The challenge about spiritual warfare is that some have over-emphasized on this and have exalted the works of the devil over the finished works of Christ; they blame every sin, every conflict and every problem on demons that need to be cast out. And some have under-emphasized on this and have completely ignored the spiritual realm and the fact that the Bible tells us our battle is against spiritual power. Thus, there is a need for biblical balance and accuracy.

When you check out the whole armour of God that Apostle Paul mentioned, they were used figuratively. The belt of truth speaks of the knowledge of truth that makes us free (Jn. 8:32). This freedom is possible because grace is multiplied (2Pet. 1:2).

The breastplate of righteousness speaks of guarding the heart from unrighteous thoughts (Prov. 4:23; Phil. 4:6-8; Col. 3:2). Then evangelism is a kind of warfare against the works of darkness over people’s souls.

The shield of faith is our defence for the faith (1 Pet. 3:15; Jud. 1:3). Then the helmet of salvation speaks about the mind renewal of our new creation realities (Rom. 12:2).

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Isa. 49:2; Hos. 6:5; Heb. 4:12); our greatest defence over temptation. And then finally prayers; confessing and affirming our identity in the place of prayers.

Now all these have nothing to do with combats, but knowing the truth, believing the truth and speaking the truth. Our ultimate defence is the assurance we have of our salvation, an assurance that no spiritual force can take away. This is what it means to fight from victory!

PRAYER:

DEAR LORD, PLEASE HELP ME TO GROW IN THE KNOWLDGE OF CHRIST SO THAT GRACE WILL BE MULTIPLIED IN ME.

DECLARATION:

BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S FINISHED WORKS, I FIGHT FROM VICTORY.

Bible Reading Plan: John 16; Ephesians 4; Proverbs 18