The effective warfare of a Christian

Many in the body of Christ have the misconception that once you have accepted Christ as your personal savior, life is just a wonderful, battle-free life of leisure. As a result of this misconception, many Christians fall and never arise again. Many Christians fail miserably in their walk with the Lord because they have never been taught the ?truth? about the warfare as a Christian.

King David was a mighty warrior. In I Samuel 22:1-5, we have a pattern for a warrior in the Word of God. It is not what you would suppose. According to Scripture, David collected those who were distressed (those in extreme pain and poverty), those discontented (dissatisfied) and those in debt (a liability).

This is not the group of warriors that one would normally select. But this is the group that you would want on your side. Why? Because these are people who have been taught through life experiences how to fight to survive from day to day. These are people who have had to fight to keep their heads above water, so to speak, to keep from drowning in debt, sickness, oppression or depression.

Those who have always had things fairly easy don?t know how to survive. Survival forces you to grow up fast and grow stronger. You will either grow stronger or you give up and fail and fall flat upon your face in defeat ? the choice is yours.

Suffering never was designed to only bring pain; it was designed to strengthen you and to do a spiritual work on the inside of you. Trouble has a way of killing your flesh and building up your spiritual muscles and preparing you for the next round of trouble.

In 2 Timothy 2:1-4, Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. This means that we are requested to suffer evil or affliction as a good soldier of Jesus Christ without complaining, murmuring or grumbling. God pays special attention to our attitude when we are going through a difficult time in our lives. It is not so important what we are going through, but rather how we go through. That is where we either pass or fail the test.

According to 2 Timothy 2:4, no man that makes war should entangle himself with the affairs of this life so he can please him who chose him to be a soldier. This speaks clearly to us concerning the importance of being focused during the warfare time. It is certain defeat for us to be entangled with our personal affairs and trying to engage the enemy. It is imperative for us to remain focused. Keep your eyes upon the Lord.

God has made wonderful provisions for our suffering. He is the best example for what he endured upon the cross. In Matthew 26:6-13, we see that Jesus was anointed for his burial from the alabaster box of precious ointment. This anointing oil is available for us today. I choose to call this spiritual euthanasia, which is the ability to die out to our flesh painlessly, quietly and peaceably.

When we are face to face with a spiritual death of something evil or negative in our lives, we should follow the pattern of Jesus and ?give up the ghost.? When we acknowledge to the Lord that we can?t change without the Lord?s assistance and we totally surrender our evil ways and hurt and pain to the Lord, he releases that pain-killing anointing ? which allows us to die with no pain or torment. There is an alabaster box of ointment within us that needs to be broken, to release the pain killer, to allow us to release those evil things, bad attitudes, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, envy and rebellion. Before we can reign with God, we must die with him. First, the death, then the burial, then the resurrection and the ability to walk in the Lord?s power.

For details on Sharon Jefferson?s ministry, contact 419-222-3966, www.sharonjefferson.org or shar8jffrs3@aol.com.