Identify the Enemy

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 (Ephesians 6:12).

We attended a bullfight in Spain, which, though it may not be the pinnacle of enjoyable experiences, is nonetheless an interesting one. Having grown up around a farm, the kill before butchering was never something I looked forward to. Some would argue that the death of the bull in a bullfight is as humane as the death in a slaughterhouse. I do know that in the bullring the beast has his moments of glory, and after watching six bulls defy the matadors, my admiration for bulls has gone way up. As a child I was never allowed to touch a bull. When feeding the cows and petting them, the temptation was always present to likewise pat the bull, but any movement I made toward that end was met with a strong rebuke from my grandfather. He had hauled several bulls over the years and seen men gored; he never trusted any bull. The toros in Spain enter the arena full of attitude, muscle-rippling strength, and catlike quickness in an impressive show. They look for anything that is moving and immediately charge with power that is awing to witness; they send every matador scrambling behind a thick wooden wall, and then they hammer the wall with their horns. I had never witnessed that in a bull, nor had I seen that kind of endurance. Nothing about a bullfight is fair; the only way to make it less fair would be to remove one of the bull’s legs! However, because of the bull’s strength and superiority, the fight would take hours were the bull not slowed down. Carrying a spear, a horseman rides in on a heavily padded and blindfolded horse, and the bull immediately rushes him. The first bull we saw actually knocked the horse over and was able to gore it, even as the rider, falling down, drove the spear deep into the bull’s back. Next, four matadors begin to wear the bull down with a series of charges at pink capes. When the bull is sufficiently tiring, another matador will come holding two colorful skewers. He allows the bull to charge him straight on and then jumps sideways, driving the skewers into the back of the bull. This is repeated three times. Even at this point the stamina of the bull is incredible. The matador, with his large red cape, will now come out to work the bull until it finally has its strength bled out of it, at which time, with an air of satisfaction, the man draws a sword; the great beast bows its head to hurtle one more time toward the rag that has given it so much grief, and the matador drives the sword into its great heart. Some matadors are better at this than others, but ideally, the bull’s demise is quick, and it drops, immediately dead. The whole exhibition takes around fifteen minutes.

As I watched, I could not help but think about our fight against the “rulers, powers, forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness.”In Christ, the battle is won. On the cross He did not say, “To be continued!” He said, “It is finished.” Like the bull, we in Christ have the superior strength.However, the bull makes one fatal mistake by thinking the cape, a simple piece of lifeless rag, is the enemy, the source of its torment and pain! I kept thinking to myself, If only you would stop fighting the rag, stop looking down, look up at the head, and move eighteen inches to the right! The battle would be yours. Even to its dying breath the bull was eyeing the rag, when it was the matador that was driving the sword deep into his heart. A physically superior creature is defeated because of a wrong focus. How often in our spiritual battles the enemy has our focus on something other than him; we never pay attention to his ugly head. So many times I have talked to couples ready to divorce over absolutely nothing but a rag; the enemy has continually poked at them, making them think that the rag is what is hurting them. It is not the rag! It is the one behind the rag. Move eighteen inches to the right, go for the head, and you will see the truth of it. Many times I will stop in the middle of a situation and just say, “The Lord rebuke you!” I know the issue is not the issue; there is someone behind the issue, and I want to go for the head. The believer has the superior strength, but that will do him no good if his focus is in the wrong place. So many just bow and let the enemy drive the sword deep into the heart. There will nearly always be the need for a twenty percent improvement in any relationship; that provides the rag. Why let the twenty percent steal the eighty percent of joy? On any given day, you should immediately be able to say three things that are right about your situation and about your mate. We need God’s grace to recognize the head.

SOVEREIGNTY VS. FREE WILL

It is always somewhat difficult to strike the balance between the absolute sovereignty of God and the will of man. That God gives men choices is clear – that it is GOD who directs the steps of a man is also plain. So – the fact is that God does give us choices and these choices are contained within the larger circumference of God's will. God predestinates us to reach a certain goal. Along the way He gives us choices. He will then deal with us according to those choices, whether they are good or bad choices. If we make a bad choice, He will bring stripping, judgment, rebuke – whatever is necessary to correct and teach us. If we make a good choice He will also deal accordingly. But the end is secure, all these choices are contained within the larger sphere of His predestinating will, and are given to effect the necessary work within to conform to His image.  

J. PRESTON EBY

How, Exactly, Do I Abide in Christ?

Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.”
--Luke 9:23, 24

Abiding in Christ is something that every believer has experienced, and yet it seems most difficult to maintain. I have been asked, “What do you struggle with?” Like all teachers I struggle with the thing I most often teach, abiding! All of my other failures originate from this one. When Christ is my focus, nothing really bothers me, and when He is not, the smallest event can create a spiritual domino effect. So the question, “How, exactly, do I abide?” is a significant one.  

Let me share a few insights.

First, abiding is not something that we do but the awareness that we trust the Lord completely.Psalm 139:7, “Or where can I flee from Thy presence?”

Second, abiding is not dependent on us but on Christ, so it is a faith issue. He is the One keeping us in the abiding relationship, the branches in the Vine.

Third, if we do not know how to set our minds on things above, then we can at least discover what it is to set our minds on the flesh and refuse to do it! Examine Luke 9:23 to understand the flesh, and if we say no to every opportunity to set our minds on it, by default the mind must go to the spirit.

Fourth, abiding is the beginning point of an abundant spiritual life; therefore, all powers meet at this point. When forces would move you from your position in Him, do not succumb to the voice that whispers, “It does not work; it is not for you. You are exactly where you were years ago!” Once I was in a boat that capsized, and I was pulled under the water. I did not immediately begin to think, Well, I guess I will never have air again! Air sure does not last very long; it sure is not worth the effort of breathing! No, no, no! All I thought about was getting back to where there was air. We are not to let failure move us away. Rather, we can get back, start breathing again, and let our focus rest in Christ.