"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5:8...."And when your light shines, it will expose their evil deeds. This is why it is said, 'Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' " Ephesians 5:14
I recently heard a guest on James Robison's "Life Today" speak of spiritual warfare, and something he said caught my attention. He said that it was those in the church, sleeping in tents with their pajamas on, who were overcome when the enemy came through the camp. They were in their pajamas, sleepwear, and not their spiritual armor, dressed and ready for battle. To me it is a clear portrait of the American church. We are full of "Pajama Warriors," and not warriors of the Kingdom.
It's a stretch to refer to these sleeping brethren as warriors at all. Just what are they contending for? If they fight for a kingdom at all, it is usually for the maintaining of their own. Most live unaware that such a battle is raging around them because they can't even see it right before them. The enemy prowls our "camps" and we have no "guards" posted to warn of his approach or offer combat in response. So we continually see fellowships overrun, ministries destroyed, and lives crushed. All the while the armor and weapons He has made available to us are gathering rust in a forgotten corner. We know that the devil is real, we just don't think he's that real.
Scripture says he seeks those that he might devour, which means he can only do so to those who are unarmed and unprotected. He has no power against those who are. He flees at the sight of those who face him with the shield of faith, the shoes of peace, the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the spirit, which is the living word of God. More, our armor covers are front, and not our back, because the believer is never in the mode of retreat, but always pressing forward. Pressing forward regardless of the apparent might of the enemy before them. His Word says that He trains our hands for battle. He can only do this with those who actually engage in the battle. Pajama warriors never leave the comfort of their tents and beds. So the camp, the church, the ministry, the family, home, marriage, are overrun. Where has he overrun as concerns you?
Pajama warriors have no place in His camp. They never have. We must answer His battle cry. We must arise from our slumber, step out as His Light, and expose the works of darkness wherever they are taking place and wherever we find ourselves. If we don't do so, we will surely be "killed" in our sleep. Let us shed our pajamas, don our armor, grasp our swords, and step out into the battle. It is more real than all that we have believed to be real.
In The Lord of the Rings movie, "The Two Towers," Theoden, King of Rohan, is faced with the forces of the evil wizard Saruman. Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor, urges him to ride out with his men and face him in battle. Theoden, wavering in his confidence, replies, "I will not risk open war," to which Aragorn says, "Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not." That is what we must know. Open war is upon us, regardless of what we have believed. Evil grows, but it must recede before the people of God, clothed in His armor, using His weapons. Let us step out and forward, as we behold the evil one fleeing before us. The battle is the Lord's.
Blessings,
Pastor O
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