What we believe governs our actions and our attitudes. In fact, what we believe, we do. Your actions up to this very moment are a testimony of your belief system. Everything else is conjecture, theory, or fantasy. Our ability to stand firm is dependent on actions that are derived from our belief system.

How effective we will be in spiritual warfare is dependent on what we believe. Most Christians would say they believe the Bible is God’s Word, but is that belief really evident in our culture and world? Is that belief making a difference that is truly measurable? Are Christian beliefs guiding this nation, your city, or your home?

We say we believe the Bible is God’s Word and that it is true. Yet, most Christians rarely read it and few have ever read it cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation. How can this be if we claim it is the foundation for what we believe—that it is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God? How can we claim that it is the model for our faith and practice and never take time to read it? If we have never read it—we are ignorant of what it teaches even if we attend a service each week and give our attention to the preaching of its contents. If you ever hope to learn and understand God’s Word you must read it for yourself.

We have a manual in our hands on how to wage effective and devastating spiritual warfare against our enemy. We have the key to living a victorious life in body, soul, and spirit and we refuse to crack its pages. The early church used it for the first three hundred years of her existence and turned the world upside down and had the enemy in full retreat. But…sadly, for the last seventeen hundred years we have used it as a sword to slice and dice up one another and effectively separate an unconquerable army into a million little units intent on majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. We have attempted spiritual suicide by turning it against the bride of Christ rather than using it to evangelize the world, to destroy the works of the devil, and to do the works of Jesus. The church is wandering around in circles wondering who she is and why she’s here refusing to read he Owner’s manual

Tragically, we have come to the place where the church cannot even agree on what the works of the devil are anymore. We have now reached that place where evil and wickedness are now called good, encouraged, and pronounced legal. True righteousness (what God declares is righteous) is now called intolerance, narrow-minded, or the seeds of hate crimes and terrorism. True good is now labeled evil and evil arrogantly parades unchecked down Main Street. The church is in full retreat with only a few warriors left standing on the battlefield because it has become far more fashionable to run than to stand firm, resist, and re-capture the ground that is being lost.

This responsibility has been wrongly relinquished from the whole to a select few. We would rather hire mercenaries to do our fighting than stand united and do it ourselves. We have lost our spiritual guts—our divine courage and boldness. Spiritual warfare is the responsibility of the whole not just a few. It is your responsibility as well as mine, and unless we once again return to God and obey his Word we cannot expect to stand firm. A system of belief cannot exist unless it followers stand on a foundation that is firm.

Standing firm starts with knowing what you believe and deciding if it is worth fighting for. Find your Bible, dust it off if necessary and read it. If you believe it—then live it! Only then will you be able to stand firm!