Spiritual Battles

We had a youth board meeting last night and we started talking about the spiritual battles that the teens face. Then, in our staff meeting today it came up again. So...I thought I would make it the trifecta and talk about it here. A lot of people really dont like talking about Angels and Demons. It scares them and is not something they want to dwell on. Still, as Christians we MUST face this head on and call some things in our lives as they are: a battle for our souls. This is what the Bible says about it..."For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12). Daily and weekly my teens are confronted with wrong choices and options that they really should not do. It is not just temptation that we should be realizing. It is that those things are INTENTIONAL. It is the enemy who puts those things in our lives and not just some random act. Still, we go about our lives as Christians passively and almost being nieve about "the dark side". Then, when one of our kids mess up and choose the wrong thing we automatically say they are rebelling. Well, maybe the "good side" wasnt doing the job. Maybe the church isnt doing its job. Yes, the church does not have the immediate treasures and the flash bulb excitement that the world and sin has in it. So should we give up and just say, "well thats just the way it is", or "they are just kids, they'll grow out of it"? The correct answer is no but what is the REAL answer? What do we say and do when teens and people in the church mess up? We need to start calling it what it is...a battle every day to live a Christ-like life. The enemy isnt going to take it easy on us or take a vacation from trying to trip us up but yet dont we try to take "vacations" and breaks from church and all that comes with it? Just wondering...

Fight the GOD fight

Good Day.