Tag: Spiritual Warfare

What is the Helmut of Salvation and why is it Critical to our Success as Christians?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things- Philippians 4:8 ESV

I am convinced all Christians should make a regular practice of “praying on” the armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18.  

However.   

 We have to understand: the armor of God is not some magical incantation or spell we say that shields us from Satan or his schemes. Nor, is it meant to be a rote prayer we pray in hopes of keeping the devil at bay. 

Words in and of themselves do nothing to defeat the dark forces at work in this world (Ephesians 6:10-12).  The “spiritual warfare” passage only contains power if we understand what it’s instructing us to do and then do those things as a part of our regular spiritual routine. We need to pray on the armor of God daily because it is a powerful reminder of how God wants us to live. Praying the armor on tells God we are serious about doing what He wants us to.

Here’s an example: 

Let’s say, I made a regular practice of asking God to put the shield of faith in my hand (Ephesians 6:16)). However, rather than doing the things I know will grow and cultivate my faith, I passively do nothing, or worse—I actively avoid doing things that will help me to grow in my faith.  In that case, asking God to put the shield of faith in my hand is a pointless exercise, a waste of my time and God’s.  Words without obedient action have zero power (Luke 6:46-48, 1st Thessalonians 1:5, 1st John 3:18). 

Seriously.

In order for the armor of God to work we have to understand what each piece is, what it does and what we have to do to possess it. Then we have to actually do the things that make us spiritually strong and give us protection from the schemes of the enemy (Ephesian 6:10-12, 1st Peter 5:8). 

This reality is perhaps truest of the helmet of salvation.  Ephesians 6:17 tells Christians to take hold of or to put on “the helmet of salvation”. Christians NEED the helmet of salvation because our world is literally plagued with disinformation and deception that can render us unable to think biblically (Colossians 2:4, Galatians 1:7-9).

When our minds our protected from the lies of the enemy we are empowered to think like God thinks. We know what’s real and true in a world of disinformation, propaganda and deception (Isaiah 5:20). The helmet of salvation gives us discernment (Malachi 3:18, Proverbs 10:13). Discernment keeps us from being sucked into all the insane worldly philosophies that have literally taken our world captive in the last decade (Colossians 2:8). Philosophies like sexual hedonism, run-of-the-mill hedonism, radical gender ideology, the death movement, Marxism and progressive Christianity. 

When we have the helmet of salvation we see through all the corrupt and faulty ideas our world’s system is built on (Psalm 119:125, 1st Corinthians 3:19-20, 2nd Corinthians 1:12).  Many of the philosophies popular today SOUND good, sensible and compassionate, some appear on the surface to be life-giving and beneficial.  Nonetheless, because these beliefs and values are a byproduct of a fallen world they will inevitably lead a person to hell, literally and figuratively (Romans 1:18-32). 

Sigh. 

When we have the helmet of salvation in place we think biblically, we reason through the issues and problems of life from God’s perspective rather than with worldly wisdom (1st Corinthians 3:18). We have the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16). The helmet of salvation provides us with the spiritual eyes to see through lies of the culture. When we see the world clearly, we automatically have the power to walk in holiness. The helmet of salvation empowers us to think clearly about God, life and eternity. Then we are able to effectively share those beliefs with the unsaved people God places in our path (1st Peter 1:16-17). 

Here’s the thing though: 

Sadly, few Christians today posses the helmet of salvation and therefore most do not think biblically or see life, people and situations the way God sees life, people and situations.  Christian cannot put on the helmet of salvation unless they make some intentional choices about how they live their lives and what they allow into their minds. This is because the helmet of salvation is a result of wise and righteous living. We get it when we ask God to give us discernment about the things we hear, see and are exposed to. We reap the power of the helmet of salvation when we sow the spiritual in our lives (Bible reading, prayer, obedience) and shun worldly, carnal activities and entertainment. 

We take hold of the helmet of salvation when we choose to believe what the word of God says rather than what our hearts tell us or the world says (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Alas:

We live in a time and a place where we are constantly bombarded with choices and ideas that make it very difficult to think biblically. Possessing the helmet of salvation is as much about what we choose not to do as it is about what we do. The shows we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, the popular media we consume all impact how we think and what we believe to be true. 

If we wish to possess this particular piece of armor we must make hard choices about what we allow into our hearts and minds. 

When we choose wisely God puts helmet of salvation in place. Our ethics and values are shaped by the word of God and the Kingdom of God.  God’s will is done in us and we are empowered to live out the gospel in such a way God is glorified in us and the Kingdom is furthered through us (Matthew 5:14, Matthew 6:10-11) 

There is no greater reward than that.

Our Mission and the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect- 1st Peter 3:15 ESV

Mission.

It’s a heavy word, especially for Christians. Most church people tend to think of mission in terms of traveling to a foreign country for the purpose of doing service projects and/or sharing the gospel.  

There is nothing wrong with thinking about mission in those terms. 

It’s a perfectly reasonable and fine way to define the word. That being said, oddly enough, God’s definition of mission is much more in line with Dictionary.com’s definition of mission.    

Here’s their take on it:

  1. The business with which a group or individual is charged.
  2. Any important task that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.
  3. A  goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation. 

Here’s the thing:

All Christians are supposed to be “on mission” all the time.  The details of our individual mission vary from person to person. However, our “big-picture” mission as Christians is always the same: to be the hands, feet and mouthpiece of Jesus in our broken and hurting world. 

One of the challenges we always encounter as we seek to accomplish our mission is spiritual warfare. The enemy is categorically not a fan of Christians “being Jesus” or sharing Jesus and he will do anything to distract and divert us from doing the good we are called to do (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 20:24, 2nd Peter 1:3-10, Ephesians 2:10). All Christians ought to make a habit of “praying on” the armor of God daily is because it is a much-needed reminder of our primary mission as Jesus’ people in this world. It says: 

Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace- NKJV

Shod is not a word most of use in conversation. It’s a weird and antiquated word that simply means to “put on”. The choice of this word tells us God wants you and I to take every aspect of the gospel with us wherever we go. Every Christian experiences warfare surrounding this directive. The enemy will do anything within his power to stop us from doing these four things:

Taking the presence of Jesus into our world-

All Christians carry around with them the presence of Jesus (1st Corinthians 3:16, 2nd Corinthians 2:14-15). It’s just what we do. One of our primary tasks as Christians is to live and behave in such a way the “aroma” of Jesus flows out of us all the time because the “smell of Jesus” inspires curiosity about Jesus in unsaved people (metaphorically speaking).  Satan will do anything and everything to keep us from radiating the presence of Jesus in our homes, schools, workplaces and churches. We put on the shoes of the gospel of peace when we choose to be intentional about taking Jesus into every situation life throws at us (Matthew 5:16, Matthew 13:43). 

Sharing the gospel with words-

Saint Francis of Assisi once said: “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” No shade on Saint Francis but this recommendation falls right into line with one of Satan’s most fervent hopes for us. Satan wants more than anything in this world is to keep Christians verbally quiet about their faith. He loves the whole idea of Christians living good lives but keeping quiet about why they live the way they do.  If he can get them feeling self-righteous about their timidity it’s a win win for team Satan. Don’t get me wrong—it is critical we live out what we profess to believe. Hypocrisy in the life of Christian is a deal killer for the spiritually curious. That said, our world needs to hear words spoken about Jesus not just see well behaved Christians (Matthew 11:5, Romans 10:17, Acts 19:1-6).  

Living out the virtues of Christianity- 

 Ultimately, the aim of the Christian life is to live like Jesus lived. This requires we take off all the habits, sins and bigotries of our old life (Colossians 3:5-11) and put on new behaviors and attitudes that reflect our status as redeemed (Christian) people (Colossians 3:12-17, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 12:1-21, 2nd Peter 1:3-9). Satan despises virtue with every fiber of his being because virtue gives the words we speak about Jesus power. He will do anything he can to convince us virtue is unnecessary and just too darn hard to pull off.  Part of “putting on the armor” is choosing to do our very best to a life of virtue and righteousness all the time in spite of the difficulties involved in doing so.  

Being a voice of wisdom and reason in a categorically stupid world-

We live in the stupidest of times (Judges 21:25, 1st Timothy 3:1-5). Even educated people believe the most outrageous things imaginable about stuff every one used to agree on. These include: what makes a person male or female, what is and is not acceptable regarding sexuality, the best way to parent children, marriage and pretty much every other moral issue under the sun. Part of our job as Christians is to be a voice of reason and wisdom in an increasingly unwise world. Satan will use our fear of being mocked to keep us quiet (Deuteronomy 31:6). It is essential we defend truth in a spirit of love, grace and humility (Ephesians 4:15). That being said, every single time Christians decline to speak up concerning the moral issues of our time the enemy gains major ground in the spiritual war.

In order take the gospel into all of life we must be intentional about how we speak, live and treat others. Putting on the shoes of the gospel of peace is about living the gospel and being the church. When we do that Satan is defeated, God is lifted and the body of Christ is filled with power. 

What is the Breastplate of Righteousness and how Does it Work?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

In keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him- 2nd Peter 3:13-14 NIV

For some reason the whole notion of living a holy and righteous life has fallen on hard times in some Christian circles. I suspect this is due to some confusion over legalism and righteousness. When the two get tangled-up in a person’s mind any appeal to holiness, virtuousness or even just plain old common decency is seen as toxic to our faith journey. This is because some Christians see “being good” as a misguided attempt to earn God’s love and favor rather than simply accepting God’s free gift of mercy and grace. 

Here’s the thing: 

Legalism is bad. Really bad. Legalism is the idea that Christians must “be good” all the time or add good works or the keeping of certain manmade rules to what Jesus did on the cross in order to be saved from their sin and accepted by God. There is zero biblical foundation for legalism.  The New Testament is clear: all it really takes to get right with God and spend eternity with Him is faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, a repentant heart and nothing else (Genesis 15:6, Acts 13:38-39, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:22, Romans 10:9)

Seriously. It’s that easy. 

However. 

That does not mean holiness and righteous living is somehow optional for Christians. Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with commands to “be holy” (Leviticus 11:45, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 12:14, 1st Peter 1:15-16). Furthermore, there is all kinds of instruction given in the Bible on how to live a life that pleases God. (Romans 12:1- 21, Colossians 3:1-25, Galatians 5:22-26, 2nd Peter 1:3-11). 

The warfare passage in Ephesians six takes the whole idea of righteousness a step further. It teaches that “righteousness” is a critical part of our spiritual armor. The armor of God is meant to protect us from the various schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-13, 1st Peter 5:8). 

Ephesians 6:15 tells Christians to “stand firm”:  with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness means we make a commitment to choose righteousness, holiness and obedience over sin, sloppy morality and self-will. It does not mean we never make a mistake. It does mean we make every effort to live the way God calls Christians to live (Colossians 3:1-25, Romans 12:1-21, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-9) When we put on the breastplate of righteousness it empowers and safeguards us in three critically important ways:

Righteous living keeps our hearts from being defiled- 

The Bible teaches that the human heart more than just an organ in our bodies. It is the place from which all of our thoughts, feelings and actions flow (Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 6:18).  Because the heart is the place from which our actions flow a pure heart naturally produces good actions and an impure heart naturally produces sinful actions (Matthew 12:34, Matthew 15:18-20). Every. Single. Time. When we choose to sin, it has a polluting effect on our hearts. If we sin willfully for long enough that choice will defile us to the point we are worthless for doing any good for the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:13-16). Choosing to “put on” righteousness daily ensures our hearts will be pure and we will be useful to God. 

Righteousness prevents us from destroying our testimony about Jesus- 

In Revelation 12:11 we are told Christians overcome Satan through the blood of the Lamb (the saving work of Jesus) and the “word of their testimony”. A Christian’s “testimony” is their conversion story. It is the words we use to describe how Jesus took us from a place of self-will and spiritual death to a place of spiritual life (John 10:10). Our changed life lends legitimacy to our conversion story. Without a changed life there is no proof that anything of any spiritual significance happened to us. When Christians live like non-Christians it takes the all the power out of their conversion story. Conversely, living righteously gives our conversion story power and hope to others that they can be changed too. 

Righteous living is a protective force that keeps us from shipwrecking our lives- 

The list of things that can ruin a person’s life is almost endless. A few highlights include such things as: adultery, jealously, unrestrained anger, sexually transmitted diseases, enslavement to pornography, drug addiction, embezzlement, drunk driving charges and credit card debt. All anyone (Christian or not) has to do to avoid all the pitfalls and snares that could possible ruin a person’s life is just to do what the Bible says to do and avoid all the things the Bible says not to do. That’s it. Obedience to God’s commands is a powerfully protective force that keeps us from running our lives into the dirt. 

Here’s the hard and horrible truth about all of this:

We cannot keep up a life of righteousness on our own.  In our own strength we will find ourselves putting on the breastplate of righteousness just for it to fall off a few hours later (metaphorically speaking). We simply cannot “be good” without God’s help. We are just a little too messy in our humanness to pull it off (Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9).  The key to putting the armor on and keeping it on is found in seeking the presence of Jesus daily through the spiritual practices of Bible study, prayer and self-examination. When we walk in close relationship with Jesus He gives us everything we need to live the way he has called us to live. 

How to Process Your own Personal “Day of Evil”-

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm– Ephesians 6:13 NASB

Ephesians 6:10-18 is, in my humble opinion, one of the most interesting and useful passages in all of New Testament. It focuses on the spiritual realities of being in Christ. Paul wants Christians in every age to understand we are living in a world at war. There is a battle raging all around us for the hearts, minds and souls of people. 

This battle the apostle Paul describes is real. 

It’s not metaphorical or allegorical or symbolic.

There is an actual war taking place all around us in a spiritual realm we cannot see or touch but is every bit as real as the world we can see and touch (Daniel 9:12-14, James 2:19, Mark 1:34). Paul wants Christians to understand that at some point in our Christian walk this war will land on our doorstep in a very personal and painful kind of a way.  

In verse thirteen Christians are instructed to put their armor on and pray diligently because at some point in our lives we are all guaranteed to experience a personal “day of evil”.  The words Paul uses in the phrase “day of evil” poneros (evil) and hemere (day) when used together mean a time (season, period, term) full of trouble, sorrow, evil, affliction and calamity. 

A “day of evil” is a personal attack from the enemy of our souls that will hit us out of nowhere in places and in ways that will cause us extreme difficulty, anxiety, pain, confusion and possibly even create a crisis of faith. If we go into our “day of evil” unprepared due to a lack of prayer or lack of information we will almost surely become casualties of the war. 

It’s that serious. 

Every Christian’s own personal “day of evil” is uniquely theirs. The book of Job tells the story of one man’s “day of evil”. Like Job, our “day of evil” may involve any number of ugly and uncomfortable events that could include but are not limited to:  personal loss, financial loss, betrayal by a friend, spouse or fellow Christian, abandonment, a personal illness or the death or illness of a loved one (Job 1:1-22). A “day of evil” typically involves a whole lot of really awful things striking in quick succession. Every day feels like a new hit. 

It is possible to survive a “day of evil” with our faith intact. In fact, if we handle it right there is a really good chance we will come out of the whole ugly muddle stronger, wiser and with an even deeper understanding of our faith (1st Peter 1:3-9).

However. 

In order to make that happen there are a couple of things we have to keep in mind. First, you cannot allow yourself to fall into the trap of trying to figure out what exactly you did to “deserve” whatever weird and horrible situation you’re dealing with.

 You won’t figure it out.

 Job never did and you won’t either (Job 42:1-5). The harder you try to make sense of why this (whatever “this” is) is happening to you the more confused and bitter you will become. Besides, the answer is probably “nothing”. The enemy will remind you of every awful thing you have ever done in your life.  Remember, Jesus paid for all that so you wouldn’t have to.  It’s also absolutely critical you understand GOD IS NOT TRYING TO PUNISH YOU. That’s not His gig. He doesn’t punish His children for things they don’t understand. 

God is not a jerk. 

You are experiencing whatever it is you are experiencing because you live in a fallen world and terrible things happen even to Christian people in a world as fallen as ours. Compounding that reality, you have an enemy who hates you. He wants to destroy you emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. Satan wants to hurt you so badly you are rendered useless for the Kingdom of God. He knows if he can bring enough discouragement, pain and unfairness into your life in a short enough period of time, there’s a pretty good chance your faith in the goodness of God will collapse like a house of cards in a hurricane (Luke 8:11-14). So, stop trying to figure it out. Asking “why” is a pointless waste of time. 

Instead, of asking God why questions spend time with Him every day and ask Him some what and how questions:

What do you want me to learn from this, God?

How can I be molded into the image of Jesus through this? 

What do I need to understand so I can grow right now?

How can I become more compassionate as I go through this?

 God does not cause horrible things to happen. However, He will use EVERYTHING we experience in this life (good or evil) for our growth and His glory as long as we are willing to cooperate with Him through the pain and confusion (Romans 8:28). 

Remember:

God does not call us to do great things in our “day of evil”. All He really asks us to do is “stand” (Ephesians 6:13). We do that by running to God with our pain and confusion instead of running from Him.

What can the Average Christian do to make a Difference right now?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest– Matthew 25:25-27 NIV

I used to love all things political. 

Seriously. I did. I was a junkie. I looked forward to the presidential elections the way my husband looks forward to hunting season and the way my brothers look forward to the super bowl. Even midterm and local elections were thrilling to me. The love of all things political was a big part of who I was. 

That ship has officially sailed. 

I no longer love politics.  Honestly, the whole ugly muddle kind of horrifies me at this point.  My love for the political began to wane sometime around the 2014 midterm election. The choices in candidates got sadder, the issues became more polarized and the people on both sides became much more hateful and much less tolerant towards “the other side” of the political divide. 

Sigh. 

The choices in candidates have not gotten any less sad. The issues have not become any less polarizing and unfortunately, a lot of the people on both sides of the political divide are still pretty hateful, especially when it comes to any issue they happen to hold dear.  The whole thing is kind of gross to me now and I don’t always know what to do with that feeling.

However.

There are a couple of things I do know. 

I know the world isn’t getting any less ugly or dark. It’s just not. The picture the Apostle Paul paints for us of the end times in 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 is becoming more and more of an actuality with every passing day. Good is now officially evil and evil is officially good in every corner of Western culture (Isaiah 5:20). The writer of Ecclesiastes declared three thousand years ago that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But with all due respect, from where I sit, folks are literally inventing new ways to sin (Romans 1:30). 

If for whatever reason you disagree with my assessment of the cultural moment we find ourselves in. I suggest you spend some time on Tik Tok looking at “gender affirming videos”. It’s an eye-opener.  For sure.

Sigh. 

We are all weary. We are weary of the world we live in. We are weary of the sin we see gaining ground in the culture. We are weary of evil winning and good losing. We are weary of caring about what goes on in this world because there is just so much to care about and most of the problems appear to be insurmountable and unsolvable. We are weary of politics. We are weary of the infighting. We are weary of the posturing. We are weary of the lies. 

For some of us that weariness has translated into believing our vote doesn’t matter anymore. Some of us have bought into the lie that God doesn’t care about how we vote or even if we vote at all. We have decided the prudent thing to do is to settle into our churches, hunker down and wait for the return of Jesus and I get it. 

However.

I also know all of life is a stewardship. Nothing we “own” is really ours to do with as we please. We belong to the Lord and so do our blessings and opportunities.  God expects His people to use what they have been given for His glory and the good of others (Matthew 25:14-30). Our homes, our children, our civil rights, our time, our churches, our bank accounts and our votes all belong to God. None of that stuff, or any other stuff we might think we own is really ours. It all belongs to God. Everything we have in this world is on loan for a season we call “this life”. 

I know we will all be held accountable for what we do with what we have been given. How we handle; our possessions, witnessing opportunities, our authority, our blessings, our money, our citizenship, our families and our votes are all things we will either be rewarded for or have to give account for when we stand before the Lord on judgment day (Romans 12:14, 1st Peter 4:5, Revelation 20:11-15).

November 8th is the 2022 midterm elections. The battle over good and evil is raging in ways it has never raged before.  That makes this election a big deal. The issues are monumental. There are really are some things we can do to swing things in a better direction. 

We can pray. We can storm heaven with pleas for a return of justice, righteousness and virtue. We can beg for revival. We can ask God to show us what we need to do in our own lives to bring revival. We can do what God tells us to do. 

We can vote.

It’s not too late to register in most states. If you are not registered to vote, get registered. Today. Educate yourself on the issues and candidates. Don’t expect perfection from a candidate. Choose the best of a bad lot if you have to, but choose. Not choosing to vote is a vote for the encroaching darkness. 

How Should Christians Live in this Cultural Moment?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms– Ephesians 6:12 NIV

Unprecedented. 

It’s a big word that gets bandied about quite a lot these days. 

Sadly, it is also a word that works for the times we live in. 

Over the course of the last two years or so the world has collectively faced all sorts of unprecedented events including wars, rumors of wars, weird diseases, inflation, social upheaval, tyrannical shutdowns, food shortages and political chaos.

Meanwhile in America.   

Our own unique brand of unprecedented lunacy has included (but is not limited to) militant transgender activists. Increasing tension between races. A president in rapid decline. Increased political division. Appallingly graphic sex-education.  Disintegrating families. A weaponized IRS. Vicious Crime.  A weaponized DOJ. Aggressive abortion enthusiasts and conservative parents labeled “domestic terrorists” for showing concern about the state of public education. The social fabric that holds our culture together and our system of government is disintegrating before our very eyes. 

Okay so, what is a Christian to do? 

Well. 

I can tell you what Christians should not do. We should not stick our heads in the sand and tell ourselves what goes on in the world is irrelevant. We cannot pretend the church is a safe space the lunacy will never touch. We can’t sit back and convince ourselves politics will never affect how Christians do church or raise our kids. 

Satan clearly has the advantage right now. Anti-God, anti-anything wholesome, anti-Christian sentiment is growing at an off-the-charts pace right now (2nd Timothy 3:1-3). Government, entertainment, public education and the news media are all strongholds of the enemy.  It’s time to wake up and be realistic about the situation at hand. 

Here’s what we can do:

We can accept the reality we are in an unprecedented spiritual war.  The disturbing things we see every day (war, violence, social turmoil, hate, anti-God sentiment) give us a glimpse into an even bigger, nastier war taking place in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). We must protect ourselves and our children from becoming casualties of this war (1st Peter 5:18). 

Here’s the thing about Satan:

Satan cares a whole lot less about getting the whole world to openly worship him than he does about corrupting people in subtle ways that do not appear on the surface to be obviously evil. His strategy is to distract people, including Christian people, from God. He wants to muddle our thinking with junk philosophies so biblical truth feels wrongheaded, potentially harmful, and hopelessly outdated (Isaiah 5:20).  He uses garbage entertainment (secular books, movies, television, games), the news media and the public-schools to take minds captive to worldly philosophies that inevitably lead to godless thinking and evil behavior. (Colossians 2:8).

 It’s a seriously brilliant strategy. 

Once a person’s thinking is aligned with the world their hearts are inescapably far from God. In order to be even marginally successful in this epic battle we must be willing to cut educational systems and entertainment out of our lives and our kids’ lives that does not promote discernment and aid in wise thinking. 

Period. 

No one will be safe in this battle if they are not making prayer a priority, hiding God’s word in their heart and living the way God calls Christians to live (Romans 12, Titus 3:14, 1st Peter 1:14, 1st Peter 2:16, 1st John 1:6, Colossians 3:1-21, Ephesians 4:17-28). 

Living the way God calls us to live means actively choosing to do good things with the time we have been given. Christians are literally saved from their sin for the sole purpose of doing good things with their lives and helping people find God (Ephesians 2:10). Doing good works is a form of spiritual warfare. Good works remind us who we belong to and they give us credibility with unsaved people (Titus 3:8). Credibility leads to opportunities to share the gospel (Matthew 5:16) That being said, all the good works in the world are a pointless waste of time if we don’t let go of behaviors, attitudes and pursuits that do not lead to more holiness and righteousness in our lives. In other words, we have align our lives with God.

No more playing around on the moral edges.

 We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We have to live like it. Christians everywhere must become a present and active force for good in their local communities (Matthew 5:13-16). We must do the work necessary to learn to think biblically about political and social issues and then work to get decent people elected to all levels of political office, from school boards to the presidency. In a fallen world there is no such thing as a truly righteous politician, but it is our job to find the best people we can and support them with our time, money and votes.  

Finally. 

We cannot give in to despair. No matter how bad it gets. We cannot give up or give in. We cannot stop believing and praying and worshiping and fighting for the good in this world. Faith is the key to survival in these unprecedented times.

The Art of (Spiritual) Warfare-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

 For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory– Proverbs 24:6 ESV

A few years back, my son gave me a gift. It was a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. I must have looked as perplexed as I felt because Alex looked at me knowingly and said: “Read it Mom. You’ll love it. I promise”. 

 I read it and to my surprise I did love it. 

Sun Tzu was a 5th century Chinese general, military strategist and tactical genius. Most of his advice is remarkably pithy, relevant and astute for a guy who’s been dead for well over fifteen centuries. For the record, Sun Tzu was not a follower of Jesus and like all non-Christian sources of wisdom his writings should be read with a degree of discernment. 

That said.

Sun Tzu’s advice can easily be applied to a plethora of twenty-first century leadership situations and conundrums. Just insert the word “leader”or “pastor” anytime he says general or commander and a lot of times you are left with what can only be described as leadership gold.  A few of my favorite tidbits of his include: “a good commander is benevolent and unconcerned with fame” and “it is the business of a general to be upright and thus ensure order.

Sun Tzu also said some things that relate shockingly well to spiritual warfare. The best and most relevant (in my opinion) is: Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. It’s fair to say Christians are losing more spiritual battles than we are winning these days. I am convinced it is mostly due to ignorance of Sun Tzu’s wisdom (1st Peter 5:8). So, in the interest of changing the outcome of the many spiritual battles we find ourselves in these days I would like to offer a little insight into how Satan operates in the day to day. 

Beginning with:

Satan uses ignorance of our own nature to gain an advantage in our lives- 

Christians tend to look down on the pursuit of self-knowledge as worldly, self-absorbed and even a bit narcissistic. It is true that self-knowledge can become all of those things if it’s not pursued in the right way for the right reasons. However, Jesus warned Peter, Satan wanted to “sift him like wheat” immediately following an argument Peter had with the other disciples that revealed some motivations he was clearly ignorant of. Specifically, a wish to rule over others rather than serve them (Luke 22:24-31). Being successful in the realm of spiritual warfare means we seek to learn as much as we can about our own strengths, weaknesses and hidden motivations. Self-knowledge is not an excuse to continue on in our unhealthiest behavior. No Christian should ever say “that’s just my personality” when confronted with their sin or foolish behavior.  Rather, self-knowledge should give us a starting point to begin seeking the growth and transformation that should always be a part of our spiritual journey. Tools such as the Myers-Briggs Indicator, Strength Finders and the DISC assessment can all be helpful in the process of self-discovery.

Satan will attempt to discourage us anytime we do something worthwhile or good- 

We tend to think doing something good for God, the church or another person should automatically exempt us from difficulty and hardship. Unfortunately, this is not how things work in the realm of spiritual warfare.  Instead Satan intentionally attacks us when we are doing good in an effort to discourage us from doing good. He has enough experience with humans to know we tend to give up when the going gets tough. We also tend to get angry at or even turn away from God anytime we experience hardship, difficulty or pain. It is critical we remember that contrary to popular belief Christians are not promised an easy time of things here on earth, even when we are doing good things with our lives (John 16:33, 2nd Timothy 4:5).  Instead, we should remember we are soldiers and soldiers don’t let circumstances discourage them from fulfilling the mission they were called to (2nd Timothy 2:3-4).

Satan loves it when Christians are lazy- 

Most of the time we know exactly what God wants us to do (Colossians 1:9-11).  Some of the things He might want us to do could include apologizing, praying more, having hard conversations, learning the Bible, being more vocal about what we believe, confronting hard issues, taking more of an interest in our child’s education or friend group or getting more involved in the life of our church or community. We don’t do those things for one reason: we’re lazy. Plain and simple. We just don’t want to. Those things are difficult and inconvenient and we know that doing them will cost us something. So, we don’t and truth-be-told, Satan loves laziness almost as much as he loves sin. The void our laziness creates gives him space to do his best work (John 10:10). 

Finally, Satan wants us to fight spiritual battles while completely discounting and ignoring the weapon of prayer (Matthew 26:41, Ephesians 6:18). Twenty-first century people tend to see prayer as a feeble and passive time-waster. Why pray when we could DO something? Conversely, Satan sees prayer as a powerful act of warfare. He knows prayer is our number one source of wisdom, strength and discernment. (Ephesians 6:10-18). For that reason, he will do anything in his power to distract us from using this weapon to our advantage. If we want to practice the art of spiritual warfare we should always pray first and do second. 

Six Spiritual Missteps that will give the Devil a Foothold in Your Life-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments


Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour– 1st Peter 5:8 NIV

For a good part of my Christian life I preferred to just sort of ignore the devil and demons.

It’s not like I didn’t believe in those things, but, like most post-enlightenment Christians I simply preferred to focus on the “less weird” aspects of the spiritual realm. Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit and angels were my jam and I would have been perfectly happy to keep it that way indefinitely.

But, then the world went to hell. 

Literally. 

Right before my very eyes.  People began believing the most crazy-town stuff imaginable. People everywhere from every walk of life started claiming there is no such thing as objective truth. People actually started to say out loud we all have our unique little truth we are entitled to believe even without any evidence to back up the existence of our “truth”. However, if your “truth” includes saying or believing the “wrong thing” you would be “cancelled” and lose your reputation, livelihood a the right to live in “polite” society.  Full-grown adults bought into the notion that gender is “fluid” and therefore changeable. Universities began offering free tampons to men having their periods. Parents and teachers stopped telling kids that boys have penises and girls have vaginas. Instead, educated people began encouraging kindergarteners to discover their “true” gender.  People were willing to throw a perfectly good country out the window because the founders of that country were fallible human beings who behaved just like everyone else in their era.

Sigh.

Everything went to hell in a handcart and Ephesians 6:12 is only plausible explanation for the madness that has engulfed the world. 

It says: 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

 The devil is real. 

He is a created being who turned against God (Luke 10:18). He hates those who love God and it’s absolutely critical we understand his tactics. Satan wants to steal our ministry opportunities, turn us against God and eradicate our influence in this world. He does this through attacks where he plants lies in our minds and tempts us to behave in ways that steal our effectiveness, kill our love for God and destroy any positive influence we have (John 10:10). Satan waits for just the right opportunity to attack us (1stPeter 5:8). We give him the opportunity to do so when we do the following:

We don’t pray, we suddenly stop praying or our prayers focus only on the shallow-

I do not understand everything there is to understand about prayer. However, one truth I do understand is that regular prayer provides a powerful form of spiritual protection (Matthew 26:41).  When we stop praying regularly or never really form a habit of prayer or we only pray perfunctory prayers we give the devil an opportunity to gain a foothold in our thinking (Ephesians 4:27). Once the enemy has traction in our minds he can plant all sorts of foul seeds that eventually grow into deception, dissatisfaction with God and curiosity about sin.   

We wander where we don’t belong-  

There are some places God’s people simply do not belong. Watching other people sin dulls our spiritual sensitivity and can awaken a desire within us to sin. Therefore, serious Christians ought to avoid any entertainment that presents sin as normal or healthy behavior. Being around Christians who are willfully and proudly sinning breaks down the natural desire all Christians have to remain holy and please God (1st Corinthians 5:11). It is spiritually strategic to avoid anyone or anything that makes sin appear attractive (Matthew 13:41, Matthew 18:6-7). 

When our primary sources of information come from the world-

In Colossians 2:8 Christians are warned they can be “taken captive” by “deceptive philosophies”. This is most likely to happen when we get most or all of our information on life, current events and how to do life from those who don’t know God or understand how Christians are to live in this world. There is nothing wrong with an occasional secular book, podcast or seminar. That said, getting all or most of our “how-to” information on living life from worldly sources (including secular counselors) gives Satan ample opportunity to take our thinking captive. Once our thinking is captive our behavior will always devolve (Colossians 4:5, Ephesians 5:15).

When we have the wrong kind of self-focus-

There are two types of self-focus. The first is when we think endlessly about making ourselves happy, being successful and getting our own needs met. The second is when we put our attention on where we need to grow and how we can become emotionally healthier, godlier, wiser versions of ourselves so we can glorify God and make the world a better place. The devil loves the first kind of self-focus but hates the second because the first inevitably leads to self-destruction and a life of sin. While the second always leads to a life of profound joy that inevitably points others to faith in Jesus (Matthew 5:19, Colossians 3).  

When we haven’t submitted our lives or some part of our lives to Jesus-

Seriously. Disobedience and rebellion and refusing to acknowledge or repent of sin are open doors the enemy will always walk through. Deal with those issues (Ephesians 4:27, James 4:7, 1st Peter 5:8). Pronto. 

We refuse to forgive- 

Refusing to forgive leads to bitterness and bitterness makes us more open to sin (Acts 8:23). Satan would be a fool not to take advantage of that kind of opportunity to plant bitterness, rage and every other kind of evil in our lives (Hebrews 12:15). Forgiveness is never easy but is is the most spiritually freeing thing we can do. It is more than worth the effort. It is essential to our spiritual survival (Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 11:4).

For too long most Christians have lived as if the devil is a joke, a fantasy or an exaggeration.

This has resulted in a feeble church, worldly Christians and a world in crisis. We must endeavor to live lives that thwart the enemies plan and take back ground for the Kingdom.  We do that through constant prayer, a commitment to forgive quickly, submission to God, becoming the best version of ourselves and looking to the Bible and other Christians, not the world for answers to life’s questions.  

The Steps to Breaking Free From Almost any Sin-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds- 2nd Corinthians 10:4 NIV

 Addiction, divorce, sexual sin, lying, rage, hate and offendedness have all become increasingly more common in our unhappy and unhealthy culture. Government leaders are failing to meet the needs of those they were elected to serve. Corporations are filling the leadership gap and are quickly becoming weirdly authoritarian taskmasters with zero checks on their worst impulses.   Social unrest is at an all-time high and no one really seems to know what to do about any of it. 

Why? 

Seriously.

Why does the world seem to be teetering on the edge of madness all the stinking time? Why has evil taken root in the hearts of so many? Why are so many leaders becoming despotic?  Why are people so easily offended?  Why are people so incredibly vindictive and cruel when they are offended?  

Well. 

The short answer to all those questions is of course sin. People are sinners (always have been) and fewer and fewer people care about putting any kind of restraints on their own corrupt inclinations these days. As a result, the world and the people in it are becoming more immoral and more sinful. Anytime humans embrace sin they become more wretchedly unhappy. 

Sigh. 

The longer answer is much more complicated, as longer answers always are. Due to a shocking proliferation of sin in the church Christianity has lost much of its moral authority and spiritual influence in the world. This has left people without a roadmap to figure out life.  People rarely make good choices on their own. Anytime people stop making good choices en masse a moral vacuum is created. Evil inevitably finds a way to a fill moral vacuum. 

The normalization of bad behavior has led to a proliferation of spiritual strongholds in the lives of people. A stronghold is a place where Satan has gained a foothold in the life of a person and sin has taken root. A stronghold is a place in a person’s life that has become a fortress for the enemy. When someone has a spiritual stronghold in their life they become controlled by sinful behavior or thoughts. 

The Church and the people in it cannot do anything about what the world chooses to do or not do. We cannot force non-Christian people to make healthy or wise choices about how they live life.  However, Christians can make healthy choices that empower them to get and stay free of addictions, life-controlling behaviors and thoughts. In the process, we can lead other people to a better place. But, first we have to be free of our own spiritual strongholds. The most common strongholds include unforgiveness, offendedness, shame, perfectionism, anxiety, rage, addiction, productivity, insecurity, unbelief, deception, critical spirit and control.

The only way anyone can be the influence God intended us to be in this world is to get free of the strongholds in our lives. We get free through the following four practices:  

Ruthless self-examination- 

No one can get free of anything they refuse to see or acknowledge. Because the human heart is both naturally wicked and self-deceptive it is sometimes difficult to see our own sin (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 21:4). For that reason, is critical we examine our hearts and lives frequently for sinful behaviors and attitudes that have taken root (2nd Corinthians 13:5) or sin that we have never really dealt with (Acts 8:23). 

Once we become aware of a sin or sinful stronghold, we must:

Make prayer a priority-  

Sin that it is not confessed and prayed through can never completely be eliminated from our lives (Mark 9:29). The longer a behavior has been a part of our lives the more entrenched it will become and the longer it will take to effectively deal with it. There is a temptation for Christians to turn to worldly means to deal with spiritual issues. Christian counseling and coaching can be useful in helping us to understand why we do the sinful stuff we do and in keeping sinful habits broken. However, prayer must be our first line of defense when it comes to dealing with a sinful stronghold. 

Always choose obedience- 

In Luke 11:24-26 Jesus makes it clear that new habits and behaviors are the key to staying free of spiritual oppression and strongholds. Too often Christians who have been set free from life-controlling behaviors stupidly believe they can live any way they choose without spiritual consequences. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anytime we make the choice to willfully sin we invite demonic oppression into our lives (1st Peter 5:8, Ephesians 4:26-28). Making the choice to become increasingly more faithful and obedient to Jesus is absolutely necessary if we wish to stay free of demonic strongholds. Period

Immerse ourselves in a community of believers-

The Christian life is all about working out our brokenness after we receive salvation (Philippians 2:12). However, we were never meant to do that solo (Ecclesiastics 4:9-12). We all need a core group of people in our lives who will spur us on to better choices (Hebrews 10:23-25). 

Authentic Christians are blessed with a natural desire to make the world a better place.  However, for too long too many Christians have tried to skip over the necessary step of working through their own junk before they tried to assist the world with theirs.  This has been a miserable failure. Those of us who live and move in the Christian world must face the hard reality that we can only help others with their sin after we have broken the strongholds in our own life. 

The Four Biggest Threats to the Church-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Be sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame- 1st Corinthians 15:34 NASB

The biggest threats to the Church right now are not oppression and persecution.

Historically persecution and oppression has actually caused the church to grow and become more effective. No healthy, sane Christian wants to be persecuted. Persecution sucks. That said, it’s tough to argue that persecution can not have a positive impact Christians and the growth of the church (Acts 8:1).

Here’s the thing:

 Contrary to popular belief our biggest problems are not coming from a corrupt government, or ungodly influences or even the devil. Christianity’s biggest problems are all coming from within Christianity. Those are all real problems but they are not the biggest problems. The biggest problems are all coming from within Christianity. 

Following are four of the most damaging:

 Christians who refuse to acknowledge the danger of false teachers-

 There are a lot of Christians, including some leaders who blithely quote Matthew 16:18 anytime they are confronted with false teaching, sinful leaders or any other problem that is clearly creating moral and spiritual chaos in lives of Christians. It is true Jesus promised Peter Satan would never defeat the church. However, it is also true Jesus instructed Christians to be on guard against false prophets who would pass themselves off as Christians and lead many astray (Matthew 7:15). Paul warned elders in Ephesus that “ravenous wolves” (false teachers) would infiltrate the Church and destroy the faith of many (Acts 20:28-30).  Jesus prophesied false teachers will rise up and deceive many in the last days (Matthew 24). Jesus and Paul were not chronic worriers with a penchant for overthinking. Therefore, they would not have given those warnings if they did not feel there was a clear and present danger to the Church. The Church will never be defeated. However, that doesn’t mean the church cannot lose its ability to effectively deliver spiritual truth for a season. When this happens, churches stop reaching the lost and everyone loses (Matthew 5:13-16, Revelation 2:5, Hebrews 6:4-8)   

 Christians who refuse to submit to the word of God-

 There are some attitudes and behaviors that are so wrong if they become standard operating procedure in a person’s life they will keep that person out of heaven (Galatians 5:21). Seriously. It’s true. Those sins include, but are not limited to lying, adultery, covetousness, bitterness, all forms of sexual immorality, debauchery, witchcraft, fits of rage and selfish ambition (1st Corinthians 6:9-10, 1st Timothy 9-11, Revelation 21:8). There is a grassroots movement within churches that effectively seeks to minimize the importance of holiness and maximize the importance of “accepting people the way they are”. This has led many within the body of Christ to think they can be a Christian without actually submitting to God’s moral leadership in their lives. Christians who have not yielded every corner of their lives to God always end up fighting for the relaxation of biblical standards. These Christians are leading others astray with the false doctrines of easy believe-ism and cheap grace.  

 Christians who are quick to publicly judge other Christians for all the wrong things-

  The last couple of years has exposed some real ugliness that exists in Church world. Some Christians have a seriously rebellious spirit (1st Samuel 15:23). Other Christians are so gripped with a spirit of fear they have been rendered useless for Kingdom work (Isaiah 41:10). Many believers clearly put more faith in government orders than they do in God (Proverbs 29:25). But by far, the worst is the judgment Christians display towards one another (John 13:34-35). Take the public mask war we endured for two solid years. Half of Christians called the other half “compromisers” and “bootlickers” for wearing a mask.  The other half used some ugly and incredibly condemning words like “selfish”, “unloving” and “anti-science” to describe any Christian who did not cheerfully put on a mask or who dared to question the wisdom of wearing one. Furthermore, nearly every day I come across some stupid social media post where a Christian takes it upon themselves to apologize for all the unkindness of all the other Christians in the world. As if they somehow cornered the market on kindness and moral goodness. Strangely, enough, they never apologize for the prideful, self-aggrandizing tone of their post. Christians are called to love each other. It is biblical to confront a Christian on something that is clearly sinful. However, this should only be done after a time of intense prayer where you ask God to show you clearly if your perception of the situation is wrong in any way. If after you have humbly sought God’s correction and still feel the need to confront the issue it should be done privately and in accordance with Matthew 18:15-17.   

  Christians who foolishly kowtow to the culture–

Being a Christian and being liked by unsaved people can be mutually exclusive (Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:13, John 15:18). Christians should never be needlessly unpleasant or mean. However, there are times when choosing to stick to biblical convictions causes non-Christians to become angry at us because biblical truth makes them feel uncomfortable. Many Christians are embracing organizations, ideas and moral standards that are antithetical to Christianity, because they are persuaded it will help them reach the lost. It won’t. It just muddies the message and leads people to believe they can become Christians without being transformed into the image of Christ. They can’t. Christians must stop fretting about being liked and instead focus on being like Jesus. Jesus loved people but He never compromised truth to reach them (Luke 3:6-8, Matthew 23, Mark 10:16-22, John 8:11)

 The world we live in has never needed Jesus more than it does right now. In order for the Church to be the church Christians have to live holy lives, recognize that spiritual truth matters and stand together in love.