It is not violence that propels these spiritual warriors forward. Ironically, they breakthrough enemy lines through their own ability to rest in the Lord. These mighty men and women live in a state of untroubled calm and rest despite every annoyance thrown their way. While the enemy dishes out chaos and accusation, spiritual warriors are anchored by the inner life of the spirit.
Rest is a weapon. As Christians, we should be incredibly peaceful, tranquil, and calm. The enemy cannot penetrate the armor of the person at rest in God. Spiritual warriors know that part of their inheritance is complete confidence in him. This confidence in his nature puts their spirit at rest. All of God’s promises are designed to inspire us in our dependence on him. We are completely reliant on his grace and mercy. All we can do is joyfully and humbly live in that revelation no matter what comes against us.
As we see in Hebrews 11, Scripture is full of examples where ordinary people ran while warriors stayed and fought until they broke through. But to stay when everyone around you is running takes supreme confidence in who God wants to be for you. These warriors carry an assurance of God’s heart towards them.
Is not about how strong we are, but how powerful the Lord is in our lives! Spiritual warriors know and have learned how to use their own weakness to become vulnerable to the strength and power of God.
To rest in God’s power when your own weaknesses seem to be screaming at you… That’s grace! To be confident in who God is for you when you feel overwhelmed by odds against you – that’s peace! To stand alone against massive intimidation – that’s trust!
To know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is bigger, and therefore you cannot lose – that’s the faith that moves mountains! Spiritual warriors know who God is for them, and they are aware of the partnership they have with him. This partnership in biblical terms is called a yoke. Jesus used this term in is called to people to enter a rest with him.
Matthew 11:28 – come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, trying gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
There is a place set aside for us in the spirit where we can make the enemy tired. We can make him weary, discouraged, deflated, and intimidated by our intimacy and our rest in Jesus. On earth as it is in heaven. Is there any weariness of soul in heaven? Is there any mental tiredness or emotional depression? These things have been bound because joy and rest have been loosed!
The promise of rest instead of weariness is a huge gift from Jesus!
John 14:27 – peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
All our overcoming stems from the joy and peace in believing. The internal presence of God enables us to overcome the external pressures of life in warfare. Jesus has already overcome these external forces.
Romans 8:35 – who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.
It is important to note here that the victory of Jesus does not shield us from the intrusion and impact of adversity and warfare. Nor does it mean that we will not suffer or even lose our life in the service of God.
2nd Corinthians 6:4 –… But in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, and sleeplessness, in hunger, impurity, in knowledge, in patients, and kindness, and the Holy Spirit, and genuine love, in the word of truth, and the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
What it means is that despite what happens to us, victory is guaranteed as we remain in the faithfulness of God. There may be a larger objective to achieve then the preservation of our own life. Our personal objective is always the glory of God. To achieve the privilege of presenting glory to God we need three things working together: firstly, we need to be able to stand joyfully in the blood of Jesus – to know its power for us over the enemy, and to rejoice in it. Secondly, we need to proclaim our personal testimony regarding the nature of God in the face of all opposition. Thirdly, we need to love the life of Jesus more than our own so that we are never preoccupied with self-preservation – Revelation 12:11.
The one who overcomes in this manner receives blessings in heaven that are astronomical privileges for eternity. – Revelation 3:21.
Victory – the purpose of God being achieved through our circumstances – is always present in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14/1 Corinthians 15:17). He has overcome the world and all of its pressures, oppositions and warfare. He has disarmed the ruling powers; thoroughly humiliating them in the process and displaying his power over them for all to see – Colossians 2:15. Jesus now sits in the place of supreme authority with everything being subject to him, and his Lordship being evident in and through his body on earth – Ephesians 1:21 – 23.
Peace comes in the context of God’s overcoming nature displayed to us in Christ. Jesus is supremely unworried. Peace enables us to lead an untroubled life. That is, when trouble comes we are not fazed by it. We know how to live above it in our spirit. We know how to calmly see through it to determine the purpose of God. We are not subject to the pressure of the events because we allow his peace to encourage us.
Spiritual warriors have courage because they have peace. We do not let our hearts be troubled, nor are we subject to fear. We believe in God, we know who Jesus is for us – John 14 1:27. We rest in the overcoming nature of Jesus.
We don’t have to understand everything in detail so that we are at peace. We are governed by peace to such an extent that it rules in our hearts, not our minds – Colossians 3:15. Peace does not come through settled thinking, but it can be displaced by an anxious, fearful mindset.
Peace comes from our heart – the inner man of the spirit, our secret place where God lives within. Then it moves out of our heart to guard our mind. Peace dominates our heart and governs our thinking – Philippians 4:7, enabling us to take any negative thoughts captive and destroy unhelpful speculations – 2nd Corinthians 10:5 – that make us prone to weariness and dejection.
The heart of the invitation of Jesus in (Matthew 11:28 – 30) is for us to take his yoke upon ourselves. A yoke is a partnership relationship that enables us to fully cooperate with Christ in the matter of rest. A young ox is yoked with a more mature ox so that it can be discipled in the role that it will occupy. So with us; we take all of our leads from Jesus. His responses now become our responses as we submit to his intention and power.
Being led by the spirit arises out of our union with Jesus. As he is, so are we in this world – 1 John 4:17. He that is in us is too powerful and much greater than anything or anyone we may meet in life – 1st John 4:4. This yoke relationship is of paramount importance to our rest and peace.
Some people are unequally yoked to a negative. Whenever we allow ourselves to become negative we have been shifted from faith and obedience to a contrary place where it is possible for us to deny, oppose, and resist the promises, goodness, and power of God. We become our own worst enemy. If we are not consciously partnering with God, who are we in alliance with? Jesus said, he who is not with me, is against me – Matthew 12:30. Clearly this can occur at many levels. We cannot resist the grace of God without suffering consequences. Negativity neutralizes faith and nullifies our peace and rest, making us vulnerable to fear, anxiety, doubt, and unbelief. If we find it easy to be cynical, we have already traveled a long way down this road of negative thinking.
If we are prone to being pessimistic or gloomy, our thinking and rest have already been compromised. If our sense of humor is rooted in sarcasm that wounds people (rather than the gentle joshing of a loving friendship), then we have lost the heart of God and need to recover ourselves. If we have become unenthusiastic about Jesus or uninterested in spiritual things, we have possibly been taken captive in our heart and mind.
Being unequally yoked to a negative causes a reversal of favor and leads to stress and difficulty. We lose our heaven sent confidence in Jesus and find ourselves out of position in the Spirit.
Spiritual warriors never allow this to happen to them. Indeed they know that rest is a weapon to be used on the evil one. Rest allows us time and space to wait on the Lord even in the most trying of circumstances. The enemy seeks to pull us out of rest by getting us to act too quickly to events. When we allow that, we are reacting to the situation and not responding to the Lord. Resting and waiting on the Lord is not inactivity – it allows confidence to come through positive reinforcement of our identity in Christ and his inheritance in us.
Spiritual warriors wait. They know that confidence comes from the Lord. His joy is a source of strength. Be of good cheer. I’ve overcome the world, echoes in their heart and mind. Warriors give assurance to the weak around them because they themselves operate in a dimension where access to God provides a guaranteed outcome of victory. They rest in that assurance because they fight from victory, not towards it.
These warriors are absolutely positive that God will help them. They are convinced that he is incapable of letting them down. Such thoughts never enter their minds – they are completely focused on the fact that God will save them. In times of warfare and adversity, they have the courageous boldness to stand firm in God.
This confidence enables a spiritual warrior to hold their nerve and be fearless in the face of any attack. They live in the growing conviction that the Lord is pouring out his extravagant delight and affection on them. Everything that is in God, is for these people: surely I will help you, he says.
These generous promises are the foundation upon which God would have us approach him. They are a pathway to him, reminding us of our utter dependence on his nature. This, in turn, provokes the proper attitude and outlook we need in order to access those promises. We are expected by him – and received by him.
For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught – Proverbs 3:26. God is the most powerful ally in the universe, and a spiritual warrior keeps that fact in mind at all times. We stand before God the same way a much loved son or daughter stands before his or her father. There is no fear or worry, only the love and confidence that comes with being your dad’s beloved child. We are totally accepted and have complete access.
God is very confident in himself; he never doubts anything he is doing. It is this confidence that he seeks to build into the people he touches with his grace.
Assignment – are there negatives in your own life that the Spirit is seeking to change into a more faith filled perspective? If so, isolate the negatives and examine them. What would be the opposite spirit to them? Write that down in practice renewing your insight and thinking until it is adjusted.
Commission – think about the areas where by habit you have become prone to negativity. What does it mean for you to set peace as a guard in your mind and heart so that negativity is denied entry? Practice pushing away a negative, taking poor thoughts captive, renewing your mind with the help of the Holy Spirit.