Fight for Your Family

This is our last blog for what has been a bitter-sweet year. Some of us have lost people who are very dear to us. Some of us have come very close to losing loved ones, but they pulled through their serious physical challenges.

On a global scale, we have watched thousands die in earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. We have been shocked and horrified by random shootings from Aurora, CO to Newtown, CT and various places in between.

On the other hand, we have had some awesome moments. The highlight of our year was attending our youngest son’s college graduation. It is impossible to mention everything that happened this year, but we can summarize it by saying we did experience our church’s theme for 2012 which was: Knowing Our God: His Presence, His Power, His Purpose. We can never know what a year is going to bring. We can only follow the Lord as He guides us by His Word and His wisdom.

As we conclude 2012, the Lord is already speaking to us about the theme for the Urban life family in 2013. The new theme is based upon the strategy that was implemented by God’s people in Nehemiah 4. While they were rebuilding the walls and restoring the gates, they were faced with opposition.

 Nehemiah 4: 7-9 reads, Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

Nehemiah 4: 13-14 reads, Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

Nehemiah 4: 17-18 reads, Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built.

In 2013, we realize that our enemies are not going to be human beings like Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. The Bible emphatically declares that we are not battling against human beings.

Ephesians 6:12 reads, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

But just like the human beings in Nehemiah’s story, our present-day principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness are seeking to attack our families and create confusion.

We must pray to our God and set a watch against the spiritual enemies day and night. Therefore, we are going to position our families at the gaps and openings in the walls of our households. We are going to equip each of you with spiritual weapons to fight the spiritual enemies. We’re also going to give you the tools to continue to rebuild your household.

As we approach the New Year, the Holy Spirit has spoken to us that the gaps in the walls reveal the places in our hearts and homes that were devastated. We have gaps in our relationships, gaps in our marriages, gaps in our finances, gaps in our physical well-being, gaps in our emotional well-being and gaps in our psychological well-being. Some of our families are struggling with addictions, destructive behavioral patterns and even demonic bondage. The openings were created by the onslaught of divorce, depression, division, disease, destruction, disasters, defeats, doubts and even death.

We are going to allow the Lord to carefully and deliberately pace us through the process and practice of fighting for our families. We look forward to the New Year with great anticipation of God completing a powerful work in our hearts and homes.