Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare Archives

September 7, 2021September 7, 2021

Take Your Turn

¹²Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ~ John 14:12

There is no other plan, which when translated means, “There is no other plan!” We are it…It’s our job to finish the job. Not finishing the job of salvation but spreading its good news. Continuing the good work that Jesus started. What the problem is, is that folks read in the Bible that when Jesus was on the Cross, He uttered His famous last words, “It is finished.”

And therein lies the problem…They take that to mean that all the work is done; we have nothing left to do. But it doesn’t mean that at all. It means the work of Salvation has been done; we can do nothing more to enhance that work; that was for our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ to do; IT’S OUR TURN NOW!

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us. The same Spirit that caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the sick to be healed lives in us. In the last days, God said He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. We are in the last days. We’re in the days that anyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. We’re in the last days that the Spirit of God dwells in His people. We have been given a Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take Your Turn.

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Cry Out With a Loud Voice

⁶And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before Him. ⁷And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸For He was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹²and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³So He gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. ~ Mark 5:6-13

Jesus came to a country and was walking around minding His own business when a demon-possessed man sees Him from afar, runs towards Him, and falls at His feet begging for mercy. Now what I find absolutely mind-blowing is the fact that Jesus actually stops casting out the demon to not only listen but to agree to his petition. Keep in mind these are demons whom James said just shutter because they know God is real. They’re unredeemable, evil beings that shutter just at the existence of God. They have no relationship with Him, yet they humbled themselves at His feet and begged for mercy. And you know what Jesus did, He granted their request.

Just let that sink in for a second. Demons who are damned to Hell, who have no relationship or right to even be in His presence, bowed at His feet and begged for mercy. If these demons could receive their petition, how much more could we, sons and daughters of the Most High, receive what we ask God for. Too often, we allow ourselves to become discouraged when we don’t get the answer we want right away. We no longer have the patience to run to Jesus, humble ourselves at His feet, and petition until He hears us. Sometimes we have to press in. Sometimes we have to fight through the noise because when we do, our prayers get answered. Miracles happen. Loved ones are saved.

We aren’t demons. We aren’t damned with no hope. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. We are seated with Him in Heavenly places. We are the redeemed. We overcome because He overcame. He lives in us, with us, and through us. We are the body of the Living God. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t let your heart be troubled. Run to Jesus, crying out with a loud voice. Petition your God. Believe that you will be heard, and you will be.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cry Out With a Loud Voice.

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Hold To Freedom

In 1775 our founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence, their plan for our physical freedom from the tyranny of the British crown. The following year, they made that plan a reality, and today we still benefit from that declaration that all men and women were created equal with the right to liberty and justice.

Before the foundation of the world, before man or woman was created, God drafted the plan of Salvation. 2000 years ago, He fulfilled His plan through His Son, Jesus Christ, so that anyone who wanted freedom could receive freedom. Today we still benefit from the freedom that Jesus bought for us that day on that old rugged Cross. We still have the same freedom the early Church had through the redeeming and cleansing blood of Jesus.

Freedom has been given to us physically, mentally, and spiritually, yet we still oftentimes choose the spiritual slavery of sin and the physical and mental slavery of ignorance. Why? Why do we return to slavery when we were created to be free? This is the lies of the enemy; he promises us cookies and cake if we give up just a little of our freedom and liberty. But as soon as we give up a little, he takes it all, and we are left with nothing. The dark side has no cookies, no cake, no security: only darkness, hunger, and slavery.

Don’t be fooled by the deceitful tongue of the enemy; his intentions are not for your good but for your destruction. He’ll show you how unfair and difficult it is to keep your freedom, but don’t let him beguile you. Don’t let him trick you with ‘the grass is greener on the other side.’ The grass is greener in freedom. Freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. Freedom from sin and ignorance. Freedom in the Truth. Hold to your freedoms, and don’t give them up. Don’t allow the enemy to deceive you; hold tightly to the Truth that is Christ Jesus. Hold tightly to your freedom, lest it be taken from you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hold To Freedom.

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The Spirit of Que Será, Será

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan for each and every one of us. He has good things in store for us. His desire is for our good, but if we don’t take it. If we allow our words and our actions to go unchecked, then we will miss out on all that God has planned for us. We have to tune in to God. We can’t ignore or expect someone else to speak good things into our lives. We have to do it ourselves through prayer and declaration. What we hear in the spiritual, we must proclaim in the natural.

Think about this:

God planned the world, and every one of us, before the foundations of the Earth were laid, from the eons before time began, He planned the sun, the moon, the stars, but until He proclaimed, “Let there be light,” there was no light.

When Ezekiel was taken to the valley of dry bones, nothing happened until Ezekiel began to prophesy.

This “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” attitude we Christians have, is not a Biblical concept. This “Whatever God has for me, nobody can take it away from me” attitude is a spirit of apathy that is taking over the Church. We no longer care to fight for what God has in store for us. We just want everything handed to us, and if we miss something, we don’t care because we think, ‘well, it just wasn’t for me then.’ But is that how it is?

I want to remind you that the Israelites were led out of Egypt heading for the Promise Land. That was their promise from God. He had that in store for them, but did they receive it? No! they most certainly did not. So, who took it from them? You’re right, nobody took it from them, but disobedience and unbelief DID and WILL.

If you want to enjoy all God has in store for you, you have to slay a few giants. You have to break down a few walls. You have to fight a few wicked nations. Nothing in life comes easy. You have to fight your flesh, your spiritual attacks, and in some cases, physical and mental attacks from others. As a Church, we have to start proclaiming our blessings again. We have to proclaim our promises again. We have to get rid of Que Será, Será.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Overcome the Spirit of Que Será, Será.

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Watch and Pray

³²But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— ³⁶lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake. ~ Mark 13:32–37

What I say to one, I say to all, “Stay awake.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His three companions, Peter, James, and John, to stay awake and to watch and pray so that they would not be caught out and fall into temptation.

On February 3, 1943, the troopship Dorchester went down in the icy Atlantic off the tip of Greenland with heavy loss of life. The torpedoes struck around 1 o’clock in the morning. Orders were that every man was to wear his lifejacket whether awake or asleep, but many of the soldiers ignored those orders and were caught sleeping without their lifejackets on.
Through fright and confusion, there were several men still without lifejackets after all the surplus stocks were handed out. Due to this, the loss of life was very heavy.

We have such a mandate. It is to stay awake, watch and pray. Jesus is coming back soon. He had given us our independence from sin, so we wear our salvation like a lifejacket. Do not be caught in the middle of the night when the torpedoes hit without your lifejacket on.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please help me stay awake and to watch and to pray so that I will not be caught without my life jacket on. Cover me with Your protection, and teach me to listen for and to recognize Your voice. Thank You, Father, for Your love and Your salvation, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Delight Yourself In the LORD

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. ~ Psalms 37:4

Why must we delight ourselves in the LORD? The word delight means “to give great joy or pleasure to.” In other words, you have, or you get great inward joy out of worshiping the LORD. It is not a chore; it is a pleasure, and when it becomes a source of joy. Then God will give you the desires of your heart.

The word desires mean:

1. To wish or long for; crave; covet
2. To ask for; request

God is saying, “If serving Me brings you pleasure and is a source of great joy to you, then answering your prayers will bring Me great joy and will give Me great pleasure to give you what you ask for.”

We have to desire to love the LORD. We have to desire to serve the LORD. We have to desire the LORD above everything. That’s when our desires begin to be given to us because our desires begin to be for good, not evil. We begin to change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Delight Yourself In The LORD.

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Pray Even In Babylon

¹ In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.³Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, ⁴ youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ~ Daniel 1:1-4

The enemy always tries to take us back to the land that the LORD has rescued us from. The LORD called Abram out of Ur of The Chaldeans. And now, several generations later, the people of Israel gave into temptation, and the LORD handed them over into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He then goes on to not only take vessels from the Temple and put it in the temple of his gods, but he took the young men of Israel who were wise, well-educated, good-looking, and understand learning. He took the best of the best back to his land to reteach them and indoctrinate them.

He took them back to the land that God had called them out of. He not only took them back but tried to re-education them. He taught them the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. The literature isn’t just funny stories; the literature would be filled with their religious beliefs and rituals. The same religious beliefs God called Abram out of, yet Nebuchadnezzar dragged them back into it.

Even when we think that we’ve overcome something, if we slip in one area and refuse to repent and turn away, then the Devil will have a foothold in our life and will pry open enough room so that he can drag us back into our past. He will try to re-educate our religious beliefs, our very language. Our language is the way we communicate; it’s our impact on the world. If the Devil can change our language, then he will change our actions, and we will fall back into our old habits.

But don’t be discouraged. Even though Daniel was taken as a slave back to the sinful land his ancestors were called out of, he wasn’t overcome by sin. He overcame sin. Even if you have given in to sin and you have been dragged back into the generational curses of your past and/or ancestors, if you turn to God, you will overcome. You could be thrown in the fiery furnace like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and God will be with you. You could be thrown into the lion’s den like Daniel, and God will be with you.

Don’t let the past have any say in who you are today. Instead, call upon the name of Jesus, repent, turn from your sins, and you will be saved. You may not be pulled out of Babylon the moment you repent, but you will overcome Babylon the moment you repent because Jesus has overcome your past for you. All you have to do is follow Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray Even In Babylon.

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Keep Your House Full

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. ~ 1 Samuel 16:14

When the LORD rejected Saul, the Spirit of the LORD left him, and a harmful spirit filled him instead. Saul did not do all that the LORD had commanded him to do. He heard the words of the LORD. He was anointed by the LORD. He was king of the people of the LORD, yet when he refused to obey the words of the LORD, it was as if he gave the Spirit of the LORD an eviction notice. And because the Spirit of the LORD departed from him, another spirit, not of God, took up residence in him.

Our body is a house that must remain full. This is why Jesus tells us we cannot serve two masters and that we must abide in His love. If we obey Him, we will abide in His love, but when we live in disobedience, we are evicting Him from our life. When we evict the LORD, then we welcome unclean spirits into our lives. We welcome sin, torment, stress, pain, anger, evil and wickedness of all kinds.

When the LORD left Saul, he was never the same. Fear, anger, regret, and envy overcame him. What do we allow to overcome us by disobeying the LORD? Sin is crouching at the door, just waiting for the opportunity to move in and take control of our lives. We have to stay on guard. We have to obey the commands of the LORD. We have to seek righteousness, holiness, and goodness. Because what we seek, we will find. Most of all, we have to seek the LORD so that our house is never empty.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep Your House Full.

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Dangers of the Second Look

⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. ~ Genesis 4:7

As God told Cain, Sin is constantly at our door. There will never be a time when sin isn’t attacking us until Jesus returns for His bride. But we can defend ourselves against sin by doing what is just and right. And sin’s tactics haven’t changed from the beginning. With every sin, it’s the second glance, the second look that opens the door to the crouching sin. And all it needs is a small crack, a tiny little opening and in it comes like a flood.

This is where sin gets us, in our thoughts. In our fantasies. Because someone will say, I’m only looking to see, not to find. There is nothing wrong with looking as long as I don’t touch. Just remember, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is to get in and devour you. If you don’t shut it down at this point, you’ve 95% lost the battle.

We have to tear down every thought, opinion, word, and desire that is displeasing to God. We have to crucify the flesh with all of its pleasures and desires. We have to stand firm on the Word of God and make the firm decision to follow Him. That is the only way we will ever be able to overcome evil with good.

Dear LORD God, please give us the strength to overcome. Give us the desire to overcome. Let our hearts and our eyes not be swayed by the things of this world, but instead, may our heart’s desires be for You. May we strive for Your presence and Your love. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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