The Rules of Engagement

The Rules of Engagement

experience, etc.). When the average person thinks of warfare, images of war stricken places are conjured up. Very seldom does a person think of the mind as being the battlefield. There are a couple realities that this story brings out about spiritual warfare. 1. The battle is not with flesh and blood. Make note that in verse 12 the son demands the portion of his inheritance that was to be divided between him and his older brother after their father died, but the father gives his son what he asks for. Further down we see that he quickly “wasted his substance with riotous living” (v. 13). If you under stand what it means to be a child of wealth and means, you will know that this son would have been reared in an environment where financial steward ship was paramount. The fact that he demanded his inheritance before time and squandered it foolishly tells us that something or someone got a hold of his thoughts, telling him lies about what he deserved and that he shouldn’t have to wait to receive what is due him. Good parents generally tell their children to be patient, to not grow up too fast, and to use their time and resources wisely. The son rebelled against everything that his father would have taught him up to that point, and that kind of rebellion is indicative of a demonic spirit at work. Spiritual warfare in its purest form is the council of the human mind by any other spirit other than the Spirit of the Lord. You must discern the spirit that is at work overtly or covertly. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It is obvious that this son is neither having a fight with his father nor is anyone pushing him out of the nest before it is time. There is an internal spiritual struggle that influ enced the son’s actions, and giving in to that struggle caused his demise. The same is true for us. Our warfare is not with human beings but with the devil and his demons, who propagate doctrines of devils, heresies, Lucife rian ideologies, satanic philosophies, and diabolical imagery. Our enemy, Satan, attempts to defeat us with strategy and deceit through well-laid plans and deliberate deceptions and manipulation. When he speaks to our minds in an attempt to derail us from following a path that leads us to the fulfill ment of purpose and destiny, he never speaks to us in the second person (“you”). He uses the first person (“I”) to deceive us into believing that the

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