Stop The Spiritual Warfare, I’m A New Creation!

James 4:7 (NIV) “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

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In a recent conversation with a friend who has walked with the Lord many years, it became clear that there can still be confusion on handling those nasty fiery darts from the enemy about past sins and moral failures. She was looking for the exact, right scripture to stop the barrage on a certain topic. How could she know every scripture necessary to battle on each topic? And when she was arming up for one dart, it seemed she got hit with another, unrelated theme. She felt defeated before she started fighting back. Not good!

The truth is this is a common bullying tactic that the enemy uses often. If it worked previously to make us ineffective, he’ll use it again. So, what do we do? We may develop a few “go-to” scriptures in our Prayer Journal, like Isaiah 26:3 (NIV), “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” But there is also an overlooked verse that is a strong shield and makes a lightning-swift sword of the Spirit.

As we practice James 4:7 (NIV), “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” we can raise the New Identity prayer shield found in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” That’s right, when we received Christ Jesus as our Savior, we were redeemed from that old sin ensnarement and bondage. Jesus made us new as evidenced by our water baptism. We chose to bury our old life with Jesus’ death on the cross. We also rose with Him in His resurrection in a new life, as a new creation! (The dead don’t get back up.) Everything we did or didn’t do in the past is over. Jesus looks ahead, and so should we, reminding the enemy that we know we now live changed.

The blood of Jesus shed at the cross is effective and eternal. It refutes every lie and condemning dart that comes our way. Jesus’ love for us never fails, so meditate on what Jesus Christ says about you. Lift that up as an effective spiritual shield of faith and speak it out to make the enemy back off! The battle is yours to win.