The War Room

[Lk 10:19; Jude 21]

We live in a physical world experienced through our physical senses. We are aware of our surroundings and situations by what we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste, the devil loads up our senses with cares, worries, torments, and fears. While we attempt to find peace and happiness for our life. The devil keeps at us until a subtle change occurs. Gradually, our problems desensitize our spirit until we no longer look to the Word of God for answers.

The heart becomes hardened. We base our life experience on the cares, worries, and torments of the devil without even realizing it. We focus on so many difficulties, that just existing from day to day makes us weary, and we become spiritually numb. We become totally unaware – ignorant of the ongoing spiritual battle that is waged for the soul.

It’s time to wake up, and realize that we are at war! The battle is real, and is going on every moment we spend on earth. God has equipped us to fight and win in this war, that is more real than any physical war mankind has ever engaged. There are generals, captains, lieutenants, and infantry who all play a vital function.

The stakes are much higher than any earthly battle that has ever been fought. The fight is not for temporary political gain. In this case the cause is eternal — eternal life or eternal damnation — for millions of souls. The issue is the salvation of our families, friends, and nations.

The very people we spend our life nurturing, our loved ones, are satan’s primary targets. It is hard for us to conceive that a war of this magnitude is raging, yet it is. We know that the principalities, and powers, and rulers of darkness have no intention of allowing revival to come to our families, cities, or our country. They understand from times past what can happen when revival breaks out. If any of these enemy forces slip in combat and revival begins, it is certain defeat for them.

This war against God’s people has raged for 6,000 plus years. In past generations there have been spans of time when the earth has been enveloped in darkness. Times when there was little or no revival, just a faint light here and there. But God has always found a remnant to expose the darkness.

In every generation marked by revival, a small group of men and women or an individual such as Martin Luther, stood against the tide of this spiritual war. There was something about these people in their character. They were unstoppable. It did not matter what Hell threw at them. Often, years passed before anyone pressed forward to join them in battle. Many revivalists suffered persecution and rejection from fellow Christians. Yet, they could not be stopped! It is because they came to an understanding of their enemy and stood upon the Word of God to bring about victory.

Every great general will tell you that in order to win a war there must be an understanding of the enemy’s tactics. The outstanding Chinese general, Sun Tzu said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

If an army’s spies are able to steal the plans of the enemy, it usually means victory, because with inside information one can anticipate the moves of the opponent. God’s Word, outlines the plans and strategies of our enemy. The Bible is our warfare manual, describing the tactics and methods our adversary uses to defy the saving truth of the Gospel.

The Word of God says that satan comes immediately to steal the word after it has been sown. He is after the Word of God in us. The devil knows the Word is alive and will produce — he is fearful of the power of the Word in the good ground of our heart.

The enemy will use persecutions, afflictions, cares of this life, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things to divert our attention from the battle. Many beginning moves of revival have had the Word of God snatched from them by using the very tactics of which the Bible clearly warns. Sadly, because of our ignorance of the devil’s devices, each time we begin climbing toward the best that God has for us, it takes us time to figure out who the enemy is, and why and how he attacks. This time is all that satan needs to gain territory.

The spoils of this war are unimaginably great. We need to think and meditate very carefully, studying the manual God has provided. The mistake of the church has always been to misjudge the enemy. We blame demons for the actions of our own flesh, and we don’t recognize demonic influence when we see it at work. As long as we are distracted from the Word of God, the enemy doesn’t care where the blame falls.

The devil’s arsenal is full of deceitful implements of war. These weapons can only be defeated by the Word of God.

Here is one thing you must understand. The devil has been studying mankind for thousands of years. He is a military genius when it comes to your weaknesses. Your vanity, pride, and greed are old videos in the enemy’s library, and satan has viewed them over and over again. The devil has your play book. He probably has demons reading books on how to reinforce a stubborn mindset in you, right now! He is aware of the power God has given you, and he knows his only chance is to deceive you. Satan knows how to convince you to accept your own defeat.

Jesus marched into satan’s war room, took keys and authority away from him, and gave them to us! If Jesus says, “I give you power over all the enemy,” then that’s exactly what we have (see, Lk 10:19). We must live in the awareness that Jesus purchased our full redemption from sin and the destruction it includes.

If satan were to stand toe-to-toe with the smallest, seemingly most insignificant member of the body of Christ who had faith to stand on the promises of God, satan would not have a chance in Hell. So, the question is this. If you and I have power over all the power of the enemy, why are so many Christians defeated?

We cannot afford to live according to superficial physical senses. We must be aware of the spiritual realm. We must operate in the supernatural in order to experience God’s grace and peace in our lives. We must be victorious in battle during our short time here, until our Commander-in-Chief returns.

Keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 21). Feed your faith, and starve your doubts to death. Keep your heart softened with the Word of God. Remember the battle is for your eternal soul.

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond