Jump Start # 1477

Revelation 12:17 “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

  There is a lot of unrest and fear in the world. The Paris murders have been declared an act of war by the French President. Manhunts, arrests and nightly bombings are part of the retaliation and an effort to end the further threats of danger. The rumblings of war are on the horizon. War talk is nothing new. The history of the world has seen all kinds of wars. There has been long wars, such as the “hundred year war.” There has been wars that were supposed to end all wars. They didn’t. There has been major world wars—two of them. The history of Europe is a study of conflict and wars. Before much of that, the history of the Old Testament is a study of nations fighting nations. Powerful nations such Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans shaped and dominated the political map of Bible times.

Our verse today describes yet another type of war, a spiritual war. The dragon, who is Satan, the chapter tells us, went off to make war with the people of God. Satan had a specific target, those who obey God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That’s who he is after. That who he wants defeated.

There are some special things about this war that we need to know.

First, the enemy, Satan, is the greatest enemy of all time. He can’t be killed by us. He is a spiritual being. He is first found in the garden in Genesis 3 and here he is centuries later in the book of Revelation. This enemy knows you. He knows your weak points. This enemy never tires. He never takes a day off. He is everywhere. You cannot escape him. Before you get to work today, he was there. Before your plane lands for a vacation, he is there waiting for you. Peter describes him as a roaring lion that seeks someone to devour. Our enemy is spiritual. It will take spiritual weapons to overcome him.

Second, the battle front is not land but your heart. Satan wants to destroy you spiritually. This is an internal battle. Temptation is his weapon of choice. He uses many ways to attack us. He will use a busy lifestyle to keep us away from God. He will use books and blogs to distort the truth to confuse you. He will use family and friends to get in your way. He loves discouragement because it leads us to taking our foot off the spiritual accelerator. He will allow hardships to conquer us and make us doubt. He will tempt us with sin. He knows which one you like the best. For some it’s moral issues. For others, it’s attitudes. He will allow those who are close to us to confuse us. He will use gossip to get us to away from the cross. He will give us reasons to complain, like ancient Israel. He will give us little side issues to occupy our energy and time so we neglect the big things. He will mess with our families so it will take us away from Jesus. Our enemy doesn’t care. He doesn’t care how many people are counting on you. He doesn’t care how new you are to Jesus. He doesn’t care how many people get hurt by your departure. He doesn’t care if he has already attacked you once today. He simply doesn’t care. He doesn’t have a heart. He doesn’t know kindness. He has every wicked spiritual tool available to use. He attacks us one by one. If he can pull the marriage apart, he will win. If he can weaken us, he will win. If he can make us sit in church buildings without worshipping, he will win. He doesn’t play by the rules. He never quits.

Third, the only way to win this battle is through Christ. On your own, you won’t make it. You must take the warnings of the Bible seriously. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Do we really believe that? We are told to not love the world. Yet we can act, dress, talk and behave just like the world. We are told not to be conformed to the world. We are told to resist the devil. These warnings and these truths must be taken seriously, or we will be a victim laying upon the battle ground. Have you ever seen those old black and white photos of the aftermath of Civil War battles? The battle is over, and there is this soldier lying in the mud dead. For him, it didn’t really matter which side won that day, because he’s journey was over. He was finished. He lost. The battle for him was over for ever. We don’t want that. Satan does. Across this land, there are hundreds who have given up the fight. They allowed Satan to win. They no longer worship. Some no longer believe. Some have compromised and worship in a nonbiblical fashion. They allowed their marriage to end. They allowed sin to dominate their lives. They sold out. They gave in. In the end, Satan has won.  That cannot happen to us.

As frightening as the Paris murders are and talk by Isis to do even more murders, possibly here in this country, there is a greater battle. Isis can kill the body but they can’t do anything more. For the child of God death isn’t a loss. It opens the door to a wonderful world with the Savior. The greater threat is by one who can destroy our soul. We need to be concerned about who our kids call “friends.” We need to really think about what shows are we watching on TV. We need to give serious thought to what we are feeding our souls. Innocent things may be poisoned by the evil one. Our attitudes shift. Our morals loosen. We find ourselves doing things today that we would have never done five years ago. Why? Has Satan taken some of our hearts?

The history of God’s people have found faithful ones as slaves in Egypt. There were faithful ones in captivity in Babylon. They were chased. They were imprisoned. Some were killed. Their faithfulness and loyalty to the Lord is what found favor with the Lord. God said of Caleb that he had a “different spirit.” He followed the Lord “fully.” That must be us. That’s our que. We must move through this world with a “different spirit.” We must follow the Lord fully. It’s not enough to follow at a distance. It’s not enough to follow some of the time. All in or not at all. Love the Lord with ALL of your heart, mind and soul. Turn the keys of your heart over to God. Let go of them. Give them to God.

In a complaining and negative world, we carry a different spirit. We are thankful. It a time of gloom and doom, we carry a different spirit, hopeful. When some are talking about others, we don’t. We have a different spirit. When some are being ugly, we won’t be. We have a different spirit. We are reflective. We are thankful. We are kind. We are Christ-like.

There is a war going on. It doesn’t involve bombs and planes. It is about your soul and your heart. Satan wants to poison it. God wants you to continue with Him.

Onward, Christian soldier…our journey may be hard, lonesome and fierce, but we shall win if we continue with Christ. That’s God’s promise. The battle between God and Satan is not still up in the air. Satan looses. Revelation tells us that. His future is sealed. Hell is his home. Don’t go with him. You don’t have to. This is one battle you cannot lose. This is one battle that you can turn the tide and win. With God at our side, we shall overcome!

Roger