A spiritual warrior goes to battle and tries to square circles with nothing but God's armor to cling to.  His trust is so strong and his faith can move mountains that when legions of principalities come along the way, he can never be moved.

                A promise has already been declared: Nothing will harm you for yours is the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the powers of the enemy.  A spiritual warrior holds on to this.

                What the book of Ephesians says guarantees God's great promises.  An army of God holds his ground and stands ready with truth as the belt, righteousness as the breastplate, and as shoes the readiness to announce the Good News.  He at all times carries the faith as the shield to be able to put out burning arrows shot by the evil one.  Not only that.  Salvation is his helmet and the word of God is his mighty two-edge sword.  Gods warrior believes that no weapon against him will ever prosper for the battle is hot his but God's.  And He never fails.

                I have never been God's warrior in the first nineteen years of my existence.  I had so many fears, I didnt know what to do.  Like the fear of not getting what I wanted a good schooling and a degree.  I was so afraid that the World War III would come and I would see my dreams end.

                I also thought of horrible things.  What if a disease and a great tragedy struck?  What if armed men attacked my town?  What if my family ran out of everything and left hopeless?

                Worst, I feared the dark.  I easily shuddered at the thought of the devil appearing among thick bushes on late evenings.  Stories of ghosts were enough to make me shiver all night.  Bats that circle the trees frightened me.  I was too big a boy on my early adolescence yet things like these bothered me a lot.

                I had to stand on my own, with no one I knew to help me figure things out.  I settled with an idea of conquering my own fears, knowing I could never rely on my big brother's old-time promises of help that never came to pass.  Too soon I realized that he, too, was troubled by a little cacophony of falling leaves outside his room at night which he often heard the moment he turned off the light to sleep.  My fears were his as well.  Too shy to confess everything to Mom and Dad, finally I resolved to take my last course: a vis-à-vis encounter with all my apprehensions.

                I started feeling I wasn't weak.  My reaction was so daring that I didn't care a fig if creatures would appear right in front of me sporting long horns and scary eyes or men carrying high-powered weapons.  I relied on my own strength for a victory soon to come.  I thought I could.

                A seminar I attended changed my attitude towards things.

               The seminar was a painful yet fulfilling first experience.  No torture, of course.  No beating and whipping.  No paddling.  Only painful realities.  The words hurt so much and awakened every buried grievance in my heart.  For the first time in my life, I had to bear the speaker whose lines were strong punches I could not escape.  Left and right, I was smacked.

                There was complete surrendering and it was the most distressing part of it.  I had to empty myself from things in this world something I have never done in my entire life and was so hesitant doing.  I had to surrender totally to Someone I knew from childhood who is omnipresent, Someone who priests and pastors always say is more than any problem and stronger than any fear.  He, who evangelists insist, has the heart that never ceases to love, forgive and love again.  He, whom Tiya always say, will accept me for who I was, am and will become.

                It hurts though.  Giving up everything is just like killing myself and letting Someone do all the control.  His way and not mine, His will and not my will be done.  Circumstances seemed to tell me it was the right time for letting go though mixed emotions and doubts still held a place in my mind.  I was too sinful a man He couldn't bear to accept me, so I thought.  It was so hard for me, but I had to try Him.

                What happened was beyond my expectation.  Believe me, such a feeling like walking in the heaven of heavens the very moment I saw a figure who led me to a vast green pasture was something I did not fully understand nor can explain.  It was a vision, elders said.  It was my first time to feel being loved, so great.  I sensed that I was about to break into two.  Then I was shaking, feeling hot then cold and saying something unusual.  It was my never-to-be-forgotten experience with Someone overflowing with immense power.

                Then there was peace, in my heart, in my mind.  Everything seemed working in the right place.  Studies, family relations, financial matters, heart affairs all in Gods safe keeping.  I felt an assurance of a better life ahead dreams fulfilled and my heart's desires answered.

                It was the start of more close encounters with Him.  As weeks turned into months and months into years, my fears slowly subsided.  I cannot count the number of timer I have conquered my fears since I learned the strategies of spiritual warfare.  By wielding the words of God as my sword, nothing formed against me will ever prosper.  I have built and put my trust and confidence in him.  I have become stronger and better and better in battle with God on my side, who has been my fortress and ever-ready defender all these years.  A song I really love to sing has these lines: "Your hiding place is my desire, to feel your all-consuming fire.  Your loving arms is where Ill be, safe from all my fears and my soul set free".  

                Now I can heave a sigh of relief, no longer afraid of being defeated.  Hakuna matata, no worries for the rest of my days (remember the popular Lion King movie?).  Surely I know, He wouldn't allow the enemy to take over me not a chance even.  For as long as I am His warrior, He will forever be my hiding place.

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