God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Directing resources toward the poor and oppressed is not only a true test of our love, but a chance for it to shine brightly. Remember, Jesus prayed for this display of love so that the world might believe. Rather than hurting, this would help our evangelism.
Spiritual battles are fought on the turf of the human mind. It is not about identifying territorial demons or binding demons or rebuking demons. So are we battling the forces of darkness? Yes, because our ultimate battle is “not against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12), but no, because we are not called in Scripture to go toe-to-toe engaging in hand-to-hand combat with demonic forces. The war is over the control of human minds. Our aim is to liberate people from demonic strongholds. We are to free the prisoners of war. Our call is to convert not demons, but people. The arena therefore is not mystical, but intellectual. Therefore, according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, we “destroy [intellectual things] raised up against the knowledge of God.” How? We do it with the Word of God. We combat the error that has already been sown in people’s minds with truth. We, verse 5, “are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” This shows that the primary problem is that people have a wrong understanding of Christ.
