Category: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15

If you will not search for the truth and believe the truth, you are destined to believe the lie. So, how do we overcome deception?

Be thankful to God, be sanctified by the Spirit, and believe in the Truth. God’s Word is truth. It is not nullified by science; science is nullified by God’s Word. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. Truth is the only antidote for lies, and lies cannot flourish where free speech prospers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Truth Flourish.

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2 Corinthians 11:14
[14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Chapter 18 of 2 Kings tells of some of the events in King Hezekiah’s reign. More specifically, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them (2 Kings 18:13).

But before that, he had taken Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern kingdom and dispersed the Israelites out of the land and into captivity.
Now, he has turned his greedy little eyes Southward with a strong desire to take Jerusalem. So, he sends his high-ranking officials up to Jerusalem, since he was now fighting in Lachish, with a message for the people of Judah.

Surrender to me, and I will spare your lives, was basically the message. He was trying to do was to intimidate both the people and the soldiers sitting on the wall.
He tried to intimidate them into surrendering by telling them that their lives would be spared, if they surrendered, in hopes that they would surrender without him having to fight another war.
He tells them to make peace with him. In other words, they were to surrender and sign a peace treaty with him. And then, Judah was to stay in the city and enjoy their food, and drink, and water until he came and took them to another place, just like their own homeland.

The enemy works the same way today. The entire land of Israel (including the kingdom of Judah) was the heritage, the promise of the Israelites. A land following with milk and honey. A land filled with all that they could ever need. A good land. King Sennacherib wanted to conquer them and remove them from that land, and take over the land permanently. He promised them another land like it so that they wouldn’t miss their God-promised land.

We all have a promised land from God. We all have a heritage and inheritance that God has promised us, but the enemy doesn’t want us dwelling in the promises of God. Why? Because when we are a problem for him. If we are dwelling on the promises of God, then we are building the Kingdom of God. So what does he do? He comes in not as a threatening enemy but as a smooth negotiator. Look, I’ll give you something of equal or greater value. All you have to do is make the deal with me.

So many take the backhanded deal, thinking that they are making a deal with a friend, not realizing that the enemy has just deceitfully transformed himself into an angel of light just so you could trust him. Don’t let the enemy fool you. Don’t give up your God-given promises for the temporary pleasures of the world. They won’t last, and they aren’t worth it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell In Your God-Given Promise.

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⁵ Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. ~ Matthew 10:5-8

Jesus had given His twelve disciples authority over demonic spirits; therefore, it would be safe to assume that they used their authority to cast out demons as well as heal the sick. The sons of Sceva were operating at this level of faith, but they did not know Jesus as LORD and Savior. Therefore, the demon said, “… Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

Demons recognize a child of God as they did in Acts 16:17 with Paul and his companions. They also readily recognized Jesus and ran up to Him and fell down at His feet proclaiming, “You are the Holy One of God (Luke 4:34).” Something that the religious leaders of the day struggled to do. They neither recognized Him as the Holy One of God, nor did they proclaim Him to be.

When you are a Christian, you are under the protection of Jesus Himself. Demonic spirits cannot jump on you and beat you senseless as they did to the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest. They recognize the spiritual mark that God places on us, His children, and they certainly did not see one on Sceva’s seven sons. That is why they were like, “Who are you?” The Seven Sons of Sceva didn’t have God’s mark on them, His shield of protection around them.

This is the importance of your relationship with Christ Jesus. Our power and authority are only found in Him. Without Him, we are nothing. That is what the sons of Sceva learned the hard way. The unclean spirit wasn’t asking who they were, as in he had no idea who they were, but in the sense of “who do you think you are?” “Who are you to me?” “Why should I obey you? Jesus, I know. Paul, I know. But you? Who are you to me?”

We are in a spiritual war. Each and every one of us. It may not be the same experience as the sons of Sceva, but it’s just as life and death, if not more. Each day we get up, we battle unclean spirits that desire to overtake us and make us a slave to them. Anger, hate, lust, sexual immorality, addiction, etc., all of these unclean spirits try to consume us and turn us into their slaves. The only way we can overcome, is through Christ Jesus. I want to ask you a very important question, “Does the Kingdom of Darkness know who you are?”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make Sure They Know Who You Are.

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¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the LORD Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ~ Acts 19:13-16

The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were not Christians; they were, in fact, followers of Judaism like their father, a Jewish high priest. Even though they weren’t following Christ, they saw the power of His name and began imitating Paul and successfully casting out unclean and evil spirits. How is this possible? Because when someone combines ο pistis (the faith) with the name of Jesus, evil and unclean spirits must evacuate their stronghold on that person or that particular place.

The problem here, however, with the sons of Sceva, was that they may have had the faith, but they didn’t have the authority. See, they did not know Jesus. They knew of Him. They knew of Paul. And they knew of the power of His name, but that was it. They had no relationship with Christ. The other problem was that they didn’t realize that some spirits are stronger than others. So, while they were successfully casting out weaker, unclean, and evil spirits when they faced a stronger spirit, they couldn’t cast out the spirit because they didn’t have the authority.

See, faith can only take you so far. Faith is the foundation, but you can’t live on just a foundation, you need walls and a roof as well in order to keep you safe and secure from the elements. Therefore, you also need a relationship with Christ, which leads to spiritual authority and covering. If you live on just the initial faith that gets you salvation, you’ll never grow. If you don’t grow, you’ll be stagnant. If you’re stagnant, you’re doing nothing with the faith given to you, and you’ll be cut off. Why? Because every branch that does not produce good fruit is cut off from the vine.

Therefore, keep growing. Build on your faith. Build on your relationship with God. Don’t remain stagnant, but instead be like a stream of flowing water. The more you grow in your relationship with Christ Jesus, the more your faith will grow. The more your faith will grow, the more your authority and protection in Christ will grow. These are all intertwined in one another and can’t truly be separated. Therefore, grow each one so that you may be able to stand strong against any spiritual attack by the enemy.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flow.

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² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, ⁵ and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water. ~ Joshua 7:2-5

The battle of AI is one that must be fought, sometimes every day. It is the first one after Jericho that we must win if we are to succeed in our spiritual walk. If we want to collect the spoils, we must defeat AI.

What is AI? AI is a type of spiritual battle that we will all have to fight on one level or another. The battle of AI is “A” Adultery and “I” Idolatry, which is Spiritual Adultery.

Some may say, “I don’t have a problem with Adultery,” but I want you to understand that when you make something an idol, be it your career, money, video games, social media, or even family. Anything that takes the place of God is an idol, and it is spiritual adultery. Do not deceive yourself into thinking that since you are saved, you have no more problems with such things.

The truth is, when you are saved, that is when the enemy attacks you even more so that he can conquer you and win you back. His desire is to destroy you spiritually. Therefore, be on guard. Don’t allow the enemy to defeat you in the battle of AI. Stand strong in the LORD and His might. Flee sexual immorality and stand strong against idolatry by staying in the Word of God and meditating on it daily.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Battle To Victory.

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⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. ~ Luke 12:47-48

Jesus said that the servant who knew his master’s will but refused to get ready or refused to act appropriately as per His master’s will would receive a severe beating. And that’s why you need to build your relationship with Him. It is not just what you know or who you know but what you have done with what you know.

There are three things that will keep you from operating in the supernatural, because they block the intimacy. The word intimacy speaks of closeness, familiarity, and great affection. Intimacy builds the confidence to be vulnerable, honest, and open. It expects a mutual commitment to the relationship free of secrets and free of deceit.

The three main blockers of spiritual intimacy with Christ are lack of prayer, lack of faith/trust, and division. Without prayer, we cannot grow close to God. Prayer is how we communicate with our LORD; if we remove prayer from our lives, we no longer have communication with God and, therefore, do not have a relationship with Him, period. Faith/trust is the foundation of our salvation. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to be saved.

Therefore, faithlessness severs the connection between man and God. Lastly, division is the opposite of unity. Jesus made it very clear that united we stand, but divided we fall. If we are not united with Christ, then we are divided from Him. In other words, if we separate ourselves from the things of God and cling to the things of the world, then we will never be one with God. We will always be separated from Him. And if we choose separation from Him in this life, we will be separated from Him in eternity as well.

Each of these three blockers are intertwined with each other. Each needs the other in order to grow spiritually. You can’t have one without the other. All three are needed in order to grow spiritually in the LORD. Once you grow spiritually in Him, you will begin to see Him move in your life. His Holy Spirit will guide you and break down strongholds in your life in the name of Jesus. The spiritual war you are in will no longer be one-sided; with Christ, the victory is yours.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Defeat The Three.

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¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the LORD Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ~ Acts 19:13-14

The seven sons of Sceva, the Jewish high priest, were not Christians; they were, in fact, followers of Judaism like their father, a high priest. Now, when someone combines ο pistis (the faith) with the Name of Jesus, demonic spirits must evacuate and release their stronghold on that person or that particular place. This, however, didn’t happen with the sons of Sceva this time around. Why?

The problem here, with the sons of Sceva, was that they did not know Jesus. They had only known of Him because they had witnessed the power of the name of Jesus through Paul. Now, the Scriptures say they were Jewish exorcists. This means that they were going throughout the land, casting out evil spirits in the name of Jesus. Here’s the problem, however, some spirits are stronger than others.

The seven sons of Sceva didn’t realize or understand that anyone could use the name of Jesus to cast out evil spirits because that name is so powerful, but not everyone has a right to do so. They were regularly casting out evil spirits, so much so that the Scripture refers to them as Jewish exorcists, but when they came against a strong evil spirit, things changed very quickly. Today is no different.

So, many people overcome little strongholds that it seems like they don’t actually have to follow Christ; they can just use His name. This, however, is an illusion sent by the enemy to confuse and trick people. Oftentimes, when we see little breakthroughs, we’ll sacrifice the big, important breakthroughs for our flesh. Why?

Because when we see those little breakthroughs, we believe the lie of the enemy that we’re good with God and we don’t need to change. We don’t need to fully follow Him. God is love. Therefore, God just wants me to be happy. No. God doesn’t just want us to be happy. God wants us to turn away from evil and follow Him. He wants us to seek Him and His righteousness so that when we face an evil spirit that is very strong, we can overcome it in the name of Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be With The Strongest.

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¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:16

In the movie The Little Mermaid, Prince Eric drives his ship into Ursula and kills her. After they defeated Ursula, King Triton was released from his imprisonment, but he wasn’t the only one. All who had been deceived and held captive by Ursula were freed. This is a beautiful and touching scene to watch. They didn’t intend to free all those people, but they did. Imagine, their efforts to save themselves for Ursula led to the freedom of all captives.

This is the same in our lives. When we strive to overcome, defeat, and remove a stronghold, burden, etc., from our lives, it will positively affect those around us; how? One of my favorite quotes is,

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

When you change, it affects everyone around you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and See Change.

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¹ Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. ² She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. ³ She has sent out her female servants; she calls out from the highest points of the city: ⁴ “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!” To the one who lacks sense, she says, ⁵ “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed. ⁶ Leave inexperience behind, and you will live; pursue the way of understanding. ~ Proverbs 9:1-6^CSB

I remember when the Avengers movie first came out. It featured a song by Sound Garden entitled Live To Rise. The song opens with these lyrics:

What if all you understand,
Could fit into the center of our hand,
Then you found it wasn’t you,
Who held the sum of everything you knew?

I want you to think about that for a second. Imagine if everything you knew could only fit into the center of your hand. In other words, the entire universe is filled with knowledge, but the only bit you know fits in your palm. That’s such a tiny bit of knowledge that you think you know a lot until you start paying attention to the world around you and realize the things you know are insignificant to the knowledge out there. Then, to top it all off, as if the small amount of knowledge you have isn’t enough, now it’s not even you who has the power over the amount of knowledge you have and over the actual knowledge itself.

This is the world we live in today. We have mainstream media that will report a complete lie but present it as the truth. Then, to make it seem like you are choosing the knowledge, there will be two different sides. One saying they’re for this, the other saying they’re for that. When in reality, if you zoom out far enough, you’ll see that, sure, they’re two different sides, but it’s the same coin.

Sadly, the majority of us (the Church and the world) are so easily influenced by what the mainstream media says that we can’t see that we’re being controlled. We’re being taught and told how to think. We’re being programmed by what we watch and listen to. The worst part is that very few ever realize it.

When you’ve been fed lies from such a young age, it’s difficult to see the truth. This is the importance of Christ in your life. The world pushes everything except Christ. Islam is okay. Atheism is okay. Buddhism is okay. Hinduism is okay. Even Judaism is okay. And even a watered down, Jesus loves everyone, there’s a no need for change Gospel that is accepted. Why? Because that’s not Jesus. None of those things are. As long as we change who Jesus is but keep the name, they’re okay. Why? Because the name is useless unless you know who Jesus actually is.

The Seven Sons of Sceva knew of Jesus. They knew His name. They knew there was power in His name, but they didn’t know Him. So what happened? When they faced a man with a spirit too strong for them, they were beaten to the point where they ran away naked (Acts 19:13-16).

The enemy holds the knowledge of the majority because he has successfully divided and conquered. He’s divided us by race, convincing us Christianity is a white man’s religion. He’s divided us by politics so that we never actually pay attention to the policies; we just vote based on party. He divides us by denominations so that we don’t actually search the Word of God for Truth; we just cling to whatever the doctrine of our denomination says.

We no longer know nor understand the things that the first Church did. We read their writings, and we’re dumbfounded. We can’t grasp their ideas or teachings. I don’t believe it’s because we’re dumber. I believe it’s because we’ve become more and more ignorant over the years. We no longer have the knowledge we should because someone else is holding it, and we don’t even realize that there’s more than just what we’ve been taught.

God’s desire is that we have understanding and knowledge so that we aren’t easily deceived and overcome. He promised to give knowledge to anyone who is willing to ask and seek it out. There’s so much out there; don’t let the world keep you from knowing and understanding it. Always remember that knowledge is power.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and See Outside Their Palm.

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¹³ Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. ~ Matthew 7:13-14^CSB

One of my favorite childhood shows was Avatar. In Avatar, there is a character named Zuko. For the majority of the show, Zuko is the antagonist, trying to take away the hope of the world because he believes his father will restore his honor. Then, one day, he comes to a crossroads, and his uncle convinces him it’s time to let go of this mission before it destroys him, so he does. When he does, he falls into a bad illness. An illness that his uncle describes as not being of this world but an illness within himself because of his decision.

See, Zuko’s decision was good. He gave up his father’s mission to take away the hope of the world. But that’s when the spiritual attack, if you will, happened. This is the same for us today. When we begin doing good and fighting the evil within us, we begin to see a spiritual attack against us. Whether it’s a physical illness, anxiety, depression, something else within us, or it’s on the outside with people all of a sudden betraying you, turning on you, or causing problems in your life. This is the time the Devil comes, right before harvest. Right before the breakthrough so that you will never truly reap your harvest. You’ll never truly see your blessing or the good things God has in store for you.

This is the importance of hanging on. This is the importance of never giving up. We have to make it through the night or order to see the sun rise and experience the day. Therefore, choose the right path, even if it’s hard. Even if it’s narrow and you feel like you can’t make it. Even if it takes away those you love, when you follow God, nothing can compare to the reward He has in store for those who love Him and run the race set before them.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fight The Illness.

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