The Real Enemy

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 
Love your enemies. Sounds very noble, but the reality can be gut-wrenching, especially when the “enemy” is someone who has been a close friend or loved one. To forgive, to extend grace to someone close who has betrayed you is one of the toughest challenges of the Christian life. And the most powerful.

In The Hunger Games (books and movies) there are creatures called muttations or “mutts,” created from the DNA of wolves but with the appearance of friends and comrades of the heroes. The main characters have to fight and kill those who look like their friends. There have been situations in my life when it seemed like I was being attacked by an enemy who had taken on the form of my friend or family member. 

The Bible reminds us of the spiritual reality behind what we see with our physical eyes:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Ephesians 6:12

There are dark forces that can work through people close to us, although the person in question may not be aware of how they are used. For Christians, for prayer warriors, there is a distinction that needs to be made, whether we are praying for people who have hurt us, or we are praying for our political leaders. We need to “hate the sin but love the sinner.” Making that distinction does not come easily. It is all too easy, and human, to hate the sinner. Period. 

Image by Bessi from Pixabay 
However, the words of Jesus are clear: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Matthew 5:44.

Whatever the human face of those who attack you, it is the dark spirit behind them and working through them that we need to go after. People are not our enemies, but in the thick of conflict it is easy to lose sight of that. What we can’t forget is that Jesus died for those who persecute us, whether it be a former friend, family member or a member of Congress. 

Pray for those who seem to be the enemy, who persecute you, either in person or through law-making. Bind and pray against the real enemy, the forces working through them to blind their minds and distort their thoughts. 

Pray for them. Pray for political opponents to know God, to come out of the snare of the enemy and become all that God intended them to be.
Margaret

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Praying for Oregon Counties: Multnomah

Image
Mount Hood, Oregon Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep;  Psalm 36: 5-6   We turn our attention to Multnomah County, but most eyes, and news cameras, are fixed there already. Multnomah County is the smallest in land - 466 square miles - and the largest in population…and influence. Compare Multnomah with 1705 people per square mile, to Malheur County with three. This is, of course, due to Portland, the largest city in the state, which is also the county seat. In fact, since 1968 the county government has had a consolidated city-county government and there have been some attempts to merge the city-county government into one unit.  Multnomah was created in 1854 out of the eastern edge of Washington County and a northern strip of Clackamas County. Its northern border is the Columbia River. The county isn’t all Portland, however. The eastern por
Read more

Continue to Stand in the Gap: Curry County

Image
Curry County, Oregon coastline The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  Psalm 92: 12-13 Curry County is in the extreme southwest corner of Oregon, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, and California to the south. We’ve written about historic shipwrecks and the unique crops grown in the county here , here , and here . Brookings, with 6,744 population, is the largest town, while Gold Beach, with 2,241, is the county seat. Port Orford, at around 1,133 is the other incorporated town in Curry County. The County Commissioners consist of a three-person Board that meets regularly in Gold Beach. The current commissioners are John Herzog , chair; Brad Alcorn , and Jay Trost . The County Sheriff is John Ward . His office has been busy, the county dealing with wildfires during the summer besides their usual duties. In addition to being understaffed, the
Read more

Get With The Plan

Image
Image by  ErikaWittlieb  from  Pixabay   Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Isaiah 30:21   In writing this series of blog posts on Oregon counties, I’ve had to do some historical research. In looking at some counties, particularly those with which I have little personal experience or knowledge, I am sometimes at a loss to suggest a prayer focus. What is really going on behind the scenes? Most importantly, what are the spiritual roots of poverty, or corruption or a high crime rate in certain areas?   While it is always good to pray general prayers, asking the Lord to bless a certain city, to reveal truth, to encourage honest, faithful folks and prosper those who are seeking to earn a living for their families, sometimes we have to dig deeper, not just in research but in prayer.  This is where we hone our skill in hearing God’s directions, and following His plan. Image by  MikesPhotos  from  Pixabay   I don’t mean we
Read more