Yeshua said - "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34
Often our thoughts of Yeshua bring to mind a caring Shepherd, gently cradling a sheep in His arms.
While true that He gently blessed the "little ones" that come to Him, there is a profound amount of evil that would terrorize and destroy little ones all day, every day... from where does their protection come? Who will save souls from terror, destruction, depair and death?
As I write these words on the 11th floor of a hotel in Tiberius, next to the Sea of Galilee, I am hearing a great number of Israeli Air Force jets screaming a tremendously high speeds through the sky. The power of their engines is unmistakable and the furious firepower to wage war and kill the enemy is lengendary.
As the post Oct 7 war against those that would terrorize and kill Israelis unfolds, many Jewish people are putting their trust in the Israeli Defense Forces to wage war for the purpose of stopping the enemy from committing any more of the horrible acts suffered by Jewish people on Oct 7.
Sadly, while the IDF is helpful in many earthly ways, they are not The Warrior that can provide true and lasting victory over enemies.
Psalm 20:7 warns - "Some trust in chariots and some in horses [these were the mighty weapons of war in their day], but WE WILL REMEMBER THE NAME OF YEHOVAH OUR GOD!"
Yehovah has revealed Himself through Yeshua His Son as the one who "conquers sin and death" - 1 Coronthians 15:57.
In Hebrew, "yeshua" is a word that denotes a person who finds someone chained up in bondage - the "yeshua" breaks the chains, and brings that soul out from bondage into a pleasant and open place.
When the angel told Joseph that Mary would conceive and have a son, he was told (Matthew 1:21) - "You call his name 'Yeshua' because He will save His people from their sins!"
A powerful enemy of our souls seeks to "steal, kill and destroy." - John 10:10 He wants to force us (with excruciating, sadistic pain) through a screen into a millIion little scattered pieces ("sift us like wheat.)"- Luke 22:31 He and his spiritual forces are intent on making war against us all day, every day -
"And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war" - Revelation 12:7
Their are powerful spiritual forces that are called "high things" whose purpose is to "oppose the true knowing of (relationship with) God."
Like it or not, you and I and every person on earth are in the middle of a screaming, "hot" WAR !!!!!!!!!
The enemy of souls, the "father of lies" is "seeking whom he may devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 You, me... EVERYONE is being pursued for the purpose of being harmed, terrorized, paralyzed by fear and ultimately destroyed!!!
Praise God that our king, gentle Shepherd is also The Warrior !!!
Revelation 19:11 says that Yeshua "wages war in righteousness."
If The Head of The Church is engaged in war, and if we are "in Him" - John 15:5, Acts17:28, then we are to be participating in this war as well!!!
Before we even consider what to do in the midst of war - how to find safety, how to protect those in danger, how to be victorious in battle, etc. - we must be HIGHLY AWARE THAT A WAR IS ALREADY HAPPENING.
Do your personal devotions/meditations reflect this reality?
Do the church services you participate in communicate a profound awareness that DANGEROUS WAR IS HAPPENING NOW?
Not out of fear ... but of wise acknowledgement of the real and horrific threats already actively coming against us?!?
The whole of Scriptural Council is clear - the war is only going to get more intense until Yeshua returns and makes a full end of evil and the evil ones.
Are you willing to acknowledge the severity of the already on-going war? Are you willing to think and act as Yeshua is thinking and acting as He engages in war?
PRAY - YESHUA, I THANK YOU FOR THE PEACE WITH GOD YOU MADE FOR ME BY YOUR VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH AND HELL ON THE CROSS AND BY YOUR RESURRECTION. I THANK YOU THAT AS YOU RULE AND REIGN IN MY LIFE YOU BRING PEACE AS IT SAYS IN ISAIAH 9:6 - "OF THE INCREASE OF YOUR GOVERNMENT, AND THEN PEACE, THERE SHALL BE NO END."
BUT WHEN I OPEN MY EYES TO THE REALITY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD TODAY - THE TRUTH IS THERE ARE COUNTLESS CASUALTIES OF A HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE WAR FOR THE WELL-BEING OF SOULS.
THANK YOU THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO ENGAGE IN WAR TO PROVIDE SALVATION FROM EVIL.
HELP ME TO OPERATE MY LIFE, AS YOU DO YOURS, IN THE REALITY THAT THERE IS A WAR TO BE WAGED.
I WANT TO RECEIVE COURAGE FROM YOU TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WAR IS "ON".
I WANT TO RECEIVE FAITH AND TRUST IN YOU THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT THIS WAR.
I CHOOSE TO AGREE WITH YOUR SCRIPTURES THAT SPEAK OF YOUR VICTORY OVER THE EVIL ONE AND HIS HOARDS.
I ASK YOU TO SHOW ME HOW TO BE IN YOU AND WITH YOU AND FOR YOU IN THIS WAR, AND HOW TO PARTICIATE IN THE ROLE YOU HAVE IN MIND FOR ME IN THIS WAR.
DO THIS FOR THE GLORY OF YOUR NAME, YESHUA, SO THAT ALL PEOPLE - JEW AND GENTILE - ARE DRAWN TO YOU.
I MAKE THESE REQUESTS BEFORE YOU, GOD OF ISRAEL, IN YESHUA'S NAME. AMEN!
Here is a great song that speaks to the fact that God is arising and and scattering His enemies. Note: "Yah" in this song refers to Psalm 68:4 which says "extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him." "YAH" is the first part of YAHOVAH (or YAHWEH) - the personal name of God. It is the "I AM" part of "I AM THAT I AM" found in Ex. 3:14.
Note - This version of the song comes from the "Heart of David - Worship and Warfare Conference" in the mid-1990s. It is the ORIGINAL, LIVE version with approximately 8 minutes of the formal "song" followed by 10 minutes of prophetic "making war" in The Spirit via the various instrumentalists in the worship band.