"Born To Fight"
Youth Aflame Ministries – 4-12-2000

What is going on? School Shootings shock the nation. Our campuses have
become battlegrounds for the violent, taking their classmates hostage and
terrorizing entire schools. Why do seemingly normal students suddenly
become twisted in their thinking and choose to do such unthinkable acts?

There is a battle going on in the lives of your generation. Maybe you
were born for this. Every generation has qualities that characterize the
times in which they live, and this generation is no exception. I have heard
several "tags" that preachers have used for this new breed that God is
raising up including the "Lazarus Generation" and "Joshua Generation" which
is much more encouraging than Generation X, which could imply to the world
we have marked them off.

Lazarus came back from death. Joshua was a violent, bloody warrior
fulfilling Gods command. "X" is the Greek symbol used for Christ, which
means the anointed one. If death, blood, guts and anointed to conquer
typifies this generation, then I guess the tags I have heard are correct.

The problem we face is that so many young people are full of anger from
abuse, neglect and rejection. They do not know who their real enemy is.
They have no idea who they are supposed to be fighting. They explode into
the only world they know -- their school.

Know your true enemy!

 From the time we were born, we were taught to fight. Wipe out the bad guys and win the war! Every super-hero cartoon, every video game where the
characters fight one-on-one with demonically inspired creatures with
superhuman strength, every action film where the well-trained solider takes
on entire armies single-handedly, are all equipping young people for just
one task: Fight the enemy and win.

It is no wonder we see such outbreaks of mindless bloodshed when an entire
generation has had such images available on demand through the video-ready
society we have created. With the rise of the Internet, it seems that
anything goes.

A few years ago I heard of a young man who got in trouble with the government for putting plans for a nuclear weapon on the Internet. Your generation is smart, well-trained and ready to fight. They WANT to fight. They were BORN to fight. They are just fighting the wrong person and the wrong way. Who should they fight?

One of the most liberating revelations in a believer's life is when they
discover who their enemy really is.

”For our contest is not with human foes alone, but with the rulers,
authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world; that is, with the
spirit-forces of evil challenging us in the heavenly contest.”
- Ephesians 6:12 (Williams)

Jesus was the greatest fighter of all time. He went one-on-one with the
devil himself and dominated him with the Word of God. He mastered
conversations with religious people who tried to keep the masses in
bondage. He overcame every sickness, disease, weakness and effect of sin
and the devil that destroyed people bodies. He told demons where to go. Not
only that He told them WHEN to go and HOW to do it. Storms, stones, and
stupidity could not stop him. He brought people back to life. He conquered
death himself by dying on the cross and reappearing after conquering hell. 

Our challenge is not how can we pacify this violent breed of bloodthirsty
radicals to make them fit in to our comfort-driven society. Our challenge
is how do we channel their fighting instincts into a direction that will
destroy the works of the enemy, help hurting humanity, and make a
difference in their schools and lives?

3 IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR DIRECTION
TO YOUR DESTINY…

1) Communication:
Recognizing that the need to fight is built inside you, teenager, is the
first step. Open communication is built over a period of time, taking time
to listen is extremely important.

When a military platoon is on assignment in the field it relies on vital
information through its communications network in order to strategically
plan the next move. Forces can then be rallied to aid other units in coming
against the enemy in a much more effective way. When there are problems in the home, the first sign is usually a breakdown in communication.

If division gets into the home, we can lose our corporate effectiveness to
stand against the enemy and maintain a solid offensive against the enemy's
lies and attacks. For me, I cannot just talk a good talk, but I have to be
a living example in front of you. For example I cannot be watching
soaps, and "R" rated movies and then tell teenagers not to, and then in
turn expect holiness in your own house.

Good communication in the home is a network of positive experiences built
over a period of time; make life-building deposits through your words,
actions, and prayers. If you are a teen, communicate with your parents. In
the same way, parents should communicate with their teens. Now that may sound simplistic but it is a step in the right direction. God's direction.

2) Connecting:
Taking YOUR energy and directing it towards prayer, preparation and positive conquests in the spirit can help you get out of the flesh realm and into the adventure of spiritual reality.

In today's society most young people are being filled with movies,
television and Internet materials that only sow to the flesh. We
need to be trained to sow to the spirit realm depositing Gods Word,
spending time in prayer and fellowshipping with the right kind of people.
Then we can begin to reap from the spirit realm in terms of walking in
spiritual authority.

3) Reinforcements:
Doing in the spirit what you feel like doing in the natural will help maintain a victorious life. If you feel like fighting, instead spiritually fight the good fight of faith. Do you feel like destroying something? Tear down strongholds of deception. Are you having feelings of rebellion? Resist the devil and He will flee. The armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18 gives a
defense against specific areas of the enemies' lies. Attack deception with
the truth; fight condemnation with righteousness.

Armies are not built in a day and neither are spiritual warriors. We must
learn prayer, intercession, how to walk by faith and how to rescue your
friends out of the hands of the devil, who he wants to steal, kill and destroy. Doing spiritual warfare can be exciting because it is real life and you can win at it.

You were born to fight, not each other, but the enemy of all - satan. With
help from parents, leaders, pastors and teachers (and other teenagers) you
can become the generation of revival God is calling you to be. With the
proper spiritual leadership, this generation can be transformed from a
violent destructive force into highly effective swat team of devil booty kicking world changers.

Thank God you were born to fight!