The days are getting warmer, lots of sunshine.  Blaze is spending more time outside and enjoying it.  He sometimes gets a bit over exuberant with his barking, but he quiets down when told to – at least for a few seconds.

Hard to believe it is already the 6^th of March – this years is indeed marching along at a brisk pace.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up in a couple months and march right along with it.

Ephesians 6:10-19   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

¹⁹ And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

We know these verses well.  They are preached on often, I have seen where someone demonstrates the putting on of armor as an illustration, especially for young people.

God has made it clear by these and other passages that there is a war going on in this world.  It started in the Garden of Eden and it will end only when HE declares it ended, when He creates a new heaven and new earth.

All we know is what we know.  We know that physical wars on this earth are abundant.  We know that weapons have been developed that are so devastating they wipe out entire communities and could destroy larger bodies of land should they be applied.

We know that man is not going to stop killing man.  There is greed, fear, anger, retribution, humiliation and whatever else man may choose to be offended by and thus declare war.

Nations are using weapons that must be countered with greater weapons you cannot go against an armored army with bows and arrows – you must have a defense that is capable of meeting and defeating the enemy.

Satan uses the most modern techniques and weapons to attack everyone, but even more so Christians.  But when we read these verses we see that they still apply, even against the most modern of methods, God has given us the weapons to counter satan and emerge victorious.

But in all wars there are casualties; and there are in this war we wage against satan and his minions.  And it is our war to fight because God has ordained it so, he has given us the weapons to use, we must use them.

We send our young men (and now women) into battle.  They go out into harm’s way every day.  While one time the battlefields were pretty clear cut, it is not so today.  Our military find they can be attacked in all areas, even our country has had soldiers killed by enemies for the expressed purpose to further their cause.

Many of our enemy has made religion the basis for the current wars.  Radical Islamic terrorist groups are infiltrating the entire world and striving to murder wherever they can. 

Christians and Jews are becoming the targets of choice by these groups and the failure to counter them by the Muslim people and the nations that are acquiescing to Muslim demands emboldens and thus supports them.

We do not know how long this war will last.  Anytime we engage the enemy on this earth we find a quick ending rarely happens, wars go on for years.  We lose our young people to horrifying deaths or disablements.  Nations, especially those of us that are not in the battle zone, grow weary of the fight and want to pull away – or not engage the vicious enemy at all.

America has been blessed with few wars on our land in the past century.  We have managed to remain out of the general fray while other countries are and have been at war on their homelands.  Not only are their young men and women being killed but their elderly and their children.  Their homes and places of worship are also being destroyed.

While there are those that deny we are in a religious war throughout the world right now, let us have no doubts that satan is in the middle of it, for religious reasons. 

His desire is to abolish all those that belief in the God.  Both Jews and Christians are his targets.

While, in America, we are not seeing many physical attacks against us -yet, we are seeing the psychological and legal attacks against us.  I have no doubt that they will escalate – and in some cases have to a smaller degree – Christians are losing their livelihood, their homes and possessions because of their stand for Christ.

Churches and Synagogues are being vandalized and venom of hateful words being painted on their walls.  Christian businesses are being target for the stand of their owners and the courts are sanctioning the attacks.

When we send our young people into battle, we know and they know that there is a high likelihood that some will not return, or if they do they will have serious injuries.

Yet, we send them, and they go.  We know that if we do not defend ourselves and other nations that are being oppressed, the cancer of terrorism will hit our own shores in massive and/or repeated strifes we see happening in the Middle East.  What little we are seeing not in America will be amplified by 100’s if not tens of 1000’s more deaths within our borders.

We know there is a price to pay for freedom, and it is the blood of our young people.  We do not like it, we would have it some other way, but it is going to happen in any war – and we are at war.

Revelations 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

As I look at the war against Christianity I cannot help but reflect on the early Christians.  Their bravery, their love of Christ against ALL costs, even their lives, allowed US 2000 years later to receive God’s Son as our Savior.

There were those that gave into the assaults, but many stood fast and even though they knew they would lose their lives, they continued to share their faith in Christ with others.

They refused to be silenced.

We must decide to do the same.  We cannot back down from those that will assault our faith; we cannot surrender to their desire to destroy us and God. 

We must take seriously the fact that we are under fire and use the armor God has given us to do battle. 

We cannot pacify satan.  If we downplay our faith, he will continue to attack weak and instead of being combatants against him he will use them as spears against the Christians that stand for Christ.

After all if some Christians agree with the current worldly views of satan, then it must be okay; those of us that disagree are vicious ‘criminals’ against people and must be put down.

To some if it is lawful it is moral.  To far too many Christians today, in order to avoid persecution, they whither and become useless for God.

Make no mistake, satan has infiltrated many of our churches, just as nations infiltrated spies in times of war and in preparation for war.  Satan is spewing his condemnation of God’s Word and these churches are watering down Christ’s gospel to appease the worldly.

We ARE in a battle for Christ and our way of life and if we are not careful it will be all but destroyed and only a remnant will remain – and they will be persecuted beyond our current understanding.

As the early Christians gave their all to further Christ’s church for the future generations, so must we be willing to do all that we can so our children and grandchildren will be able to worship Christ openly.

Isaiah 40:29-31  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

It is not an easy road, and if we think about all that can/will happen we can feel hopeless.

Spiritual battles are difficult, while we see the results of satan’s battles, we can become discouraged because it isn’t a fight where we take up physical arms to fight.

We are commanded to use the armor He has given to us and be willing to stand no matter what.

But, God is here.  He has given us the weapons to stand for Him.  While many of us will suffer the consequences of satan’s wrath, we must still go forward and do battle.

God has given us all we need to do battle; He is here and willing to be there for us, but He puts us on the front line and expects us to go into the fray with the understanding not all will have it easy, and many will face horrific struggles and even death in His Name.

Unlike our earthly wars where the warriors may not come home, as Christians, we are guaranteed a home for eternity.

While many of our young people are putting their lives on the line to combat terrorism in a physical way, we must be willing to put our own personal comfort aside in the spiritual war we are engaging in and stand fast in God.

Later,

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again