Spiritual Warfare

By David Barksdale

This is my personal testimony as to God's faithfulness to a convert soul and how he is always there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640827172

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Spiritual Warfare

You in Christ,

Christ in you.

Walking in the Kingdom of God

By David Barksdale

Copyright © 2017 David Barksdale

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64082-716-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64082-717-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgements

I am in gratitude for my friends, Tim and Rene Wold, for their personal encouragement and help to bring this book to the marketplace where it may be used to the glory of our Lord. Thank you, Rene, for the work you provided for the editing of the following pages. Your work is of such quality and love that I am eternally thankful for your patience and kindness you have shown me.

Preface

As you read through this book you will find that the word I occurs frequently. You will also find the Lord’s name and his word mentioned extensively. One would then conclude that this book deals with the Lord’s influence upon my life. In chapter eight and chapter nine, I relate who we are in Christ. I then become the active role of God in my present life.

Men have spoken about spiritual warfare, but few have ever laid the foundations for its personal application on a daily basis. May we all apply the wisdom presented in those two chapters as an approach to draw nearer to God. We learn so much about things, but often miss the ability to apply these truths to our daily lives in a way that we draw closer to the Lord we serve. In the hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church dated in 1940 was a song we used to sing when i was in the children’s choir. It was called Day by Day and was written by Alfred e. Whitehead.

I can still remember the words:

Day by day, dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:

To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,

Follow thee more nearly, day by day.

Certainly this is every Christian’s number one desire. What better way to accomplish the wisdom of these chapters than to apply this warfare on a daily schedule. If it should happen that someone asks for your prayers or seeks spiritual comfort, you will be prepared and ready to meet every need. David spoke in the Psalms of seeking the Lord early in the morning. I believe he sought the Lord’s personal guidance the first thing when he arose in the morning.

Wisdom is to know the mind of God through his word and the Holy Spirit. Understanding is to apply this wisdom to our lives every day, first thing in the morning.

So many of the teachings of the Christ, our Lord Jesus, have become nothing more than religious drivel or the element of imagination of one’s ego. As a child, I attended churches that focused on religion rather than the Lord himself. As a result, I have heard from many preachers and teachers their rendition of God’s word.

The one time that I heard the truth, I was saved, thoroughly washed and cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, as was meant to be. Of course, this experience was real, not some imaginary fulfillment of some person’s religious values. When I say the word real, I mean that which is only possible through the saving grace of our God and father, the creator and preserver of all mankind.

My salvation brought about such an experience of love and forgiveness that I truly became a new creature; a new creation in Christ Jesus. I came to understand the true nature of love, untouched by my own prejudices and critical spirit. I wasn’t an orphan, but I had been given up by my parents when I was three, and oh, how I longed to be able to put my arms around my mother, just to be held close and perceived that I was truly important to someone.

How differently we see things from others that are not God’s desires for us. They are powerless through our interpretation. Only God can deal with the sins of this world. This love of Christ far exceeded the longing that settled upon me as I walked life’s path. I perceived a grace that not only cared for me but filled me with the capacity to love those that I came into fellowship with. This was the spark that ignited my longing to know the Father that Jesus spoke of in the scriptures. As I began to read, from the beginning, concerning the love of our God for his children, I was caught up with each scripture into the presence of our gracious Savior.

I experienced such depth and truth of the humility that could make me capable of his love and light in the Holy Spirit. My inner man was strengthened with might by the spirit of his divine power at work within my heart. I knew the indwelling presence of the most gracious father with all the bliss of the blessedness of my Savior, Jesus, dwelling in my heart.

I soon learned that there were vast riches of his glory in every word that I read from the Holy Scriptures. And I marveled as the Lord taught me his desires for us through his word. All the religious teachings that I had been taught no longer had significance in the light of God’s knowledge and wisdom. As I began to apply his word to my life, true understanding to think that we have power within ourselves to change our ways. Only God has the ability to create within us, a throne where he can rule and lead us in safety to his purpose in our lives.

So it is that I have purposed in my heart to know only the Father and his son Jesus, and the truth that is taught by the Holy Spirit that exalts their throne in my heart. The Lord understood my desire to be free of the judgments and criticisms of this world and proceeded to teach me his heart and mind’s attitude toward the ways of man. He began by speaking to me from the book of Ephesians the fifth chapter and the eighth and tenth verse.

But now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8, 10)

My understanding

Reviews for Spiritual Warfare

[bradkautz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This volume is pure gold. Wiersbe has collected ten sermons on the theme of spiritual warfare adn every one of them speaks to our own age as clearly as they spoke into the era when they were first preached. The sermons from Redpath, Lloyd-Jones and G. Campbell Morgan are marvelous testimonies to the power of God in the life of the Christian. To borrow from Augustine, take up this volume, read, and give praise to God.