Battle Training Part 1: ID the Enemy

We recently celebrated our son's 6th birthday with a Superhero Training Camp. Our visitors arrived in costumes, and then we talked about all the things that a superhero has to do to be super. The kids told me that superheroes need muscles, a disguise, weapons, be able to run fast, and they need a super power. We spent the rest of the party creating disguises, learning to use "bat"arangs, chasing villains, breaking boards, learning to work smart, and working as a team. Honestly, I think I had more fun than the kids. It was a blast. (see pics at bottom of post!)

In real life, we really need to train for battle because we are truly in a battle at all times. We are not always aware of the battle, we don't always do a great job of identifying the enemy, but we are in a battle and it is big time. Thankfully, a full armor with super power proportions has been provided to all of us.

I will present 3 aspects of this battle over my next three posts: 1) Identify the enemy, 2) What it takes to defeat the enemy, and 3) Accepting victory. The focus will be on Ephesians 6:10-17

"... be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor so that you will be able to resist in the evil day... Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

I was talking to a Vietnam Vet who was reminiscing about his time in battle. One thing he struggled most with was “not knowing who Charlie was”… in other words, he could not figure out who the enemy was; he did not know when to shoot or when to cease fire. Our battle is often the same in that it is confusing and feels never ending when we don’t know who we are fighting; therefore, we hang on to anger and resentment toward certain people or things thinking that they are the enemy… but this leaves us empty and still swinging around at the unknown enemy. It is simply exhausting.

If someone walks up and kicks you in the shin – it is pretty easy to identify the enemy. But in our lives it is simply not always that apparent who the enemy is – it often is vague. If you lost a job due to downsizing, is there really someone specific to blame? You may refer to “management” in general in some bitter statements… Maybe you’ve lost contact with a son or daughter – they’ve made a lot of choices that you don’t agree with – you didn’t raise them this way – the pain of not having a relationship with them is almost too much to bear – but do you really consider your son or daughter the enemy? How could they be the enemy when you love them so much? What about loss of health? It is so frustrating… it can make us angry, but at what and who? What about the death of a loved one? What about the death of a lot of loved ones? Is there someone to blame for that?

The enemy is ALWAYS satan – not to say that others can’t make bad choices that hurt us or that we should use satan as a crutch for bad choices we make, but Eph 6: 12 tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Even if we know this is true, do we really know and recognize satan’s handy work as it unfolds in our lives?

Satan is a liar, and he will do anything in our weakness to take our focus off the real questions we should be asking and finding truth and strength through our Heavenly Father. Satan’s lies are rarely bold-faced lies… that are normally just slight variations of truth. They are altered only a tiny bit so that we will not recognize it for what it is. Lets shed some light on some of the lies he might tell us:

Hanging out in a bar is not a sin… besides you’ve been sober a long time – you can handle going this one time, and one drink doesn’t hurt anything.
But you really love him… surely when God said don’t have sex outside of marriage he meant for people who didn’t really love each other… this is different.
You are worthless… Why would God forgive your sin? When Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of sin, He meant a lot of types of sin, but are you sure He meant that type of sin.
What if you’d had been a more responsible son, would He have taken your Mother?
Oh, you’re on vacation, splurge. Eat ‘til you drop – who doesn’t do that on vacation?
I know your husband said you don’t have the money, but who is he to say you can or cannot buy something. Go ahead and get it – you deserve it.
Did God really say you couldn’t have the fruit off of that tree? Did He really mean it? (Genesis 3)

That conniving little jerk! LIES, LIES, AND MORE LIES. Satan is always the enemy.

Now that we know who the enemy is and understand some of his ways, next time I will discuss training for the battle against him!

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SUPERHERO TRAINING CAMP - APRIL 2013