This book was written to encourage those who work in the local church and have been abused so badly they are ready to give up the work the Lord has given them. It is also written to the ones who may be abusers and do not realize it. One can get so caught up in the work that losing site of who gets the glory is easily done. As I was praying one day in the spirit I heard these words, "Tell my people they are fighting in the wrong battles and losing the war." This is my attempt to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Friendly Fire

Fighting in the Wrong Battle and Losing the WarBy Joveeta Seals

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Joveeta Seals
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-1567-0

Contents

Purpose.....................................1Friendly Fire...............................5Love, What Is It?...........................27Check Yourself..............................35Rules of Engagement.........................43When Under Attack...........................57This is What you do.........................65The Battle Lost and Won.....................77May You Dance...............................93

Chapter One

Purpose

Friendly fire is when a member of your family, team, church member or anyone you knew well knocks you down with negative words or deeds. You were hurt and confused, the person you called friend, husband, child, or mother is the same one who harmed you. The person you called friend is the source of the problem. The one who should have protected you appeared to be enemy. You fight back with all the natural forces you have only to discover that the person you called friend was really trying to help you and now you have knocked down the wrong person. This is Friendly Fire.

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us." (NASB)

Jesus said, "These things I have spoke to you so that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcame the world." John 16:33 (NASB).

There is fighting in the church today just as it was when James wrote to the church. Why are you fighting one another? When we fight the person / persons on our team, we are fighting ourselves (the wrong battle and losing the war). This book is an attempt to remind the faithful of who the enemy is and to correctly indentify his works. Many people have been killed by friendly fire. Friendly fire is when someone on your team incorrectly identifies the enemy. You were flying high in the spirit so the Devil used a weak person to try to knock (flaming darts. Ephesians 6:16) you down with discouraging words. It hurts because you saw the person as family or friend. When the person becomes spiritual he/ she will discovered you were not the enemy, but a member on the same team, fighting to help them win. Study this book prayerfully and if you find you have been fighting the wrong battles, stop it. If you have been attacked wrongly rejoice because the Father is producing fruit in you.

Friendly fire is fighting in the wrong battle and losing the war. `Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign. Battles generally are well defined in duration, area and force commitment. Wars and military campaigns are guided by strategy, whereas battles take place on a level of planning and execution known as operational mobility.' (wikipedia.org)

In all wars, the group(s) experiencing the need to dominate other group(s) are unable and unwilling to accept or permit the possibility of a relationship of fundamental equality to exist between the groups who have opted for group violence (war).

Proverbs 20:3 (King James Version)

It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

If you are thinking about giving up on God do not do it. Read this book and be encouraged to march on to victory! This book is just a reminder

Friendly Fire

Lynn leaned back on the hard chair, tired after praying all night. In her heart, she knew God had heard her prayers, and she just wanted to get a few minutes to herself before she spoke to the very angry president of the choir. She had missed rehearsal to pray for a very ill baby, but the president could not understand why she missed another rehearsal. Lynn felt a call to pray, but the choir president's heart was with the choir.

The president yelled Lynn's name for the second time. Lynn jumped, looking into the glaring eyes of Sister Hynes. She fumed, "What are you doing? You think you are so much! You are nothing if you do not keep your word! You have fooled some of the church people but not me!" Sister Hynes screamed, "If you are so holy, why do you spend hours speaking in tongues and praying?"

Lynn's eyes filled with tears, and she said, "I give up. I am no longer in the choir. I can't take this!" She grabbed her oversized black bag from the floor and walked briskly toward the door. Lynn flung the door open and ran down the steps and to her car. The president watched Lynn as she sped out of the church parking lot. She turned herself around to meet the disapproving eyes of the other choir members.

The president stomped her foot, pushed past the choir members, and marched to the choir stand. The church was divided over the conflict between the prayer warrior and the choir president. Some felt the president had a right to be angry, while others thought prayer was more important than singing.

Lynn's husband was not pleased to see his unhappy wife. He thought real church folks were kind and always got along with one another. To him, Lynn had more salvation in her left toe than all the other church members had in their whole bodies, so he decided not to go back to the church.

And some are like the seed that land in the gravel. When they first hear the Word they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it (Mark 4:16–17 MSG).

Lynn's husband (a new convert) was not well grounded in the word, so his actions were understandable. Lynn should have had control over her emotions, so she could have explained to the president her actions. Yes, the president was out of order. She may have been stressed out, which may have been caused by the pastor asking her to produce a heavenly sound. We do not know what others are thinking or what they are going through, so it is good whenever possible to live at peace with them by placing ourselves in their shoes. Church work is important, but we must remember that the work we do is to glorify God, not ourselves. Why does the church submit to conflict? The apostle James gives several reasons why we have conflicts (Jas. 4).

He asked the church folks, "What is causing the quarrels and fights among you?" His answer:

1. They come from evil desires at war within. 2. They come from jealousy, wanting what you do not have. 3. They come from fighting to get what others have. 4. They come from a need to take it away from them.

The reason:

1. You do not have because you do not ask for it. 2. Or, if you do ask, you ask with the wrong motive. 3. Do not think it is easy to please God. 4. You do it for selfish reasons—to make yourself look good 5. You do it for pleasure of self.

Fighting in the church is not new. It's a recurring problem, but we do not have to take part in the wrong battle.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (Jas. 4:7–10).

1. Submit to God (present, put forward, surrender, give in, accept, resign yourself to). 2. Resist the devil (oppose, refuse to accept, defy, stand firm, refuse to go along with). 3. He will flee from you (run away, escape, take flight, run off). 4. Come near to God (praise and pray, listen for the Holy Spirit to direct you). 5. Wash your hands (repent to God and others). 6. Grieve, mourn, and wail (cry). 7. Humble yourself (meek, modest, self-effacing, and subservient). 8. God will raise you up.

"For it is God in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Phil 2:3 NIV).

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and John told the people Jesus was the Lamb of God, so many people left John to follow Jesus.

Read John 3:22–34.

"There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purifying" (John 3:25).

Jesus calls John a prophet in Matthew 17:12–13.

John denies he is a prophet in John 1:21.

John sees himself as a voice in the wilderness (John 1:23). Is he too humble to accept the title, or is he unsure of his role since he baptized Jesus and announced that Jesus is the Messiah?

John did not lift himself up (John 3:27–30).

John's disciples were jealous of the fact that Jesus had more disciples than John. It is very important that we do not become jealous of others who appear to have greater success. Jealousy can cause you to not tell the truth in an effort to upset or hurt another person. Jesus did not baptize anyone, but this did not stop John's disciples from saying that he did. A need for attention motivated by jealousy has caused much grief in the body of Christ.

And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him (John 1:26).

John's response to this was:

John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing, except that it has been given him from heaven" (John 1:27 KJV).

John answered the call to preach repentance, but the religious could not understand how a man dressed in lambskin had the right to baptize. He was a nobody. Had anyone seen him in the temple? He did not dress like a priest. Only the priest had the right to cleanse as far as they were concerned. Expect your authority to be challenged, but if God has called you to win souls, do it! It is not necessary that you have a title or know the right people. It is important that we give God the glory, pray, praise, read the word, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Take note: John had doubts about Jesus (Matt. 11:1–6).

John continued to preach, and he made Herod angry by saying Herod had committed adultery by marrying his dead brother's wife. He sent some of his disciples to question Jesus, "Are you the Christ?" Jesus replied by telling John the blind received their sight, the lame walked, and the gospel was preached to poor, as written in Isaiah 35. Jesus understood John needed to be encouraged. It is a good thing to take everything to the Heavenly Father in prayer, including your doubts and fears, for he is kind and loving, and he still heals the wounded.

When I was a young, the Holy Spirit led me to organize a youth choir in my local church. Now I could not hold a tune in a barrel and I did not play a musical instrument, but I was willing to obey God. The Holy Father is looking for someone he can use. He is not like man; you do not have to be well known, and your father does not have to be rich or a pastor for God to get the glory out of your life, although you can be a preacher's kid and be used by God!

The purpose of the choir was to bring young people from the streets so they could hear the gospel preached and be saved. I went to the pastor of the church and asked him if I could start a choir and hopefully we would sing about once a month in the general church service. I told him most of the young people were not members of a church and they did need to be saved. His answer was no. His belief was that only people who had given their lives to God could minister in the church. He thought God could not get glory from sinners singing about things they did not accept or understand. I did not argue with him. I just said, "Okay. I was just trying to do what the Lord told me to do."

As I turned to walk away, he stopped me and said, "If the Lord told you to do it, do it. But you will be responsible for how they act."

You see, if God gives you something to do, there is no need to fight or argue. Trust and obey, and God will bring it to pass. I did organize the choir, and this caused me to fast and pray much. Many of the young people were difficult to work with, and some of them had no respect for me. Through it all, I learned how to trust in God, and God anointed that choir. Some accepted Christ through the anointed singing. This choir became the main choir, and the pastor was very proud of them. The pastor inflicted many rules on me, which I had to enforce on the choir. I always thought it was an attempt to stop the work, but I obeyed the leader and God blessed the work.

The rules were mostly for the young ladies: no make-up; no keeping up with the latest fashions; the dresses had to be worn above the knees and not down to the tops of their shoes, the pastor was teaching not to be trendy. This was the age of the mini and the maxi). Many of the church members became jealous of the way God used me. You see when you give God the glory that he gives it back to you. I became very well respected in the church arena. Most of the young people accepted Christ as their savior, and many of their parents followed their children to church and were also saved.

As I got older and no longer worked with the youth choir, I wondered if any of them liked me. I moved from my hometown and had not seen most of them in years. I was invited to speak at church, and one the former choir members introduced me as a wonderful person who made church fun. She said I taught them how to live for God. I cried because I knew then that my labor was not in vain. I can understand why John the Baptist had some doubts. It is just human to re-think your work. Since that time, I have met many of the young people who now have families. They are still active in the church, teaching their children how to be saved. Some are pastors, teachers, and preachers, and yes, some of them still sing in choirs.

My mother was a single parent when it was not the in thing to do, but she raised four children with the teaching of Jesus. You see, God can use anybody. Do not allow the natural to block your spiritual self. The gift in you is for the service of others, a person who is called of God is called to service. Trials come to make us strong, to show us ourselves, to teach us humility, and to give us a sound relationship with God.

What leads to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fighting) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? (Jas. 4:1 AMP).

The subject of fighting in the wrong battles and losing the war appears to be negative, because the ones who call themselves holy are more than conquers according to Romans 8:37: "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us" (NASB).

Jesus said, "These things I have spoke to you so that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcame the world" (John 16:33 NASB).

There is too much fighting in the church today, just as it was when James wrote to the church. Why are you fighting one another? When we fight the people on our team, we are fighting ourselves (the wrong battle and losing the war). This book is an attempt to remind the faithful of who the enemy is and to indentify his works. Many people have been killed by friendly fire. Friendly fire is when someone on your team incorrectly identifies the enemy (because you were flying high in the spirit), so they shoot you down with words to discourage. Then they discover you were not the enemy but a member of the same team, fighting to help them win. The faithful can become jealous of the gift in others. We need to learn the gift is for the church for the perfecting of the church. We need to fight the good fight so we will have the ability to identify the enemy and defeat him in every area of our lives. There are too many giving up on the church because of all the in-fighting or friendly fire.

Are you walking in defeat? Many Christians today walk with their heads down. They are sick, lonely, discouraged, and beat down. Some say they are following all the rules of the church, but it is not working for them. Some turn from the church to search for happiness and success, but they have not found inner peace. They do not know the joy of walking in the spirit. There is a need for healing in the body of Christ, because some wounded people wound others and never reach their potential in Christ. A wounded dog will bite the person trying to take care of him. We have to be very wise when talking to hurting people. We may find them hard to work with, but they have been wounded so many times they are in shell shock. They are finding it hard to know who the enemy is. They have serious trust issues.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Friendly Fireby Joveeta Seals Copyright © 2011 by Joveeta Seals. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.