Tagged: spiritual warfare

...after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then… Ephesians 6:13-14 Standing is a kind of waiting, and waiting doesn’t feel very victorious in the middle of a fierce battle. It certainly doesn’t feel like a weapon.  Armor does. Belts and breastplates and shields do. Helmets and swords sure do. Recently I visited castles and towers famous for battle, filled with armor and weapons. The imagery is strong in my mind. But waiting? What kind of weapon is that? I don’t recall any sticky notes reading wait in the glass museum cases beside the old chain mail. Sounds kind of anti-battle. Actually, it sounds a bit like a death wish. When I face a battle, I want to do something. Battles are busy affairs, after all.… Read More

For our grown-up warrior, who helped us hear the sound of feet running.  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  James 4:7-8 Some said we were living near the very gates of the enemy. Deep in the heart of the ancient walled city was an old mosque, made famous over the centuries by the pilgrims who journeyed there to ask Allah to open their barren wombs. Through ornate iron gates I could see thousands of colored strips of cloth, a flickering ticker-tape parade of faith and magic mixed with Islamic prayers. The spiritual darkness was suffocating at times. Even the local people warned us of the power… Read More

Thank you, JS, for helping me recognize it was His roar I heard. For helping me put my sword down and worship. Two Lions   I heard the lion roaring; His terrible strength Keeping me from sleep.   I trembled at my window; Peering into night; Aware of his hunger.   My sword hangs at my side; My armor scratched and dull-- Second skin.   I have lived ready, Alert, On guard these long years.   I know he wants to devour me.   But I resist; And I remember my family around the world who also suffer. I am not alone.   As I strain to see his position, A voice like silver Shimmers in my ear,   There is another Lion.   The… Read More

He gives strength to the weary, and to the one who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:29-31). Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength…(Isaiah 41:1). The Lord is aware we are downtrodden, battle-weary. He sees us marching through the fog of weariness, calloused fists gripping His promises, battered brows fierce with determination. Thus, He begins Isaiah 40 with comfort and kindness. Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call… Read More

for SW For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening (1 Samuel 17:16). Dear One,  The battle seems relentless. The attacks are cruel and unfair. You don’t want to ask, but you must ask, Why does God let it go on? Where is the victory? I see your shoulders drooped low with weariness. You have fought long.  And those hands. Strong hands, loving hands, serving hands. Hands that washed feet, hands that helped young men stand taller, hands that held the hands of widows and orphans, offering help and comfort. Hands that have delivered babies in the middle of the bush country where there was no doctor. Hands that have scooped up sand from a riverbed and loaded it… Read More

  @audreycfrank Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”  -Nehemiah 4:11 They had come in through an unseen crack in the foundation. Silently, under the cover of darkness, they multiplied. In the hidden places, they carried out their dirty work, while life went on outside as usual, unaware. One night I tiptoed through the inky blackness of the courtyard to get a drink of water from the kitchen. As I flipped on the light I screamed in terror. Covering the floor like a horrifying, pulsing carpet was an army of cockroaches. They frantically retreated to their dark places, frightened of the light. They… Read More