Offense and Defense

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. --Romans 8:16-17

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. --Ephesians 6:13

If a kingdom is never under attack it has no value. God gives us armor for battle because He knows the great value of His kingdom, and the battle faced by those who are co-heirs with Christ.

A war is on, but we cannot only be acting on defense from the attacks we face, but also making offensive moves toward the enemy. Offense is the action of attacking someone or something, and defense is resisting an attack. It is not okay to continually let the enemy bully you and break you down; we need to grasp the strength of our position by the power of Jesus's blood. I was reminded of this when I listened to a sermon from Charles Spurgeon called "The Shield of Faith". Not surprisingly, the Holy Spirit had me write the first two sentences of this post in my journal (the ones I have in bold), and I thought I was done, but then a few hours later I heard the sermon on the same topic! This confirms what I've realized for a few years now--God is at work in every moment of our lives, and they all count, from the seemingly mundane to the monumental ones. I also pondered my offensive strategies thinking I may be lacking, but I was glad to realize that I'm not just defending attacks, but I prevent many before they even get a chance to begin through prayer and the Word of God. My roots have been established in Christ and cannot be pushed down!