Category: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

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.

1 Samuel 17:17-50 NIV

[17] Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. [18] Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. [19] They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.” [20] Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. [21] Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. [22] David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. [23] As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. [24] Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. [25] Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” [26] David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” [27] They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” [28] When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” [29] “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” [30] He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. [31] What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. [32] David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” [33] Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” [34] But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, [35] I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed It. [36] Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. [37] The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” [38] Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. [39] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. [40] Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. [41] Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. [42] He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. [43] He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. [44] “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” [45] David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. [47] All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” [48] As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. [49] Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. [50] So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

The story of David and Goliath is one of (if not the most) well-known Bible stories of all time. Everyone has heard of David and Goliath. When we think about this story, we just think about a young Israelite boy with no military background or training defeating a philistine warring giant. What many don’t realize, though, is that this opportunity wasn’t in David’s plans.

David didn’t go to the battle to fight Goliath. David went to bring his brothers food and check on them. He didn’t go there to make a name for himself, he went there to bring back a report to his father that all was well with his brothers. But David saw an opportunity and took it. And because he had prepared for this moment long before he had even the thought of this opportunity, he was ready.

Not every opportunity is going to be a Goliath moment. For instance, I grew up watching the TV show Drake and Josh, but I didn’t realize that Drake Bell (the actor who played Drake in the show) actually wrote the theme song for the show. Apparently, 2 days before he went in to meet with the producers or executives of the show, he spent 16ish hours writing and perfecting a song to pitch for them as the theme song. It wasn’t a part of the meeting. He didn’t know if they’d even let him play it, but he spent his weekend preparing for it regardless.

He said he could’ve went to the pool with his friends or even went to a party, but instead, he stayed home and wrote and practiced what would become one of the most well known and recognized theme songs of our childhood. A song that he still performs at concerts to this day.

Sometimes, a little sacrifice now will bring forth a great victory in the future. We won’t always know ahead of time that there is an opportunity, but we must prepare for every possibility. If we want something, we sometimes have to make the opportunities appear for ourselves. No one went and got David, David went and pitched himself to King Saul. No one went and got Drake Bell to write a theme song, Drake Bell took the initiative, wrote the song, and pitched it to the producers or executives. Not every opportunity is going to be loud and in your face. The majority of the time you’ll need discernment, hope, and faith to see the opportunity before you.

Dear LORD, I’m sorry for every opportunity I’ve missed or never even noticed. Please allow me to have opportunities in my future that are handcrafted and laid out before me by You. Lead me to them. Help me to prepare in private, so I’ll be ready in public when the time comes. Fill with Your Holy Spirit, that I might follow the path You’ve set before me. Fill me with a spirit of discernment, that I might see the opportunities before they even come to me and that I might make an opportunity for myself through You. Work through me as You worked through the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan. Help me to make a way where there is no way. Help me to be bold in everything that I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

2 Corinthians 11:14

[14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

When Paul describes Satan as someone who disguises himself into an angel of light, he doesn’t only mean literally. He isn’t just going around appearing to people as a literal angel of light. Sometimes, its just a quick, simple thought that is thrown into your mind as an innocent idea. Here’s what I mean. One of the ways I’ve started making money is by reselling. I buy storage units, and I resell the contents for a profit.

When I was cleaning out a storage unit the other week, I came across a well-known narcotic, oxycodone. It was a prescription bottle with a good little handful of pills left in it. As I read what the bottle, a thought entered my mind “I wonder how much these things go for?” Immediately, I was like, absolutely not. I audibly voiced “nope” from mouth and immediately opened the bottle and poured out the contents in to the trash bag filled with dirt, mouse droppings, and other disgusting contents I cleaned out of the unit.

The thought didn’t come maliciously. It didn’t come in an evil way. It came gently and softly in the form of “You know we got bills to pay.” It was a very evil thought posed and delivered very innocently. This is how Satan gets you.

He doesn’t come dressed up as evil incarnate. He comes dressed up as an innocent thought. A rational, innocent thought that is posed as being in your best interest. This is how Satan works and has always worked. He didn’t tell Eve to break God’s rule. He simply questioned what God actually said. This is the importance of being spiritually on guard.

Satan is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He isn’t a defeated foe. He isn’t a toothless lion. He is actively seeking a victim. He is actively seeking someone to devour. This is why we have to know the Word of God. So that when Satan comes along whispering in our ear, we can see the lies and the deception coming out of his mouth.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for every time I gave into the enemy’s lies and believed the deception. Thank you, LORD, for every time you have shown me the deceptions and given me an escape. Please help me to see past the deceit and the lies so that I can see the Truth. Give me a spirit of discernment as You fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I might overcome in the day of testing. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

Romans 15:30-32 NIV,

[30] I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. [31] Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, [32] so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.

There’s one thing the Church continuously struggles with, prayer. There’s an entire underground church that doesn’t ask for financial help, food, clothing, or even Bibles. What does it ask for? Only prayer, yet rarely do we pray for them. Rarely do we even mention them.

We have national burger day. Ice cream day. Water day. We have so many different random unofficial holidays in the US, but we don’t have a day we come together as a Church, and pray for the underground Church. Those being persecuted simply for believing in Christ and refusing to deny Him. They’re beaten. Tortured. Land and homes taken away. They’re taken to concentration camps. Why? For their belief Christ. For refusing to deny Him. For refusing to stop speaking about Him.

We are the most financially steady Church in generations, but we are the most lukewarm. We are financially rich, but spiritually poor. We don’t have the spiritual growth it takes to get on our knees and pray for one hour a day, but we can binge a show for 8 to 10 hours straight. When the Church didn’t pray, James was beheaded. When the Church prayed, Peter was saved and delivered from prison by an angel. There are countless Christians suffering right now. Their only request is prayer. How will you answer? 

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 ^NIV

Have you ever felt just emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted? Like, no matter what you say or do, it’s never good enough? Like no matter how many times you get up, someone or something pushes you right back to the floor? That’s where I’m at…

Recently I’ve just been struggling to do basic everyday things. My drive has been drained and my body is just screaming we can’t go any longer. One minute I’m starving, the next I’ve completely lost my appetite. The more I analyze what goes before these feelings, the more I realize it’s the words and actions of others around me that are draining me. Yepp, I’m right back to where I began again.

It’s the little things that really get me. Someone says or does something that causes you discouragement and then instead of trying to encourage you and help you, they tell you not to listen to the voices in your head as if you made the whole thing up. As if you’re crazy. Or if you say something someone doesn’t like, they just begin to lecture you, and it becomes a daily occurrence. When they point out they didn’t do it the previous day or two, it’s because you had stopped talking, so there was nothing to lecture on.

When the Devil wants to go in for the kill, he uses those around you. Those you trust. Those he knows can crush you the most. When Jesus was arrested, who was it because of? One of His own close friends, Judas. When He was being mocked and slapped before the High Priest, and they were spitting on Him laughing in His face, who was it that denied Him in those moments? His best friend, Peter.

The Devil will use those closest to you, to try to destroy you. To try to finish you. But each day you have to get back up again. You have to keep going forward. You have to overcome. It isn’t easy. It’s quite exhausting. It isn’t a quick walk around the park. It’s quite discouraging. But that’s when you lean on the LORD. That’s when you fall at His feet and call out His name, for when we humble ourselves before Him and seek Him with all of our heart. He hears us. We find Him. And He picks us up.

Even when the whole world feels like it’s against, the LORD God is for you. Even when it feels like you don’t even have a friend to call on for help, Jesus is that friend. He will never leave you, nor forsake you, but it’s on you to call His name.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call To Lean.

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. ~ Proverbs 17:17^NIV

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: ¹⁰ If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. ¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? ¹² Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12^NIV

Every one of us has burdens that weigh us down. Burdens that cause us stress, pain, heartache, or oppression. The book of Proverbs says:

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17^NIV

We are to build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11), help each other when one stumbles (Luke 22:32). We are to be a Samwise Gamgee to our friends.

In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins is given a powerful ring that he must carry across the earth to destroy it. No one else can carry this burden for him. Despite this, his gardener, Samwise Gamgee, goes with him and refuses to leave his side. He constantly saves and protects Frodo throughout his journey. Even when Frodo, essentially, betrays him, Sam comes to Frodo’s rescue. At the end of their journey when Frodo is so overwhelmed and worn out from his burden, he can no longer walk. So Sam, scoops him up in his arms and says:

I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you.

And he carries Frodo the rest of the way so that he could fulfill his purpose. Sam didn’t care about the power the ring could give him. He didn’t care about the fact that Frodo had betrayed him, or that he himself was tired and exhausted. Sam was there for Frodo whenever he needed a friend. That is the kind of friendship God is calling us to.

A friendship that isn’t selfish and self-serving, but one of selflessness and love. One of carrying someone when you can’t carry their burden for them. Being a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold. We are called to be more than just a good friend, we are called to be Christ to the world.

The only way we can do that, is to start by building our lives on the Rock. And building up our spirit man. We have to spend time in the Word of God. We have to pray, fast, and worship. We have to make God our main priority, so that when we have the opportunity to be a Samwise Gamgee, we’ll be strong enough to do so.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be A Sam.

¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ~ John 15:1-4^NIV

I’ve been really focusing on growing this year, and I’ve seen definite growth, but sometimes it just feels exhausting. I’ve been focusing on one fleshly obstacle at a time; right now, it’s turning the other cheek, and keep going forward. In other words, not allowing other people’s actions or words to negatively affect me. To be honest, it’s difficult. It feels like every time I take a step forward and I begin to see these things no longer bother me, the Devil hits me with multiple combinations, and I just seem to fall and fail to get up for a while.

Our enemy studies us nonstop. While it may not physically be the Devil himself, it’s his kingdom that we have to face daily in battle. And it’s his kingdom that watches us daily. They study us to know our limitations and weaknesses better than we ourselves know. So, what then? Is it a losing battle against an enemy that we can’t see, that knows us better than we know ourselves? It is when we try to do it in our own strength.

When Christ came to earth, the Psalmist and the author of the book of Hebrews wrote that when He took on human flesh, He became a little lower than the angels. Therefore, all humans are lower than angels. If demons and evil spirits can’t be cast out by our own power, then we’d be lower than them as well. Therefore, when we try to fight the enemy in our own strength we’re going to lose each and every time. We may see a win here and a win there, but ultimately, we’ll lose every time because those wins and gains aren’t real wins. Those wins are like little punches that landed against our opponent but didn’t do anything else. They got us on the scoreboard but we failed to actually be any competition for him.

This is my biggest downfall. Every time I begin to thrive and move forward and see a change in my life, one thing holds me back from reaching that goal. Consistency. I find consistency to be my biggest struggle. God promises that if we will draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. He promises that when we enter behind the curtain, He will meet with us in the cloud. But I, to my own downfall and destruction, don’t meet with Him daily. Yes, I pray every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed, but I don’t consistently spend time with Him outside of those two meetings.

I’ll be consistent for a week or even a month or two at a time, and then I just fall off the wagon. Life gets in the way. Or I get sick, and my schedule is completely thrown off, and then I can never get it back again. The enemy knows our weaknesses, and he uses it against us. So, what’s the solution? I guess the solution would be to get to the root of the issue. If my biggest issue that stops my growth in every other area of my life is consistency, then my focus has to shift to that.

Unless I learn to be consistent in my walk with the LORD, nothing will permanently change in my life. Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, put it this way:

²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27^NIV

I don’t believe Paul was saying he was afraid of giving up or turning his back on the faith. I believe Paul was saying that he puts his body into subjection so that he doesn’t become lazy in his faith. So that his relationship with Christ doesn’t become stagnant. So that he never stops bearing good fruit.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the time I have wasted not being consistent in with You. Please forgive me for every time I’ve taken You for granted and tried to grow in my own strength and in my own power. Please help me to crucify my flesh daily so that I might take up my cross and follow You. Thank You for Your many blessings and Your unfailing love and mercy. Help me to make meeting with You my biggest priority in my, and not an inconvenience. Show me how to walk in righteousness and in Your Truth. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹¹ in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:11^NIV

I often hear the statement that the Devil is already defeated. That the Devil is just a toothless lion. But I want you to think about that for a second. The Devil is a defeated enemy, but woe to the earth and the seas, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath? The Devil is a toothless lion, but he’s also a roaring lion prowling around seeking someone to devour?

When we say things like “the Devil is already defeated,” we give ourselves a false sense of security. We let our guard down. We stop holding up that shield of faith that extinguishes all the fiery darts of the evil one. We stop praying and fasting, which causes demons to flee and strongholds to be broken. When we believe our enemy is already defeated, we stop fighting.

This is one of the best lies the enemy has told because it’s not out there destroying the world. No. It’s out here destroying the Church. The Church no longer prays, fasts, or worships the way it should, and why should it if there is no enemy to fight? So many of our Church leaders fall into sin because the enemy is already defeated, and what God has me, no one can take away. So what happens? We stop watching ourselves. We just start blindly talking. We just start blindly going. And if we are going blindly, we’ll fall into the pit.

This life for Christians is destined for trials, tribulations, and many attacks by the enemy. It’s not an easy, cushy life. It’s a hard life. A life that we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross every day. A life where we have to run the race set before with endurance. A life where we have to go to battle on behalf of ourselves and our loved ones. The life of a Christian is not an easy one. Why? Cause the enemy is still here. The enemy is still fighting us. The enemy is not yet defeated. Therefore, we must keep fighting. We must keep watching. We must keep seeking God. We must keep running the race set before us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare For Battle.