KISS

Scripture Read: 1 Timothy 1:18-20 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, ¹⁹ keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. ²⁰ Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.

Application: Fighting the good fight involves how we use our faith. Trusting God for whatever we need. Believing He is committed to His Word and to us. So how do we fight the good fight? 2500 years ago Sun Tzu taught in the “Art of war” that to properly fight war is simple. In fact the more complicated you make it the better the chance you have to fail. He boils war down to 5 constant factors. 2000 years ago Paul wrote on this same topic, except this time it was about spiritual warfare. Yet, he makes it clear that even here we must KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid! J While watching a show on WWII paratroopers, I noticed something. They would jump with a lot of equipment on their back, their chest and even on their legs. However, when it came time for them to move into battle their platoon leader would say “guns and ammo only gentlemen”. They kept it simple. 

Paul teaches the KISS principle also. The first aspect noted is the terrain. As in physical warfare, terrain is important, we better know about the landscape. It’s not what we see in the physical world but in the spirit world. Today, many in the church expose their ignorance to where our spiritual warfare is actually is. Often, they think through intimidation and positive thinking upper ground will be taken against the enemy. The words they use betray the wrong thinking: “loosing the spirit” (as if the Holy Spirit obeys our commands), “binding” (as if the enemy can be bound by us, even an Arch Angel never tried something so foolish), “demanding”, (Commanding in Jesus name what we do not know is really what Jesus desires) and challenging (Speaking to demons as if we were the Lord). Yes we have power but it is in Christ to stand. Paul spends most of his time showing us that the real battle is in our heart.  The lies the devil wispers to us (God is not real, He won’t save us, we’re alone).  vs The Truth of God, Who He is, His love for us, will always defeat the lies of the enemy Do we arm ourselves in our thought life to be ready for the enemy? Look what Paul states:

1 Cor. 3:18-19 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. [19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";

Ephes. 6:12 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.

Col. 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

* 2 Corinthians 10:4 -6 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Paul encourages very proactive thinking:

Romans 13:11-14 And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. [12] The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. [13] Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. [14] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

When was the last time you thought about how you are NOT going to live?

Meditation Questions: when something or someone causes you to doubt God, what do you do? What is the difference between reactive living and proactive living?  If you took the time to evaluate your life right now, would there be a way to simplify it? How would that look?  Do you spend time thinking about how NOT to live? What would that do for you?