Unseen Battle (eBook)

Jonathan Klein (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
152 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-7400-3 (ISBN)

Infos

You are at war! Your enemy, Satan, is relentlessly after you and everyone around you with one goal - destruction. This war came to a 16-year-old in the form of tragedy, leading to depression and a pit of despair. Yet, in the darkest of places, Jesus Christ was there, bringing His redemption and His light to overcome it all. Learn how you can prepare yourself for the war you are in and the battles that are ahead of you with 'The Unseen Battle.'

All I am is who God has made me to be-nothing more, nothing less. He has made me a writer, father, husband, and much more. Now, He has made me one of His authors, called and commissioned to zealously wield my pen by His direction alone.

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You are at war! Your enemy, Satan, is relentless. His schemes are many, his tools are deceptive, and his ways are false. He is at your door more than you know. He has many at his command to wage war against you, your family, and all those around you with one goal: destruction. Read how such a war came to an unprepared, unsuspecting 16-year-old in the form of tragedy and depression. See how Jesus Christ redeemed this tragedy, pierced the darkest places with His light, and more. Learn how you can prepare yourself for the war you are in and the battles that are ahead of you with "e;The Unseen Battle."e;

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1

WOUNDED

What are wounds? Merriam-Webster defines it as:

“1a: an injury to the body (as from violence, accident, or surgery) that typically involves laceration or breaking of a membrane (such as the skin) and usually damage to underlying tissues

b: a cut or breach in a plant usually due to an external agent

2: a mental or emotional hurt or blow

3: something resembling a wound in appearance or effect especially: a rift in or blow to a political body or social group”1

Wounds are not just physical. They can be mental (of the mind); they can be emotional (of the heart); and they can be communal (within relationships). Yet, at the core of wounds is injury and subsequent damage, regardless of whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

Now that we have defined wounds, we have to ask a question: what wounds do you have? This is paramount to know, as the enemy knows your wounds (perhaps better than you even do) and he will use them to cause more pain. He doesn’t want you healed. He wants these wounds to remain open so he can prod them. He wants to make them a chain that he can tug at will, leading you toward destruction. Yet, there is hope.

To the world it is folly, but to those in Christ Jesus it is power (1 Corinthians 1:18). In Christ’s power, chains break and fall with a melody of freedom that resounds so violently that the gates of Hell shake. Why? Because a soldier of Christ, unhindered and unified with their Master and Savior, is a soldier that Hell is afraid of. Further, an army of such soldiers unified with Christ and with one another is an army whose marching shakes the very gates of Hell.

To be clear here, the enemy and his forces aren’t scared of you, or me, or us; they are scared of the One beside, behind, and in front of us. They are scared of the Spirit that resides in us. They are scared of faith that obeys ALL that God commands. They are scared of a pure and spotless bride (the intended state of the Church). They are scared of individuals and a collection of individuals that follow God fully, because those individuals take ground and tear down their strongholds in Jesus’ name while the enemy watches powerlessly.

Not sounding like a “fool’s hope” anymore, is it? Definitely not. However, the enemy is ultimately after hope. And he will use your wounds against you. What’s more is that our wounds, especially the emotional, mental, and spiritual, can become core wounds. Core wounds are wounds of heart, mind, and soul that drive us negatively (even though the world would say it is a positive effect). They are wrong. A wound that drives is a wound that needs healing. A wound that drives is a wound the enemy can control, similar to reigns that one would use to direct a horse.

To help illustrate this, I am going to recount how the enemy used a core wound against me to (1) get an arrow past my shield of faith at an early age and (2) pressure my shield of faith in such a way that it shattered, leaving me completely open to every arrow he could send my way. As you will read, he didn’t give me any quarter. I was shown no mercy. I was berated underneath a constant barrage of arrows. The results were devastating. The subsequent wounds were uncountable. And it started with a core wound developed at the age of ten.

CORE WOUNDS

In the summer of 2000, I was playing my favorite sport—soccer. During a statewide soccer tournament for my age group, I was wounded by what would come to be known as my first and only core wound—failure. How?

We made it to the championship game. I was excited to play against the best my age group had to offer in the state. More than that, I was hungry for gold. It was first place or bust in my mind. Silver was a consolation prize, not victory at all. What ten-year-old thinks that way? A competitive one. Such a philosophy would cost me greatly years afterward.

It was a great game. Back and forth. Low scoring. High octane. Going down to the wire. With less than a minute remaining, we found ourselves in a breakaway with three of us charging down the field with just the goalie to beat. I was on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. The one in the middle had the ball. As this individual charged down the field with every option available to him, he decided to shoot. And wouldn’t you know it? It careened off the left post and fell harmlessly out of the bounds. The final whistle blew moments after. We were headed to overtime. We went through overtime with no scoring. Then we headed into a shoot-out. We lost. Badly.

I took it harder than expected. I thought, “Why didn’t he pass me the ball?” The game was won with unselfish play. It was lost with a selfish one. In the subsequent years to the follow, loss would lead to less questions about what others did wrong and more about what I did wrong, specifically in the form of a question—“What could I have done better?”

You see, I left this game a little upset with my teammate for not making the right play, but more upset at “all” the plays that I didn’t make. All the missed shots. All the errant passes. This would soon invade every sport I played, culminating in losing sleep after every loss and visually replaying all the mistakes I made.

Core wounds have a way of sneaking up on you. Often, we don’t even know they exist. That is where the enemy wants them to remain. In the shadows. In his domain. On the other hand, God wants them brought into the light to heal and to set free. I didn’t see this core wound until my mid-twenties, more than a decade later. It was at this time, with the core wound being brought to light, that the Lord healed it. During this gap of more than a decade, the enemy used this wound often, particularly in the year 2006.

BROKEN

The year 2006 started with an injury. In the blink of an eye, my heel was shattered, sports were gone, and my identity was shaken. How? A few things to know about me. I grew up in the church as a preacher’s kid. Yes, all the stereotypes are true. Meaning some of my first memories were at church. This is the place where I learned about Jesus, whom I accepted as my Savior and Lord at the ripe age of four and a half. My first love was Jesus, followed closely by soccer. From an early age my identity was rooted in faith and sports. Fast-forward to the year 2006, and Jesus and sports had completely solidified as primary identity constructs, with one starting to take control—sports—taking the lead with a 60/40 split. What this story recounts are the end results of what happens when both shatter.

While soccer was my first sports love, it was followed closely by basketball as I entered middle school. It became a bigger deal as a result of moving to a mountain town where there weren’t many grass parks, let alone a grass backyard to play. However, there was a flat patch of dirt near our house with a basketball hoop, a park with a concrete basketball court, and a gymnasium at school. Plus, there wasn’t a school soccer team. The environment changed the sport, so I put all my effort into becoming a basketball player. Turns out, minus the height issues (five feet ten inches on a good day), I was pretty good. In fact, as a sophomore, I made varsity. Full disclosure, it was at a 400-person high school, but still, this was typically not the norm, even at this small school.

I was sixteen years old at the time. Sports couldn’t be going better. What could go wrong? Loads. The start of the season went up and down for me, resulting in relegation to junior varsity for a game. Such relegation was extremely motivating (nicely done, coach!). All I wanted to do was dominate the game. I wanted to prove to the coach and to my teammates that there was a reason that I made varsity. I wanted not just to earn my spot back but to solidify my spot without a doubt.

THE GAME

I was also stoked to play against fellow sixteen-year-olds instead of a bunch of eighteen-year-olds that were typically stronger and faster than me. The results, after playing through three quarters: 20 points, almost 10 assists, and a litany of steals. The game could not have been going better. Then the fourth quarter started, and I continued to score, pass, and steal my way toward a triple-double (i.e., double-digits in three categories—scoring, passing, and stealing). As I thought I had secured this triple-double with a steal, I was flying down the court, pulled off a crafty dribble move, leading to a two-on-one fast break. I pressed and challenged the opposing player at the rim. I thought I could outjump the opposing player who happened to be much taller and stronger than me. This might be the biggest basketball error of my life. We were up by double-digits, and I could have set up another teammate. Instead, I challenged him at the rim and was subsequently shoved at the peak of my jump, almost three feet in the air. I immediately went from vertical to completely horizontal, resulting in my body being almost six feet in the air. As I fell, my left heel hit the ground first, then both my hands, then the rest of my body. The crowd suddenly became silent as I remained on the gymnasium floor for several moments. I didn’t think anything was wrong. I got up. Shook it off. And stepped to the free throw line. After making both my free throws, solidifying an incredible stat sheet, I tried to walk back on defense and was unable to. The coach took me out and tried to wrap my ankle so I could continue. I was unable to walk without extreme pain. When I got home, I took my shoe off and was appalled at the size...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.1.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-7400-3 / 9798350974003