Battle Training Part 2: Fight the Good Fight

So glad you made it back for Part 2 of training, where victory and satisfaction are guaranteed - or your money back (wait... did you pay for this?)! Let's begin by reading our key scripture:

"... be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor so that you will be able to resist in the evil day... Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:10-17

In Battle Training Part 1, we identified the enemy in our battle - it is ALWAYS satan and his cohorts.

Have you ever tried to fight this battle on your own? I have. It did not go well.

Because this is a spiritual battle, we cannot fight it using merely human resources because if we do - we will lose every. single. time.

One reason I poured my heart and soul into attending and serving at Celebrate Recovery (CR - a ministry for those with hurts, habits, and hangups) is that it is a high-powered training ground for fighting spiritual battles - they teach 8 Biblical Principles for fighting the good fight. Most people who show up for the first time at CR (including me) come beat up - emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted - which is the perfect place to begin our training.

Ephesian 6:10 states, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” We come finally realizing we don’t have the strength so we must rely on Him! This is Principle 1 at Celebrate Recovery.

PRINCIPLE 1:

Realize I’m not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

Okay, so we admit that we don't have what it takes… then what?

Next, put on the armor – the armor of God! The first piece of this armor is the helmet and the sword… it is the armor of salvation and of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 6:17)! This is the one-time decision we make to allow Jesus to become what He came to become - our SAVIOR! (Want to learn more about saying "YES!" to following Jesus? Go here.)

Then we start learning to "gird our loins" with truth (Eph 6:14) - what the heck does that mean? The loin is between the hips and abdomen, so basically, put on a belt of truth (Geez, why didn't they just say so?!?) We can lean heavily on the Bible to learn the TRUTH about God's battle (i.e. restoration and recovery) plan for us… and guess what, it has a lot to say because God has been into restoration since the day Adam and Eve believed satan’s original lie!!!

After soaking in the truth, the next training exercise is to put the principles into action… live them out moment by moment, day by day! This is called the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14). Even though we don’t feel righteous, as we choose to live the principles - whether it feels natural to us or not - we do become righteous through Him who has made us righteous.

Obtaining the helmet, shield, belt, and breastplate is Principle 2 and 3.

PRINCIPLE 2:

Earnestly believe God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.

PRINCIPLE 3:

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.

Our armor is not yet complete - now we obtain the shield. What an incredible piece of equipment - the shield of faith with which all flaming arrows from the evil one will be extinguished (Eph. 6:16). "Faith" regarding what?

Faith that God’s word is true and that we are a new creation.

Faith that, when we go to make amends to people, even if they don’t accept our apology - it was still the right thing to do and God will honor it.

Faith that, even if someone has done some terrible and horrifying things to us, forgiveness is possible.

Faith that, no matter how screwed up we've been in the past, our Heavenly Father has the power to strip us of our shortcomings.

It’s a long hard process, but that shield is irreplaceable and will extinguish all the lies of satan! This is what we do in Principles 4-6 – confessing our sins, seeking amends, offering forgiveness.

PRINCIPLE 4:

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

PRINCIPLE 5:

Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.

PRINCIPLE 6:

Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others.

Now only the feet remain unprotected and untrained… for shoes, we must put on the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). All this training gives us courage, faith, and experience for unexplainable peace. And because God gives our feet this armor - this covering from the harshness of the ground we walk – we can now travel anywhere to share the good news of what’s been done for us, allowing others to know it can be for them as well. This is Principle 7 and 8.

PRINCIPLE 7:

Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.

PRINCIPLE 8:

Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and words.

Holy cow, people. We now have a superpower and super armor – this is some powerful stuff. If you haven't started your training - get in the Word today and get going! Come back for our final training, "Identifying the Victory."

(To find a Celebrate Recovery near you click here)