Lenten Reflections on Scripture, Day 4: Spiritual Warfare

For the next few days we are going to look at the topic of Spiritual warfare, , as it is something everyone who walks with Jesus is facing or is going to face. No exceptions. It’s as certain as death and taxes.
This Sunday’s gospel reading is about When Satan tempts Jesus while he is out in the wilderness fasting for 40 days, so there is no better time to broach this subject, so as to provide a solid foundation to help us walk through Lent, with open eyes and a receptive heart.
So our scripture today lays the groundwork.  We will look at  Matthew 10-16 ““See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
I will also make mention of what Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians 6:12  “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”
So we need to be aware that the enemy is out there, and that the enemy is not really our fellow man, but the forces of darkness, namely Satan and his motley army of demons and imps who are always looking for a weakness to exploit.
He hits hardest those who are walking closest to Christ, and he makes his move when we have reached a point of physical, mental or spiritual weakness, whether brought on by hunger and thirst (as with Jesus in the wilderness) ,  illness, setback or anything else. He will tempt us with “an easy way out”, or some empty promise about how things will be better if only ......, or with raw power, whatever he can.
His goal is always to kill and destroy and draw people away from Christ and His gospel. But remember what he is selling you is an empty promise...All sizzle and no steak. The goal is always to convince us to accept a cheap trinket, and leave the Pearl of great price. Whether that is the Lord, or our spouses, families, principles.
This is what he did in Luke 4:1-13 when the Devil tempted him to turn stones into bread to alleviate his hunger from the fast, then to take a flying leap off the top of the temple, after all, God promised that no harm would come to Him until the due time, and then to give Him all the kingdoms of the world, if He would only lay aside His divinity and Worship Satan.
When we remember that Jesus was not only fully God, but fully man as well, we realize that these temptations were real and not a simple matter to simply brush off, so we need to look at how he handled it. First, he never lost sight of who was tempting Him. He knew this because He knew the word of God, and He responded with references from scripture which He knew to be the Word of God and thus provides us with the fundamentals of what we need in order to discern the true source of temptations we face. He is also instructing us that we need to KNOW scripture if we are to properly discern what is going on, and reflect on what it means. He is also telling us that what God offers us though it may not glitter and shine as much is worth for more than the fleeting pleasures we would get by accepting the wooden nickel that Satan offers.
So we face temptations all the time while we live out our lives in the world on a daily basis, however, we must always keep in mind that this is all going on in the background as war is raging in the spiritual realm and is merely manifesting itself in temporal life as well.
Prayer, fasting and scripture will help us discern and fight back against these powerful temptations. So we need to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
It is the imitation of Christ, which we can only successfully do if we know him personally and seek Him daily in prayer and in His word. And in the imitation of Christ we show Him to others.
The Good news is, even though the battle does rage on, and it is very real, Scripture also serves  as a Spoiler Alert: God wins. Join the winning team, and bring as many others as possible along the way!