Good News Media

By David Gamboa

Founder, Staying Connected Outreach

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Treasure Valley Men’s Conference, where men from more than 70 churches gathered together around one central theme: Spiritual Warfare.

There were seven speakers, each bringing a different perspective and challenge, but one message continued to stand out to me long after the conference ended: The spiritual battle is real.

One of the speakers said that the demonic realm is real, active, and increasing in this world, and described America as “enemy-occupied territory.” Then came the words that really caught my attention: “War is at our door.”

Those words made me stop and think. We often look at the problems around us as political, social, financial, cultural, or personal. But, as Christians, are we also recognizing the spiritual battle taking place behind the scenes? Are we awake, or have we become comfortable?

One phrase from the conference has stayed with me: “Wake up. Get up. Get going!” As men of God, we cannot afford to sleep through the battle. It is easy to become distracted by everyday  life—work, finances, entertainment, sports, responsibilities, and everything else competing for our attention. Before we know it, we can become spiritually asleep while the battle continues around us.

But what happens when warriors don’t fight? What happens when watchmen fall asleep? When the people responsible for standing guard stop watching, the enemy can gain ground. And if we’re not careful, that can happen in our own homes and families.

Our families need men who are awake. Our churches need men who are awake. Our communities need men who are awake. Most importantly, we need to be awake to what God is calling us to do.

Another statement from the conference challenged me deeply: “The cost to follow Christ now is great, but the cost not to follow Him is even greater later.” Following Jesus was never promised to be easy. There is a cost to obedience. There is a cost to standing for truth, to saying no to our flesh, and to being different from the world. But, what is the cost of refusing to follow Christ?

That cost of refusing to follow Christ is far greater. We have one life, and it will pass. Only what we do for Christ will matter, so make it last. That thought causes me to examine my own life. How am I spending my time? Where am I putting my energy? What am I building? And, most importantly, am I living in a way that points people toward Jesus?

We Can’t Fight From the Darkness

One of the things I took away from the conference is that a man cannot expect to be effective in spiritual battle while intentionally living in sin. If we want God to use us, we must walk in obedience.

That doesn’t mean we will be perfect. We will stumble. We will fail. We will need to repent. But there is a difference between falling and getting back up through repentance and intentionally choosing to remain in darkness while expecting God to use us.

We must be willing to repent. We must believe. We must follow and we must obey. The moment we make the decision to repent, believe, and follow Jesus, we enter a spiritual battle. Jesus warned us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Jesus wants our families. He wants our marriages, our children, our finances. He wants our faith too, but ultimately, He wants our souls. That shouldn’t cause us to live in fear. It should cause us to become prepared.

Fear or Faith?

As men of God, we must not allow fear to control us. Fear can be crippling. Fear keeps people silent; it keeps men from leading. Fear convinces us that we’re not ready, not capable, or not qualified. Fear keeps Christians from reaching their full potential in Christ. Fear and faith cannot dwell in the same house. We have to decide which one will control us.

Will we allow fear to dictate our decisions or will we trust God and step forward in faith? God has not called us to be spectators; He has called us to follow Him.

Knowledge Isn’t Enough

One of my biggest personal realizations from the conference was this: I used to think knowledge was power. Now I realize activation is more powerful. We can attend conferences, read books, and listen to sermons. We can study Scripture, take pages of notes, and learn everything there is to learn about spiritual warfare; but knowledge without action doesn’t change much. God doesn’t simply call us to know His Word; He calls us to live it. We need to pray, to obey, and to repent. We need to forgive, to serve, to lead. We need to stand, to pray, and to obey. That’s activation!

Put On the Armor

Ephesians 6:10–18 gives us a powerful picture of the Armor of God. Scripture tells us to stand firm and put on what God has provided for us. We are given the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of the Gospel of peace. We are given the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And then there is prayer.

Prayer is not something we simply add to the end of the list. Prayer is how we communicate with God and depend upon Him in the battle. We can have the armor, but we have to put it into action. So, what ammunition do we have? The Word of God! God has already provided what we need, but a soldier who refuses to use his equipment isn’t prepared for battle.

Dying to the Flesh

Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. That means spiritual warfare isn’t only something happening around us. There is also a battle within us.

Every day we have a choice: Will I live according to my flesh or will I walk according to the Spirit? Being a soldier for Christ means dying to ourselves daily. It means surrendering our pride, our desires, our comfort. Give up our selfishness and our plans and say “Lord, use me.” A Godly man must be willing to surrender his life to God so that God can use his life for His purposes. Why Do We Expect It to Be Easy?

Another question from the conference made me think: Why do we expect to be treated better than Jesus was treated in this world? Jesus was rejected. He was mocked. He was persecuted. He suffered. So why should we expect following Him today to always be comfortable? If we truly belong to Christ, there will be times when standing for Him costs us something. The answer isn’t to retreat; the answer is to stand firm.

I Realized I Didn’t Go Alone

There was another realization I had after leaving the conference that was deeply personal to me. I realized that I hadn’t actually gone to the conference alone. I had invited two other Christian brothers to carpool with me. One was a man I had known personally. The other was someone I had invited through Facebook—someone I had never met before.

At the time, it seemed simple. Three men carpooling to a men’s conference. But afterward, I realized there was something much bigger happening. I wasn’t alone. The man I had never met before was my brother in Christ. The man I already knew was my brother in Christ. Then I began thinking about all the other men at the conference—men from more than 70 churches who had gathered because they had one thing in common: Jesus Christ.

They were my brothers. And if they are following Jesus, they are on my side. That realization changed how I thought about the battle. The enemy would love for us to believe that we are isolated. That our struggles are ours alone. That nobody understands. That we have to fight our battles by ourselves. But that’s not how God designed us.

We are part of the body of Christ. We have brothers who can pray with us, encourage us, challenge us, hold us accountable, and stand beside us when the battle becomes difficult. I went to the conference thinking I was going to learn about spiritual warfare. I left realizing something just as important: I have brothers in Christ standing with me. And so do you.

The man sitting next to you at church. The Christian you’ve known for years. The brother you’ve only just met. The man you haven’t met yet. If he belongs to Christ, he is your brother. We may come from different churches. We may have different backgrounds, different jobs, different experiences, and different stories. But when we follow Jesus Christ, we become part of the same family. We don’t fight alone.

So when the battle comes, don’t isolate yourself. Find your brothers. Pray together. Stand together. Encourage one another. Speak truth to one another. And when one man falls, don’t leave him on the battlefield. Help him back up.

One Life

I keep coming back to one simple truth: We have one life, and it will pass. When this life is over, what will matter?

The money? The possessions? The status? The accomplishments? The comfort? Or the things we did for Christ?

I don’t want to simply know about the battle. I want to be prepared for it. I don’t want to be a sleeping watchman. I don’t want to be a Christian who knows the Word but never activates it. I don’t want fear to keep me from becoming the man God has called me to be.

I want to put on the armor. I want to pray. I want to obey.

I want to walk in the Spirit. I want to die to my flesh.I want to stand for Christ. I want to encourage my brothers. And I want my life to count. The battle is at our door. So, men of God: Wake up! Get up! Get going! 

Pray and Obey

We may be in a spiritual battle, but we do not fight alone. We have Christ. We have His Word. We have prayer.

And we have one another!

So let us stand together, stay ready, and live our lives in such a way that when this life is over, we can look back and know that we gave everything we had for the One who gave everything for us.

Only what we do for Christ will matter. Make it last.

Respectfully,

David Gamboa