A few nights ago, as I began to minister, I reminded the audience of some of the limitations of the devil.  Often times we speak of him as if he can be everywhere at the same time.  We make him omnipresent and that is simply not true; he is not deity.  He is not like God even though he wants us to think that that is true.  He even said to himself that he would be like the Most high.  He cannot be like God.  He is a fallen angel and like all other angels in the Bible, they can only be in one place at one time. 

So, how is he able to counterfeit this ability?  The Bible tells us in Rev 12 that he drew a third of an innumerable number of angels with him.  We are also told in Ephesians 6:12 concerning the hierarchy or structure of the enemy's camp.  We are warned not to be ignorant of his methods.  I think that it is very important that, as a believer, you and I know that there is no neutral ground.  Once you name the name of Jesus you become a target for his attacks.  In this case, the more you know about your enemy and his limitations the better you will be able to withstand him.

Why would God sow seeds of discord when he has declared that it is one of the 7 things that He really hates? When two opposing sides are at war with each other they both strive to not only create unity in their own camp, but to sow seeds of discord and confusion in the camp of the enemy.  We see this strategy in spiritual warfare: the continuous battle between God and satan.  The devil is not alone in employing the use of discord.  God himself has made use of this tactic.

An obvious example of this would be the confusion of tongues at the Towel of Babel.  Genesis 11 describes how these people tried to increase their unity; which would make them less vulnerable and less dependent on God.  Satan was the instigator of this scheme, but to stop him God turned their unity into confusion.  In the words God spoke at that time, I think that it is remarkable to see the strategic value God attaches to unity.  In verse 6, "The Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."  He says, ..."let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."  We also find many other biblical instances of God bringing confusion among those who tried to frustrate His plans.  His strategy has been to curtail His adversary's strength by sowing seeds of discord among people who are under satan's power.

Along with this tactic of confusion, we also see in the Bible how God seeks to unite His own people.  In contrast to the incident at Babel, when people no longer understood each other and were dispersed in all directions, Pentecost (in Acts 2) was a day when people from many nations came closer to each other because the Holy Spirit enabled the Apostles to speak to them in their own language. In the New Testament, our unity as Christians is strongly linked to the Holy Spirit.  In Ephesians 4:3, the Apostle Paul says that we must keep the unity of the Spirit, and reach unity in the faith (verse 13).  Our unity in the Spirit is a fact to be kept while our unity in the Faith is a calling to be reached.  If our unity in the Spirit is indeed a fact and He, Holy Spirit, works for our unity, why is there so much discord among believers especially in regard to our views about the Holy Spirit? There are plenty of people who are working together in unity, but they are not working together in the unity concerning the things of God.  They are working together in unity to accomplish the things of satan.

In December of 1941, President Roosevelt stood before the U.S. Congress one day after the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and he called it a day that will live in infamy.  The President declared that, in reality, America was already at war.  His purpose for going before Congress was that he needed a declaration of war to make it official.

I am certainly not the President of this nation, or any other nation, but I do have a declaration to make.  You and I are at war.  In fact, we are engaged right now in the Mother of All Battles.  This is a war which cannot be compared with any other war in history.  This war can be either the cause of your greatest joy as a Christian, or your deepest sorrow.  The war that I am talking about is the spiritual law that you became a part of the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

Years ago, when I was in the military, one of the things that they taught us in basic training was the essence of digging and staying in a foxhole when you were under attack.  In this war, there are no bunkers or foxholes that you can crawl into that will shield you from the effects of the battle between the forces of God and the forces of evil.  It is impossible for you to avoid this conflict. 

One of the saddest parts of this battle is that most Christians don't know that they are at war.  Others can see the results of the battle of their lives because they have become casualties of spiritual warfare.  Some are discouraged, depressed, downtrodden, and defeated; others are marital family casualties.  Divorce, conflict, and abuse are some of the battle scars these believers bare.  Still others have been morally wounded in the battle.  They cannot control their passions, or they make poor moral choices.  For some Christians, the wounds have been inflicted in their finances.  It's not just a matter of how they use their credit cards, they are losing the financial battle because they are losing the spiritual battle and they cannot see the connection between the two.  It is sad.  As a pastor, I have preached this over and over again.  I see people losing the battle in the physical realm because they have lost the battle in the spiritual realm.  They are clueless.  The list goes on and on, but I think that you get the idea.

We are all at war, and since there is so much at stake both here in the present and in our future, we better find out what spiritual warfare is all about and how to fight the good fight of faith successfully.  That is what I want to help you to do in some of the blogs that are to follow.