The Introduction
Throughout the Word of God there have been epic battles recorded about the nation of Israel. Israel suffered many defeats but also had many great victories. The notable thing about their defeats is that they came in the wake of disobedience to God. Just prior to their defeats they would have walked away from the Lord. When they began to worship idols, their next battle ended in defeat. Defeat came when they allowed other gods into their worship and began to make rituals for them. Israel also saw defeat when they became complacent about God. When they became comfortable in their status, they believed that since
things were going well they did not need God.
We might ask ourselves why God allowed so many defeats of the Israelite nation, given the fact the He is supposed to be loving and merciful. That is a fair question, but we have to look at the incredible victories that Israel had in order to find the answers. In the greatest battles of the nation of Israel, they defeated armies that were bigger, faster, and stronger. They
defeated their enemies with great power, but it was not at their doing. These military achievements could only come at the hand of God. And I believe that this is best explained in Judges chapters six and seven. In chapter six, God
called Gideon to save Israel. Gideon was surprised at this because his family was poor and he was the smallest of his father’s house. Just like us, Gideon was looking at the outward appearance, but God had called him a “mighty man of valor.”
In chapter seven, after Gideon had prepared his army, God told him that his army was too big. God told him that he needed to let everyone who was afraid to go home. Amazingly, twenty-two thousand people left the camp. Gideon, now left with 10,300 men, was told again that his army was still too big. He was told this because God did not want Israel to rest in their own power and might. God knew that if He let them go into battle at full strength, they would have been confident in themselves and not in the power of God. God put Gideon’s army through another test, and Gideon was left with just three hundred men after another ten thousand left the camp. Gideon’s army, now just three hundred strong, was going to fight the might army of the Midianites. Gideon, with his small army and the strength of the hand of God, defeated the
Midianites.
Another epic battle was when Joshua led Israel to victory over Jericho. Jericho had a mighty army, but their strength came in the form of an impenetrable wall around their city. Joshua could have had an army of millions, but the wall was their barrier to victory. In other words, there was nothing within human strength and understanding that Israel could have done to destroy the city of Jericho. Well beyond human understanding, God commanded Joshua to have his army march around the city once each day and on the seventh day, seven times. And while marching, they were to remain completely silent; that, in and of itself, seemed impossible. The only sound that God allowed them to make was at the end of the seventh march on the seventh day. I am certain that we would have given up long before the time came for a shout. However, the army of Israel
was obedient to the Word of God. When they shouted, the mighty walls of Jericho came down, and so did its city. The mind of man could not have conceived this scheme or built any weapons to do what God did on that day.
Now we go to one of the greatest battles of all: David and Goliath. In boxing terms, the tail of the tape had Goliath standing at around nine feet, nine inches tall with just one portion of his armor weighing in at 125 pounds. The head of his spear weighed around fifteen pounds so his spear must have been about the size of a small tree. David, on the other hand, may
have been between five feet, six inches to five feet, nine inches tall and was no obvious match to Goliath. When King Saul tried to give David his own armor, David refused because it was not made for him, it was too big for him, and he
did not have time to test it. Instead, he went with what he was comfortable using—a sling and a stone. It was this weapon that David used to protect his father’s sheep, and he was very skilled in its use. However, he went with more than a sling and a few stones. David was armed with his complete confidence in the Lord. David proclaimed that God had delivered the bear and the lion into his hand, and Goliath would also be delivered into his hands. I personally believe that if David and Goliath ended up in a wrestling match Goliath would have been killed by David.
In each of these battles, what seemed impossible in the eyes of man was possible with God. And with each victory came a confidence in the Lord again. The nation of Israel saw the mighty hand of God, turned from their wicked ways, and surrendered their obedience to Him. Let it be said here that God never left Israel. It was the nation of Israel who left
Him.
So how does this apply in our lives today and our weapons of warfare? One simple word can answer that question: everything. We fight in spiritual battles every day. We win some and we lose some. We can’t seem to live a life of complete victory over our enemy. It almost feels like we stay in some form of bondage or another. I believe that this is true because we don’t really understand where our battles begin. I am talking about the war that rages between our renewed spirit and our flesh. While we wrestle with the flesh, we cannot war against it with fleshly things, because our spirit man can only use
weapons from a spiritual source. Our source for our spiritual weapons comes from the armory of God. This armory, or weapons depot, is stocked with a great many weapons that are designed to bring us victory in our lives and for the kingdom
of God. Second Corinthians 10:3-4 says,“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds.”
If we were to try to win a battle over our flesh with fleshly things, it would be like fighting a house fire with fire. The house would quickly be consumed because the correct tool to fight the fire was kept away from the battle. Now I know that the forestry service will perform controlled burns, so, in a way, we could say that they fight fire with fire. That is only
partly true. They have controlled burns to keep the forest from being completely consumed if a large fire was started. I guess you could say that we need to allow the Holy Spirit into our lives to perform controlled burns to get rid of the small underbrush of sin that, if they go unchecked, will become major problems down the road.
The weapons of God are not carnal or formed by the hands of man, so we can’t take any credit for our victories. In the battles of Joshua and Jericho, Gideon and the Midianites, and David and Goliath, God stacked the military deck against the enemies of Israel with His mighty hand. Israel could not take any glory for their victories because God made sure that the battles
would require a miracle to win. He does the same thing in our lives. When we have a battle before us, like needing to forgive someone who has wronged us, God supplies our weapon for victory. Why? Because we can’t forgive from the flesh.
Our flesh man will only desire revenge.
As you read this book, I believe that God will open your heart to receive Him as the one who provides victory for your life. Now, you may not agree with everything that I write, and that’s okay. My prayer is that God reveals Himself to you in a more powerful way and you will desire to get into His Word and His presence. I also pray that if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord
and Savior, this book will begin your journey into the Word of God. At the end of this book, there will be an opportunity for you to give your heart to Jesus.
things were going well they did not need God.
We might ask ourselves why God allowed so many defeats of the Israelite nation, given the fact the He is supposed to be loving and merciful. That is a fair question, but we have to look at the incredible victories that Israel had in order to find the answers. In the greatest battles of the nation of Israel, they defeated armies that were bigger, faster, and stronger. They
defeated their enemies with great power, but it was not at their doing. These military achievements could only come at the hand of God. And I believe that this is best explained in Judges chapters six and seven. In chapter six, God
called Gideon to save Israel. Gideon was surprised at this because his family was poor and he was the smallest of his father’s house. Just like us, Gideon was looking at the outward appearance, but God had called him a “mighty man of valor.”
In chapter seven, after Gideon had prepared his army, God told him that his army was too big. God told him that he needed to let everyone who was afraid to go home. Amazingly, twenty-two thousand people left the camp. Gideon, now left with 10,300 men, was told again that his army was still too big. He was told this because God did not want Israel to rest in their own power and might. God knew that if He let them go into battle at full strength, they would have been confident in themselves and not in the power of God. God put Gideon’s army through another test, and Gideon was left with just three hundred men after another ten thousand left the camp. Gideon’s army, now just three hundred strong, was going to fight the might army of the Midianites. Gideon, with his small army and the strength of the hand of God, defeated the
Midianites.
Another epic battle was when Joshua led Israel to victory over Jericho. Jericho had a mighty army, but their strength came in the form of an impenetrable wall around their city. Joshua could have had an army of millions, but the wall was their barrier to victory. In other words, there was nothing within human strength and understanding that Israel could have done to destroy the city of Jericho. Well beyond human understanding, God commanded Joshua to have his army march around the city once each day and on the seventh day, seven times. And while marching, they were to remain completely silent; that, in and of itself, seemed impossible. The only sound that God allowed them to make was at the end of the seventh march on the seventh day. I am certain that we would have given up long before the time came for a shout. However, the army of Israel
was obedient to the Word of God. When they shouted, the mighty walls of Jericho came down, and so did its city. The mind of man could not have conceived this scheme or built any weapons to do what God did on that day.
Now we go to one of the greatest battles of all: David and Goliath. In boxing terms, the tail of the tape had Goliath standing at around nine feet, nine inches tall with just one portion of his armor weighing in at 125 pounds. The head of his spear weighed around fifteen pounds so his spear must have been about the size of a small tree. David, on the other hand, may
have been between five feet, six inches to five feet, nine inches tall and was no obvious match to Goliath. When King Saul tried to give David his own armor, David refused because it was not made for him, it was too big for him, and he
did not have time to test it. Instead, he went with what he was comfortable using—a sling and a stone. It was this weapon that David used to protect his father’s sheep, and he was very skilled in its use. However, he went with more than a sling and a few stones. David was armed with his complete confidence in the Lord. David proclaimed that God had delivered the bear and the lion into his hand, and Goliath would also be delivered into his hands. I personally believe that if David and Goliath ended up in a wrestling match Goliath would have been killed by David.
In each of these battles, what seemed impossible in the eyes of man was possible with God. And with each victory came a confidence in the Lord again. The nation of Israel saw the mighty hand of God, turned from their wicked ways, and surrendered their obedience to Him. Let it be said here that God never left Israel. It was the nation of Israel who left
Him.
So how does this apply in our lives today and our weapons of warfare? One simple word can answer that question: everything. We fight in spiritual battles every day. We win some and we lose some. We can’t seem to live a life of complete victory over our enemy. It almost feels like we stay in some form of bondage or another. I believe that this is true because we don’t really understand where our battles begin. I am talking about the war that rages between our renewed spirit and our flesh. While we wrestle with the flesh, we cannot war against it with fleshly things, because our spirit man can only use
weapons from a spiritual source. Our source for our spiritual weapons comes from the armory of God. This armory, or weapons depot, is stocked with a great many weapons that are designed to bring us victory in our lives and for the kingdom
of God. Second Corinthians 10:3-4 says,“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds.”
If we were to try to win a battle over our flesh with fleshly things, it would be like fighting a house fire with fire. The house would quickly be consumed because the correct tool to fight the fire was kept away from the battle. Now I know that the forestry service will perform controlled burns, so, in a way, we could say that they fight fire with fire. That is only
partly true. They have controlled burns to keep the forest from being completely consumed if a large fire was started. I guess you could say that we need to allow the Holy Spirit into our lives to perform controlled burns to get rid of the small underbrush of sin that, if they go unchecked, will become major problems down the road.
The weapons of God are not carnal or formed by the hands of man, so we can’t take any credit for our victories. In the battles of Joshua and Jericho, Gideon and the Midianites, and David and Goliath, God stacked the military deck against the enemies of Israel with His mighty hand. Israel could not take any glory for their victories because God made sure that the battles
would require a miracle to win. He does the same thing in our lives. When we have a battle before us, like needing to forgive someone who has wronged us, God supplies our weapon for victory. Why? Because we can’t forgive from the flesh.
Our flesh man will only desire revenge.
As you read this book, I believe that God will open your heart to receive Him as the one who provides victory for your life. Now, you may not agree with everything that I write, and that’s okay. My prayer is that God reveals Himself to you in a more powerful way and you will desire to get into His Word and His presence. I also pray that if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord
and Savior, this book will begin your journey into the Word of God. At the end of this book, there will be an opportunity for you to give your heart to Jesus.
The Conclusion
Throughout this book we have been on a journey to discover the different weapons that God has given to us for our victory. Although this book is at its end, it is my prayer is that God gives each of you a deeper revelation of Himself and reveals even more ways that lead you to complete victory over the enemy of your soul. We must continually seek ways to grow in the Lord, and as we do, God will give us revelation about Himself. And as we gain understanding in Him we must use that understanding to overcome the wicked one. We must also help others overcome the enemy so the body of Christ will be presented as a spotless bride to Christ.
We have to understand that there is warfare going on every day. What we see in the news is called carnal warfare, which includes military warfare. Spiritual warfare encompasses so much more than we can see because it involves things that influences people without their knowledge. Although there are vast differences within both types of warfare, there are similarities too. Just like a military fights for its own nation, the church fights for God. There is one huge difference. While both a regular army and God’s army are issued weapons that tear down the enemy strongholds, a regular army is built to destroy with its weapons. God’s army uses its weapons to build up. When the church uses spiritual weapons correctly, it builds others up and then God destroys the works of the enemy. Did you catch that? It is God who destroys the works of the enemy. This only happens if we submit, pull out our spiritual artillery, and then hand it over to God. If we make any attempt to do it on our own, we will fail. We will be overcome. And we will be destroyed.
I mention this because we are never out of the sight of Satan’s artillery. We may go through periods when everything seems to be going fine, but the truth is that Satan is always on the warpath. Things may be going well, but if we are not in tune with the will of God, we may be heading into a trap of the enemy. It may be a very simple word of deceit that throws us off guard and off course. If we take a look at Eve and her conversation with the serpent we can get a clue of his subtleness. We find this in Genesis 3. The serpent first asked, “Did God say that you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” Now Eve answered correctly when she said that they could eat the fruit of every tree but the one on the middle of the garden. She also repeated God’s command and said that if they ate of this tree, they would die. In verse 4, the serpent told Eve, “You will not die. God does not want you to eat this fruit because your eyes will be opened, you will be like gods and you will know what is good and evil.”
The serpent did know the truth and told her only enough of it to make his words sound plausible. He knew that the only way to break ground into the soul of man was to get in there with partial truth. He had to devise a way to get Adam and Eve to sell their birthright and stake claim on the souls of all men and women. After we allow him to take root, he will do anything and everything he can devise to divide the body of Christ. All too often we don’t even know that we are being used to divide the body. We follow an idea that sounds scriptural, without checking the Word and the Holy Spirit, and before we know it we have been duped. Trust me, I have played the fool far too many times to count. I have been used by the enemy to cause division in the church before. It was never to the point of a church split, but, nonetheless, it was disruptive to the working of the body. After the dust settled, I wondered how I could have been used to cause such a mess. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to know that I had been so easily led by the wrong spirit. I do not want to go there ever again.
We must remember that God is a unifier and a multiplier and Satan is a divider. God desires us to fulfill His promises on this earth. Satan desires to only destroy the hearts and souls of men and women. He does not want unity to operate in the body of Christ. So, when we hear a word, we have to rightly divide that word. We have to judge whether it is from God or from our enemy. First John 4:1-3 states: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
My friends, God asks you to check every word that is claimed to be the word of God. If that word edifies the body, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it came from God. If that word confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and builds up the body, it is from God. We don’t have to get into an attitude of “Trust No One,” but we should always be careful not to get complacent about what we allow into our soul. You should even check out what I write. As much as I want to glorify God with every word that I type, I am apt to make mistakes.
There is an easy formula to follow when checking what people say is the word from the Lord. Let’s go to Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like … .
If we see any of this in the one delivering the word, we must beware, for they are operating in the works of the flesh and not the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God is very clear about what the enemy uses to bring division in the body of Christ. God is also explicit that those who practice the works of the flesh, as listed above, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
In Galatians 5:22, God tells us how His Spirit operates. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control … ” The fruit of the Spirit are nine of our weapons of warfare that He uses through us to build up the body of Christ. There is no law to fulfill when operating with the fruit of the Spirit, for they follow the law of love as written in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails … .
You see, we must not only hear what someone is saying, but also how they are saying it. We have to always be on guard to discern the spirit with which a word is given. When we understand the spirit that is leading the individual, we will only war against the wrong spirit and not the individual. Second Corinthians 10:3 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.”
There is no room for jealousy in the body of Christ. We are called to esteem others more than ourselves. If we desire to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we must first operate in the love of the Holy Spirit.
The first thing that we wrestle with is our imagination. Most of the time, it is our imagination that gets the best of us. There are also times when we are wrestling with the imaginations of other people. Imagination can easily drive a wedge between two people, or even a group of people, because one person has a thought contrived from only a partial truth. If that person would seek God’s face, and ask for His divine guidance on how to handle this situation, the perceived problem would likely end as a simple misunderstanding.
However, most of us tend to ride these vain imaginations for all they are worth. We allow our feelings to get hurt and leave openings for the enemy to activate envy, strife, or jealousy. All of which are the works of the flesh.
If we happen to get caught in the middle of the strife, we need to take a look at the fruit that is being grown. We have to decide whether or not we are going to eat the good fruit or the bad fruit.
Let us step back into the garden of Eden. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of the fruit of every tree but the tree in the midst of the garden. If they ate of that tree, He said that they would die. Now allow me to go out on a limb for a minute. God gave Adam and Eve trees that gave good fruit. If they ate of those trees, they operated in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. This fruit was scattered throughout the garden and available at all times.
The one tree that they could not eat bore the bad fruit of adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. One tree with a mixed bag of bad fruit compared to a multitude of trees with luscious and delicious fruit.
If we eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, it will surely cause death. It may not be an immediate, physical death, but the spiritual death is eternal. That is, if someone does not repent and give his heart to Jesus Christ.
The second thing that we battle against is the thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. If a word is brought that contradicts God’s Word, it is most certainly not from God. We have to rightly divide every word. We have to know and understand God’s Word. We have to discern the difference between messages that are like eating candy where there are no wrongs and everything is always good, and a word that edifies and builds us up. Not every word from God will make us feel good or cause goose bumps, but it will always build us up. God may have to give a word that is strong and hard to take, but He will always build us up in the process. He does have to tear down the strong holds that keep us from fulfilling His call on our lives, but during the process He builds us up. He builds us up into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The third thing that we have to do is bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. As I said earlier, Satan is very subtle and will feed us different thoughts that cause us to question God’s Word. These thoughts will tell us that a specific word from God wasn’t real because it has not come to pass. These thoughts will tell us that a brother or sister in Christ did something to offend us. They will tell us that we should skip church because we are mad at someone and they might be there. My friends, these thoughts have to be put into captivity to the obedience of Christ. These thoughts cause division in the body of Christ. Remember, God is a unifier and a multiplier.
The last thing we need to do is to be ready to punish all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled. This is not saying that we can punish the disobedience of others. When our obedience is fulfilled, we have to punish the disobedience within ourselves. We need to bind up and put into the subjection of Christ those things that influence us into being disobedient. You don’t have to make yourself sit in a time-out chair, stand in a corner, or give yourself a whipping. If you have something that enables your disobedience, get rid of it. Disable the opportunity for your flesh to be disobedient to the Lord by removing the thing that it lusts after. Give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to minister to your flesh.
We cannot do these things without using the arsenal of weapons that God has given to us. We have been given weapons for our warfare to overcome vain imaginations, everything that exalts itself above the One True God, the thoughts that try to make us captive, and our disobedience. We now have a list of this arsenal that God uses to help us overcome the attacks of the enemy. Pray for wisdom. Pray for revelation. Attain the victory. And finally, help others win their battles. 2 Cor. 10:4–The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. They are: The word of God, the name of Jesus, obedience, faith, love, forgiveness, prayer, fasting, praise, worship, testimony, humility, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, fear (of the Lord), confession, thankfulness and unity.
In Jesus’ name, the victory is ours.
We have to understand that there is warfare going on every day. What we see in the news is called carnal warfare, which includes military warfare. Spiritual warfare encompasses so much more than we can see because it involves things that influences people without their knowledge. Although there are vast differences within both types of warfare, there are similarities too. Just like a military fights for its own nation, the church fights for God. There is one huge difference. While both a regular army and God’s army are issued weapons that tear down the enemy strongholds, a regular army is built to destroy with its weapons. God’s army uses its weapons to build up. When the church uses spiritual weapons correctly, it builds others up and then God destroys the works of the enemy. Did you catch that? It is God who destroys the works of the enemy. This only happens if we submit, pull out our spiritual artillery, and then hand it over to God. If we make any attempt to do it on our own, we will fail. We will be overcome. And we will be destroyed.
I mention this because we are never out of the sight of Satan’s artillery. We may go through periods when everything seems to be going fine, but the truth is that Satan is always on the warpath. Things may be going well, but if we are not in tune with the will of God, we may be heading into a trap of the enemy. It may be a very simple word of deceit that throws us off guard and off course. If we take a look at Eve and her conversation with the serpent we can get a clue of his subtleness. We find this in Genesis 3. The serpent first asked, “Did God say that you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” Now Eve answered correctly when she said that they could eat the fruit of every tree but the one on the middle of the garden. She also repeated God’s command and said that if they ate of this tree, they would die. In verse 4, the serpent told Eve, “You will not die. God does not want you to eat this fruit because your eyes will be opened, you will be like gods and you will know what is good and evil.”
The serpent did know the truth and told her only enough of it to make his words sound plausible. He knew that the only way to break ground into the soul of man was to get in there with partial truth. He had to devise a way to get Adam and Eve to sell their birthright and stake claim on the souls of all men and women. After we allow him to take root, he will do anything and everything he can devise to divide the body of Christ. All too often we don’t even know that we are being used to divide the body. We follow an idea that sounds scriptural, without checking the Word and the Holy Spirit, and before we know it we have been duped. Trust me, I have played the fool far too many times to count. I have been used by the enemy to cause division in the church before. It was never to the point of a church split, but, nonetheless, it was disruptive to the working of the body. After the dust settled, I wondered how I could have been used to cause such a mess. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to know that I had been so easily led by the wrong spirit. I do not want to go there ever again.
We must remember that God is a unifier and a multiplier and Satan is a divider. God desires us to fulfill His promises on this earth. Satan desires to only destroy the hearts and souls of men and women. He does not want unity to operate in the body of Christ. So, when we hear a word, we have to rightly divide that word. We have to judge whether it is from God or from our enemy. First John 4:1-3 states: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
My friends, God asks you to check every word that is claimed to be the word of God. If that word edifies the body, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it came from God. If that word confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and builds up the body, it is from God. We don’t have to get into an attitude of “Trust No One,” but we should always be careful not to get complacent about what we allow into our soul. You should even check out what I write. As much as I want to glorify God with every word that I type, I am apt to make mistakes.
There is an easy formula to follow when checking what people say is the word from the Lord. Let’s go to Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like … .
If we see any of this in the one delivering the word, we must beware, for they are operating in the works of the flesh and not the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God is very clear about what the enemy uses to bring division in the body of Christ. God is also explicit that those who practice the works of the flesh, as listed above, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
In Galatians 5:22, God tells us how His Spirit operates. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control … ” The fruit of the Spirit are nine of our weapons of warfare that He uses through us to build up the body of Christ. There is no law to fulfill when operating with the fruit of the Spirit, for they follow the law of love as written in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails … .
You see, we must not only hear what someone is saying, but also how they are saying it. We have to always be on guard to discern the spirit with which a word is given. When we understand the spirit that is leading the individual, we will only war against the wrong spirit and not the individual. Second Corinthians 10:3 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.”
There is no room for jealousy in the body of Christ. We are called to esteem others more than ourselves. If we desire to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we must first operate in the love of the Holy Spirit.
The first thing that we wrestle with is our imagination. Most of the time, it is our imagination that gets the best of us. There are also times when we are wrestling with the imaginations of other people. Imagination can easily drive a wedge between two people, or even a group of people, because one person has a thought contrived from only a partial truth. If that person would seek God’s face, and ask for His divine guidance on how to handle this situation, the perceived problem would likely end as a simple misunderstanding.
However, most of us tend to ride these vain imaginations for all they are worth. We allow our feelings to get hurt and leave openings for the enemy to activate envy, strife, or jealousy. All of which are the works of the flesh.
If we happen to get caught in the middle of the strife, we need to take a look at the fruit that is being grown. We have to decide whether or not we are going to eat the good fruit or the bad fruit.
Let us step back into the garden of Eden. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of the fruit of every tree but the tree in the midst of the garden. If they ate of that tree, He said that they would die. Now allow me to go out on a limb for a minute. God gave Adam and Eve trees that gave good fruit. If they ate of those trees, they operated in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. This fruit was scattered throughout the garden and available at all times.
The one tree that they could not eat bore the bad fruit of adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. One tree with a mixed bag of bad fruit compared to a multitude of trees with luscious and delicious fruit.
If we eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, it will surely cause death. It may not be an immediate, physical death, but the spiritual death is eternal. That is, if someone does not repent and give his heart to Jesus Christ.
The second thing that we battle against is the thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. If a word is brought that contradicts God’s Word, it is most certainly not from God. We have to rightly divide every word. We have to know and understand God’s Word. We have to discern the difference between messages that are like eating candy where there are no wrongs and everything is always good, and a word that edifies and builds us up. Not every word from God will make us feel good or cause goose bumps, but it will always build us up. God may have to give a word that is strong and hard to take, but He will always build us up in the process. He does have to tear down the strong holds that keep us from fulfilling His call on our lives, but during the process He builds us up. He builds us up into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The third thing that we have to do is bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. As I said earlier, Satan is very subtle and will feed us different thoughts that cause us to question God’s Word. These thoughts will tell us that a specific word from God wasn’t real because it has not come to pass. These thoughts will tell us that a brother or sister in Christ did something to offend us. They will tell us that we should skip church because we are mad at someone and they might be there. My friends, these thoughts have to be put into captivity to the obedience of Christ. These thoughts cause division in the body of Christ. Remember, God is a unifier and a multiplier.
The last thing we need to do is to be ready to punish all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled. This is not saying that we can punish the disobedience of others. When our obedience is fulfilled, we have to punish the disobedience within ourselves. We need to bind up and put into the subjection of Christ those things that influence us into being disobedient. You don’t have to make yourself sit in a time-out chair, stand in a corner, or give yourself a whipping. If you have something that enables your disobedience, get rid of it. Disable the opportunity for your flesh to be disobedient to the Lord by removing the thing that it lusts after. Give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to minister to your flesh.
We cannot do these things without using the arsenal of weapons that God has given to us. We have been given weapons for our warfare to overcome vain imaginations, everything that exalts itself above the One True God, the thoughts that try to make us captive, and our disobedience. We now have a list of this arsenal that God uses to help us overcome the attacks of the enemy. Pray for wisdom. Pray for revelation. Attain the victory. And finally, help others win their battles. 2 Cor. 10:4–The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. They are: The word of God, the name of Jesus, obedience, faith, love, forgiveness, prayer, fasting, praise, worship, testimony, humility, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, fear (of the Lord), confession, thankfulness and unity.
In Jesus’ name, the victory is ours.
