Spiritual Battle: The Empire Strikes Back.

Much has been written about spiritual battle, some people claim to be "experts" when dealing with the devil, others give step-by-step instructions on how to defeat him. I believe this is the "formula" God gave us to defeat the devil: James 4:7. If you read the gospels, you'll see that Jesus Christ applied that "formula" in His life. He perfectly submitted Himself to the Father and always resisted the devil and the enemy had no choice but fleeing from Him. The issue with spiritual battle is not creating new strategies, applying new teachings, screaming louder so the devil will be afraid of us, the issue is been submitted to God in order to receive from Him the authority to defeat the enemy. Only after submitting ourselves to God we will be able to defeat the devil. Unfortunately, we (with few exceptions) misunderstand the very concept of authority, e.g.: When the President wants to talk to his subordinates, he doesn't need to ask for permission or beg to talk with them, he just tells them and they become available. Why? Because he is the President and they recognize and submit themselves to his authority. Why the demons (satan included) always obeyed Jesus Christ's orders? Because they recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God and His authority over them: Mark 3:11. When satan tempted Jesus, Matthew 4:3, the temptation was not about Jesus' identity (satan knew Jesus was the Son of God), but to lead Jesus to disobey His Father. Couldn't Jesus tell the stones to become bread? Of course He could! Why He didn't do it? Because that was not the will of His Father. Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus didn't turn the stones into bread to feed the five thousand? JESUS IS A MIRACLE MAKER (Truth), satan is a magician (lie). The Father gave Jesus full authority over everyone and everything and Jesus understood the "boundaries" of this authority: THE WILL OF HIS FATHER! Matthew 28:18. When we were born again (water and Spirit), God delivered us from the power of satan: Colossians 1:13. Unfortunately, we fail to understand that we are no longer slaves of the devil or sin, we are free in Christ, and satan takes advantage on that by telling us that we have no option but sinning, since we are sinners! The empire of darkness grows through FEAR and LIES and the Kingdom of God grows through LOVE and TRUTH. 1 John 4:18. THE MORE WE LOVE THE LORD THE LESS WE WILL FEAR THE devil. I remember after been delivered from the power of darkness (satan), that he came against me with all kinds of weapons, such as fear, doubt, discouragement, pride, etc, and the reason i didn't quit fighting was because God in His mercy showed me the power of submission and because i decided to submit myself to Him, i was able to resist the devil. Unfortunately, we misunderstand (misinterpret) the Word of God and because of that we engage in many battles that are not worth fighting for, because those are not the battles God called us to fight, for example: The separation of church and state. If that was one of God's battle, Jesus Christ had to fight that battle, but He didn't: Acts 1:6-8. Unfortunately, here in America, many christians believe that "THY KINGDOM COME" means: From Republic to Theocracy, from Capitalism to Socialism, from Democracy to Plutocracy. This is what God says about the world we live in: 1 John 5:19. That's why Jesus didn't worry about the government system (world) he lived in, in fact He told us to obey the authorities, to pay taxes, etc. We are ALIENS (citizens of heaven) in this world: 1 Peter 2:11; John 15:19. I'm not saying that we shouldn't vote or stand for what we believe, but many times we are fighting the wrong fight, being a missionary with a wrong mission, trying to transform a world that will be soon destroyed. This is Jesus Christ's Mission and we are called to be His Missionaries: Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus waited (30 years) until He was anointed (filled with the Holy Spirit and Power) and told His disciples that they had to wait in Jerusalem to be filled with the Holy Spirit and Power and then they would be able to carry on His Mission. MISSION WITHOUT POWER IS OMISSION! We must learn with Paul what is the good fight, 2 Timothy 4:7, and stop fighting against people and ideologies and storm the gates of hell to rescue the ones who are prisoners of the devil: Ephesians 6:12; Matthew 16:16-18; Matthew 7:24; Luke 6:48. AUTHORITY: WE EITHER HAVE IT OR WE DON'T!