Weapons, Ammo, and the United States/Canadian Border

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17, NKJV)

Yesterday we crossed the line that border the United States and Canada. When crossing borders, there are certain items that must be declared, i.e. fruit, vegetables, pets, guns, and ammunition. 

The first time I crossed the U.S./Canadian border back in 1994 I was aware of the items I was to declare; however, I had overlooked a handful of spent (used/empty) shells that was in the ashtray of my car. 

In 1994, my friends and I went target shooting almost every weekend. It was not uncommon for ammunition of any kind (along with hand guns, rifles, etc) to be in my car. I had gone to great lengths to insure all weapons had been removed from my car. But it was so common for ammunition to be in my car that I completely overlooked the spent shells even though they were in plain sight. I was so familiar with weapons and ammunition, that I didn't "see" what was in plain open sight.

I pulled right up to the border (with an ashtray full of empty shells) as if I owned the place, completely confident I had everything in place and would pass through the border without incident. My confidence was quickly snuffed out as my car was surrounded by five (yes, count them, five) border officers. I quickly noticed the difference in how officers surrounded my car but not any other vehicles.

I asked what I had done wrong as I was treated with "much suspicion". I was asked to step inside as the officers began to search every area of my car (under the hood, underneath, in every crack they could find) as well as my purse, every bag, and every box I had with me. I was at the border for hours and my belongings were searched three times.

Yesterday's border crossing was quite a bit, let's just say, less eventful. We pulled up to the gate, the officer asked for our passports, asked us how long we would be in Canada, asked what our destination was, then said, "Be safe and have a great trip." Two minutes….two minutes is a lot less than three hours. One officer…one officer is a way less intense situation than five officers.

Yesterday's border crossing was way smoother because I wasn't "carrying ammo" that I had become unaware of, even though everyone else around me could see it.

There are similarities in spiritual weapons.  

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12, NKJV)

We must to be vigilant against spiritual weapons. Grief, sadness, suppressed anger, frustration, can all be weapons. We must be vigilant to insure we aren't "carrying ammo" (hidden or plain open sight). We must be Spirit led (Galatians 5:16) and immediately recognize when a weapon has been formed against us in order to rise up and declare, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper or stand! This is my heritage! I am a child of God, I call out Abba Father! God loves me! Crying may endure for a night, but joy-joy-joy comes in the morning! God loves me! God…loves…me. God. Loves. Me."

And then…we…dance!

Most loving, most gracious, most faithful Heavenly Father, thank You for Your life giving, life changing, Word! It is a lamp unto my feet and a light-light-light unto my way! Thank You for Your unfailing love. Thank You for loving me so much, You sent Your one and only Son to rescue me. Thank You for leading me by Your precious Holy Spirit and showing me when weapons have been formed against me and for teaching me to rise up and fight! I fight for every reader right now and declare they immediately recognize when a weapon has been formed against them. I pray they immediately turn to Your Word and fight their way through each and every circumstance! In the name of Jesus, I declare them made whole!

As always, we love to hear from you! How have you used God's Word to fight off weapons that have been formed against you?

Isaiah 54:17

Romans 8:15

John 3:16

Psalm 30:5