I was inspired and challenged by the movie WAR ROOM that the church family recently went to see. The movie was a reminder that we need to be firmly rooted in God’s Word to stand against Satan’s attacks, and victory is ours only when we SUBMIT to God’s authority.
Bro. Rick has started a series of sermons based upon Galatians 2:20. I think this verse is so pertinent at this time as a reminder to believers what the walk of faith is all about.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The other verse that came to mind after viewing WAR ROOM is James 4:7.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The first thing we must do as followers of Christ is crucify our selfish desires — murder them, bury them, and then dance on their grave! We have victory not because of what we have done but because JESUS CHRIST has won it for us. To God be the glory!
Next, we must SUBMIT ourselves to God. That is even harder than crucifying our selfish desires, although the two walk hand in hand. Submission is about yielding to a Superior Force (God) and His authority. It’s giving Him control and acknowledging He has the power.
The verse goes on to say …Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Notice this wasn’t the first part of the verse. The verse began with SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD then came the part about resisting the devil and his fleeing. We cannot have victory or success resisting Satan’s attacks and enticements without living a life of submission to Almighty God! When we do live lives of submission to our Creator we are empowered to resist Satan and all his temptations and assaults and when we do …Satan …flees. How cool is that?
Now, as was pointed out in WAR ROOM, there are two things Christians need to be successful in defending themselves against the villainous attacks of Satan. First we need PRAYER. Not just the simple 30 second prayers we offer before a meal but real, legitimate, sincere prayers that come from a broken submissive heart toward a Holy, Pure and Loving God! Whether that happens in a WAR ROOM (prayer closet) or on your back porch, in the bathroom, in your living room or at your dining table — wherever it happens, it needs to happen with sincere focus!
Secondly, we must be GROUNDED in GOD’S WORD. In a time when we are surrounded as believers with studies about God’s Word and multiple self-help devotions, books and Bible studies it seems we have drifted farther and farther away from a deep rooted knowledge of that Word. When we do read it we don’t let it saturate us so that it impacts our daily walk. We need to spend more time meditating on it, memorizing it and mulling over it throughout our day.
I know I have not always spent as much time as I should, committing to memory the wonderful truths of God’s Word. This is something I have determined to change. As I walked this morning I meditated on Galatians 2:20 and on James 4:7 as two focal verses for my day. I plan to make this a habit. Pray that I stay the course!
I think the last thing I took away from WAR ROOM was the idea of MENTORSHIP. The grandmotherly figure in the movie asked God to send her someone to mentor and God was faithful; and WOW what a blessing to both herself and the person she mentored! We who have been walking with God for many years need to be proactive in seeking from God those we can mentor. It’s walking with them, loving them, getting to know them and investing time with them. It’s inviting them to come along with us.
I hope you were challenged as well from this inspiring movie and maybe in ways I haven’t mentioned. Let’s not allow it to end there. Let’s identify ways we can be truly impacted by the truths of it and also ways we can impact others for the Kingdom!