The War That We're In
By Ann Doupont
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
These verses in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 are powerful when understood. The Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthian church when he penned these words. He wasn’t speaking about the people being in a natural war. Quite the contrary, he was speaking about the spiritual warfare that every Christian needs to fight. The good news is that we can win.
We see that our weapons are not to be carnal, or fleshy. We are to have weapons, but not carnal ones. What weapons are we then to wield? Spiritual weapons are needed in order to fight God’s way.
As we read, meditate on, and study God’s Word, the holy Bible, we find these weapons. The Word of God itself is a weapon. In Ephesians, chapter 6, we see that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Have you ever heard of going to war without a weapon? What would then happen? You would be defeated. The same is true in spiritual warfare. You need to be armed with God’s Word (the sword of the Spirit).
Another weapon to be used to fight the unseen enemy of our souls is praise. God inhabits the praises of His people. (See Psalm 22:3.) Where He is, there is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Based on these verses, we can then surmise that when we are praising our Savior, we will have joy, and subsequently also strength.
Another weapon is the name of Jesus. At the gate Beautiful in Acts, chapter 3, we see that a man who had been lame all of his life received a miracle of God and went about leaping and jumping, because of the name of Jesus making him strong.
Still another weapon that can be used in this invisible warfare we are engaged in is in giving to the work of the ministry and/or to the poor. There are many verses in the Bible regarding the subject of giving, including Luke 6:38, Matthew 6:3-4 and others.
Prayer is yet another of the weapons that will help in defeating the opposition that is against us. When the battle gets especially rough, adding fasting (going without food) along with praying will be like adding fuel to a fire.
In the key verses mentioned first in this writing, we see that by using these weapons, we are then able to pull down strong holds. These strong holds are thoughts built up in the minds and imaginations of people, planted there by the devil.
We are told to take each thought that is against the knowledge of God into captivity to the obedience of Christ. How do we know which thoughts these are? As we study God’s word for ourselves (2 Timothy 2:15) and pray for understanding, He will reveal that to us.
The fight is not with flesh and blood (as we see in Ephesians 6), but with powers, principalities, rulers of darkness in this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We are not to fight with people (flesh and blood), but the fight we are fighting is with the unseen realm. It’s to be a fight of faith.
We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices, strategies, or wiles. We are to know what his plans are in order to overthrow them. We can win this fight if we don’t give up. Keep on believing, for the victory is sure to come. Don’t give up!
Ann Doupont
Author of: Surrendered, Irons in the Fire, God Can Heal Anything! and a series of booklets on the overcoming life. For more information, please see my website www.anndoupont.org or write to me at: Boise4Jesus@yahoo.com.
By Ann Doupont
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
These verses in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 are powerful when understood. The Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthian church when he penned these words. He wasn’t speaking about the people being in a natural war. Quite the contrary, he was speaking about the spiritual warfare that every Christian needs to fight. The good news is that we can win.
We see that our weapons are not to be carnal, or fleshy. We are to have weapons, but not carnal ones. What weapons are we then to wield? Spiritual weapons are needed in order to fight God’s way.
As we read, meditate on, and study God’s Word, the holy Bible, we find these weapons. The Word of God itself is a weapon. In Ephesians, chapter 6, we see that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Have you ever heard of going to war without a weapon? What would then happen? You would be defeated. The same is true in spiritual warfare. You need to be armed with God’s Word (the sword of the Spirit).
Another weapon to be used to fight the unseen enemy of our souls is praise. God inhabits the praises of His people. (See Psalm 22:3.) Where He is, there is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Based on these verses, we can then surmise that when we are praising our Savior, we will have joy, and subsequently also strength.
Another weapon is the name of Jesus. At the gate Beautiful in Acts, chapter 3, we see that a man who had been lame all of his life received a miracle of God and went about leaping and jumping, because of the name of Jesus making him strong.
Still another weapon that can be used in this invisible warfare we are engaged in is in giving to the work of the ministry and/or to the poor. There are many verses in the Bible regarding the subject of giving, including Luke 6:38, Matthew 6:3-4 and others.
Prayer is yet another of the weapons that will help in defeating the opposition that is against us. When the battle gets especially rough, adding fasting (going without food) along with praying will be like adding fuel to a fire.
In the key verses mentioned first in this writing, we see that by using these weapons, we are then able to pull down strong holds. These strong holds are thoughts built up in the minds and imaginations of people, planted there by the devil.
We are told to take each thought that is against the knowledge of God into captivity to the obedience of Christ. How do we know which thoughts these are? As we study God’s word for ourselves (2 Timothy 2:15) and pray for understanding, He will reveal that to us.
The fight is not with flesh and blood (as we see in Ephesians 6), but with powers, principalities, rulers of darkness in this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We are not to fight with people (flesh and blood), but the fight we are fighting is with the unseen realm. It’s to be a fight of faith.
We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices, strategies, or wiles. We are to know what his plans are in order to overthrow them. We can win this fight if we don’t give up. Keep on believing, for the victory is sure to come. Don’t give up!
Ann Doupont
Author of: Surrendered, Irons in the Fire, God Can Heal Anything! and a series of booklets on the overcoming life. For more information, please see my website www.anndoupont.org or write to me at: Boise4Jesus@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2007 Ann Doupont. All rights reserved.