Under attack!!!! Get Ready!!!

I learned a nice acronym that uses the word HALT
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

This acronym symbolizes the areas where we are most vulnerable to the devils attacks.  I am going to discuss each one on a very practical level as time goes on.  The reason why is because what most people don't realize about this acronym is it should make you aware of spiritual warfare.  The bible warns us that we are not fighting only against flesh and blood but against rulers and forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-12).  Spiritual warfare is very real and very present in our day to day lives.  The thing is we don't know it and so what is actually an attack we dismiss as just a coincidence or a fleeting phenomenon.  In my opinion spiritual warfare should be taught to the believer very early in their walk with the Lord.  The reason I say this is because the moment you become saved and aware of Jesus Christ in the world and in your heart, you are under attack!!!  You were under attack before you gave your life to the Lord as well.  Every time you went to church; every time you tried to pray; every time you grew closer and closer to wanting to know just who is this Jesus and who is this God of all, you were under attack.

I have been blessed to partake in a jail ministry that allows me to prepare these men for the fight in front of them.  W
hen these men come to Christ seeking to be saved and made whole I immediately begin to equip them with ways on how to protect themselves from the devils attacks.  Being in jail as a Christian is hard enough, but coming out as one is even harder.  The devil is cunning and slick.  The moment you underestimate him is the moment he got you in his clutches.  We must know his tricks and schemes.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to make us aware of the devil and his practices in our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  This is no game and this is something I believe very strongly about.  Otherwise I would not be up at 7am writing this for just giggles.

H.A.L.T. is a great reminder of ways the devil likes to enter our minds and our hearts.  I am not going to go in any specific order.  Just however the Lord puts it on my mind to give is how I will write on this topic.  And today the first one is Anger.  There are many scriptures that speak on anger and various examples that would take an extremely long time to go over.  Well I will not be doing that.  Remember all I am doing is wanting to equip you with battle ready gear against the devil and his attacks on you.  In the book of Ephesians chapter 5 verses 26, 27 it reads: Be angry and sin not, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.  Most people read this scripture and think that this is only in relation to when you and someone else had an argument or disagreement i.e. friends, family, spouse, significant other.  And being that Ephesians is quoted a lot in concerning marriage, it makes sense to associate it as such.

But here's the problem.  When you associate the scripture with one specific scenario, then every time you hear that scripture that is all that will encompass your thoughts.  You will never let the Lord speak to you and your situation with the word of God because in your mind this part, section, or verse does not relate to you and your circumstance.  First off I suggest that we pray the Lord remove that way of thinking and that we allow his Spirit to reveal the word to us completely and fully without our mental alterations and precepts.  One of the things the Lord loves to do with me is when I am going through something he will be a text to mind that relates to that situation almost instantly.  When he does that it causes me to see the text from a different angle that was always present but I never saw because I refused to "turn the jewel in the light" so to speak.  And in this text from the book of Ephesians that is exactly what he has done.  I too used to relate this text to only marriage or an argument between friends or neighbors, but alas it is more than that.

Do you recall in the bible where it says anger in your heart is the same as committing murder and thus breaking one of the 10 commandments?  If not that is because it doesn't actually say that.  What it does say is that someone who has anger in their heart is just as guilty as one who commits murder.  That same person who was hurt and angry enough to murder someone is on the same wavelength as one who has anger in his heart.  Please get what I am about to say; anger is a gateway sin.  Just like their are gateway drugs that lead to bigger and more deadlier drugs you become addicted to; such is the same with anger being a gateway sin to murder and other more lethal and damaging sins.  Example, you take pain medication for your back because of an injury.  All of a sudden your body enjoys the pain relief so much that it craves it even more.  Soon your body becomes immune to the dosage amount given and you need a higher dose to get that same high.  So you have to go back and get a higher milligram in order to compensate for your bodies absorption of the drug and wanting more than it has received.  This same example can and should be applied to all these so called "little sins".  These "little sins" are gateways into deeper and darker territory.

The bible says be angry and sin not.  What is the first thing you normally see in this scripture?  The fact that you are allowed to be angry should jump out at you, if not that's ok.  The bible does not charge you as a sinner because you are angry with something or even someone for that matter.  Someone did you wrong?  nothing wrong with feeling hurt or taken advantage of or misled.  When you read the bible you see God got angry on many a topics and the fact we are made in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), should bring some comfort that he understands we will get angry sometimes.  But here is where it goes from being a normal human feeling to a gateway sin.  When we let anger sit in our hearts we have done what the next verse says, and that is given room for the devil to work.  Ever wondered why the bible tells us not to let anger go down with us to sleep?  The reason is this.  When you are in a deep sleep you are silent and vulnerable.  Your mind and imagination runs rampant, because whatever is in you is stirring your spirit.  Our imagination is a very powerful thing.  With it we can fall in love with someone without ever touching them.  We can see a future so vividly that we believer we are right there.  We can be so angry with someone that in our mind we have enjoyed the lust of killing someone without actually doing it.  Our heart rate rises, pulse speeds up.  It is very very real to us and therefore we basically committed the act of murder in our hearts, simply by only imaging it.

The devil knows this to be true and uses it to his advantage.  Now I am not saying that you need to go to that person and ask for forgiveness.  It definitely couldn't hurt none to do so and plus it leaves no room for the devil to try that again on you any time soon.  But say you are in a situation where you are so angry in your heart that even confessing to them could make matters worse.  Then I suggest you do as the bible says and you take it to the Lord in prayer.  And I am not talking about some two minute prayer.  You spend a lot of time dwelling on this thing or person making you upset right?  At minimum spend an equal amount of time, if not more, praying about the situation to the Lord God.  We must give at least equal attention to God in prayer as we do the problem that is burdening us day to day.

Spiritual warfare is real saints of God.  We need to know this and prepare accordingly.  Prayer is one of our great weapons to use against the devil.  However let me make you aware, as I read once.  There are three people involved in prayer; there is you, God, and the devil.  If you think the devil will sit out on your prayers and let you have some alone time with the Lord you have another thing coming.  So know your enemy and know his methods.  The only way to know them is to read your word and stay close to God always.  Anger does not have to be a sin but it can definitely be a gateway sin.  remember we are vulnerable when we H.A.L.T. in our walk with the Lord.  Keep moving and keep drawing closer to him.  He must increase as I must decrease (John 3:30) - be blessed and a blessing