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The Beginning of the War

In the days after I was fired I did everything humanly possible to try to get out of the mess I had created. Within a month I had a new job, at about 80% of my former salary. My wife and I worked hard to sell our new house – but nothing was moving that year.

We were stuck and finally decided to declare bankruptcy when family stepped in and helped, keeping us from going over the edge. For that I will always be grateful.

But day after day God seemed silent, which drove me into the Word and prayer like never before. And it was over the next few years that God began to reveal a truth that I just did not expect to be part of the equation.

That truth is this: You and I are caught up in an all-out spiritual war that is raging every moment of every day. And one of the most significant battlefronts in this war is money.

Jesus warned us about the reality of the spiritual battle when He assured Peter in Matthew 16:18 about the outcome. He said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

It is pretty telling that of all the things Jesus could have said, the one thing He had on His mind was the reality of how the forces of hell would come against the Church. But Jesus assures us that Satan’s forces will go down in defeat!

Satan is consumed with rage against the Church of Jesus Christ and is obsessed with making war against you and me. He will do anything in his power to destroy God’s purposes and stop the advancement of His kingdom. It is this all-out war in the spiritual realm that is the reality and the framework for our lives today. We must acknowledge it – and learn the role we play in the fight.