SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Stef’s Picture of an Old Irish Church in Dublin
DRAPER’S PAPER ROUTE
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
by Adam Carroll Draper
Everything changes the moment we understand that there is a war going on in the heavenlies. It is over us and what we believe. In fact, every aspect of life is related to that war. (Selah).
The previous seven of these missives have been leading to this one. To summarize for clarity’s sake, we are made in the image (in Hebrew, selem) of God, after His own likeness (demut ). Our spirits are of His Spirit. Spiritually, we were made to share in His essence or substance. In all of creation, God gave this to us alone. The fallen hate this because they want to be like God and they can’t be.
God gave authority over this world to Adam, who ceded that to Satan when he believed and acted upon the same lie that the fallen angels believed, that lack of knowledge (seichel /l’haskil) kept him from being like God. This is a lot to digest (particularly for the incredulous and/or doctrinaire). A rabbinical rendering of Genesis (Bereshis) 3:6 in English reads: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, appealing to the eyes, and an attractive means for gaining understanding (l'haskil).” According to Rabbi Pinchas Winston, “the Torah is telling us in quite specific terms that, contrary to Western interpretations of the first sin of Mankind, Chava [Eve] reached for the forbidden fruit not to simply taste its fruit, but as means to gain a higher level of concept recognition, l'haskil.” See http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5763/bamidbar.html (For the sake of brevity, I have used knowledge and understanding interchangeably, and I do not draw a particular distinction between things done by Adam or Eve).
Jesus said that Satan is a liar and “the father of lies.” (John 8:44). Jesus is “the way, the truth (or the realtiy) and the life.” (John 14:6). When we put our faith in a lie, we empower the liar; in effect, committing treason against the truth because all the enemy has is lies. From this spiritual perspective, what we believe is the equivalent of worship! (Selah). When we believe a lie, we give over that part of ourselves that God gave us of His own substance (selem and demut). This is the ultimate treasure and we exchange it by (or it is part and parcel to) our faith, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). This truth is at the heart or the deep meaning of what Jesus told me in the vision I related last week when He said, “You let them take me from you when they attack some thing you value and you leave me to stop them.”
How do they take Him from us with lies? Well, consider worry for example. We stress and worry because we believe a lie. Again, Jesus is “the way, the truth (or the reality), and the life.” Belief in the gospel (the good news, the reality) brings rest, and we store our treasure (restored, if you will) in the heavenlies (spiritually). See, Matthew 6:20 and 11:28-30. Believing the enemy (wigging out over the lie that the loss of anything is worth leaving the Lord’s rest to prevent it) is the equivalent of worshiping the enemy – and it is how we empower the enemy. This is what the war is over. It is in light of this that St. Paul admonishes us:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (emphasis added).
Spiritual warfare is over our faith, what we believe. The reality we focus upon becomes the reality we accept. When that reality is full of lies, our lives reflect it – we become the minions of the liar. Jesus taught us, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.” Luke 11:34-35.
Going from the profound to the banal (which I love to do), Bob Marley put it this way, “When you get down and quarrel in a negative way, you’re saying prayers to the devil, I say.” There is some deep, deep truth to that!
If you got anything out of this missive, please give it a thumbs up, comment, and/or share it. It helps. I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to read it!