Before the God Questions series ends, there is one more question we want to answer. What is happening in our world? Have you ever wondered why life is so hard? What conclusions have you come to? Specific to your life, have you ever wondered why every step forward seems like you’re walking through mud? Walking through life can feel frustrating and exhausting. Think about it, would you say you are walking through life with more or less energy? Would you say that you are walking through life with more or less fear? Would you say that you are walking through life with more or less courage? It should make you wonder, what is happening in my life?
When it comes to the world we live in, would you agree that it seems like people have lost their minds? Doesn’t it feel like people have lost touch with reality? You see the decisions people make and it seems like there is no common sense. And have you noticed how divided and emotionally charged everyone is? As you see the news reports, would you say you walk with more or less hope about the future? It should make you wonder, what is happening in our world?
What is happening? Why are things the way they are? Here is the answer, brace yourself. You are in a war. We call it a spiritual battle. And that battle is getting more intense. When we started MRC, we spoke a lot about spiritual warfare. It’s the same today but when I talk about it today, I must add, that the spiritual war we face is getting more intense.
When I tell you, you are in a war, how does it impact you? Does it make sense to you? You hear it and inside you think, ‘Yeah that makes sense.’ Would you rather it not be true? Is there a part of you that hears this and thinks, ‘Really, not now, I don’t have the energy for this’? Please hear me, this is reality. To live well, we will have to embrace reality. And if you push reality away, just as a warning, it doesn’t make it go away.
Let’s read how the Bible explains it.
Ephesians 6:10-12 Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies – the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world. TLB
We are in a spiritual battle against the unseen satanic beings who rule this world. In this battle, did you notice where our strength and power come from? Paul wrote,
I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.
It’s true, we are in a war, a spiritual battle, and that battle is getting more intense. And as this battle becomes more intense, our pursuit of Jesus must become more intense. If we attend church now and then with no real relationship with Jesus, we won’t have Jesus’ power within us to give us the strength we need. We will become victims of this battle. That means we will walk around dazed, confused, and filled with negative emotions we can’t shake.
How do you know when you are experiencing a spiritual attack? When you experience any opposition to your faith in Jesus. After accepting Jesus as your personal savior, the enemy can’t separate you from God. But he can deceive you and discourage you. Here are a couple of indicators that you may be walking through a spiritual attack right now.
Indicator 1. You struggle to believe what scripture says about you.
You are forgiven. You are filled with the righteousness of Jesus. You are filled with the Holy Spirit. To struggle to believe what scripture says is a spiritual attack. It stands in opposition to your faith in Jesus. Instead of seeing what God has done in us, we stubbornly continue to see ourselves as failures. You are in a spiritual battle.
Indicator 2. You struggle with things you can’t shake.
Fatigue. Lack of Spiritual Passion. Confusion. To walk in this kind of fog is a spiritual attack. It stands in opposition to your faith in Jesus. Instead of pursuing Jesus to have His power and strength, we stubbornly continue to push that relationship away. You are in a spiritual battle.
Indicator 3. Returning to the ruts and routines that help you escape life – a lot.
After Jesus defeats death to give us a redeemed life, you may be tempted to return to our old ways that lead nowhere. That is a spiritual attack. It stands in opposition to your faith in Jesus. Instead of making choices to walk in freedom, we stubbornly continue to do what we always did. You are in a spiritual battle.
You must see that you face an enemy who is trying to deceive you and discourage you from experiencing the power and strength Jesus offers you. I want to add a disclaimer here. Through the power of Jesus, you have the ability to make the right choices to overcome this spiritual battle. Spiritual warfare is never an excuse stopping you from doing what is right.
This spiritual battle is getting more intense. However, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Christians have been in this war since Jesus died and was resurrected. Paul warned Timothy that the battles we face will become more and more intense. Paul continued to explain how people would act in the last days. Let’s read it slowly to see if it applies to us today.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. MSG
Does that sound like the world you and I live in? Absolutely. What is happening in our world? Why are things the way they are? Because we are in a war. We call it a spiritual battle. And that battle is getting more intense.
And as a church, when we point the community to Jesus and the Gospel Message, what is the response? In general, it’s been a struggle. People don’t care. In general, people in our community think Jesus and the church are good things, but there is no passion to go after Jesus. It’s not a priority.
We are a part of the Susquehanna conference in the Brethren in Christ Denomination. Our conference used to be made up of over 40 churches, now we have 30 churches. Looking at the average weekly attendance in all 30 churches, this is what the reports show. Five years ago before COVID, on average, there were 5,204 people attending all 30 churches. Last year, on average, there were 3,887 people attending all 30 churches. That’s 1,317 fewer people every Sunday. You might think, but some churches are growing. And that’s true. However, the leaders of the growing churches report that the growth is people moving from one church to another church, not new believers.
Again, let’s turn to scripture. What does scripture say about people’s response to Jesus, the Church, and the mission of God?
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. NIV
Did you see that? The god of this world has blinded people’s minds. How? What is does that mean?
Same verses, different translation.
If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. MSG
The god of this world has blinded people’s minds by making people think, ‘I can get what I want without Jesus. I don’t have to come to Jesus for forgiveness or healing.’ Think this through with me. In general, in our culture, is this true? When the church points to Jesus and the Gospel message, does our community come to church with open hearts searching for Jesus? Or, when the church points to Jesus and the Gospel message, does our community believe, ‘I can get what I want without Jesus, I don’t have to come to Jesus for forgiveness or healing’?
What is happening in our world? Why are things the way they are? Because we are in a war. We call it a spiritual battle. And that battle is getting more intense. You experience it yourself as life pushes against you. Churches experience it as our culture believes they can get what they want without Jesus.
At this point, you are probably wondering, ‘Good grief, this is awful.’ Well, it is. We must understand what is happening and make decisions. Our response isn’t fear, its dependence on Jesus. Remember what Paul wrote?
I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.
Again, our response isn’t fear, its dependence on Jesus. Here’s what we want you to do starting today.
Pray for yourself. That probably comes very naturally to us all – right? This prayer, however, isn’t a prayer about health, wealth, happiness, success, comfort, and the American dream. It’s a prayer about how dependent we are on Jesus. I want you to pray that Jesus would awaken you to what is happening spiritually.
Let’s read what Jesus said.
Matthew 13:11-15 Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. MSG – Jesus
Jesus needs to open our eyes and ears to what is happening spiritually. If He doesn’t, we can go to church, live our lives, and miss what He is doing right in front of us. We call this a spiritual awakening. Remember, the god of this world blinds people into thinking they can get what they want without Jesus. That means we are comfortable walking through life with no real passion or awareness of Jesus. We go to work, pay our bills, go to fun events, get the kids to the right soccer fields, post our selfies, and all along think, ‘I can get what I want without Jesus.’ If we believe this, the god of this world has blinded us.
We must ask Jesus to come and awaken us spiritually. I want to give you three prayers to pray. Take a screenshot or follow us on Instagram or Facebook and pray these prayers every day.
Prayer #1. Father, please awaken me spiritually. I fully confess that I am dependent on You. I pray in the Name of Jesus, that anything that is blinding me will be broken so that I can fully experience You. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, please ignite in me a passion and love for You.
Prayer #2. Father, help me see people the way You see people. Help me take my focus off me and help me focus on others more. Remind me what You have done for me so I can have the compassion I need to value others and see them how You see them.
Prayer #3. Father, as I walk through the mess of life, there are challenges, and they can hurt. In those hard times, help me slow down and focus on You. Give me the faith to be fearless as I walk through fear. Give me the faith to find the healing I need as I walk through hurt. Give me the faith to hope as I walk through hopelessness.
Please hear me, we are in a war. Is the battle against people? No. The battle we face is a spiritual battle against the unseen satanic beings who rule this world. How does this battle play out? The god of this world will try to deceive you and discourage you. The god of this world will try to blind the minds of people making them believe, ‘I can get what I want without Jesus.’ Our response, do we fear? No. Our response is dependence on Jesus.
Scripture says,
I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.
As the war gets intense, our pursuit of Jesus must get more intense.
Questions that I want you to wrestle with as you leave here today.
Why do you think life is a challenge? If you struggle to believe what scripture says about you, why do you think that is? If you struggle to shake fatigue, lack of spiritual passion, and confusion, why do you think that is? If you struggle to break out of ruts and routines to experience freedom in Jesus, why do you think that is? In general, why do you think it is so hard to enjoy being in a relationship with Jesus?
Think about your friends, family, and those you work with, is there a passion for Jesus, the church, and the Mission of God? Why do think that is? In general, do you think it’s becoming more common for people to believe, ‘I can get what I want without Jesus’?
Do you believe you are in a spiritual battle?
What is happening in our world? We are in a spiritual battle that is becoming more intense. Our invitation to you is to pray and enjoy the strength and power Jesus offers you.