Like an Old School Mike Tyson Punch

Take up your arms. 

Spiritual warfare is a present, real, and powerful event when you find yourself or others you care about in it.  I always believed in spirits but didnt have a clue about warfare until I entered a season of it.  Warfare?!?, now you're just crazy talking...thats the thought of many people who do not believe in the Gospel.  On the other side, some think everything is warfare, i woke up late and got a flat, so now im late to work!  That dang warfare!  Not the case friends, not the case at all.

Let me paint a picture of my warfare, which hit like an old school Mike Tyson punch to the jaw about a year ago...

It all started this time last year.  One night while I was sleeping I was overcome with a literally paralyzing fear, a feeling of pure evil sitting there looking at me through our sliding glass window.  I was struck on the right side of my face and the inability to talk, which sounds crazy I know, not going to argue with you there.  It awoke me from my sleep which happened to be in the fetal position, a position which I never sleep in.  All the sudden my oldest starting crying in pure panic so I hustled to his room and glanced at our digital alarm clock as I passed, to determine whether I should get ready for work or go back to sleep.  I comforted Jack and got him back to sleep and headed back to bed.  As I walked by the clock in the kitchen it was exactly the same time, but an hour earlier.  "thats strange" i thought and headed to bed.  I walked by my alarm clock in our room and it said the same time, exactly an hour earlier to the minute than when I had woken up.  "ok, that is weird", i thought again as I got ready to get back in bed.  As I went to lay back down in bed there was a soaking wet spot in the shape of the fetal position right where I was laying, so much so I had to get towels and lay them down before I could sleep, and change my boxers, they were drenched.  This was day one...

I was enrolled in a bible college class on spiritual leadership at the time, and taking heart of the knowledge I was learning and sharing with others.  Later in the month myself, my wife, and oldest child got water baptized.  A couple weeks later we had our first bought of lice.  Let me tell you, if you have ever had to deal with this, nitpicking has a whole new definition.  Through the next three months we had two more bouts of lice.  From Sept.-Dec. our families foundation was shaken to the core, my belief in Gods will shaken to the ground.  I did not get it at the time, I did not get it during the storm.  I have come to the place in my life where I realize I am not to "get" Gods will, it is beyond my mental capacity.  It is my role to submit myself to His will and do my part, not try to out think God or understand what His will is for me.

Spiritual warfare is real.  Spiritual warfare is the fight of ones life.  It is my opinion that as you are becoming who God created you to be, the devil gets pissed, he doesn't like it.  If you are preparing to build His kingdom, the devil will do everything he can to have you lose heart and walk away from Gods will.  The thing is, it is written when faced with this season

Ephesians 6

The Armor of God

 ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
 ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

I am now at the place in this battle where I know the enemy has lost, there is no doubt in my mind.  It is like watching a track meet, it is the final lap and the snake is falling behind, but sprinting towards the finish line.  Its humorous to watch though, devil is running as fast as he can, but the Lord has taken his strength away so the slime is trying to run, but the Lord has thrown his lasso of righteousness around him and he is striking him down, burning the ashes away and blowing them to nothing with His Holy Spirit.  The devils attempts are just getting kind of humorous, but still annoying.  Flee from us devil, Jesus is coming...

I ask though that you pray for me, pray for my family, and pray for our friends.  I am about to embark on this journey of a lifetime, for my lifetime, for our lifetime.  I have embarked, pray for strength, wisdom, eyes, and protection.  I thank you all for doing so.