Knowledge of God (Waging War)

...through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3 NIV)

Often times, our knowledge of God will bring us to the conclusion that we are in the middle of a war of sorts.  We need to gear up and fight battles to be able to walk together with God.  Scripture confirms this fact and the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to fight our battles in the midst of the bigger war.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring--those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Revelation 12:17 NIV)

What we often miss, however, is that God’s Spirit gives us everything we need to fight these battles and come out victorious.  In fact, the battle really isn’t ours at all.  God is willing to fight the battle on our behalf.  All we need to do is line up behind God and watch.

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:6-10 NIV)

Notice what happened?  Fire came down from heaven and devoured the enemies of God.  All we need to do is align ourselves with God and become God’s people.  God takes care of the rest.  Aligning ourselves with God, then, takes place in our minds, our hearts, our words, and our actions.  This is why we are told to put on the armor of God.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. (Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV)

Notice what the pieces of “armor” contain: Applied Knowledge of God.  Truth is God’s Perspective.  Righteousness is living in the way of God’s Truth.  The Gospel of Peace is God’s Plan to bring us home to Him, if we want to.  Faith is Trust in God, even when the enemy says otherwise.  Salvation reminds us we are safe with Him and the Word of God allows us to fight back.  Notice who we are fighting, though.  We are not fighting people.  We are fighting spiritual enemies.  Those spiritual enemies bring the battle right into our minds.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)

When we fight the enemy in our minds, we end up with minds and hearts filled with love for God and love for people.  We fight the enemies.  We love people.  When we do this, we stop fighting the battles just for ourselves.  We fight the battles on behalf of those around us as well.

Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26 NIV)

How about you?  Does your knowledge of God help you wage war?  Do you win the battles in your mind?  Do you fight the enemy and love people?