Being bombarded by all these references to warfare reminded me that the Bible also uses such terminology.

We might expect this to be the case in the Old Testament which reported on a more primitive time when "might was right." During that earlier time, God was even seen as the one who instigated the battles as the Children of Israel returned to the homeland of their father Abraham.

We can see this idea expressed in a favorite verse quoted by many people even today, "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel . . . . He said: 'Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: `Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" (II Chronicles 20:14,15)

This of course was in reference to a literal battle with real weapons. However, the enemy who marched against Jerusalem was defeated without the use of a single sword or spear wielded by Jehoshaphat 's army. Instead, conflict arose between enemy allies and they destroyed each other so that Judah never had to enter into battle. This is the story where the people of Judah approached the battle field with songs of praise and worship, singing, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." (v.21)

Jesus used the military motif when He told this short parable: "Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:31-33)

The Apostle Paul also used analogies based on military campaigns. At one point, while encouraging church members to provide adequate support for their pastors and teachers, he asked the question, "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?" (I Corinthians 9:7) An in the context of appealing for balance between prophecy and speaking in tongues, he asked the rhetorical question, "If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?" (I Corinthians 14:8)

Other than these metaphorical examples, when the New Testament speaks about battles and warfare, it has to do, not with physical contests using fists or fighter bombers, but with internal struggles of a spiritual nature.

That's why Paul writes, "For 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." (Ephesians 6:12)

A similar idea is conveyed in the Corinthian correspondence, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (II Corinthians 10:3-6)

And when Paul coaches Timothy to "fight the good fight" (I Timothy 6:12) and "war a good warfare" (I Timothy 1:18), he's talking about the weapons of faith and the faithful preaching of the Gospel.

Listen to what another Biblical author says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

If it is true, that we are all engaged in a battle and, indeed, battles, the question is, where are our own "Battleground States"? Specifically, we would identify three. These are all within the area of what we call the spirit - they are located within the unseen areas of our persons. They are also spiritual according to the definition of the spirit of man being that part of man which is capable of responding to God.

Three battleground states for the Christian are: mental, emotional, and moral.

Greek philosophy seems to have totally equated the mind with spirit. While we see that the spirit of man encompasses more than the thinking processes, the mind nonetheless is involved in things spiritual. How we think has a huge influence on every part of our lives - our perceptions shape much of our attitudes, behavior and speech, as well as help us accept or reject convictions and beliefs. So it is obvious why the mind would be a battlefield on which is waged life and death struggles.

We can quickly name several battles that are waged in the mind. There is the conflict between rational thought and intuitive thought. We often see this played out in the relationships between men and women - many men approach life, and problem solving, in a very reasoned manner, while many women just have a sense about what solution will succeed. They can't satisfy their husbands need to have it logically explained. But this battle goes on, to a certain extent, within each one of us.

Another mental battle is between self esteem and pride. If God could come to the end of His work day and say that what He did that day was good, we who are created in His image would be wise to do the same. But then there's this "pop-up screen" that flashes the warning that we're becoming full of pride, and "pride comes before the fall." And the battle wages on.

There's also the battle between truth and falsehood, or sometimes between truth and opinion. We all give lip service to the statement, "Don't believe everything you hear and only half of what you see," but in practice we often lack either the energy or the will to measure what we hear against a solid benchmark of truth.

For example, the assertion that some people are born with their homosexual desires is left unchallenged, and soon we begin to accept it and claim with others that there's nothing they can do about this and we should not withhold from them the same "civil rights" as enjoyed by married people.

Or, after hearing it often enough, we begin to accept the idea that alcoholism is a disease and therefore the person who binges should not be confronted, but be pitied and left alone to destroy his own life and ruin the lives of people around him.

To use one more example, some people have quickly concluded that because the 9/11 terrorists were religious Muslims, all who belong to that religion are terrorists.

In each case, the battle in the mind has been won with hardly a skirmish - sometimes we've been so deceived that we don't even acknowledge that there was a battle at all. We don't like conflict of any kind, and after all doesn't Jesus promise peace? Oh yes, but it is a peace that comes after the victory has been won, not because we've pulled a mental AWOL. Going back to a verse we noted earlier, we win the victory when "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (II Corinthians 10:3-6)

Now let's talk about another major spiritual battleground, that of the emotions. This is the territory of feelings, most of which seem to have opposites, which on the surface appear to be in conflict with each other. For example there's joy and sadness, and we're prone to believe that they are in competition, if you have one you can't have the other. So it is with other pairs of emotions, like fulfillment and frustration, restlessness and contentment, trust and anxiety. We erroneously assume that the first of each pair is negative and the other positive, so the battle is between negative and positive emotions.

However, that's not where the true battle rages. Rather, the struggle is at three points:

properly identifying the source of the emotion - it is righteous or unrighteous?

determining the course of the emotion - is it expressed in an appropriate and balanced manner? and,

recognizing the force of the emotion - is it dominating all other emotions?

If there's joy, where does it come from? Is it induced by chemical drugs and alcohol? or cheap entertainment that derides what is pure and holy? or is it enjoyment at the expense of someone who is being the butt of jokes because they're different or can't defend themselves?

When we ask the second question, what is the course of the emotion, we're asking, "Is this joy expressed in a way that blesses or harms others?"

Furthermore, the force of joy should never be so strong as to make no room for sadness, for as the Scripture says, we should "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Using this one pair as an example, the battle is not between joy and sadness, but between righteous joy and selfish joy.

Take another one of the pairs mentioned, trust and anxiety. The battle isn't to kill the one and let the other survive, to do away with all anxiety, for at times anxiety is the gift of God to move us out of complacency and to take action against something that otherwise will bring ruin. Last year when I ruptured my calf muscle during a Family Fun Night game of kick ball, I trusted the Lord to heal my leg, but also, because of the loud "pop," I was anxious enough to call the doctor who properly diagnosed the rupture and prescribed helpful therapy.

Many days we may feel fatigue, and then beat ourselves up because the Bible says not to be weary. But the battle isn't necessarily between fatigue and faith. We need to properly identify what is the source of the weariness, and how much the weariness is affecting our performance, our relationships, and even our prayer life.

We could explore other so-called opposites, like love and anger. We say "opposites" because that's the way many people view it - if you love someone, certainly you can't be angry with them. Obviously we disagree, for there are times when it is quite appropriate to be angry with someone we love. However, the same three questions apply, what is the source, the course, and the force of the emotion? In other words, what caused the anger, is it expressed properly, and is it blinding you or hindering your progress?

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

Now let's go to the last of our identified battlefields, the one called moral. This is the arena of decision making. Part of the wonder of God's creation is that He has given to each of us the opportunity and responsibility to make real decisions. The 20th century poet, William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was the first to say it, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." These words were penned in a poem called “Invictus”

Of course we all know that there are forces outside our control, there are storms that rage around us, social upheavals that affect us, economic conditions which limit our resources, and mistakes, fallacies and evil intentions of people around us that impact us greatly. However, we are not willing to give it all up and blame Orthwein, the god of fate. No, we have the ability to decide - we are moral beings, not robots who automatically carry out the "will of the gods" - but herein lies the battle.

Some of these battles represent a struggle between what is legal vs. what is righteous. Others are between what we consider to be rational and that which is revealed - there are struggles between what is popular and what it scriptural.

We will not be guided by stargazers, pollsters or gurus - but by that which is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," the inspired Word of God, the Scriptures (II Timothy 3:16)

Every decision we make is made with a glance toward God, for we want to please Him, not ourselves. Sometimes this involves a minor skirmish, the battle is fought and won in a moment. At other times, it involves a struggle approaching the intensity of Jesus praying alone in the Garden, sweating drops of blood before coming the conclusion, "not my will but thine be done."

In our nation today we are engaged in what have been called "culture wars," and at times we are called upon to take a stand with those who loudly proclaim, we will not submit to the immoralizing decay of our society. But what we're concerned about today is not the "them," but the "us." We're concerned about the inner wars that rage in each of us, the spiritual battles within, for if the battles are not won in these inner battle grounds, we will love the voice to address the larger culture wars waging around us.

Yes, we all have battleground states. To say the battle is the Lord's is to rely on the weapons and strength and wisdom (strategy) that God liberally gives to those who ask (James 1:5). To employ the language of Paul, we, like young David, do not accept Saul's armor, but put on the spiritual armor God provides

And we have full faith that "The weapons we fight with . . . have divine power to demolish strongholds." (II Corinthians 10:3)

Yes, there are battleground states, and even though the location of the battles may be changed, they will always be there. The fight goes on in the mind, the emotions and the will. But our heavenly quartermaster, the Holy Spirit, is always on duty, ready to dispense what ever weapon is needed to win that fight. Every day may bring a battle, but with the Lord on our side, every day will also bring a victory.

May we like the army of King Jehoshaphat approach every battle with a song in our hearts, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." (II Chronicles 20:21)

1, American politics often utilize language associated with warfare. What is the danger of this practice?

2. What is the difference between Old and New Testaments as seen in their references to warfare?

3. What victory of King Jehoshaphat came about with no actual fighting by his soldiers, and what Bible verse related to that victory is often quoted?

4. What example can you give of a military analogy given by either Jesus or Paul?

5. Besides representing the inner and invisible part of man, what is it that characterizes the spirit of man?

6. What are the three "battleground states" in our spiritual selves?

7. In what way are there battles between rational thought and intuitive thought, and between self esteem and pride?

8. What examples can be given of battles in the mind having to do with truth and opinion?

9. Is there any value in what are often considered the negative emotions such as sadness, frustration, restlessness, and anxiety?

10. What are the three key words we can use in relation to the spiritual battleground of the emotions?

11. Why is it ok to say that there are times when it is quite appropriate to be angry with someone we love?

12. What is the relationship between morality and our God given freedom of choice?

13. To what degree was William Ernest Henley right when he penned the words, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul"?

14. What is a basic difference between what is legal and what is righteous?

15. What are some of the conflicting issues which make up what some call "culture wars"?

16. Where does the Christian get needed weapons to assure victory on the battleground states of the mind, emotions and will?