BATTLE PLANS
1 Peter 2:11
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
In the verse above Peter implies that we are in a war! He isn’t talking about a fleshly war, he is talking about a spiritual battle between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God. Here is the deal . . . if we are to ever have peace in our lives and be useful to God, we have to learn how to win that war!
How do we do it? By following this battle plan:
Make sure you are clear about your orders and objectives
- Come to terms with who the Lord wants you to be and what the Lord wants you to do.
- Your mission is to make disciples. Your objective is to faithfully serve your commander who is Jesus. Don’t get distracted!
Establish a secure base of operations
- The Church is your base camp.
- Don’t be caught AWOL!
Don’t give back ground you’ve already won
- Avoid the lure of Egypt – it wasn’t better “back there!”
- Grow in your faith and ministry.
Inventory and maintain your equipment
- What talents, experiences, and Spiritual gifts has the Lord given you to use?
- Stir up any cooling embers . . . “fan into flame the gift of God . . .” (2 Tim. 1:6)
- Put these things to use for the cause of Christ.
Monitor your information
- God’s Word is food for your soul . . . avoid replacing it with excessive amounts of “junk food.”
- Garbage in-garbage out is a spiritual as well as a practical principle . . . Php. 4:9 – “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Watch
out for infiltrators in the ranks
- Not everyone who seems friendly is your friend. There are weeds among the wheat. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing!
- Don’t follow men, follow Christ.
Know what to do if you get captured.
- Escape as quickly as possible! If the enemy can get you tied up in fleshly knots you become useless to God.
- Christ can and will set you free from your bondage. Gal. 5:1 – “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
- Repent, ask for forgiveness, run as fast and as hard as you can from whatever trap you fell into. Gal. 5:13 – “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.”
Don’t underestimate the enemy
- Trying to defeat the enemy of your soul by exercising your will power is like trying to fight a tank with a pop gun.
- It takes spiritual power to defeat a spiritual enemy. Gal. 5:16 – “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”(NASB)
- Christ in you is the answer. The battle is not yours but God’s.
Pastor Keith Andrews