A Greater Victory than Iran

My wife and I rejoiced to see the incredible success of the joint Israeli-American military attack on one of the most evil regimes of history.

No one knows what will be happening between the time I write this and the time you read it, but it is clear that in our lifetimes, this is a significant opportunity for an evil regime to fall.  

We have close connections and relationships with Iranians and I have been speaking for many years about the incredible revival taking place in Iran. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Jesus movement in Iran has changed my own life and our ministry!

So what I’m about to say may sound surprising:

Every one of us has a chance to be a part of a greater military victory than anything that has happened or will happen in Iran!

Here is why I can confidently say that:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ 

The most important military battles fought on the battlefields of this earth do not compare to the one you and I can fight on our knees!

Make no mistake about it, these earthly battlefields and the spiritual battlefields often merge. I believe nothing short of demonic evil has driven and compelled this Iranian regime to slaughter Americans as well as people from almost every religion and many nations, and worst of all their own people by the thousands.

If we don’t realize the power of the spiritual war, then we are in danger of just being sideline cheerleaders, interested observers, and at worse know-it-all pundits. 

So as you watch the news and think and talk about what is happening in Iran, ask the Lord to take you to the spiritual battlefield. 

Ask the Lord how you can fight!

It has disturbed me for years that many believers give more significance to cable news than to the word of God!

During these critical days, ask the Lord what HE is doing in the midst of what we see happening.

For instance, the fall of the Iranian regime and the rise of an actual democracy in the ancient Persian empire could result in the greatest spiritual advance toward the Great Commission that we have seen in our lifetime. 

If you’re not aware of it, since the martyrdom of two Iranian pastors in 1994, Iranians have been flocking to Jesus.  It is likely the greatest movement of people toward Jesus in the history of the world. There are now millions of our brothers and sisters in Iran.

Think about it. What if they are suddenly free?  What will they do with their freedom?

This is what we should be praying for!  This is what we should be fighting for!

No one knows for sure what will happen, but here’s what I think will happen. 

Those that would lay down their lives for the Gospel under the Iranian regime will not choose comfort and political solutions alone once they are free. I believe they may become the greatest mission force we have ever seen to the hardest places to reach on this earth, going to the places where western missionaries have a very hard time reaching. 

So celebrate the fall of evil. Be thankful for the brave men and women in our military and intelligence communities that have brought all this about. And be thankful to our president for making such a hard, but I believe courageous decision. Put aside political wrangling for a moment or whatever else you might think about Donald Trump and celebrate the potential not only for millions to be free, but possibly for millions to hear the Gospel that otherwise never would.

I would encourage you to start right now as a warrior in this incredible spiritual battle that we are in. Start by praying this remarkable verse.:

“But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20‬:‭11‬ ‭

Pray that you will join the great Dread Warrior, Jesus, in His great victory. And pray that He will stand beside our brothers and sisters in Iran, and across the world who face untold challenges ahead in these days.

And pray that very soon we will finish the Great Commission that Jesus gave us 2000 years ago and see our Mighty Warrior coming again for all of us in glory.

That is the greatest battle of all.  The victory is ours.

Off we go to the front lines!

By John Avant, President of Passion Promise Ministries