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THE BATTLEFIELD IS OUR SOUL
The greatest battles in
history have not been fought with weapons of war, but in the souls of
men. This soul warfare is against fear, hatred, jealousy, and the evil
desires in the minds of both those who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and also in every unbeliever as well.
In Romans 7:22-25 the apostle Paul told of his
personal struggle in this battle. He truly desired to please the Lord,
but his sinful nature was struggling to have its way in his life. He
finally understood that the battle was not against flesh and blood but
against demon powers that control the cosmic system in which we live.
Those demonic powers are constantly trying to influence the thoughts
and actions of unbelievers to keep them from seeing their need of
salvation by simple faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ dying
on the cross as their substitute. Satan tries to distract
believers in Christ from God's plan and purpose for their lives
through getting them involved in legalism or emotionalism. Our only
defense against satanic influence is to put on the whole armor of God
... details of which are found in Ephesians 6: 11-17. All of the armor
refers to God's Word. |
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Changing our system of thinking from human
viewpoint to Divine viewpoint cannot be accomplished by our own
effort, but through a daily intake of the Word of God. "For precept
must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon
line, here a little and there a little." (Isaiah 28: 1 0) Also,
Proverbs 23: 7 tells us that we are what we think.
Acquiring a Divine mental attitude toward life is
part of the greatest declaration of Divine power, and it affords the
greatest freedom to mankind regardless of the circumstances in which
they find themselves.
God tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9 that His thoughts
and His ways are far superior to ours. In speaking to some Jews who
believed in Him, Jesus said: "If you continue in My Word then you will
indeed be My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the
truth will make you free." (John 8:31,32)
Before he died, the apostle Paul said in 2
Timothy 2:4 that the Lord has chosen believers to serve Him as
soldiers, and that they will not please Him if they entangle
themselves with the affairs of this life. And in Romans 8:38, Paul
encourages
believers by declaring: "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor any other created being shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
Many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will fail
to learn and apply the Divine viewpoint of life, and they are losing
the battle in their souls, because they do not appreciate the fact
that God has given to us the very thinking of Christ. (l
Corinthians 2: 15)
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