There is a song by Craig Morgan (yes it is C&W) that is called “That’s what I love about Sunday”.  It reminds me that Sunday is that day to worship God, but it is also a day to remind yourself of all the good things that happened to you this week.  Most importantly, if it is your only day of worship this week, it refreshes you for another week.

In Mark 3: 22 ²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

This refers to human obstinacy – we can resist and refuse to repent. That is an eternal sin.  As an expert on being obstinate, even I know that God can forgive all sins, but we need to ask. Lord, give us the gift of humility to acknowledge the truth and to ask for your forgiveness at all times, knowing that you are stronger than the forces of evil.

Can we be obstinate?  Can we fight against things because we have closed our mind to other ideas.  We are humans aren’t we?  Spiritual warfare is a struggle between light and darkness.  God has secured the victory, but Satan continues to wage war against God and his people.  It is the fight between light and darkness.  We cannot ignore the power of the Holy  Spirit.  It is the light that shines out from us.  It is the light of life.  In John 8:12 ¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Here is a mental picture for you.  Imagine a saddle hanging on the wall of your house.  Just like a saddle is only a decoration if it is not on a horse and being used, your faith must also be used.  The Holy Spirit is like a horse and it resides in us all.  You cannot put a literal saddle on it, but you can use the Holy Spirit to carry you into battle. Your faith will allow your Holy Spirit to fight the spiritual battle.  Faith is your armor, but just like the saddle used for decoration, you need to take it outside.  But armor is only a defense.  To win this battle you cannot just stay on defense.  Don’t leave your faith hanging on the walls of your church.  Mount up and ride out.  God gave us talents and free will to use them as we feel fit.  Don’t use them only for yourself.  God intended us to share those talents – not to leave them hanging on the wall inside your house where only you can use them.  The Spiritual Battle is growing.  It is past time for keeping your talents for yourself. Once you take that first tentative step, the rest are easy.  You know that Jesus will always welcome you.  You know that the Holy Spirit will always raise you up.  And of course you know that the strength that you need will always be provided from God.  So what are you waiting for? 

Are we waiting for blaring evil that everyone can see?  Or we looking for the little evils that can grow and are simple to correct?  Paul said to the Galatians 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  It is okay to take the saddle down and mount up, but don’t run anyone down on the way out of the barn.  Gently is the key word.  We are in a spiritual battle but we cannot win if we are creating collateral damage.  The evil one would love for us to do that.  It literally defeats the purpose.  When I was in the Army, I had a fellow officer who printed up business cards that said “When it positively, absolutely has to be destroyed over night”.  That can work on a small scale.  You may win the small battle, but we need to win the war.  Just like excessive violence can destroy everything, excessive application of anything can damage what you are trying to change.  After the Bible, Shakespeare is most published writer in English language.  In Hamlet, Shakespeare was talking to actors and their delivery when he said  “you must find a temperance that will give it smoothness.”  We too must have a temperance with our words.  Just as Jesus would have us do.  We need to gently confront the sins that we see and use temperance with our words.  Mount up and ride out!