Category: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV

[14] But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. [15] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, [16] to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, equated the Church to an aroma or fragrance to others. To God, we are the aroma of Christ, among those who are being saved and perishing. Then Paul goes on to say to one a fragrance from life to life and to the other a fragrance of death to death. Did you notice that Paul changes the words he uses depending on who he’s speaking in regards to?

First, he starts with “aroma” (euōdia) to God, then when he talks about how we are to other people he changes to “fragrance” (osmē). Now, aroma (euōdia) means a sweet smell, appeasement, incense offering, or offering, but fragrance (osmē) only means smell, scent, odor, fragrance, or perfume. Why does it matter?

To God, we give the aroma of an appeasing, sweet-smelling incense offering. Throughout the Law of Moses, the Israelites were commanded to bring a sacrifice to the LORD to appease His commanded to bring a sacrifice to the LORD to appease His wrath because of their sin. When Jesus died He took the sin of the world upon him and killed sin in Himself. Then He took that sin far far away to Hell and when He rose on the third day, He gave us the hope of our resurrection to come.

When we are baptized, we are baptized into His death and given the aroma of Jesus’ sacrifice to the LORD God. And just as some perfumes are sweet to some and stink to others so are we who are in Christ. We carry that aroma with us wherever we go. So, to others who have that same aroma smell a sweet fragrance while others do not.

This is why the world hates us. This is why before we even meet people, some despise us. This smell dwells and communicates in the spiritual realm. Our spirit can sense and even communicate with other people’s spirit. Its not you, yourself, the world hates but the aroma of the one dwelling inside of you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Sense The Aroma.

¹³ For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ~ Romans 2:13

Rain doesn’t fall on empty ground and then magically bear fruit. Fruit only bears fruit after the rain falls on the prepared land … Revival doesn’t come to those who merely listen to good preaching. It comes to those who obey the voice of God.

Therefore, we must be doers of the word, and not hearers only, [and thus] deceive ourselves (James 1:22). It’s not enough to sit in a pew every Sunday and nod in agreement. It’s not enough to sing the songs and clap your hands. It’s not enough to ease your conscience with religious routines.

We can talk about revival with our mouths while resisting it in our hearts. We can sing about fire falling while keeping the altar of our lives cold and empty. But unless we humble ourselves, repent, and obey, revival will never come (2 Chronicles 7:14). We must yearn for it. Long for it. We must hunger and thirst after it. We must forsake our mediocre Christian life.

Jesus is coming back, and He’ll be looking for something … You had better know what He is looking for. It’s not a game. And it’s not a joke. It’s not a vacation. It’s eternity! We are laborers in God’s vineyard. We are workers in His grain field. Therefore, we had better start laboring.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Begin To Work.

[12] Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. [13] But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. [14] Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” ~ Daniel 10:12-14^NIV

When Daniel was in the land of Persia under the reign of the pagan leader his prayers were held up by spiritual beings in the heavenly realms that had authority over the land because of the king. Paul tells us to pray for our leaders and those in authority over us so that we have peaceful lives living in all godliness and holiness (I Timothy 2:1-2).

Therefore, when there is a president or leader in office that aligns with your views, it’s not the time to back off or relax. It’s time to push in because it’s at that time that we have more opportunity to get our prayers answered.

Dear LORD, please guide the hand of the leader of our nation and those who make the laws and judge our people. Please open their eyes to Your Truth and soften their hearts to things of Your Kingdom. Direct their paths that they might not seek evil but chase righteousness. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. 

It was now late at night. Jesus had just eaten. He had washed the disciples’ feet. He had instituted the LORD’s supper. They had sang a hymn on the way to the Mount of Olives, and now He was on the Mount of Olives. I never really thought about it before, but the LORD didn’t sleep His last night before this death in less than 24 hours.

Think about it. If it was your last night, what are you doing? Many would say all the things they hadn’t done that they could do in that last night.” Others say they would make sure their family knew they loved them.

Think about it for a second. Jesus did none of that. Jesus spent His last night before His death with His disciples preparing them for what for what was to come and in prayer to His heavenly Father. He didn’t go see His mother. He didn’t go see His siblings. He prepared His disciples and prepared Himself for what was to come.

How many of us would spend the last night of our lives on earth forsaking our freshly desires? I’m sure Jesus would’ve loved to be with His mother reassuring her it was all going to be okay. I’m sure He was exhausted and could do with a good nap.

Think about it. He was stressed and just spent the previous night and day preparing His disciples for the future. All of that would stress anyone out. It would cause anyone’s body to be exhausted, yet He didn’t sleep. He spent the night preparing. Jesus forsook the needs and desires of the flesh to tend to the desires and needs of the Spirit. Jesus understood His call. He understood His call.

A weary body can be dealt with, but a weary spirit, that’s something else.

Batman

Dear LORD, I’m sorry for all of the times I’ve put the desires of my flesh above the needs of my spirit. Thank You for never leaving me nor forsaking me. Please help me to love You with all my heart, soul, and mind. Help me to pick up my cross and follow You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

 

Exodus 7:10-13 NIV

[10] So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. [11] Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: [12] Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. [13] Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and gave him a sign that the LORD had spoken to them. Aaron took his staff, threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. This didn’t impress Pharaoh, as he understood that the enemy also had power. So, he called in his magicians, and they did the same thing by their magic arts.

I honestly think the scene from The Prince of Egypt truly does a great job embodying that moment. The chief priests and magicians came in the power of like 20+ gods, but Moses (and Aaron) came in the name of only one. The chief priests and magicians were so caught up in trying at their own power and authority over Moses and Aaron that they didn’t even realize that their serpents were swallowed up by the one serpent.

It truly doesn’t matter how many gods you come in the name of. It doesn’t matter how important you believe you are. There is only one God and He alone has all the power and all the authority. Darkness may be able to mimic certain things He does, but never can they truly mimic the power. The prince of Egypt shows but two serpents, but I believe that their were more than just two high priests and magicians standing over Moses and Aaron taunting them with their staff that has now turned into a serpent.

And Aaron’s staff ate each and every one of them. Darkness may be able to imitate the appearance of God, but it can never Imitate His power. There is only one God and only one name by which we can be saved. The world can try to duplicate or imitate salvation, peace, love, joy, etc. but these things can truly only be found in the LORD.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the time that I sought the world to fill me instead of you. Please forgive me for all the times I didn’t go in your power but tried to do it in my own. Please open my eyes so that I may see that it is You and You alone that holds the power and authority. Help me to seek You and Your Kingdom and my own. Help me to seek You, oh LORD, and not the things of this world that are mere temporary imitations of the real gifts You have promised me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” ~ Exodus 5:1-2

A new Pharaoh had risen to power in Egypt during the years that Moses had spent in Midian. When Moses and Aaron present their case before him, the very first thing Pharaoh says to them is “Who is the LORD?” Let that sink in for a second. Pharaoh wasn’t just saying, “explain to me who your God is because I have never heard of Him.” Pharaoh is saying, “I don’t care who your God believes he is. Who is He to command me to let Israel go? Does He not know who I am?” Keep in mind that Pharaoh wasn’t just a regular king. His magicians turned their staffs to serpents, water to blood, and even called up frogs on the land just as Aaron had done, so Pharaoh knew that he and his gods had some form of power. The problem was that Pharaoh’s pride didn’t allow him to hear out the God of Israel. He didn’t feel the need to take a chance on hearing what the GOD of gods had to say to him.

Today is no different. We have those in power who enslave and oppress the people of God. We have people who don’t even want to acknowledge or give a single second to the LORD God Almighty. And, much like Pharaoh, God then turns them over to their own hearts’ desires. A heart that desires nothing of God, but only hates Him and His people.

But just as Pharaoh was brought low and humbled before the LORD, so will those who refuse to listen to the Words of the LORD and refuse to let the people of God go. Their slavery and oppression don’t always look blatantly like slavery and oppression, especially here in the West. Today, that slavery and oppression are more times than not, found in the spiritual form of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Our average college students, according to a study a few years ago, have the same anxiety levels as someone who was hospitalized and placed in an asylum less than 70 years ago.

The Church we are today is very much oppressed and enslaved. It feels like pastors are being exposed and falling from grace every other day. Well-known Church people are falling victim to suicide’s lies. And what does the world continuously say to anyone who would dare suggest Jesus as freedom? “Who is the LORD that we should obey His voice?” But just as Pharaoh was humbled, so will the world be humbled in our generation, but only when His people who are called by His name will humble themselves, repent of their sins, and cry out to the LORD for help.

Dear LORD, I’m sorry for all the times I have accepted defeat and allowed myself to remain enslaved because it felt to hard or too impossible to see a victory. Please forgive me. Please cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Please hear my cry, oh LORD, and send a deliverer. Send someone who can speak on our behalf so that we might be freed from this present darkness. Please help me to learn to pick up my spiritual armor and fight this spiritual battle that I cannot avoid nor can I ignore. I pray that You would always be with me and guide me throughout the rest of my days. Help me to fulfill what You once told Peter that when I turn back to You, I will help strengthen my fellow Church members. Thank You, LORD, for never giving up on me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

[10] When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”  ~ Exodus 2:10^NIV

The people of Israel had dwelt alongside the Egyptians peacefully for 30 years. Joseph, one of the Hebrews, had helped save Egypt from the earth-wide famine. But the new king of Egypt didn’t care about any of that. Joseph himself meant nothing to him, so when he saw how the people of Israel began to flourish in the land, irrational fear began to seep into his heart, and he began oppressing the people of Israel, putting slave masters over them. His fear of them growing more powerful and too great was not eased, as the more he oppressed them, the more they grew in number.

When he saw slavery wasn’t enough, he had the Hebrew midwives kill the male boys at birth, but his plan failed as the Hebrew midwives would not do this wicked request, and instead, the people continued to grow.

Then Pharaoh called for all the Hebrew boys born to be thrown into the Nile. One of the Hebrew mothers hid her newborn son for three months, but when she could no longer hide him, she put him in a basket and set him among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby along the riverbank of the Nile and adopted him. His sister, Miriam, who was watching, spoke to Pharaoh’s daughter and was able to arrange for their mother, Jochebed, to nurse him and even be paid for it. Once he was weaned, Moses was brought back to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son, and she named him Moses.

I want you to notice that everything Pharaoh did in order to destroy Israel, did the opposite, and the Nile River, which he tried to use to destroy the baby boys of Israel, was used in order to bring the deliverer to safety and even give him a place in Pharaoh’s own house. If Johebed had not put Moses in the basket and set him among the reeds of the bank of the Nile, Pharaoh’s daughter would have never found him. And if his sister had not stayed to see what would happen to him, she would’ve never been able to suggest their mother to nurse him on behalf of Pharaoh’s daughter.

God has plans for all of our lives, but if we do not follow His guiding hand in faith, He will use someone else. But if we do, He will use what the Devil meant for evil and make it for our good. The Devil can only succeed when we give up, but if we are faithful, the LORD will be faithful to us.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the times I didn’t adhere to Your guiding hand. Strengthen my faith, so that in times of trouble, I may not be overcome by distress but strengthened by my faith and trust in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.=

Genesis 15:13 ^NIV

[13] Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.”

The LORD prophesied to Abraham the 400 years of slavery the people of Israel would endure. This wasn’t a decree, but a warning. God warned Abraham, and in doing so, warned his future descendants. The LORD didn’t tell this to Abraham in order that it might be so, but told it to him so that he and his descendants would know. These 400 years of slavery, God even used as a foreshadowing of the 400 years of silence before the coming of the Messiah.

After Malachi, God stopped speaking, until 400 years later when John the Baptist came proclaiming, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Now, think about this, these 400 years of slavery could have been ended much sooner, but the Hebrews tried to withstand the oppression on their own in their own strength. The Hebrew midwives, instead of following Pharaoh’s decree of killing the baby boys when they are born, let the baby boys live. God, in turn, blessed them and gave them families. So, we know God was watching over His people and was faithful to them, but I want you to notice that it only mentions them crying out to God for deliverance after Moses flees Egypt, when Pharaoh dies, and their slavery became too much for them to bear on their own.

[23] During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. [24] God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. [25] So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Exodus 2:23-25^NIV

In other words, if they had cried out to God sooner, they would have been delivered sooner. This is the same with us today. We overstay our welcome in places, begin to open doors in our lives, and become slaves to something. We try to fight it in our own strengt,h but it’s not until we cry out to the LORD Himself that we are delivered.

I believe DreamWorks truly nailed painting this picture when they wrote the song Deliver Us in their movie The Price of Egypt:

Deliver us
Hear our prayer
Deliver us
From despair
These years of slavery grow too cruel to stand

The length of our slavery to sin is always determined by how long we refuse to cry out to the LORD and seek His face for help.

When the LORD hears our cries, He answers our prayers. He comes to our rescue. He is faithful. He is just. He is love.

Dear LORD, I’m sorry for every time I did not call on Your name for help, but instead, tried to overcome and deal with sin in my own strength. Please come to my rescue. Deliver me from my sins. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Hear my prayer, oh LORD, and answer my call. Come to my rescue and be my strength. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

[8] Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

I recently saw a post-match interview with a mixed martial arts fighter named Connor McGregor. The interviewer relayed Connor McGregor’s own words to him before the fight took place, saying:

“I knew his right hand was twitching. I knew when that right hand was going to come, he would regret it. I knew it.”

Apparently, Connor McGregor studied his opponent, saw the weakness, and capitalized on it as he anticipated that his opponent’s eagerness to strike would leave him vulnerable, which ended up being true when McGregor countered with a knockout punch.

He studied his opponent as his opponent became cocky. Then he used what he learned against him and ultimately defeated him. Our enemy is much like this, but much worse. Our enemy studies us day and night. He’s never without eyes on us, yet we act as if he isn’t a threat. We act as if he is a defeated foe. We don’t need armor against a defeated foe. We don’t need to fight against a defeated foe. When we believe these lies, our hands begin to get twitchy, and the enemy waits for the perfect opportunity, that we ourselves give him, to strike.

So, what do we do? We remove the opportunity from him. We don’t need to strike, we just need to build. Build what? The Kingdom of our God. When we focus on building the Kingdom of God, the attacks of the enemy don’t land the same as when all of our focus is on him and what he has done. When we are about our Father’s business, our Father is about us. He will defend us, we just need to remain in Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give No Opportunity.