If you are a believer, the devil has declared war against you. It’s not a conventional war waged with armies you can see and easily identify. It’s a war of terrorism.

It’s the war of the flea.

In a war of the flea, a small, relatively weak enemy attacks a much larger, stronger foe by strategically inflaming and irritating him. The purpose of the attacks isn’t to overwhelm and defeat the foe. (Terrorists know they can’t defeat the military forces of an entire nation, for example, by killing small groups of civilians.) The purpose is to get them so bitten with fear that they begin to self-destruct.

Fleas can’t kill a dog. But if they keep biting, they might eventually convince him to scratch himself to death.

How do you keep that from happening? How do you, as a believer, win the war of fear the devil is waging against you? How do you win the war of the flea?

By dousing yourself inside and out with the one substance the devil can’t stand—the love of God. If you will keep yourself in the love of God, the Bible says the wicked one won’t be able to touch you (I John 5:18). Love will cause the fleas to flee!

There’s really nothing surprising about that. After all, love is the most powerful component and No. 1 priority of the Christian life. It’s only by walking in love that we truly come to know—have an intimate relationship with—God. “For love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (I John 4:7-8).

What’s more, love is the key to answered prayer. The Bible tells us that when we believe on Jesus and keep the command of love, we receive whatever we ask from God (I John 3:22).

Clearly, in prayer and in life, love is our mightiest weapon and our greatest defense against the forces of evil.

It’s Not Enough Just to Love the Good Guys

For that weapon to work properly, however, it’s not enough for us just to love the Lord and people who treat us kindly. God calls us to love everyone—even those who intentionally hurt us. Jesus said:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:43-48).

That can be a tough pill to swallow, especially these days when there are seriously mean people out there. Enemies who will kill you just because you’re a Christian. Enemies who will maim the innocent for no good reason. Personally, I sometimes find that loving those kinds of people is hard.

Back in July 2005, for example, I was getting ready to preach on the subject of love when I heard on the news that a group of terrorists had bombed several subway trains and buses in London. Honestly, when I first heard the report I was angry and I didn’t much care to love those terrorists. So I had to have a discussion with the Lord about it.

“Father, Your Word says I should love my enemies,” I said. “I’m willing to do it and I know the Holy Spirit will make me able. But right now, I’m mad at the folks who did this and I need You to explain something to me. Am I just supposed to pray blessings on these guys for killing a bunch of people?

“That doesn’t seem quite right to me. Don’t we have any recourse? Doesn’t that leave us vulnerable to more attacks?”

Quicker than you could snap your fingers, the Lord’s answer came to me. No, it doesn’t leave you vulnerable at all, He said. Vengeance is mine; I will repay (Romans 12:19).

Stop Criticizing and Start Praying

Initially, those words didn’t encourage me much. After all, I’ve noticed over the years that the Lord is relatively easy on people. He also moves more slowly than I’d like. And that morning I thought He should get those terrorists immediately. I would have preferred some fast action.

As I continued to fellowship with the Lord about it though, He assured me He has contingencies in His plan that allow for such fast action. He’s made provision for such perpetrators of violence to be dealt with—quickly and firmly.

But that provision does not include us hating and resenting them. No, He told us to forgive them and pray for them. He said we’re not to hold anything against them. Why did He tell us that? Because unforgiveness and strife will damage our spiritual system.

The minute we start hating people, we give the devil access to our hearts—our innermost sanctuary. Once he’s in there, he messes up everything. He disrupts our communication and fellowship with the Lord. He brings in all kinds of turmoil and fear. As James 3:16 says, where strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

How does God intend to deal with harmful, dangerous people?

Through the civil authorities. That’s why Romans 13 says:
 

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake (verses 1-5).

“Yeah, I know the Bible says that. But the government is doing a lousy job!” someone might argue. “They’re not catching these guys. They’re always too busy politicking and looking out for their own interests.”

Then stop criticizing and complaining about them and start helping them. Start doing what the Bible says to do and pray, “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (I Timothy 2:2).

Pray for the president. Pray for the FBI and the CIA. Pray for military leaders and police officers. Pray for Congress and the Cabinet and every other government official the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. God has ordained those offices and He’ll anoint the people in them to swing the sword of justice for the public good. But to do that, He needs believers who will lift them up in prayer instead of tear them down with criticism.

Hold Your Breath and Jump In!

“Will my prayers really do any good?” you may ask.

They will if you’re walking in love. Because, as we’ve already seen, when you believe in Jesus and keep the commandment of love, you receive whatever you ask from the Lord.

To successfully love the civil authorities, however, you may have to turn off some of the television news you’ve been watching. You may have to stop reading some newspapers. Most of them present information in a way that’s meant to irritate you and incite your anger. They subtly slant the facts in a way that draws you into strife.

They leave you feeling like a dog with fleas, scratching away at yourself on the inside because you’re upset with some politician or political party, some government, nation or special interest group. Then, if you don’t watch out, your irritation will spread. You’ll find yourself angry with someone at the office or at church. So you scratch a little more. Then you get crosswise with a member of your family. So you scratch a little more.

If you don’t do something about it, eventually you’ll be completely miserable. You’ll be like the guy my dad once told me about who was plagued with a terrible skin condition. The doctors had no remedy for whatever it was that ailed him and for months he itched so badly he almost lost his mind.

Because he worked as a ranch hand, the man occasionally helped drive herds of sheep through a dipping bath full of chemicals strong enough to kill any bug or germ that might be hiding in the wool. That sheep dip had DDT in it. It was strong stuff.

One day, after they’d gotten all the sheep through, the man with the itch stood straight up, yanked his shirt off and dunked himself in that dipping bath. He came out screaming, hollering and running in circles because it stung so bad. But after about an hour, he was all right. And best of all, the itch was gone.

That’s what the people of God should do. We should go through a Holy Spirit dipping bath and get rid of all the demons that have been hanging on to us. We should get ourselves so saturated in love that they run screaming in every direction. We should dunk ourselves in the Word of God that says:
 

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).

Sure, it might sting a little at first. It might be hard to forgive some people who’ve done us wrong. It might be hard to release all bitterness and start loving people who’ve hurt us. But we need to do it anyway.

Why? For Christ’s sake.

For the sake of the anointing. We need that anointing intact. We need it to guide us and protect us in these dangerous days. Without it, we’ll fall prey to the devil’s devices. With it, we will be more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

We will shake off every strategy of evil. We will live in victory. And we will win the war of the flea.