Make War, remember that?

Here lately, I have been reminiscing back to the idea of "Make War."  "Make war" has seriously shown up everywhere.  I was reading a book the other night and I'll be darn if in the middle of that book "make war" showed up in it, talking about how we are in a spiritual war.  The author pointed out Revelations Chapter 12 to make his point, of which I will touch on.  Then out of no where John Piper showed up on my iPod.  For those of you who know a little about me, I am a big John Piper fan.  What shown up on my iPod was not a song like some would imagine.  Rather, a clip of his sermon where he preaches about "making war."  At that point I gave in.  Went to YouTube and listened to Tedashii song "make war" which is off of the sermon preached by Piper.  It doesn't stop there.  I was driving home, literally a day after that.  Got to Nicholasville and on Air1 a song came on that I had never heard.  Here are the lyrics:

My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Troubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
From You Lord, from You Lord

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always, always

After listening to the song, I was speechless.  I didn't know what to say or think.  Now, I know that I was in the car by myself but usually when stuff like this happens, by myself or not, I start yelling stuff like "Yeah!  That's what I'm talking about!" or "Man, God is Great!" and even "Praise God!" followed by vicious fist pumps.  I mean come on now, don't act like I am crazy.  You know you do the same.  But at times I would love to see the faces in the the car next to me if they see what I am doing. 

Bringing it all back together, I took all of this as a reminder.  Something I believe we all should be reminded of.  It is easy to get off track and forget that we are at war.  Not just with Satan and his many ways but also with our human bodies and the sin it can produce.  We must be on guard at all times, its no joke.  Its important because when we are off our guard that is when we are at our weakest and we all know that's when Satan is going to strike full force.  Piper mentions in his sermon this: "There is something about war that sharpens the senses.  You hear a twig snap or rustling of leaves and you are in attack mode.  Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger.  Even after days and nights of no sleep, war keeps us vigilant."  This is how we should be 24/7!

It seems that today, I see a lot of church's preach the "feel good" of Christianity.  Which is fine if that is what God is laying on the Pastors heart to preach but what we have to be sure of is this.  That the Christian walk is not all sunshine and rainbows.  We have the Love that is not attainable from anything in this world, but rather in our God.  He will not leave us nor forsake us and like the song states: 

"Oh, my God, He will not delay / My refuge and strength always / I will not fear, His promise is true / My God will come through always, always"

What we need to know is there is another side to the ball game.  One that calls for an all out war, like Piper states.  This is where Revelations Chapter 12 comes into play.  I am not going to state the whole chapter but rather point out the last verses of it (I do however, think you should read that chapter in full to understand where this is coming from).  In this chapter it is all about "war".  There was a war in heaven and it ultimately ends up with the dragon along with Satan and his army being hurled to earth.  It doesn't end there, but rather another war that starts and doesn't end and includes you.  We see this in verse 17, "Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."  I promise you this is not made up or I am trying to scare you in any way but rather to show that this is real life and we-are-at-war.

I know this sounds scary to some and others take it as encouragement to fight the good fight.  But through and through realize this, Our God is there to fight for us.  There is nothing that can defeat our God.  Whether it seems that Satan has a foot-hold on you and not letting go or its sin that is creeping up, getting the best of you.  He is their to fight for us and with us, it's when we feel that we can fight this war by ourselves that we start losing battles.  We need to hold on to the truth:  

"Oh, my God, He will not delay / My refuge and strength always / I will not fear, His promise is true / My God will come through always, always"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7L3m9jIcc

Much Love
JDB