“Ya, ya, ya… I know, I know, I know…” I can hear the condescending, minimalistic overtones of the “spiritual goats” even as I type. It’s an odd, even peculiar sensation that I feel as I search my heart for the right words to share here. You see, I have just finished my initial post on the subject of spiritual warfare, as directed to my fellow Shepherds and Sheep… That particular entry was more intense than I expected and personally painful to share.
And now, as I approach those (“spiritual goats”) who, by definition, are on the opposite side of the battle lines (Luke 11:23), I am hesitant to open up. Even so, I press on. (I am coming to the close of an extended prayer retreat that was designed in large part to facilitate the launch of this blog. Thus, I trust the Lord will give me the right words to share.)
Friend, I write to YOU without eloquence or story. As one who is living in religious rebellion, you are most likely deceived, distracted, or disillusioned when it comes to spiritual warfare. I know each of those places all too well.
Wake up! If you think you’re winning the war because of your religion, you’re wrong. If you think the war isn’t really affecting you, based on your relative comfort, you’re wrong. Often times the Enemy makes his P.O.W. camps plush enough to keep the prisoners happy until he sends them off to the concentration camps of hell on Judgment Day.
Some of you, no doubt, feel like you’ve charted the perfect course that allows you to have your cake and eat it too. You think you’ve got just enough Jesus to make full surrender unnecessary (like an inoculation that injects you will just enough of the real stuff to keep the full blown version away). You too, friend, are wrong. There are no neutral parties, no Switzerlands, no middle of the road oasis in this war. Get real and wake up… you’re either living or dying, there’s no limbo here!
Lastly, for you “negotiating goats” out there… I tell you with all the love in my heart (and a boat load of empathy), I know you THINK you can play this out “close enough to the line” that if and when the battle really does come (and the fighting gets too intense), THEN you’ll come running to Jesus – the way one runs to a fire extinguisher when the “manageable blaze” becomes unmanageable.
I pray the Lord will open your eyes before it’s too late.
