Spiritual Warfare: Winning the Battle

Until Christ returns, we are in a spiritual battle.
How do we respond to attacks from the enemy and other people?

THIS WEEK’S BOLD STEP DEVOTION

“When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.” (Nehemiah 4:15).

Many battles fought in the course of history were about controlling territory for political or economic power. One such famous battle was the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. This battle was between Napoleon’s French army and a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher. This decisive engagement ended a 23-year war, France’s attempts to dominate Europe, and Napoleon’s imperial power. The Allied victory would usher in a period of peace throughout Europe that lasted almost 50 years.

Spiritual warfare is a lot like physical war, but the battle for ‘territory’ is your soul. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, God created you to know Him. However, God has an enemy in Satan who’s committed to preventing people from experiencing the love of God in their lives. His tactics may differ based on whether you’re a Christian or not, but his ultimate purpose is to sidetrack and destroy your life.

Everything is running like clockwork when we open up the first few chapters of Nehemiah: Nehemiah gets his call from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the king grants him favor to go and do so, and recruitment efforts are well underway for workmen to complete this God-given task. Yet when we turn to chapter 4, we find a band of angry men trying to discourage Nehemiah and his fellow workers with jeers such as, “What are those feeble Jews doing?”, “Will they restore their wall?”, and “Will they finish in a day?” Their incessant taunting was meant to discourage, dissuade, and demoralize God’s people.

How do you respond when the enemy uses other people to attack you? Here are some insights to combat those attacks from the life of Nehemiah:

• Most spiritual attacks aim at weakening your mindset in order to stop the progress of what God is doing.
  • Nehemiah turned to God in prayer immediately and kept his mind focused on the task at hand rather than allow himself to get distracted.
• When internal discouragement and external opposition converge on us at the time, it creates a critical moment.
  • When his men grew tired from working, Nehemiah changed strategies. Your spiritual health is directly tied to your physical health. If you’re tired and mentally drained, that’s when you’re most vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.
• Learn the power of spiritual multitasking by protecting your weakness while working at your call.
  • Nehemiah got his men to do two things at the same time. They held a sword for protection in one hand and labored with the other. If you don’t guard the weak areas in your life, those areas will eventually stop what God has called you to do.
• You’re most vulnerable when you’re most isolated.
  • Nehemiah didn’t build the wall alone. In all, there were about 45 men who performed the task with him. We too need a community of people to encourage and support us in life’s battles. When we try to go at it alone, we become an easy target for the enemy. Your chances of winning are much better when you have trustworthy people around you.

Friend, ultimately, the devil has already been defeated by Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus won the victory, but the devil will make every attempt to blind, confuse, and deter you from the truth. Join me today in suiting up for battle by putting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) so that ‘when the day of evil comes’ (v. 13), you will be able to stand strong and firm in the Lord!

Listen to the sermon series: Moving Forward Under Attack

Part 1Part 2

Ministry Update from Mark

I’m so excited to announce the recent formation of the Moody Theological Seminary Center for Advanced Global Leadership Studies here at Moody Bible Institute! If you’re a leader or aspiring to be one, our new center offers advanced seminars, thought-provoking lectures, mentoring, leadership assessment tools, and much more. I believe that now more than ever we need biblically trained leaders who seek to lead others in their areas of influence with boldness and integrity. Maybe that’s you! Learn more at Center for Advanced Global Leadership Studies