Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare Archives

July 1, 2023June 30, 2023

Use Your Citizenship

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?” ²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” ²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied. ²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!” ²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped. ~ Acts of the Apostles 22:25-29 NLT

Paul remained silent as they beat him, but after, he revealed his identity when the opportunity presented itself. Paul knew the laws of the Romans and used them to his own advantage. They were terrified when they found out Paul was a Roman citizen after all they’d done to him. This should be us today.

We have a much greater citizenship than Roman. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit as a seal as we wait for our full adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High to gather us to Him and give us new, perfect, immortal bodies. While on this earth, He’s given us His name to use and His Holy Spirit as proof of our citizenship. So why don’t we use it?

When we’re under spiritual attack, why don’t we use the name above all names to push back the darkness? When we’re depressed, why don’t we put on the garment of praise to encourage our souls and lift our spirits? Why are we so stubborn? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We want to do these things, but our flesh is weak. It’s ridden with sin, unbelief, roots of anger, bitterness, envy, hurt, and pain. So what are we to do? Take it one step at a time. We fail forward. We keep track of the flaws that plague us and take them down one step at a time. We crucify the flesh, and we build up the spirit so that we might be strong enough to use our citizenship to our advantage, just as Paul used his.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Use Your Citizenship.

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Fill Me With Authority

³⁶ Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” ~ Luke 4:36^NLT

Jesus did many things that amazed the people because of His great authority. One of the first was casting out demons and evil spirits. Why? Because the people of Jesus’ day weren’t as spiritually blind and ignorant as we are today.

They knew the difference, most of the time, between a sickness and a demon or unclean spirit. They didn’t get offended when someone suggested they had an unclean or demonic spirit. No, they threw themselves at the feet of Jesus, asking for help.

If the Church wants to get their God-given authority back, then we need to start differentiating between the spiritual and the physical. So that we can begin to cast out demons once again, it shouldn’t take us hours upon hours to cast out demons. The early Church didn’t even have to speak or be present to cast out unclean spirits. All it took was a piece of cloth touching Paul to cast out the demonic spirits. This is great authority. This is the authority God intended for His Church, regardless of the generation we are in. We aren’t to be weak and powerless but filled with power and authority, all fueled by one thing, love.

Dear LORD, please teach me to love more. Soften my heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Write your Word on my heart that I might not sin against You. Show me the way to correctly love people. As You fill me with Your perfect love, fill me with Your power and authority that You promised from the days of the prophets of old. Fill me with love and power from on High so that I might show Your glory to the dying world around me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Fight For Your Family

¹⁴And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” ~ Nehemiah 4:14

I’m encouraging you today, dads, fight for your sons and fight for your daughters, fight for your wives and fight for your homes. This is your family we are talking about here, so take an interest and fight for them. What do I mean? Get on your knees and pray that the LORD will have mercy on them. That the LORD might intervene on their behalf. That the LORD might save them from their wicked ways and turn them towards Him. Fathers, you have a spiritual battle that you have to fight, not just for you, but for your wives and your children. Now is the time to stand up and fight for all that God has given you.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Fight For Your Family.

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To Do Nothing, Is To Do Something

⁴³When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation. ~ Matthew 12:43-45

I once saw a vlog of a man who had been in the music industry. He was a producer and songwriter. He used to be into witchcraft and demonic trances of sorts, which is how he wrote his songs. One day, he got saved and put all of that behind him. While his soul may have been saved, his career was now at a loss. Why? Because he could no longer write any songs without the demonic influence guiding him.

So, as time went on, he began regressing in the faith. In other words, he simply stopped praying. It didn’t happen instantaneously, but over time as he slowly stopped seeking God, his writing skills returned to him. He didn’t have to open up a door. He didn’t have to do a demonic or Satanic ritual in order to get the demonic power back. All he had to do was end his communication with God. His house was clean, but it wasn’t filled.

I realize and fully understand that demonic oppression is a touchy subject in the Church. Nevertheless, it’s an important subject in the Church. We are all under spiritual attack. This is the importance of spiritual armor. Some of us have opened doors to demons, evil spirits, and unclean spirits in our lives as well as in us.

Anger, quick-temperedness, lust, greed, gluttony, sexuality, sensuality, certain infirmities/illnesses/sicknesses, etc., plague the Church, yet we don’t want to acknowledge them. The more we turn a blind eye, the more we give it root to dig into us and bring friends. Sometimes the open door is just refusing to fill yourself with the Spirit of God. To fill yourself with God. Humans weren’t created to remain empty. What we fill ourselves with is based on our own actions or the lack thereof.

Dear LORD, please help me to fill my house that it may not leave any room for demonic or satanic interference. Open my eyes that I might see any spiritual doors that I have opened, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Help me to close those doors indefinitely that I might not give a foothold for the enemy to come into my life. Build up a hedge of protection around me that I might not be under constant attack. Please give me the Spirit of Discernment that I might accurately discern between good and evil, right and wrong, Truth and error. Please guide me in all that I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Pray Dangerous Prayers

^16b…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ~ James 2:16b

I remember reading a book once that was about dangerous prayers. As I was reading it, I thought to myself, these don’t really seem like dangerous prayers. They seem very generic basic prayers. So, being me, I thought of prayers that were more dangerous and moved on with my life. Now, like 10+ years later, those same thoughts came to mind again, after not thinking about it for so long, but this time it came with a follow-up thought. What makes a prayer dangerous isn’t what you pray; it’s how you pray it.

See, we can pray things like, “Jesus, change me.” “If there’s anything inside me that isn’t of you, remove it.” “Mold me into whatever you want me to be.” “Send me wherever I need to go.” “Use me in whatever you see fit.” These are all dangerous-sounding prayers, but if you don’t pray them with a pure heart and an intent to obey the answer, then your prayers are just words. It’s like the seven sons of Sceva. They knew the name of Jesus was powerful. They saw it used by the early Church. They even, most likely being exorcists, successfully used it themselves. They didn’t realize that that name alone can only do so much because you need the authority to use it.

Our prayers, unless prayed with authority and power, are just empty words. The Word of God is living and active, stronger than any double-edged sword, but if you don’t believe it and follow it, then it becomes null and void for you. Our intent matters. Our prayers matter. And what we do after we finish praying matters.

Don’t let your prayers be like empty words, holding no weight. Imagine the Spiritual battles that your prayers have to break through in order to get to God. Do you think half-hearted prayers such as “Use me. Change me. Mold me.” will break through the spiritual blockades in the Heavenly places? No. Only strong, powerful, heartfelt prayers of the righteous will break through. Don’t let your prayers only sound dangerous. Let them be dangerous.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray Dangerous Prayers.

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Confidently Ask Your Heavenly Father

²You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ~ James 4:2

My initial definition of prayer was just communion with God. It was just conversing with Him. Prayer to me was just talking to God, but after looking into it, prayer is actually a very specific way of talking to God. The Word prayer here is the Greek word proseuchē (προσευχή), which means petition. Many people may think that this isn’t that big of a deal, but this is actually a really big deal.

A lot of people don’t actually like to ask God for things, they feel like they’re bothering Him, but that is the very purpose of prayer. It’s to make your petition known to God. It’s to ask for what you need. Why? Because it teaches us to depend on God and not ourselves. It teaches us to depend on God and not others. You aren’t being prideful or expecting too much from God because you ask for things from Him. Our Heavenly Father delights in blessing His Children.

Never allow the enemy to instill false humility in you because you will miss out on the good things God has in store for you. The enemy knows that the earnest prayers of the righteous will break through any stronghold that he has set up, so he tries to tell you that you shouldn’t make your requests known. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. Don’t allow the enemy to trick you into missing out on your blessing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Confidently Ask Your Heavenly Father.

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Notice The Ammonites

⁴After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. ⁵And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” ~ Judges 11:4-6

The elders of Gilead went and brought Jephthah back from the land of Tob. Now, the Ammonites were the incestuous descendants of Lot’s son Ben-Ammi by his youngest daughter. Abraham’s nephew Lot had two daughters, but after Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, they fled and lived in a cave. The eldest daughter convinced her younger sister to get Lot, their father, drunk and sleep with him and thereby have children.

Moab and Ben-Ammi were the product of those two incestuous relationships. The name Ben-Ammi means son of my people, and it is from him the Ammonites descended. Understand that Ben-Ammi looks like the people. They talk like the people. They even claim to represent the people, but the proof is always in the pudding. They are not for the people.

Do not let wise and crafty words blind your good judgment, and never let smooth, persuasive words lead you down the wrong road. Words can be carved to look like whatever the speaker wants you to see, but the end results are what really matter. We have to see through their sheep-like disguise in order to find the wolf underneath.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Notice The Ammonites.

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Run to God

²⁴And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed’—²⁷for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. ~ Acts 4:23-31

The chief priests and elders had just threatened Peter and John for preaching in the name of Jesus after they had healed the lame man by Gate Beautiful. After they were released, they reported all that was said to their friends. And when they heard it. When their friends heard all the threats that were made by their chief priests and elders, they went straight to God in prayer.

When you receive bad news or when you receive threats, do you go immediately to God in prayer? Or do you try everything else, and finally, after everything has escalated, you say, there is nothing else for me to do but pray?

Prayer is not a last resort. Prayer is the first and foremost thing on our list. When the trials of life come against us, when things are not going as we plan, the first thing we must do is to get on our knees and pray. Seek the face of God, call upon His name, for He will hear, and if He hears, He will answer.

Look at the believers’ prayer. “Look upon their threats…” In other words, listen to what they have said and take note, oh, LORD. Then they ask that they be granted boldness to continue to speak the word of God so that their mission is not thwarted by government threats of punishment and imprisonment.

Our whole mission is to bring, take, and carry the good news of Jesus Christ to all people and all nations with boldness and accuracy. But they did not leave it there. They asked for more. In other words, they said, give us boldness to do our part, and You, Oh God, do Your part by stretching out Your mighty hand to heal the sick and to perform signs and wonders in the Name of Jesus Christ so that His name be lifted up, and glorified. And you know what happened? Their prayer was answered.

Oh, that we would run to God with our burdens and our cares. To seek wisdom and boldness to do what He has called us to do, and that healing, along with signs and wonders, would be a staple in our services and daily lives. So that Jesus is magnified and glorified.

Heavenly Father, grant us boldness to preach Your word. Grant us understanding to discern the times and wisdom to know what to do. Stretch out Your hand to heal the sick and to perform signs and wonders and all sorts of miracles in the name of Jesus. For it is in His name, we ask it all, amen.

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Never Give Up The Battle

³⁴Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶So 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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Stand Strong Against Rabshakeh

¹⁹And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? ²⁰Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²²But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? ²³Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’” ~ 2 Kings 18:19-25

Rabshakeh didn’t know the LORD. He wasn’t a follower of the LORD, yet he tried to intimidate Judah with what he had heard about them. King Hezekiah had removed all the high places and the altars, this was right in the eyes of the LORD, but Rabshakeh, who didn’t know the LORD, tried to use this as a way to intimidate Judah. See, Rabshakeh was hoping that Judah didn’t know the LORD. That Judah didn’t know their own Scriptures, so he threw a stone at the good things Hezekiah had done, hoping that he might be able to cast enough doubt in Judah so that Assyria might overtake them as they overtook all the other nations.

The enemy still uses this trick with us today. He still uses this trap. He’ll throw a stone at the good the Church has done and try to make it out to be something evil. Then he waits for those of us who don’t know the LORD nor His Word to slip in our faith. The moment that we slip in our faith, we give the enemy a foothold, and that’s all he needs to wreak havoc. From that one foothold of doubt, he’s able to convince us that evil is good and good is evil. Just look at the Church around us today. The enemy bluffed, but because we don’t know our God nor His Word, we can’t call his bluff. We can’t defend our faith with Scripture. This is the importance of the Helmet of Salvation. See, salvation isn’t just a repentance and acceptance one-time action. Salvation is an ongoing relationship with the LORD and His Word. It’s getting to know Him better and better through prayer, worship, and reading your Bible. So, that when your Rabshakeh comes up against you to cast a stone at all the good things you have done for the LORD, you can stand confident on His Word, who He is, and who you are in Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Stand Strong Against Rabshakeh.

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Category: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

Use Your Citizenship

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