Spiritual warfare :: Gift Bundle

These three products each have a very deep significance to my heart, and were created as an outflow of what the Lord was teaching me in the realm of prayer.  This gift bundle includes:

~ One Battlefield unisex tee  (52/48 cotton/poly) — front design: "know your battlefield" + back design: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12"   

~ One "stand in the gap" hand lettered sticker 

~One "open my eyes" floral lettered sticker

Here's a summary of the scriptural meaning behind each of these designs...

:: "Know your battlefield" is a phrase that the Lord laid on my heart when I was learning how to see situations + people through HIS eyes, and not through the lens of hurt and frustration.  He taught me what it truly means to walk out "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but...against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."  As I truly began to see life through the lens of the spiritual realm, I realized that though I surrounded by evil + darkness in this world, "people" aren't what I am meant to fight.  It is the enemy of our souls - Satan - who is behind many of the atrocities we see happening, and that is where our warfare is meant to take place.  As children of the Most High God, we have been given authority OVER the enemy by Jesus' power, yet he seeks to distract us by causing us to divide and fight against one another rather than against him.  If he can keep us from understanding our rightful position in Christ, then we will never truly resist him.  There is nothing more threatening to Satan than a Christian who actually lives like one.  May we truly know our battlefield — our first and foremost battlefield is spiritual, not physical.   

::  "stand in the gap" is derived from Ezekiel 22:30, which says "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one."  Yes, the Lord is a God of justice, but He is also a God of mercy — and His mercy triumphs over judgement.  Though sin must be judged in the end, the Lord is so long-suffering with us, and is constantly offering us opportunity after opportunity to repent so that He can extend mercy + life to us.  The Lord is also seeking intercessors — those who are willing to stand in prayer on behalf of those who do not know how to fight for themselves.  Those who are deceived, walking in darkness, and living in sin.  In the story in Ezekiel, sin had to be judged because He is a holy God, but He was extending every possible mercy because His heart is for repentance, not destruction.  But when He looked for an intercessor, no one was found who was willing to stand on behalf of the land + ask the Lord for mercy.  Therefore, destruction came.  When the Lord looks for people to stand on behalf of our land, our family, our friends — will He find us ready?

:: "open my eyes" is derived from 2 Kings 6:15-17, which says " When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."  Our vision + understanding as humans is so limited, and we often give into fear + discouragement because we judge situations by what "we see", rather than trusting that the Lord is doing a work that we cannot yet see.  When we think the Lord is not moving, He is doing more than we could even imagine.  When we are faced with a mountain of impossibility, our God is SO much greater.  There is none who can stand against Him.  Just like Elisha prayed over his servant, I began to make this the prayer of my own heart as I asked the Lord to please "open my eyes".  As I walked through situations that seemed to take me under + I couldn't see any bit of restoration or beauty on the horizon, I would ask the Lord to open my eyes to see that my mountain was actually surrounded by "horses and chariots of fire".  The Lord was working when I could not see + He was fighting on my behalf each time my knees hit the ground in prayer.