Motivation can be hard to come by at times.

                As difficult circumstances pile on top of one another like logs, our hearts become weighed down.  Physically the presence of pain, stress, hurt, or guilt traps people in a fog of fear, anger, depression, or sorrow to mention a few.  Sometimes there seems like no way out and the heavy vest being carried will never be lifted.  In our minds, these things are magnified, whether we want them to be or not.  It’s time to break that magnifying glass!

                Where does incessant thinking about fear, or stress (among others) guide us?  The path is a dark one with no end and an exponential increase in the struggles.  For some reason however, it seems so enticing to give into those thoughts and let them have their stay.  The reason for that is because as Christians, we have a common enemy.  It’s not Atheists, homosexuals, prostitutes, junkies, or Muslims.  It is sin, and the flesh that is inspired by Satan.  If we truly believe that our God is real and his Bible is truth, why can’t we accept that the enemy is real as well?  Starting down this path, nobody realizes who is really behind it…the deceiver.  However, when Jesus is accepted and believed in with all of one’s heart, they quickly turn one hundred eighty degrees and start sprinting in the other direction and no matter how real the enemy is, he has no power. 

                The moment his word penetrates our hearts, souls are changed, truth is realized and war is declared.  What used to be a nice sounding sentence of literature becomes the strength we need to make it through the day and the joy we so desperately lack.  If God says it, that settles it.  As believers, our weapon, sharper than any sword or physical weapon, is the Bible.  Which begs the question, why would God have given us a weapon if there was no war to be waged?

                Believing that a book is more powerful than an AK-47 is ridiculous to anyone who has never read and believed the Bible.  This war isn’t a physical one, though.  Take 2 Corinthians 10:4…

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” (KJV)

                Paul uses the word carnal, or in Greek, Sarkikos.  Sarkikos literally means fleshly or of the body, but implies weakness, frailty, and imperfection in the Greek language.  An antonym of Carnal in Greek is Pneumatikόs.  This literally means spiritually, or supernatural and is described in the Greek language as pertaining or proceeding from the Holy Spirit.  The entire New Testament of the bible was written in Greek originally (2 Corinthians is in the New Testament). 

                When belief in God is present, his Holy Spirit lives inside the body of the believer, empowering them with Chôzeq, or literally filling them with “The Lord’s strength”.  The weapon, protection, and strength is all supplied with Jesus.  Thus, it is time to go to war.  Making war against addictions, fears, and selfish desires is possible by taking God’s word for what it really is, truth…and living in accordance with it.  Satan and our flesh’s only power is derived from what we give to it, so it is time to battle those because God has enabled us to and calls us to do so!  We will lose battles, BUT he has already won the war, ultimately.  Go to war.