Category: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’ ~ John 8:34-36

We’ve all heard, ‘The Truth will set you free.’ Or ‘Whom the Son sets free is free indeed,’ but what does that mean? What does it mean to be set free? Jesus is saying that we are freed from sin. We are freed from the chains of sin so that we can overcome as He overcame. Our freedom is from a Spiritual yoke of slavery since we are in a constant battle in the spiritual realm, according to Ephesians 6:12.

Even though we’ve been set free, that doesn’t mean we no longer have a battle before us. Instead, according to Paul, we are in a constant battle. In fact, the author of the book of Hebrews says that we still have to run the race set before us. But because whom the Son sets free is free indeed, when times become difficult, and obstacles are in our way, we can look to Jesus for help.

So, even though we still have a battle set before us and a race to run, we can still overcome because sin no longer has a hold on us. We are overcomers through Christ Jesus. It won’t always be easy, but it will be possible. So, don’t give up. Never stop fighting those attacks from the enemy. Yes, sometimes it may seem impossible. Sometimes the battle may take more than one night. Sometimes, the battle may even seem hopeless but don’t lose hope. It’s always darkest right before the dawn.

Therefore, put on your spiritual armor and go to war. Fight for your soul because that’s what’s at stake. Use your two silver bullets, ‘the word of your testimony’ and ‘the blood of the Lamb.’ We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, who first overcame so that we might also overcome through Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Never Give Up The Battle.

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¹⁶ For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. ¹⁷ Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. ¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, ¹⁹ creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him. ~ Isaiah 57:16-19

God looks down on us and sees our hearts. He sees the filth we think about and the evil sins we commit. God sees what we do in secret that we’re ashamed of and what we do in public and are proud of. God sees it all, yet, God still loves us to the point of death. God bore our punishment on Himself so that we might be saved from our sins. None of us are deserving. None of us are worthy. None of us are better than the other. We are all flawed, and we are all filled with sin, but God’s love can penetrate that sin and cleanse you.

We may be red as crimson with our sin, but the love of God will cleanse us and make us white as snow. But we have to first confess our sins to God. Yes, He already knows them because He sees us committing them. We’re not confessing so that He can hear us. We’re confessing so that the Devil can hear that there is nothing He can hold against us. We’re confessing our sins so that we might bring them up in court, and the court might rule in our favor to have our record expunged. Because of the redeeming blood of Jesus and the molding of His Holy Spirit, we are no longer that person but a new creation.  

LORD God, help me confess all of my sins before You so that the Devil may never use them against me again. Expunge my record and throw it into the Sea of Forgetfulness. Cleanse me of all of my sin, LORD God, that I might dwell in Your Holy presence. Thank You for redeeming me, even though I am so unworthy. Thank You for Your love and compassion. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ~ Genesis 41:39-42

Joseph started in Egypt as a slave. His own brothers had sold him into slavery to his cousins (generations removed), who then sold him to an Egyptian. The story of Joseph is definitely a rollercoaster but look at the restoration the LORD gave to Joseph. Only Pharaoh was above him. He was given everything he never had. He was more than just restored. Joseph was elevated beyond belief. He was elevated to the second in command only to Pharaoh himself. In fact, Pharaoh, in verse 44, that he may be Pharaoh, but nothing will be done in Egypt without the permission of Joseph. Pharaoh gave Joseph his authority and power but not his throne. This is an extreme jump from being in prison to being in charge of an entire nation.

Sometimes our seasons feel like they will never end. Like they will never cease because they’re rough, they’re difficult, but the restoration comes in a moment. And when we are restored, we are restored to new heights. But only if we remain faithful to the LORD. The LORD only elevates those who are faithful during difficult times. Those who are faithful in a little because they will also be faithful in a lot. So, if you are going through a season that’s rough and difficult, remain faithful to the LORD. While in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph remained faithful to the LORD, and the LORD honored this. You have to act like Joseph to receive restoration like Joseph.

LORD God, please teach me to remain faithful to you when all things are going wrong. Help me to remain faithful to you when the world seems to be offering me an out to the hard season that I’m in. Transform me through the renewing of my mind and replace my heart of stone for a heart of flesh so that I might love You with everything in me. Be with me in all things, LORD God. Thank You for Your love, mercy, and goodness. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹⁰ And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. ¹² And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. ¹³ He had also seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶ And after this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and sons’ sons, four generations. ¹⁷ And Job died, an old man, and full of days. ~ Job 42:10-17

Job was a man of righteousness and faithfulness to the LORD. Job even sacrificed on behalf of his children just in case they sinned against the LORD. So, when the testing of the Devil came upon him, Job knew it wasn’t punishment from the LORD. Job knew his relationship with God. And because Job knew his relationship with God, Job knew God’s heart. He understood that there had to be another reason why he, an innocent man, was under spiritual attack. And because he knew his God, Job didn’t sin or speak against God during his test.

Some of us are going through a season of testing. We’re under attack by the enemy. Everything is being taken away from us. Finances. Relationships. Blessings. Health. Everything. During these seasons, it’s difficult for us to keep our mouths closed and not speak out against God. This is where Job and the Church today differentiate. So many of us speak against God as Bildad and his friends did. Very few of us refuse to give up. Very few of us turn to God and seek Him in these times. The majority of us blame God and become angry with Him. But look at your actions. Is this a test from God? Or is this an attack of the enemy because you let your walls down? You’ll know the answer by the actions you’ve made prior to this season. Were you faithful? Were you having a true relationship with God? Were you spending time with Him every day?

If you are faithful to the LORD in this season, regardless of how you got there, the LORD will be faithful to you and see you through it. When God restored Job’s fortunes, it wasn’t just the fortunes he had previously lost. God gave Job more than he lost. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, was poured into Job’s lap. Why? Because Job remained faithful to God. He refused to curse God and die. He refused to betray the LORD. He withstood the test, and the LORD restored and rewarded Job’s faithfulness.

So, if you’re in this season of testing, or even if you’re in a season of attack because you opened the door to the enemy, don’t be discouraged. Repent, close the door, and seek the LORD for restoration.

LORD God, please show me the season that I’m in. Show me whether I have opened a door to a spiritual attack or whether I am being tested. LORD, I know that I have sinned because I know that I haven’t yet been fully perfected, so LORD God, forgive me for each sin I’ve committed. Help me to close any door I’ve opened that isn’t of You. Teach me to seek Your face in the valley and in the mountain. Teach me to have a true relationship with You and not just a superficial one. Help me to trust You and love You the way that You deserve. Please help me to never take You for granted, so that when you take me through this season the restoration might also be of my soul and spirit. Thank You for Your love, mercy, and grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹ Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” ² So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³ And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. ⁴ Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵ And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” ~ 2 Kings 8:1-6

Elisha, the prophet, warned the Shunammite woman that a famine was coming, but when she returned after the famine, her home and land were no longer hers. The Shunammite woman was a wealthy woman, so leaving all of her land and her home behind to become a sojourner in the land of the Philistines for seven years wasn’t easy, but she wholeheartedly trusted the man of God. Now that the seven years of famine were over and she returned home, her home and her land weren’t even hers anymore.

This is how it is with us sometimes. The LORD sends us a warning, so we try to react to this warning, but maybe we make a mistake, and when we return, all we have left is gone. Or maybe we do exactly as the LORD tells us, and all we have left is still gone. But don’t be discouraged. Look what the Shunammite woman did. She didn’t gripe. She didn’t get angry. She didn’t get discouraged. She went to the king of Israel to appeal for her land, and her land was restored to her as she left, plus the seven years of production from the land while she was gone.

Sometimes when we follow God, the LORD allows for the enemy to swoop in and collect our land. Collect our home. Collect our job. Collect our blessing while we are away, but when we go before Him and appeal, the LORD has mercy and grace. Why? Look at who introduced the Shunammite woman to the king, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God. The king might not have given the woman such a favorable response to her request if it were not for Gehazi explaining who she was to him. And just as Gehazi went before the Shunammite woman and, in a sense, spoke on her behalf, an even better spokesman speaks on our behalf.

Jesus, God incarnate, went before us into the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Heaven and spoke on our behalf. He tells the King who we are. We aren’t just someone He healed; we are the very children of God adopted in through His precious blood and His Holy Spirit. So, how much more would the King of kings give to His children? The king gave the woman all she left and all that was produced while she was gone, and he only knew of her because of the word of Gehazi. The King of kings knows who we are because He died for us and washed us in His precious and Holy blood. So, again I ask, how much more would the King of kings give to His children?

When the enemy swoops in to take something from you, it’s only for a season. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t become angry. Take it straight to the LORD. What has the enemy stolen from you? Lay it at the feet of Jesus. Bring an appeal to the LORD. Don’t waste any time, for you are more than just a common person. You are a child of Almighty God.

LORD God, help me return to my promised land so I can see what the enemy has taken. Please restore to me all that the enemy has taken from me. Finances. Assets. Investments. Jobs. Blessings. Be with me, LORD God, as I return to my promised land. Defend me as I bring forth my appeals. Teach me how to never give up. Teach me to be like the Shunammite woman and never become discouraged by my circumstances but always seek after You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹ And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ~ 2 Samuel 22:1

The Scriptures say that the LORD delivered David from his enemies and King Saul. King Saul wasn’t counted as one of David’s enemies. Not everyone that comes against us is one of our enemies. Sometimes they are just a pawn of the enemy trying to distract us, so we lose sight of the true battle. So that we lose sight of the true enemy. King Saul tried to kill David multiple times, he even gave his wife away to another man, yet David understood that King Saul wasn’t his enemy. King Saul was just a distraction.

Don’t allow the enemy to distract you with people in your life that try to bring you down or discourage you; then, the next minute, they’re singing your praises. Not everyone is your enemy. Not everyone is your friend. Some people in your life are being used by the enemy in order to stop you from reaching your God-given call.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fight Only Your Enemies.

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¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: ¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” ~ Matthew 2:16-18

2,000 years ago, God had a plan, but if you notice, the devil had a counterplan to thwart or frustrate the plan of God. Today is no different. God’s plan was for Jesus to be born the king of the Jews; to be born in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary; to grow up and usher in the kingdom of God; to give sight to the blind; to heal the sick; to make the lame walk; to cure the leper; but most of all, to purchase salvation for all mankind. Satan’s plan was to destroy the Christ. His plan was to destroy the hope and salvation of mankind.

Yet the world tries to deceive all into believing that God isn’t for us but against us. But look at God’s plan. God’s plan is to bless us and not to cause us harm, to give us hope and a future. There is nothing that our God will not do for us, and there is nothing good that He will withhold from us, His beloved. We have to put our trust in Him so that we might be delivered out of the hands of the enemy because the enemy tried to steal Christmas 2000 years ago by trying to kill the Light of the World. Today is no different. The enemy still tries to steal our joy and hope so that he can squash out the last bit of light so that the world might be left in darkness. This may be the plan of the enemy, but the plan of God is for our good and not evil. It’s to bring us hope and a future. Therefore, if we keep our eyes on Christ and we put our trust in Him, then we will always have an escape from the enemy’s plan to destroy us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flee To Egypt.

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⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ~ Matthew 2:7

I used to think that the magi went to king Herod to inquire about where the promised Messiah was to be born, but they did not. Herod had to summon them. The lesson here is, do not seek the righteous among the unrighteous. All of those progressive churches that teach that you can live any old way, and Jesus is fine with it because, after all, God understands.

I’m here to tell you, Do Not seek the righteous among those who say there is nothing you can do to fall out of grace with their savior. It simply isn’t true. There is a right way to live, and there is a wrong way to live.

Jesus said that if you love Him, you will do what He said. And He left us a perfect example, Himself; therefore, there is no excuse. Yet there are those who try to corrupt the Gospel and lead others astray, but you don’t have to be deceived by them. The wise men knew the prophecy, they were focused on only the Messiah, so when they were warned of King Herod, they were able to withstand and see through the deceit of King Herod.

Therefore, if we know the Word of God and we keep our focus on the Christ, when the LORD warns us and gives us a spirit of discernment, we will be able to see through the traps of the enemy. We will be able to withstand the attacks against us and our God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Focus On His Star.

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¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² 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 6:10-12

Bullying has always been and will probably always be. There are those who will hate you and say all manner of evil about you because of that hate. There are others who are envious of what you have, whether it is earthly possessions or your family love (your home life).

They will hate you because of your relationship with Jesus. There are all sorts of reasons that will cause them to bully you and even spread all sorts of rumors about you. But it’s not unique here in America; it’s all over the world. We all fight the same demons.

So, what exactly is bullying?

Erling Roland, a professor at the University of Stavanger’s Centre for Learning Environment and one of Norway’s leading researchers on bullying, describes bullying as:

A “longstanding violence, physical or psychological, conducted by an individual or a group directed against an individual who is not able to defend himself in the actual situation.”

Ah, it’s the weak that the bully targets. I guess you never see a linebacker being bullied, or a 220-pound state championship wrestler being bullied. They prey upon the weak, those who are unable to defend themselves.

It may start small, but every day it will grow and get more and more intense. This is the need for the Armor of God. Unless we are fully covered in the Armor of God, then we are the weak. That’s when we became targets of opportunity for the devil and his minions. Therefore, armor up so that you won’t be overcome by the enemy.

Peace. Love. Go Froth and Don’t Be Bullied.

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