Key Truths for Families - Who We Battle

TRANSCRIPT: Good morning, Five Minute Families. It’s good to be back with you this morning. For those of you new to hearing us, we are Jim and Kim Nestle with Clear View Retreat. If you want to learn more about our ministry, please check us out at clearviewretreat.org. We are continuing our series - Key Truths for Families - using Ephesians chapter 6 as our guide. We encourage you to read this passage with your family and discuss these many points together. Today, our focus verse is Ephesians 6:12 - “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” What do we see in the world today? Major headlines from around the globe are filled with strife and conflict with people battling against each other. Many times those conflicts are not on individual levels but caused by ideas, principles, and misinformation that distort our beliefs on who we are as people living in the world together. Some days I feel like David, strong and ready to take on the giant Goliath. Most days, however, I act like his brothers and other Israelites who cower before a taunting and brutish giant, forgetting that God is much bigger than what we see as huge. Is David’s fight against Goliath or is his fight against the breakdown of God’s truth and love? God’s greater story is that we fight against the breakdown of faith in the face of fear and persecution. The principalities and powers questioned the power of God, and so do we. It doesn’t take much for our beliefs to get off track and start heading in the wrong direction, especially when there is a plethora of influences that put the pressure against believing God’s truths and challenges our beliefs. These pressures sometimes come in the form of a giant, like Goliath, but more often, they are subtle and brought in by the world very slowly. So, how can we encourage each other for the battles ahead? 1. First, we must look for God's greate