The Shield Of Obedience

What you sow in disobedience, you will reap in spiritual warfare.  When we live lives of disobedience to God and His word, we make ourselves more vulnerable to the schemes of the enemy.  We expose areas of our lives that he would not have been given access to, under normal circumstances.  God says, "Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you." (Jer 7:23).  Which means when we walk in disobedience, it will not go well with us because we step out from underneath the spiritual covering God gives to those who are obedient and make ourselves vulnerable to the enemy.  Scripture says, "For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield." (Psalm 5:12).  To step out in disobedience, is to step out from behind God's protective shield.

Often times, it our own choices that bring us into the trenches of spiritual warfare.  Often times, it is our own choices of disobedience that pull us further away from God and make our ears deaf to His voice.  Then, when the bottom starts to fall out in our circumstances and chaos and sorrow ensues in our lives, we cry out, "Why is this happening to me?  God, why did you let this happen?"  Unbeknownst to us, it is our own disobedient choices that have allowed an entire host of demonic activity to enter into our circumstances and wreak havoc in our lives.  God told Cain, "if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Gen 4:7).  They crouch in the dark corners of rebellion, stubbornness and disobedience, waiting for us to give them a foothold into our lives.

What you sow in obedience, you will reap in peace and truth.  The more you pray and study God's word, the more obedient you will become.  And the more obedient you are to the Holy Spirit, the more understanding you will have of God's word.  The more clearly you will hear God's voice and the more sensitive you will become to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Scripture says, "Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. (Job 11:14,15).  For the most part, those who consistently hold on to their peace in the midst of fiery trials, are those who have established an intimate relationship with God through prayer and consistent study of His word. 

Spiritual warfare is real and it is happening all around us, all the time, "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." (Eph 6:12).  Our enemy uses people and circumstances in an unceasing effort to get us off-track of our spiritual maturity and development, and to generally make our lives more complicated and disorderly.  And when we walk in disobedience, we foster an environment that allows the enemy to invade our lives.

"Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." (Eph 4:26,27)

"Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Rom 6:16)

"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles." (Psalm 34:17)

"The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.  The LORD watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked he will destroy." (Psalm 145:18-20)