Jesus told us in the Book of Matthew that in the last days there would be "wars and rumors of wars." I believe Him. I also believe that we are living in those days right now. But I'm not here to write about the end times. I'm here to talk about war.
There are definitely wars going on right now. Ukraine vs Russia, Israel vs Hamas, Israel vs Hezbollah, Israel vs The Houthis, etc. There are currently 28 areas of conflict in our world right now, according to Global Conflict Tracker. Yes, there is an app for that.
But I'm not writing about any of those either. I'm writing about the war that wages inside each of us.
The band Switchfoot has a song called The War Inside. Here's some of the lyrics.
Yeah, it's where the fight begins
Yeah, underneath the skin
Beneath these hopes and where we've been
Every fight comes from the fight within
Isn't that true? Don't we wage war in and against ourselves? James wrote this about these wars thay wage inside each of us:
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?" - James 4:1
You got THAT right! Satan loves to push our buttons. And, yes, he knows our thoughts.
Most of the time we recognize these inward battles and can prepare for the attack. But Satan's most effective weapon is the sneak attack. That's when we open our mouths without thinking and blurt out something we later wish we wouldn't have said. James also had some words about that in his previous chapter. You can read it here.
And here's this gem from James in chapter one.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," - James 1:19
Smart man, that James. So, why don't we listen to his words and learn from them?
Good question.
Army generals go to great lengths in their preparations for war. They plan, they accumulate supplies. And an army of soldiers behind them. It should be no different with us.
Our army is the church. Our supplies come from prayers and supplications to God. He provides us with everything we need through our training - reading The Bible.
The battle is real. It is for our very souls. It is being fought everywhere, but it starts within each of is and we must fight. To arms!
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