Warfare

Good morning. Yesterday morning at Bible study and then again last night while talking with my little brother and then again on the way into work this morning, the Lord reminded me of something. This is not something new or something that we do not know about, but it is always nice to be reminded. Why do I as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ expect life to be easy or relaxed when I should be expecting war? When we are following Jesus, we are going to get bombarded by an enemy that as 1 Peter 5:8 says:

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

We are commanded to be alert. Also as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11,

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."

This is a command and is something we need to do daily. We also have an enemy in our flesh, our old man, that we are warring with as well and Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20 that we have been crucified with Christ,

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

We are new creatures in Christ that are in an all out war. We have to prepare ourselves each day, die to ourselves, and live and fight for Christ.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus taught us:
"And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Why don't I do this? Why do I whine and complain when I have financial problems, church problems, personal problems, etc? I feel it is because I am not ready for the war. I have to be prepared and expect the war. I also have to take a proactive approach by daily taking up my cross, daily putting on armor, and daily denying or dying to myself. So for me, this means I have to quit being lazy and get to work!