Christian Reconnaissance

On protecting our minds and souls during a time of growing spiritual warfare

By Maria Kneas

Spiritual warfare is increasing. The spiritual atmosphere keeps getting darker. And in the world around us, we are seeing more and more evil—shameless, in-your-face evil that we never could have imagined a few years ago—rampant delusion and insanity—and widespread lawlessness that keeps increasing.

As Christians, we need to do two kinds of reconnaissance in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones and to be able to be effective in doing practical things to resist this evil.

The first kind of reconnaissance needed is the obvious one of studying the enemy—its strengths and weaknesses, its strategies, and its practical tactics. Plus identifying its enablers.

The second kind is something we can easily overlook because we have become distracted by looking at the enemy and the damage it is doing—and because we have become war weary. Daniel 7:25 talks about how the enemy of our souls—Satan—”shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.”)

We need to study ourselves in order to see if there are any ways the enemy can readily get at us. Do we have vulnerabilities? Do we have a soft underbelly or an Achilles heel? Because if we do, then the enemy can harm us. And that will cause problems not only for us, but also for people we love.

Blind Spots

The Bible warns us about some things for which we need to watch out. I’m only mentioning a few here, but there are others as well. We need to be on guard for all of them. In addition, we can ask God to cleanse our hearts. Psalm 19:12 says, “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Because of that Scripture passage, every day I ask God to deal with my blind spots—with the problems I have of which I’m not aware (or maybe only partially aware of). I ask the Lord to give me “ears to hear” what He is saying to me, to make me willing and able to see what He wants me to see, and to make me willing and able to do whatever He wants me to do.

With the way the world keeps getting more and more evil and insane, all of us have to deal with fear, anger, and discouragement. All those are natural responses to being faced with evil, especially when it sometimes seems to be overwhelming.

For me, personally, the primary problem is fear. (But sometimes I get quite angry.) For strong men, the primary problem is likely to be anger. (But they also have to deal with fear and discouragement.) For some people, the primary problem is discouragement.

When discouragement hits, it’s good to remind ourselves that God is willing and able to keep us going until our tour of duty, so to speak, is over. We are weak but Almighty God can enable us to be faithful soldiers. God can give us the strength, courage, and faithfulness we need to be able to do that.

Of course, we all have other ways the enemy of our souls can get to us. Weaknesses. And blind spots. And areas of vulnerability. And we all get war weary. Therefore, it’s good to keep asking God to deliver us from these areas of weakness and vulnerability—to make us aware of them and show us how to overcome them, to make us be strong enough to keep on fighting, and to enable us to fight effectively.

What Satan Means for Evil . . .

When it comes to dealing with fear and discouragement, it helps to keep remembering eternity. Our time down here on Earth is so brief compared to eternity.

While we are here on Earth, time seems to go by slowly. But remember what the apostle Paul said:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Remember who talked about a “light affliction” that was only “for a moment.” This is the apostle Paul who was beaten, stoned and left for dead, thrown into a Roman prison, betrayed, shipwrecked, had times of extreme hunger, and was attacked by mobs.

Now let’s put that in terms of us, personally, here in modern North America. If some horribly evil people do something terrible to us, the worst they can do is to cause temporary suffering and death. But if we are in Christ (born again, saved), then we will be in Heaven with Jesus, rejoicing for all eternity. And the same applies to the people we love who have put their trust in the Lord.

There are no exceptions to Romans 8:28. God promised to make all things work out for the good of those who love Him. Therefore, no matter what anybody does to us, if we love God, then eventually we will look back at what happened to us and be grateful that we went through it because of the good God brought out of it.

A good example of this is what happened to Joseph in Egypt. When his brothers sold him as a slave, they meant it for evil; but God used it for good. And God brought great good out of all of the suffering that Joseph went through. Not only for Joseph but for his entire family—and for multitudes of people in Egypt.

When dealing with anger, it helps to remember what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:12:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Remember that many of these seriously evil people are literally demon possessed, or else they are being controlled by (or heavily influenced by) evil men and women who are possessed. Either way, they are being used by puppet masters. Our real enemy is the devil. Not the puppets.

It also helps to remember Romans 12:19. The apostle Paul said:

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Now that does not mean letting evil people get away with doing evil. We can fight them and their agenda tooth and nail. But at the same time, we can do that without hating them or trying to get revenge.

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told us:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

How in the world can we do that with people who are as wicked as George Soros, for example? Here are some things that help me do it:

1. We don’t know how they got that way. They may have been tormented and deceived and deluded since childhood. They may be possessed by demons.

2. Obviously, they don’t deserve love and prayer, but neither do I. Because of my sins, I deserve to go to Hell. But in spite of that, Jesus loves me, and He forgave me. Therefore, I should show my love and gratitude to Jesus by obeying Him.

3. The one thing I can do for horribly wicked people is to pray for their salvation. In so doing, I’m being faithful to Jesus’ commandment to “love,” “bless,” “do good,” and “pray” for my enemies.

4. Jesus paid a terrible price in order to enable those people to experience salvation. And Jesus should get what He paid for. Therefore, I can pray for their salvation for the sake of Jesus—because I love Jesus, and I want Jesus to get what He paid for.

5. Forgiving is a way of showing loyalty to Jesus. It’s a way of showing Jesus that my love for Him is more important than my anger at those horrible people—that my relationship with Jesus is more important than my feelings about those people.

Righteous Anger?

The Bible gives us an important warning about anger. There can be righteous anger—we see that when Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. However, because of our sin nature, even our most righteous anger isn’t one hundred percent righteous. And over time, it can gradually morph into becoming unrighteous. Therefore, long-term anger can give the devil ways of getting at us. Only God is holy enough for His anger to be one hundred percent righteous—and have it remain totally righteous.

Here is what the apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 4:26-27:

 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.

Some translations use the term “place,” but others say “opportunity.” The Greek word is topos and can mean place, situation, or opportunity. In military terms, that would be a beachhead—a place from which to launch an attack.

Here is something the apostle Peter said, which applies to fear, anger, and discouragement and any other kind of emotion. In 1 Peter 5:8, he said:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

Webster’s “1828 Dictionary” gives five definitions of the word “sober.” One of them is, “Regular; calm; not under the influence of passion; as sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.”

If we become overwhelmed by any kind of emotion, that can impair our judgment. It can make us less vigilant because we have become preoccupied by our feelings. And that can give the devil (and his minions) an opportunity to get at us.

Forgiving

Jesus told us to forgive. In Matthew 6:14-15, He said:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Jesus said that immediately after giving the disciples the Lord’s Prayer.

Obviously, forgiving is very important to Jesus. That’s a problem, because sometimes it can be very difficult to do. I know a woman who had to forgive the drunk driver who killed her son. And Corrie ten Boom had to forgive the Nazi guards who tormented her and her sister Betsy in a German concentration camp, where Betsy died.

There have been times in my life when I was hurt so deeply that it was very difficult to even want to try to forgive those people. I had to start out by asking God to make me be willing and able to forgive. Here are some things that have helped me forgive when it was difficult:

1. Jesus told me that because He forgave me, I should forgive other people. That includes people who have done harmful things to me and to people I love. I should forgive them. However, that does not mean allowing them to keep on doing harmful things. I can forgive the person and at the same time protect myself and my loved ones.

2. If I don’t forgive, then I am disobeying Jesus. I am rebelling against Him. How can I say that Jesus is my Lord and Savior if I refuse to try to obey Him?

3. If I don’t forgive, then I have given my anger toward that person priority over my love for Jesus. That is a form of idolatry. It is putting my feelings about somebody above the Lord.

4. Doing what Jesus tells me to do is a way of showing love and loyalty to Him. Therefore, I try to forgive out of loyalty to Jesus – and love for Jesus – and the desire to obey Jesus, who is my Lord and my Master. I want to be his “good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

5. When it’s really difficult, then I ask Jesus to make me be willing to forgive. With Corrie ten Boom, for her it was so difficult that her starting point was to ask Jesus to make her be willing to be willing to forgive. The point is to move in the right direction, as much as we are able to.

Working All Things Out

We are living in challenging times. But God knew when we should be born. And He has work for us to do here and now.

God is faithful, and He loves us. And His power is beyond our comprehension. Almighty God created the universe, and He holds it together with the Word of His power.

God’s love, power, wisdom, and faithfulness have no limits. Therefore, no matter what happens to us, because we love God, He will make it work out for our long-term good. And when we get to Heaven, then we will look back and be grateful for everything we went through because of the good that God brought out of it.

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Photo from istockphoto.com; used with permission.