The Art of War

In this journey called life, we are constantly battered. Do we have no peace you asks.. let me just breathe or die! When I was a child, life was simple. We didn’t have to make decisions on what to eat. We were just fed. Most of us anyways. Those who didn’t get fed, I simply ate.. the decision maker was the price of food, or 3 things you could possibly afford. Today a small 2 year old is battered with “what do you want to eat, honey?” Some parents even start to give them a menu. Geez… just feed her food! She don’t need to make decisions at this stage in her life. She needs to be exposed, taught, guided and fed. Don’t complicate a simple thing.

Here we are, no longer 2 year olds, staring at a life before us after we’ve made a decision to believe in a God that we cannot see. Our journey refreshes for a new start. The life we have is the same, but we see them from a renewed perspective. In our excitements we ‘left the old me’ and plunged into a new life, new friends, new habits; like start going to church, learn about God etc etc. Oh yeah, you do the ‘dance’, things are pretty good, people say hello to you in church, you jump up and down at worship and even attend some group meetings. Well, all’s good, maybe for several years … and then you face the roadblock… “what?” you’d say, “again?” Didn’t I became “new” and the old has passed away? My husband didn’t change. My boyfriend who accepted Christ didn’t change. Hey, my kids who have been attending church didn’t change either! They still come home brassy and talking back. Wait a minute…. did I change? I thought I did.

Then you’d take a look at yourself and say “hey… I am good. I lead a new life, I adopted all of the Christ thingy into my life… I keep reminding those around me about how to do it the right way, the Christ way…” Isn’t that a good thing? But why does everyone seems to be against me? And look at them!! This guy and that woman in church they are all of some sorts of “bad examples of Christianity” and worst still is when you know that some of these people are leaders or pastors. Then you learn about the devil. Hmph.. the devil, the trouble causer… and then you set out on a journey of spiritual warfare to cast out every demon you can name in your life and those around you. You have a headache. It’s the devil. You can’t find a parking. It’s the devil not wanting you to do your shopping. We start blaming every thing on the devil. So that, I can be proactively doing something about it.

The church always teaches us to be proactive about our Christian life. The biggest is always on Matt 28:19 “GO and make disciples of all nations”. We then ‘go’ wherever our church leads us. If your church has a Feed the People program. You’re there. If your church emphasis is on Mission.. You Go. Prayer and Fasting movement. You’re on it. Whatever programs your church runs.. you are encouraged to be a part of it. And yes.. you’re there. If you’re not there or a part of a program, you’d feel guilty and left out. So I believe you’d think that is what is missing in your Christian life and you would make the next effort to jump right in. No wrong there. Please, you should too. And yes, you will come to the point of having your eyes wide open, your tongue falling out of your mouth when you see the way things are done in your church, by Christian leaders that “shocks” you.

For some of us who has been here, take a breather. Pause. That’s why the Selah in your Psalms.

So one day… I sat, dumbfounded… by all that I see. My Christian life has been all sorts. I was there, I was not there. I found hope. I lost hope. I believed, I no longer believed. I fought, nothing happened. And how long more, I asked. Then, I looked up. I said, Lord… all that you ask of me (in the Bible) to do… I did. As best as I can. Why then is my soul heavy laden, confused and trodden?

“My child, my child Jennifer” He says. Huh? Didn’t I hear this line before? He called out to “Martha, Martha…” Luke 10:41

⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,⁴² but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

We have spent our journey, going & doing. The Lord says, “sit down”. I mean I do sit down. A lot too!! I spent close to 60% of my time “sitting down”.. reading the word, reading books, equipping myself, prayer etc etc. What (in the world) is the Lord talking about?!!

He says this:

You have been doing a lot of sitting down. Reading my word and it has brought you to places. You learned about the goodness. You absorbed all the parables. You sat with Kings and Prophets. I have shown you the world, in the past and of the present. I took you to the mountains, I showed you the valleys. I opened your eyes and you saw the Leviathans and all the sea monsters. In dreams and visions I have led you. And yes, you are learning. You recognised your sword and we have been honing it. All the ‘battles you fought’ swishing at the devil, is just your practise zone. (Yea.. I go like, What?! Practise? I fought hard! You mean we didn’t get them?) Our fight, is not yet. The battle is yet to come.

Then I realised. The Bible says “go and take over Canaan”- Book of Joshua. So we did. We got up, equipped ourselves and went to “war”. We war with the battles in our mind, for our families and loved ones. The Bible says “pick up your mat!” – John 5:8. So we stayed active, not sitting down, believing, hoping. But then, the Bible also says “the battle is not yours” – 2 Chronicles 20:15. Oops, wait a minute. So, we are equipped to fight a battle, but we are not to battle. Jericho was not taken down through forceful attack. David could’ve taken Saul down. He didn’t. The apostles never fought back. Jesus submitted Himself on the cross.

⁴² saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” – Luke 22:42

We have been moving to the left, to the right, climbing mountains, swishing in the valleys… for practise? No. You have been moving to the left, to the right, climbing mountains and swishing in the valleys for yourself. You do, every “right” thing in the Bible for yourself. You heard that correct. The question is, did the Lord ask you to.

This brings me to a vision of Chinese war movies. Their armies are like in tens of thousands (great graphics). And when the General signals the attack, the swarms of people go in one direction with a big war cry that sounds like thunders in one accord. And there they go! Attacking their enemies head on.

That is what we’ve been doing.

I’d like to think that Jesus is the Commander of the army, He instructed the leaders of our Church to go in the direction where the war/enemy is or the purpose is. We are his church. We submit ourselves to the church and follow our leaders direction. We entrust ourselves to our leaders.

But let’s look up and be wise.  The last days is upon us. One of the last days things is false prophets. Prophets operates and lives among us in churches. The priests like Eli (1 Samuel 2) are still with us. The rigid rule keeping Pharisees of the Jesus times are also here. Jesus talked about the Narrow Gate and then He said this:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them. – Matthew 7:15-20

So don’t go crazy running here and there. Equip yourself in the knowledge of the Lord. Stop and ask the Lord, what does He wants you to do. Where we are called, He will deliver accordingly. Learn to sit down and listen to His Voice. He says, my sheep knows my voice AND they follow me. Not do what you think is best. Not what the pastors tell you. The golden rule is, the way of the Lord does not contradict His Plan A – what He said to Moses, what He said to Abraham, what He said through Jesus.

God never needed us to protect Him, His Name, or His Church. HE is SOVEREIGN. But there is a war ahead.

So what is the ART of WAR? Be equipped. Kneel down with one leg, hand on the sword in sheath, prepared…. awaiting for His Command. Learning to stay put, on a Standby mode.

Do you know what happens when you couldn’t stay put in the battlefield? And act when you don’t have the command? Yes, in all the movies, you get shot. You disrupt the commander’s plan. You are acting on your own – Pride.

Many are called, but few will respond, choosing the easier path, things of the flesh than of the Spirit, the wider gate. (Easier to fight, to push through, to do something – self preservation) Doing the “right thing” is not a God thing. The Pharisees and priests of the past did all the “right things” and Jesus still says, you missed the point.

“Put your sword away” – Matt 26:52 and stop doing, doing, doing like Martha. Sit and await His Commands.

 

SHALOM.

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