By: Jimmy Evans

http://www.marriagetoday.com/   

For me, the realization that I was in a real war with a real enemy came at the precise point in time when Karen and I came closest to divorce.

We were attending a small discipleship group in the church I now pastor. At the time, we were just rank-and-file members. And, though our marriage was in the early stages of being healed, we were still dealing with serious issues and fighting a lot.

We had been engaged in a running argument about something ' I couldn't even tell you what ― for about two weeks. That week, when it came time for the Bible study, I told Karen I was staying at home. I was letting her know that wherever she was going that night, I was making it a point to be going another direction. 

But when Karen came home from that meeting, she uttered some words that would turn our marriage, and our very lives, around. 

'I need to tell you what Sarah told me,' Karen said as she walked in the door. Sarah and her husband were the leaders of the Bible study.

'What?'

'As soon as I walked into the house, Sarah said, 'Karen I have to tell you something. I've been praying for you and Jimmy. As I prayed, the Lord gave me a vision of a lion's head in your living room'roaring. It was the devil trying to split you and Jimmy up.''

The instant Karen repeated that vision, I knew in my heart that it was the truth. The devil had been camped in our home for two weeks, trying to break us up. 

When we started going to that church, I didn't know I would one day be pastoring it! But the devil knew that was where my destiny lay. He knew that out of that church would come a marriage ministry that would impact hundreds-of-thousands ― perhaps even millions ― of lives. There was a lot at stake. So, he had a tremendous interest in breaking us up.

Our enemy has a great interest in breaking your marriage up, too.  We have a mortal enemy who didn't just attack a man and a woman in the Garden of Eden ' he attacked marriage in the Garden of Eden. 

It's Worth Fighting For

For a number of reasons, marriage is Satan's ultimate enemy except for Jesus Himself. First Peter 5:8 says:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 

As I once did, you may think you don't want to have anything to do with that spiritual warfare stuff. But you have no choice in this. You do have something to do with spiritual warfare because you have an adversary who is trying to kill you. 

You can tuck tail and run, but if you do, you'll live the rest of your life defeated. Or you can stand up and fight and live in paradise for the rest of your life. 

When Karen came home and told me about that vision of the lion's head, for maybe the first time in our married life we joined hands and took authority over the devil in our marriage and in our home. 

Instantly, as if you had sprayed air freshener and placed roses all over the house, the whole aroma changed. The atmosphere in our home changed. We stopped fighting and started relating the way we should. 

What had finally grabbed our attention was the reality of an invisible presence in our home with an agenda to destroy us. We weren't each other's enemy ' Satan was our enemy. 

From that day to this, when Karen and I wake up and pray together, we take authority over certain elements that we understand are out there. We don't fear the devil; we reverence God and take authority over an enemy already defeated at the Cross. We just actively enforce that defeat. 

Today we live in a marriage that is blessed because we have waged spiritual war for that marriage. 

You will not have the marriage that God wants you to have unless you are willing to stand and fight for it, because you are born into a world at war ' and marriage is Satan's special enemy.

Staff Note:  We encourage one and all to sign up to receive Jimmy Evan's  Marriage Devotionals. He is recognized in the Body of Christ as one God has called mightily to help Christian couples realize that conflict in their marriages doesn't just involve character flaws "in our spouse," ... but that every Christian couple has demonic powers assigned to them to look for ways to try to fragment and ultimately topple their marriage:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood [just "character flaws" in my spouse, in other words], but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

To receive Pastor Jimmy Evan's insightful and anointed weekly Marriage Devotional, simply go to his website. Directions to sign up for it are given there:  Marriage Today 

Here is a very valuable writing on how to deal with conflict in your marriage:  THE 100% FACTOR 

To click on a link to help people better understand Spiritual Warfare:  The Armor Of God 

-- Norm Rasmussen

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Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity.
(Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)