Spiritual Warfare
by Borgman and Ventura
– The closer we get to God, the closer we are to the front lines of the battle.
– Awareness and vigilance are essential for survival.
– The spiritual life is like standing on head of a pen, you can fall off any direction.
– We are in a very real war, but it is invisible and not against flesh or blood. There are two extremes to this: one is to disbelieve and ignore while the other is to believe in excess and dwell on always.
– How we think about this battle is credible to how we fight the battle.
– Self dependency is our weakness in this war, we need the help of Christ. We are insufficient by ourselves, however God does not leave His children alone.
– We do not draw our strength from without or within ourselves, we draw our strength from the Lord. This is why Paul says so many times our strength is in the Lord.
– Satan may attack you by force or by fraud, but you must always have your armor on and be prepared.
– Knowing how our adversary works will help us in the battle. Just as our God has good and loving names, so our enemy has evil and corrupt names that explain who he is.
– One of Satan‘s strongest weapons is what he used with Eve at the very beginning, to make us question or doubt God. Has God said? When we begin to doubt, the devil begins to win.
– We are always on duty as a Christian, there is no holiday. The devil attacks at any time and wants to take advantage of us.
– The first line of defense we have in our armor is truth. Truth is what we have that does not change. Our enemy is an evil foe and only the truth of God’s Word can keep him at bay. I Jn 2:14; Is 54:17
– If we live passively, we will be in danger that the darts of the wicked one hit us between the armor like it did with Ahab in 1 Kings 22
– Your feet must be shod. The feet are important, they give you grip and let you run and keep on the path.