The war is on!

Revelation 12:7-17 (The Message)

7-12War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,

Salvation and power are established!
Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
and the bold word of their witness.
They weren't in love with themselves;
they were willing to die for Christ.
So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there,
but doom to earth and sea,
For the Devil's come down on you with both feet;
he's had a great fall;
He's wild and raging with anger;
he hasn't much time and he knows it.

13-17When the Dragon saw he'd been thrown to earth, he went after the Woman who had given birth to the Man-Child. The Woman was given wings of a great eagle to fly to a place in the desert to be kept in safety and comfort for a time and times and half a time, safe and sound from the Serpent. The Serpent vomited a river of water to swamp and drown her, but earth came to her help, swallowing the water the Dragon spewed from its mouth. Helpless with rage, the Dragon raged at the Woman, then went off to make war with the rest of her children, the children who keep God's commands and hold firm to the witness of Jesus."

I've heard many people say they are frightened at the book of Revelation, afraid to study it because it is too "weird". I am studying it, once again now and I agree, it is nothing short of a freaky sci-fi movie. Who knows why God chose to reveal just enough of it to us, much of it through symbolism so that could possibly get our minds around it. It really is a mystery!

But is not a book of fear, for children of God, it is a book of hope. It encourages me when I see spiritual warfare literally happening all around me. Everything from suicide bombings in the beautiful nation of Uganda, which I love, to persecution to conflicts in relationships; I can see it so clearly for what it is. Satan cannot take our salvation so he will stop at nothing to discourage us, distract us, condemn us and accuse us! And the above verse encourages me so much because it tells me why all of this is happening, in our generation. Revelation reassures me that, yes, the enemy is mad, but even still, he is no match for God. God will win! God has already won; we have already won the victory because of Jesus death on the cross. It is finished!! The Babylon in which we live is getting worse and will continue to get worse. But the fact remains that God placed us here, in this generation for a purpose. We can survive and thrive here, as we keep our eyes focused on our King of kings, and what He has for us.

I love how, throughout scripture, God reveals just enough to us. He gives us the exact amount of wisdom that we need to live and then He speaks to us through His living, breathing Word. We are fully equipped and we must continually study His Word and pray without ceasing. That is our ultimate weapon in warfare. Honestly, I have so many things to pray about, I could pray without ceasing and still never cover them all.

God has recently opened my eyes to the great need for prayer. He has reminded me of so many more things I need to be praying for. Why do I try to fight this battle on my own strength? I need God in my every day! I need to pray more than I currently do! It is time for me to exercise my authority as a daughter of the King and fight, fight, fight with my greatest weapon, prayer! There are so many people I love, depending on my prayers!

We truly are warriors. As Rita Springer sings in her song, "Beautiful You"....

"God, who are you that you speak into our shame and you see a warrior. You see a mother on her knees and whisper that she will raise warriors."

My almost 7 year old daughter truly loves Jesus. She has compassion in her heart that comes from the Holy Spirit within her. Who knows what will occur in our world in her generation, all the more reason why we must raise warriors, who love Jesus!

God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

I believe that and I trust Him, no matter what!