Recently the Lord has been speaking to me about the need to develop more of a “warrior spirit.” A warrior spirit is when we make war on sin, Satan, the flesh, and anything that is ungodly in our lives. Too often we are passive in our walk with God. We go on the defensive by staying in our fort, with the hope that nothing negative will come our way. I find God’s Word calling us to live on the offensive. Besides, Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against her (Mt. 16:18). Gates are for defense. Therefore, the church is to advance the mission of God against the gates of the kingdom of darkness. This may be what Jesus meant when he said “the kingdom of God has suffered violence but the violent take it by force” (Mt. 11:12). We are to be appropriately violent in our walk with God: violent against sin in our lives, violent against the attacks of Satan, violent against passivity, violent against injustice, violent against carnality, violent against ingratitude, violent against impure thoughts, violent against not reading God’s Word, violent against prayerlessness ….. but this violent action must be done in the energy of the Spirit and not the flesh: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10). “We are pulling down strongholds and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking captive every thought and making it obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5). May God grant us a warrior spirit for His glory.
If you get a chance, listen to the 6-minute video presentation of John Piper on this subject because he says it much better than me: http://wn.com/War_John_Piper_Sermon_Jam
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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