When we think of “war”, we usually picture battlefields and
conflicts between nations. Spiritual warfare involves kingdom battles as well.
We are either on God’s side or on Satan’s. To be on God’s side, you must be a
Christian (having accepted the free gift of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone). If you haven’t taken that step, even
if you are “morally good”, you are automatically on Satan’s team.
The apostle Paul (originally named Saul) was one of the
greatest persecutors of the fledgling Christian church. He was a “Jew’s Jew”, a
Rabbi, a follower of the Law… and a member of Satan’s team. He had a
spectacular encounter with God on the road to Damascus where Jesus revealed
Himself, speaking to Paul after He’d already gone to heaven, causing Paul to switch
teams.
‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are
persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I
have appeared to you for this purpose, to
appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me
and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering
you from your people and from the Gentiles— to
whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to
light and from the power of Satan
to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a
place among those who are sanctified by faith in
me.’ Acts 26:14-18 (ESV)
Paul’s commission was to reach both Jews and Gentiles and
get them to change teams by having their sins forgiven. Paul had to take that
step as well. He had to go from persecutor to persecuted. But for Paul, as for
us, faith in Christ Jesus brings eternal rewards.
So what happens to us when we come to faith in Christ?
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)
God transfers us from Satan’s team to His team when we place
our faith in Jesus. We lived in darkness (even if we followed the bright
glittery lifestyle that Satan promises us) and now our spiritual eyes have been
opened and we are in the light of the kingdom of Jesus.
If you haven’t yet transferred to God’s team, now is the
time. Today is the day. Ask Jesus into your heart. There’s no “magic prayer”
that will get you into heaven. Just speak sincerely to Jesus and tell Him you
have sinned (done stuff wrong). Tell Him you want to repent (change your ways)
and allow Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Ask Him to forgive your sins and
tell Him you are placing your faith in Him. Once you’ve done that – go tell!
Tell a pastor, tell me, tell friends.
On THURSDAY we
will take about our spiritual condition before we switched teams. Yikes!
I will only post twice a week for the remainder of the year, except next week –
Thanksgiving already – when I will post only once.
See you soon.
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