Love is a Battlefield....or something like that.

Two posts in three days.

SHOCKING.

I just heard the new Jordin Sparks song "Battlefield", which featured the lyrics:

"Why does love always feel like a battlefield? Better go and get your armor!!"

I have a feeling she's talking about romantic relationships, in which case, this is epically bad advice (putting your guard up around those you care for is a surefire way to make sure you never get the closeness you crave with them), but in the spiritual realm, how I heard it, these words rung with Truth.

I have been thinking a fair bit about warfare in the last few days.

It took me a long time to realize that I am not a refugee in a war-torn country, and I'm not just caught helplessly in the crossfire of some invisible, unseen war. Someone reminded me that, in the final battle, it is we, the saints, who will be fighting off the principalities and powers of this dark world. There is so much in this world that we just hand over to the enemy because we don't want to exert the energy to fight for it. "The thief comes only to kill and destroy", and he does it well because he is sneaky, and often convinces us to agree with him. Especially in the area of fear.

I have battled aimless, irrational fear for most of my life, and I've come to realize fairly recently that God's love for us is perfect, and "perfect loves drives out fear". This fear that I feel is not just a chemical response in my brain with which I am inevitably, and eternally, saddled-- the fear is an attack from the devil that, at best, terrifies and addles me, and, at worst, causes me to panickedly deny God's goodness or very existence. But, when the fear comes, what has changed? "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you"?

The Holy Spirit is IN me. The terrors are outside of me, and absolutely cannot be allowed in unless I open the door and ask them to come in. And, appropriately, there is no room for the fear to come in unless I suppress the Holy Spirit, and squash it down to size to make the fear fit in. This is war, and I am a warrior. The battle is to say yes to the love, and say no to the fear.

Better go and get your armor.

Eph 6:^10"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Basically, I loved hearing this new Jordin Sparks song. I could, actually, skip the whole song to about ~2:30 and only listen to "Better go and get your armor!", which is exactly the encouragement I need in order to feel inspired to gird myself in truth, righteousness, faith, thorough understanding of the Gospel, faith, the full implications of my salvation, the Spirit, and the Word. And prayer, of course. Prayer seems like one of the biggest weapons that we have.

Jordin Sparks is speaking the Truth here whether she knows it or not. And why does love always feel like a battlefield? Because it IS. Loving others? Accepting God's love? These are things that Satan hates, and he is a powerful enemy, but God's love is stronger than the devil's hatred. And that's all he's got. That's all he's ever gonna get, because, at the end, we're going to ride through on horses, slice the hell out of his minions (wordplay intended), and we're gonna watch with adoration in our hearts for God as Satan is cast down into the flaming abyss forever and ever, amen. I mean, Amen!!!! Personally, I hope I get at least one good slice in on the guy, and that his final demise looks something like the end of Star Wars I, The Phantom Menace, but infinitely more awesome.

So anyway.

Basically, I want to take that chunk of the song and make it my ringtone. Either that, or "Taking Over for the Kingdom". That'd be a good choice as well, though a bit obvious, since the next line is "Put that on your ringtone!". And, if you know me....I shun the obvious.

P.s. The chorus and ending sections of "Battlefield" actually use the same chorus chords as "Our God is an Awesome God".....which I found, obviously, awesome.