Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Galatians 6:7

The secret to the spiritual life is not in and of itself warfare, but rather in the Spirit Himself.  Yes, we can learn the principles of warfare, and learn to bind and loose forces, yet if the reason that they are there, if there is some, is not dealt with, they will simply return, and often larger.

Consider for a moment Jesus’ life and ministry.  He did have to confront satan in the wilderness, but, finding nothing in him, the devil left him for a more opportune time (Luke 4:13).  The next time we read about the adversary directly opposing Jesus was at the end of his ministry, first speaking through Peter and then at the crucifixion, three and a half some years later.

What does this mean?  It means that, unless there were other times in Jesus’ ministry where the enemy came to Him to test Him, Jesus spent most of ministry with the enemy driven back, not in open conflict with Jesus during His ministry.

When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Proverbs 16:7

There is something about the law of sowing and reaping.  We can be doing things, or having certain attitudes or heart conditions that actually attract the warfare we think we are defeating.  In fact, entire ministries, or branches of ministry can be developed solely out of an unresolved root.  Say, perhaps, we have unresolved areas of bitterness and hence rejection and the resulting rebellion in our hearts, that has not been fully dealt with in the cross.  Since 1 Samuel 15:23 says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, not only would such an individual be guilty of the sin of witchcraft in some degree, but it would open the door to reap it in their life.  As a result, depending on the station one has in life, they might grow increasingly vulnerable, and hence, increasingly accustomed to fighting, witchcraft coming against them.

Yet, Deuteronomy 33:27 describes the place of those “everlasting arms”, that place of all saftey, where God is totally our refuge.

For the Israelites to live in that place, which they only did for short periods at a time, they had to live apart and separate from the world.  Today, we are told to “Save ourselves from this corrupt generation.”  The Israelites were told to act, dress, eat, and live differently than all the other cultures of the Earth, and their idolatry.  Today, we are told to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13), and to perfect holiness out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

We must never think that there will never come temptation or trials and testing, but we can say with Jesus something most profound, that the prince of the world is coming, and he has nothing in [us] (John 14:30).  Perhaps we are not fully there yet, but we can grow in faith, continuing to rid ourselves of every defilement of body and spirit.

As we allow the work of the Holy Spirit full reign in our life, we must allow Him to point to what we have always known, yet do not see.  No man can ultimately do this, but as we allow His light and Word in us, we recognize the patterns and behaviors, attitudes and judgments which keep us bound.

As we reject the false, it is quite like a radio station that either goes off the air or changes its content.  Those that once were attracted to it simply are not any longer, and those who used to stop in now and then might stop by, but seeing there is nothing of interest, they will keep on going and most likely not return.

This can be likened, also, to rats attracted to garbage.  You can shoot the rats all day long, and actually become quite a sharp-shooter.  You can develop an entire branch of your life or ministry devoted to shooting rats.  Or, you can dispose of the garbage.  Its still good to keep the gun and be a good shot, but you wont need it in the same way when the rats simply no longer are interested.

The simple way to look at it is this. Do you constantly fight the same battle over and over, winning, but finding that quite often, when you defeat one enemy it is only replaced, and sometimes by a larger one? Then, at least be open to possibility there could be something in you that is drawing such attention to yourself. While we are told we would have tribulation and persecution, we do not have to be under them! He always leads us in triumph.