Prepare for War!

Isaiah 59:17,19 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in, like a flood The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

Over the last week, tensions have escalated significantly following the assassination of an Iranian General and several terrorist leaders within the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus. This week also coincides with the conclusion of Ramadan, during which there have been heightened calls from terrorist groups for attacks against Jewish and Christian communities.  The war drums are beating … and the question is — how should we as believers respond?

First, we have to win the spiritual battle that we’re currently fighting!  Whether you realize it or not, we as believers have been at war since we came to faith!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Thus Paul instructed us in Ephesians. We fight against the kingdom of Satan.

We fight with spiritual weapons; prayer, the Word of God, faith in His truth, and His power– these are not carnal weapons but spiritual.  We are seated in the heavenlies with Him [Ephesians 1:20], and in His authority, we make our stand.

The enemy’s weapons are temptations, fiery darts of doubt and disbelief, discouragement, weariness, earthly pleasures. Thus the enemy distracts us from and disarms us in the battle position.

But what soldier goes to war without taking the equipment necessary for war? A soldier on the battlefield without his weapons is useless and helpless and in great danger.

So it is in the spiritual realm. We need to actively take up our spiritual armor and weapons to fight the enemy. And we have this promise — when the enemy comes in — like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against Him! Are you ready to make your stand in this day?

Now, today, war is a very real threat in the physical realm – but it’s already been here for millennia in the spiritual realm. So by all means necessary take up the armor of God today – stand with Him in faith and win your battle, one day at a time — win the battle over your thoughts and your actions. YHVH Tz’vaot, “The LORD of Hosts” is with you, to strengthen, equip, and overcome; and His victory is assured!

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When Gideon was called by God, a mighty man of valor, his first task was to tear down the idolatrous altars of Baal and Asherah at his father’s house. Though he was ready to obey this command, his obedience was mixed with fear, so he destroyed the idols at night [Judges 6:27]. When the men of the city realized it was Gideon who destroyed their idols, their allegiance to Baal and Asherah drove them to demand Gideon’s life.

Biblical Hebrew uses a grammatical form called “s’michut”. This form joins two words together to form a single word form. We have this in English: for example, a door and a knob are two nouns, which are used to form the word “doorknob”, a compound noun. This form of joining nouns is found in Judges 6:12. The expression, “Angel of the Lord” is rendered, “angel-YHVH”; (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay); in modern English — “angel-Yehovah”. Then, suddenly, the narrative changes from “angel-Yehovah” to simply, “Yehovah”. Here we see another appearance of YHVH in human form in the Old Testament. The God-Man, Yeshua in a “pre-incarnate” appearance.

Yeshua (Jesus) called himself the Good Shepherd. He described his followers as sheep. Why?

Wolves hunt in packs. Their aggression, power, and cunning, are no match for the sheep they hunt to devour. When wolves gather to form packs they are incredibly vicious and effective predators.

Truly we are living in remarkable times! Tomorrow is probably one of the most significant days of our lifetime, as Americans go to the polls and decide the future of the United States. Of course, voting is important, but let's be sure we know what we're voting for!

Ever heard of "shorting the dollar"? I have to admit, don't know a whole lot about financial investing, but I do know that there are people who invest in other currencies, hoping the dollar will continue to decrease in order to increase their own wealth.

If He was a man of the world, Yeshua (Jesus) would have chosen the elite of His day to accomplish His mission — however He used simple fishermen. These men were considered uneducated, lacking “social status”, wealth or worldly distinction of any kind — yet these “simple” men were the ones the Lord selected to build the Kingdom of God.

There is an old Persian fable of a hen, a mouse, and a rabbit who lived together in a little house in the woods. They shared all the work and lived in harmony. The chicken found the firewood, the mouse brought the water from a nearby brook, and the rabbit cooked the meals. Each did his work faithfully and contentedly.