The Spiritual Age

We live in a spiritual age and it is a battle of cosmic proportions. A Samaritan woman at a well received this news from our Lord:

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-14)

Our Lord Jesus has departed for the heavenly realm and He sent His Spirit to dwell in us. Until the return of our Lord, we do as He said: worship God in spirit. It is an age of faith where we cannot touch or see Him. His voice may not sound in our ears, but in the depths of prayer with Him. So, what is the battle we wage with the Spirit as our Lord?

Many would say that the various mental illnesses we do battle against are of the brain. I believe there is a deeper cause: that war of the spirit we fight daily. Yes, the effects of this war are visible on brain scans and in the actions or condition of those suffering in this war. The cause, however, comes from that deep war of the spirit where on one side is God the Spirit and our reborn nature in Him, while on that other side is the desires of the flesh and those powers and principalities of this present darkness as Paul named it in his letter to the Ephesians.

Those who take their own life, and often the lives belonging to others as well, are the corpses that litter this battlefield. Their passing does not go unnoticed and much suffering accrues to those who must battle on with that added burden. The casualties of this war are beloved of God and us, whether their illness allows them to believe it or not. But what of the wounded, a number typically much higher than the dead in the butcher's bill of battle?

Those who battle with chronic disease and mental illness are those wounded. The voices who would say that persecution is far away and not 'over here', do not understand the nature of this war we fight. We rejoice for their sake that they do not suffer such things in this life, but a bit of understanding and empathy might serve them better for the sake of their brothers and sisters in Christ. Wait, you say, not all those who suffer mental illness are believers in Christ Jesus. I agree with you, but, the Lord our Savior wants them too, and the enemy does not like it one bit! The aim of the enemy general is to attack our reserves, and those unsaved lost sheep are our reserve forces. Let us not forget to give them some good news.

Now, after all of that, look to Jesus and have a better day in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

P.S. And remember, in the end, He wins!