Using Godly Discernment in Spiritual Battles

 

Say you’re in battle with a giant, 2-3 times your size. He’s a warrior from his youth. You are about your age now and only have a slingshot. How would you feel? Would you have peace like we discussed? Could you stand your ground like David versus Goliath? 

The Bible tells us to stand many times. Ephesians 6:10-13, the start of the whole armor of God passage, for instance, says a few times to stand in that evil day, or to stand against the wiles of the devil. It has been well said that it’s okay to be scared or nervous – it’s what you do when you are that makes a difference. That’s because in our human flesh, we are going to feel that way at times. It’s when we do that we must trust God to bring victory, so we can stand in that evil day and not run away when we must stand for what’s right.

Now that we’ve shared a lot about having peace – and how to have it – as we start a new year it’s important to see how we can use the peace God gives us to stand for God’s truth.

That means we need to have faith. Paul Harvey, a very famous popular radio announcer, would never have a sponsor on his show that he or his wife didn’t personally use. Why? They didn’t want to stand for anything they didn’t believe in. (The original definition of hypocrite is an actor, someone who pretends. So, you could say that they didn’t want to be hypocrites; they didn’t want to say a product was great if they didn’t use it.)

You can see where peace comes into this, I imagine. If he said “This is a great product,” he had peace about it. He knew for a fact that others might like it. In your parents’ childhood, for instance, not everyone even had stereo. He was among the first to begin advertising a new type of sound system, Bose. Now, not everyone bought it, and not everyone agreed it was great. Some, like me, can’t hear well anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. But, the point is it was a product he believed in. So, he could easily stand for it.

In the same way, the more you know Jesus, the more you are praying and reading your Bible, the easier it will be for you to stand for the truth. It’s not a matter of preference like when he did an ad, though.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by Him.(John 14:6) That’s one of the problems in the world today, people see it as just a preference. So, we have another reason to stand for the truth.

We need other people to make that choice to believe in Jesus as Saviour.

The Bible says it’s not a preference, it’s the truth. But, the world has a choice. It’s just like at the end of the Book of Joshua. Joshua 24:15 had a challenge in it. Joshua says “Choose this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He tried to live in a way so others would see his life and make the same choice.

So, back to that giant at the beginning. The battle isn’t always visible. Sure, sometimes you get the chance to go toe to toe with a Goliath, like if you have to stick up for a kid who is being bullied like in the movie “Wonder.”  But, more often, it’s in the little things of life, like choosing not to use foul language or choosing to treat others with respect. It means forgiving and accepting that others are different. One big lesson I learned as a young Christian was that certain shows that might bother me weren’t going to lead others away from God. My best friend from church, Rick, for instance, liked “Married With Children,” one I really disliked. It was okay for others. Not everyone had to take the stand I did. But, something totally blasphemous and evil, any believer with discernment would want to stay away from it, given what it made them think about. (Which brings in Philippians 4:8 and what we should think on.)