Weapons of Our Warfare -- Teaching

Weapons of Our Warfare

Teaching

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. II Cor. 10:3-4 

Even though we deeply and passionately desire to set people free from the prisons they live in, our power to do so is limited.  The limitation is this:  We have no authority to change the person.  We, as sons of God, of course, have authority over demons.  But, we cannot change people who do not want to be changed.  Indeed, we should never try to change people who do not want to be changed.  Those people we must leave to God.  This, by the way, is why persons with religious demons are so difficult to help.  The religious demon has become the imposter God in the life of the victim.  So when we try to help that victim, the victim himself fights against the help because he believes we are coming against God Himself.

In this context, often our most effective weapon is Teaching.  I am not here talking about teaching of some curriculum furnished by one of the many religious publishers or denominations.  I am talking about Holy Spirit led teaching helping the victim see why the lies he has been sold by his demons are not true and could never be true.  But, be on your guard here !  The teaching must not become contentious.  Strife produces confusion and every evil work.  Contentious teaching can only make matters worse.  An old apostle was in his office talking with two brothers.  when he made a point in the conversation, one of the brothers immediately responded, "You can NOT show me that in the Bible."  The old apostle got up and went to fetch his Bible.  But, Holy Spirit spoke to him.  The Spirit said, "He is right.  YOU cannot show him.  Only I can and that not until he is willing to see."

In my marriage I lived in a prison of my own construction for many years.  I was sure I was the spiritually more mature one of the two of us.  (That is called arrogant pride.) And because I was so much better, when ever we disagreed I was of course the wiser one who was right. I continued to follow this path for a long time.  Then Holy Spirit began to teach me from Ephesians.  He said that He really meant for me to love my wife as Jesus loves His Bride, the Church.  Then He began showing me more and more about Jesus and His love.  For example:  He showed me Jesus started by emptying Himself.  He laid down His power, His position, all His prior knowledge, and His right to have His own personal prerogatives as God.  He said, for me to love as Jesus loves means I also must lay down all those things. I must put them down not because I do not have a right to each of them as a son of God.  I must, knowing I have a right to each of them, lay them down as an act of love for my bride.  As I learned to empty myself, Holy Spirit began to show me how to take on the form of a servant to my wife.  A servant who genuinely from my heart listened to her and focused on listening to her until I heard her heart and I could become the servant who fulfilled her needs rather than trying to get her to fulfill my desires.  These are the first steps of loving as Jesus loves.

Then Holy Spirit began to teach me about presenting her to myself as a blameless, faultless, person.  I admitted I did not know how to see someone who did so many wrong things as being blameless or faultless.  So He asked me, "How does Jesus present you as one who is faultless to Himself and to the Father ?"  Well, I said, He died and took on Himself all the responsibility for my sins and failures and spiritual blindness.  Holy Spirit said, "EXACTLY, I am so glad you understand how to do this now." So, if the toast was burned, it was my fault I did not protect her so she would not become distracted.  If the house was a mess, it was my fault that I did not provide her with enough time free from the children so she could keep it neat and my fault that I did not come home in time to help by running the vacuum and dusting the furniture.  When she did not agree with me about the Kingdom of God, it was my fault that I did not provide her with an environment of peace and good order so that she could hear God clearly.  Moreover, it was my fault that I did not respect her intimate relationship with Jesus enough to listen to her and learn from her important spiritual truths that God wanted to teach me through her.  He taught me, little by little,  to die to myself and my desires so I could present her to myself blameless.

In most of these things, the fundamental problem was not my demons.  It was my pride.  As the old comic strip character Pogo said it well, "We have met the enemy and they is us."  People could pray for me and cast demons out of me until they ran out of energy.  But you cannot cast a man out of himself.  

Tragically, the religious demons of pseudo-Christianity have succeeded in convincing many men that it is their God given right and responsibility to remain arrogant, self centered, and dominating and/or ignoring their wives.  In doing so those demons have effectively dis-enfranchised half of the population of the Kingdom of God.  The woman is described in Genesis as her husband's help-meet.  That Hebrew word is only used one other time in the Scriptures.  There it describes God in His act of rescuing His people from their own self-created catastrophe.  So in dis-enfranchising our wives, we men condemn ourselves to falling into the pits that we are so good at digging for ourselves.  

Once Holy Spirit got my attention, I could receive these teachings and choose Him over religion, and choose to love like Jesus loves instead of remaining self-centered.  I am convinced that the best indicator of maturity in the family of God is how strongly God must speak in order to get our attention.  I recall the story of a farmer who sold his neighbor a mule named Luke.  As they made the deal he told the neighbor that Luke was a very obedient mule and all he had to do was whisper his commands and Luke would follow them.  the neighbor immediately led Luke home and attached him to the plow.  But, Luke would not pull the plow no matter how loudly the neighbor shouted his commands.  Finally in frustration the neighbor went back to the farmer next door and complained.  The farmer walked past the wood pile on his way to check on the problem for his neighbor.  As the farmer walked up to Luke he swung the length of firewood he had picked up and smacked Luke right across the head.  The neighbor protested, you said just whisper my commands.  Of course said the farmer, "But you must get his attention first."  

Many problems rooted in man's pride can be resolved with some simple teaching.  But, remember:

• You cannot tell him. Holy Spirit has to touch him in order to penetrate his pride barrier.
• In order for us to be teachable God must get our attention.  We choose how much pain it takes to get our attention.

Because these things are true, it is virtually impossible to answer any question that a person is not yet ready to ask.  But often we can gently, humbly, present teachings that will help people find the right questions.

His, thus yours,

  Stuart