Have you ever felt like quitting, throwing in the towel? What’s the use of continuing to fight evil?
Wait a minute, you and I are called to destroy the gates of hell. We don’t get to give up. We are actually supposed to be on the offensive, according to what the Lord clearly told us.
The Church, the Body of Christ, was never meant to be continually on the defensive. That is not how you score in a football game. There has to be strategy and strength to move the ball to the goal line. For us, in this spiritual battle, this begins with believing that the Lord has already won the victory.
We are fighting against spiritual powers in this world. Jesus knew that when He said, at a historic place in Israel called “The Gates of Hell”, that the gates of hell would not prevail against us. This was the location of much evil practiced in that time, and Jews were warned to avoid it. But, the Lord is telling us here that we are to overcome, to prevail. In all the letters to the seven churches recorded in Revelations, we see the Lord promising reward “to him that overcomes”.
What exactly do we overcome? Not the devil, as he has already been defeated by Him. We fight the good fight of faith, and we get into faith, because faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
Is judgement coming because of corruption or because of lack of salt? When Jesus spoke in Matthew 5 about salt losing its saltiness, His audience was acquainted with salt mines and the exposed surfaces being weathered to the point the salt was useless except to spread on slippery paths for traction.
If we, as Christians, carrying His Holy Spirit wherever we go, are no longer preserving our society through the Gospel, through the truth, through our light shining, we are really good for nothing. This is scripture, people. If we lose our pungency, our savor, we’re going to get trampled on by the world. At some point, we lose our preserving effect in our culture.
The evidence is all around us. In response to the corruption we see, I think the American church has taken a defensive posture. For the most part, we’ve retreated into the four walls of the church and lost sight of the Great Commission. What can you do?
First, pray for your Pastor. Know that the enemy is after leaders all the time. If he can’t get to them, he goes for their families. The devil will use every tactic he can come up with to discourage them and bring heaviness on them to stop them ministering. Pray that they can overcome and continue to lead the Church into victory.
Even when you’ve been weighed down by feelings of defeat, know that the calling of God on your life is still in effect, and your gifts to accomplish it are still within you. When you rise up and move from a defensive to an offensive position, you will see this.
It appears the Church has been too busy protecting what we have to go into the world as commanded. We are hiding our light under cover, when we are supposed to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill. As you begin to move out of this defensive posture, you will stir up the gifts within you and shine your light out there where it is needed.
You must make the decision not to quit when you are feeling worn out. The battle you will be fighting is in your mind, resisting the lies of the enemy telling you that you are finished.
Do not quit. If you will invite God to come in fresh and new, if you will take steps and shake off what the enemy put on you, you are going to see the fire of God return to your life.
DIVE DEEPER
- Matthew 16:13-19
- I John 5:4
- Matthew 5:13-15
- II Timothy 1:6
- I Timothy 2:1-2
- II Timothy 2:3
- Romans 11:29
- Matthew 5:14
REFLECT
- Have you experienced the heaviness and defeat described above?
- How did you respond to those feelings?
- What strategy do you think would be effective to get back on the
offensive in this spiritual battle?
PRAY
- Praise and thank God for His Word to you that will accomplish what He sent it to do.
- Thank Him for His gifts and calling on your life.
- Ask Holy Spirit to lead you in stirring up those gifts, so that your light will shine, and your salt will be preserving.
