War: Satan is at it, God is not

“All Warfare is based on the art of deception.” Sun Tzu: The Art of War. Satan is alive and at war for your heart!!! He will use all the deception that he can find. He views his job as to keep you from gaining access to Heaven, and if he fails that task then he moves right into keeping you from an intimate relationship with the Almighty. How does God see it? John 10:10 says, “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of,” the Message. The thief, his job is only to still, kill and destroy. All of that is warfare, all of that is based on the art of deception. But, we must remember that there is another side to this issue. Jesus has come not just so we can experience life with the Almighty, but also intimacy with Him as well. Jesus destroyed Satan’s entire purpose all in one act. WOW kinda makes you feel sorry for the sucker doesn’t it? Not really, when you understand that he is always at war with us and for us. When we look at our Spiritual Lives through those lens we will see that even though Satan is at we God is not. Deception isn’t part of His game as He has already won the war, game over, end game, nothing left but to carry home the soldiers. And that is just what we are, we are Christ’s soldiers. Oswald Chambers said, “To say, ‘Of course God is omniscient and knows everything’ has no effect on me. I don't care whether God is ‘omni’ anything. But when I begin to realize that God knows all the deepest possibilities there are in me, knows all the eccentricities of my being, I find the mystery of myself is solved by this besetting God.”

The Darkness of the Forest

As I enter the forest you notice that it is very dark and somewhat scary, but hey, nothing is suppose to scary me right? So I enter the forest, the dark and creepy forest. I hear noises that I did not know exist; I feel things and just play it off as my mind playing tricks on me. However, right when I start to feel somewhat comfortable, I mean just how comfortable can one feel in the dark of the forest right? Nevertheless, just when I start to get that feeling I hear something that is not far behind me. What is it I began to think? Then the noise got loader and loader and it came closer and closer. I have seen those scary movies I know that the only ones that die are the ones that stay around to see what the noise is. So I boogie on out of there, but as I run I notice that no matter how fast I am going the noise is going just a bit faster. This is not suppose to happen. I mean didn’t God say that He would protect me, and never leave me or forsake me? What is going on? Just when I get to the point that I am the most scared that I have ever been I see a small little light ahead. It is barely shinning through the trees but I can still see it. Maybe there is hope, this God that said he would be here wasn’t and no I have to run to that light all by my self, and with the footsteps getting loader and loader, faster and faster. I am not sure that I can make it to the light in time. Sweat is dripping off of my forehead and my heart is jumping right out of my chest as I haven’t the foggiest idea what is about to happen. I mean life just isn’t suppose to be this way, is it? What was that Paul said in Romans 8:37-39:

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Man that is fine and dandy but where is God when I need Him? I mean I am out here all by my self, I am in the dark and He is nowhere to be found. I must keep on racing for the light that is just ahead, I must get there before whatever is behind me gets me. I keep running like a man because I do not know if my life depends on it or not. I am striving for that mark that is just ahead of me but no matter how hard I run I just cannot get there. The light always seems just out of reach, I cannot give up, but at the same time I just cannot seem to get to the light either. There is just nothing that I can do to make this situation any better. I keep running as fast as I can but by now my strength has left me and although I am running as fast as I can it isn’t very fast. The footsteps behind me have almost caught up with me by now. What am I to do? Just when I turn around to see what the steps are that have been chasing me I see the light that I have been trying to get to the entire time. How can the light and the footsteps be the same? The light looks at me and reminds me what the author of Hebrews was saying, in Hebrews 13:5:

5 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

The feeling that I get from not having to run, the warmth that the Light brings is so filling. I felt so alone out there, I was running for my life and yet it seems that I was running from my life. So let us continue what the author of Hebrews began in Hebrews 13:6:

6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"