Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13 (King James Version)
When it comes down to it, war is a power struggle. If you feel that you are frequently in spiritual warfare it is because you are a danger to the enemy. He wants to take you out because you have a Purpose.
In my own life I have wondered when it really began. Many times, when I am talking the Lord, I remember being a four-year-old little girl who saw the big stained-glass window of Jesus holding the sheep. I knew we came for him. I knew that he loved me. Sometimes I still tell him, “It’s me Jesus”.
I also remember a recurring nightmare that I had when I was approximately five years old. I think the house that we lived in was a wicked domain. Every night it sounded like someone was hopping up the basement stairs. In my dream I was out in the yard, when men made out of wax would form a circle around me and strike me repeatedly with their crutches. They had the appearance of eighteenth-century military men. I believe that their crutches were meant to cripple me, but Jesus breathed on me with a fire that melts wax, Amen.
As I look back on my life, I truly believe that was spiritual warfare. I believe that they were demons sent to strike me with oppression, depression, anxiety, poverty, abuse, hopelessness, and many other such things.
Although I have lived through many of these things, I consider myself as Blessed and highly favored (grace). We all have our battle scars. Lately I have learned something, “the enemy knows our weak spots”. He is crafty so we must learn spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
If we come to the Lord with an open heart, he will heal us and teach us to fight (Psalm 144:1). I don’t know about anyone but myself, so I will share as much as I can about something that I went through recently. Hopefully, I won’t give too much of myself away.
I was listening to secular music that would seem harmless to a lot of people. To me it was not! Before I knew what hit me, I was feeling bad physically and spiritually. Actually, I was feeling Lousy! As I sat in my quiet place talking to the Lord I cried out, “LORD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME”? I just kept on waiting to snap out of it.
A day or two later I was watching my favorite preacher, and he introduced me to a word that I had never heard of before, “Limerence”. When I studied up on it, I could see that God was answering my question. The secular music was causing me to obsess about someone that I had been talking to. It was in my way.
I am not going to go in depth about Limerence, but I can tell you that unresolved trauma and childhood scars make people more vulnerable to it. It can also affect serotonin and dopamine levels. Many people go to therapy for treatment, but I am thankful that God is my Counselor.
I have often wondered why the fight is so hard. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I have finally found my Purpose. I am a blogger. I write about my Love for the Word of God. It goes where God sends it. If it touches one person, then I am living my Purpose. I can’t give what I don’t have, so God has to be the center of my life. I can’t be a good soldier for Christ if the weapons of my warfare have become tainted by the world.
I have also realized the importance of Living in the Peace of God. It is one of our greatest weapons, and I never understood that until now. It’s hard to bear fruit when your life is in chaos, and you don’t have clarity of mind. It’s hard to be a good witness when you’re at your wit’s end. THE ENEMY IS AFTER OUR PEACE! Jesus tells us not to lose our peace worrying about tomorrow. One day at a time is enough. Life is more than food, and the body is more than raiment. God knows what we need (Matthew 6:25-34).
If you are a soldier in the army of the Lord, know that you are a force to be reconned with, and the enemy knows it. Watch your triggers (music is one of mine) and Guard your Peace. If you find yourself having a battle within, come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Our God fights for us.
2 Samuel 22:7-8
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. 8 Then the earth shook and trembled: the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
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