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| PentecostalTheology.com
TAKING A STAND ~ Ray E Horton
As we accelerate toward the last days and a Great Awakening comes forth to bring in whoever will in a great harvest, the enemy isn’t happy, and while our focus is on Jesus, and going forward in Him, we do need to take a stand.
We know Jesus won the battle and we have the victory. But the Bible does indeed call Satan “the god of this world” who has “has blinded the minds of the unbelieving” (2 Cor. 4:4). What are they blinded to? Vs. 4 continues “to the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”
And we are called to overcome the enemy’s lies to the world by shining forth the light of Christ and sharing the Gospel. We have nothing to fear since we have the spiritual weapons needed to deal with the enemy.
“If our prayer is only reactive, we are too late to do anything but help clear up the mess after disaster and terror strikes.”
The Bible tells us in Eph. 6:12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
So, what do we do? Vs. 13 tells us: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Heb. 6:13). We stand with the following tools:”truth, “righteousness,” “the gospel of peace,” “salvation,” with “faith” as our “shield,” and the “Word of God” as our offensive weapon, “the sword of the Spirit” (vs. 14-17). And what else: “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” (vs. 18).
Our focus needs to always be on Jesus, and not the works of darkness. And as we do that, filled with the Spirit, with the full armor of God, maintaining that shield of faith, praying always, and using our sword, speaking with authority the Word of God, we can address the evil in the world.
And we are called to use these tools pre-emptively to stop the lies of the enemy from succeeding in influencing and motivating evil-minded people.
If our prayer is only reactive, we are too late to do anything but help clear up the mess after disaster and terror strikes. We can sit back and let the world be ripped apart, or we can love the world, as Jesus does, and do our part.
(Written and first posted on Facebook April 18, 2013).
