Tag: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

³⁶ And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. ~ Isaiah 37:36

Israel was taken captive by Assyria under King Sennacherib. They had lost their stronghold of Samaria to the point that every last Israelite had been removed and people from the different nations King Sennacherib had conquered were moved in. And now the Kingdom of Judah was almost taken. They had lost many, if not the majority of, their cities. All that was left to conquer the nation of Judah was their capital, Jerusalem. And it was surrounded on every side. No way in, and no way out.

It had come to an end. Or so it seemed. Then, in desperation, King Sennacherib sought the LORD with all that was within him. That’s when God moved on their behalf. Literally. God Himself came to fight on behalf of Judah. In one night, the Angel of the LORD, Jesus, went into the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night.

This event, in my opinion, is by far the best example of “⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) it puts it into action and it plays out before our very eyes.

It may seem as if all is lost. As if it’s the end. You’re blocked in on every side. No escape. But if you cry out to God, He will fight for you. He didn’t send a random angel or even Michael, the archangel, to their rescue. He Himself got off of His throne and fought for the people of Judah. Just as He fought for them, He will fight for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Tear Your Clothes.

Luke 6:45 ESV

[45] The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Have you ever noticed yourself sometimes waking up with a song stuck in your head almost like you’re waking up singing it? Now what about a worship song? Sometimes it’s songs you haven’t even listened to in years but it’s just playing through your head as you wake up as if you had been listening to it nonstop. I believe these moments are your spirit at work when your body is asleep.

See, we are told to build up our spirit man and crucify our flesh. In fact, Jesus says that it is out of the abundance of our hearts that the mouth speaks. Our subconscious would have the same source. Our spirit would have the same source. So, when our heart is full of Christ and we have our eyes set on Him, our spirit man works in our defense even when our mind doesn’t know what’s happening because it is asleep.

It becomes like the watchmen of old. Sounding the alarm. Fighting off the enemy as we sleep. Defending our mind and keeping it safe from evil thoughts and dreams meant to tempt, correct, anger, and/or terrorize us. So, build up your spirit man. Build up your Spiritual defense.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Build A Spirit of Defense.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field…

Our LORD Jesus explained this parable to His disciples. He said that the Sower who sowed the good seed in His field is Himself, Jesus, the Son of Man, and the field is the world.

The good seed is us Christians, the Church, which He called the sons of the kingdom. And the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The atheist. The haters. The one who has despised and rejected Christ. And the enemy is that old devil himself, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Dark is the night when the moon is in its new stage, and the clouds blot out the light of the stars. But the darker the night, the brighter the flame of a candle will glow. It can be seen for miles.

Jesus said that we, His followers, are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We are to light the darkness around us with the saving knowledge of the light of our LORD Jesus Christ. Yes, many will be offended. Many will refuse to hear. Many will say, “We don’t need to hear that right now!” or, “We don’t need to be reminded of repentance!” or “Leave us alone!”

Indeed, the night is getting darker. But where darkness abounds, the light will much more abound if we Christians will only let it so shine.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Your Light Abound.

⁵ And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸ I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” ~ Luke 11:5-10

It’s the three-strand cord explained in obscurity. So, I will decipher it for you. Now, the friend asks his friend for a very specific number of loaves – three… to be sure.

Jesus said that the friend will not get out of his bed to give him what he asks for because he is his friend… but because of his incessant asking and his continual knocking, he will give him all that he needs – this friend is super persistent.

Now imagine, if the friend had let his head drop, his shoulders slump, and had turned around and walked away. He would have been out of luck. He would have left there empty-handed.

And I’m very much afraid that that is what happens to a whole lot of us Christians. We don’t persistently knock. We won’t continually ask. We fail to consistently seek.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Consistently.

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ~ Genesis 3:1-6

The enemy uses the same tricks and traps for us today that he has used for millenias. He will highlight what you don’t have and blind you from all that you do have. Even the secular world sees and recognizes this.Take, for instance, Tim Burton’s Coraline. The entire premise of the movie is that evil will slip in when we are unhappy and discontent with life, promising us everything we don’t have, and then stealing the one thing we cannot live without, our souls.

Just as the enemy slipped in some doubt with Eve, enough for her to eat the forbidden fruit, it is the same with us today. The enemy blinds us from all that we have and focuses us on all that we don’t. Focusing us on the disappointments, the let downs, the emptiness, blinding us from the love, blessings, and gifts from above.

Just as Coraline’s end was death, if she had completely fallen into the trap of the Beldam, so will our end be death if we completely fall into the trap of the enemy. See, the enemy will show you temporary happiness, excitement, and satisfaction. The end however will be death. An eternal death.

Are you being fooled by the enemy or have you seen through the enemy’s disguise? Seek the Scriptures, pray, spend time with the LORD and you will find the answer.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Open Your Eyes To See.

⁴ But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ~ Matthew 4:4

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. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ~ Ephesians 6:10-18

No matter how long or how short of a time my dog is outside, as soon as she comes in, she checks one of two things immediately. If she heard, saw, or smelled one of us in the kitchen or eating food of any kind, she checks her snack bowl to see if someone gave her something. She could’ve just finished eating, and it wouldn’t matter. She’s checking for food. The other thing she checks is the front window that can see the door, driveway, lawn, etc. These are the two things she checks, without fail, as she comes inside. Food and security. How many of us can say the same thing? How often do we check our own spiritual food and security?

Paul tells us that we are in a spiritual war, whether we like it or not. Whether we signed up or not. We are each born into a spiritual war. That means that in order to even begin to fight back in this spiritual war, we need a spiritual weapon, we need armor to protect ourselves. How do we obtain armor? By feeding our spirit and starving our flesh. When we feed our spirit, we strengthen our faith, righteousness, and our connection/relationship with God. How do we do this? By reading, studying, meditating on, and putting into practice the Word of God.

When we learn the Word of God, it begins to change us. It begins to strengthen our faith because we learn who God is through His Word. He didn’t leave us here to figure things out by ourselves. To just guess and each one deciding what is right and wrong in their own eyes. No. God has given us the tools, plans, and Words from His very own lips in order to help us find Him. So, dwell in the Word and put on the armor, so that this war might not overtake you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Food And Security.

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.” ~ Joshua 1:1-2

So, now the people of Israel are without a leader, this is where Joshua comes in. Joshua wasn’t from the Tribe of Judah, but from the Tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:1-16). He wasn’t one of the heads of the tribes either. The head of the Tribe of Ephraim was Elishama. So, what made Joshua stand out? He was dedicated to Moses and to God.

When the LORD would come down in the Pillar of Cloud on the Tent of Meeting and the people would rise up, stand outside their tents facing the tent of Meeting and worship, after they were done, they would go on about their day, Moses himself would go into the camp, but Joshua would stay at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of the LORD. He would not leave it.

When the spies went into the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the first time and 10 out of the 12 bring a negative report, only he and Caleb kept faith in the promise that the LORD had given them that land. Now, here’s what I believe set Joshua apart from the rest.

When they first left the land of Egypt, the LORD told Moses to consecrate the people and then He would meet them after 3 days. When the LORD came down great fear and terror filled the hearts of all the people.

The LORD had just spoken the Ten Commandments to the People of Israel. There was fire, thunder, lightning, a loud trumpet, and the mountain itself was smoking. The people were afraid (Exodus 20:18-21). Now when Moses went up to the mountain, he remained there for 40 days and 40 nights. The people then said to Aaron, Moses’ brother, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1). And what does he create? A golden calf.

They didn’t want a replacement for God Almighty, but for Moses. They didn’t know what happened to him. They just saw that frightening sight on Mount Sinai and heard the thundering voice of God. So, they needed to replace Moses, the mediator between God and them. They had just spent 430 years in the land of Egypt. And during that time, they had become influenced by the Pagan gods of the Egyptians (Ezekiel 16:26).

So, they created a golden calf in the image of the Egyptian god, Apis. Apis was the mediator between man and the greater gods. Now, out of fear they had just rebelled against the LORD’s commandments that they had just received from His own mouth. The very first two commandments they broke 40 days after receiving it. When the LORD told Moses to go down to correct the people, all the people were there except one person. Joshua. Joshua remained at the foot of the mountain patiently waiting for Moses to come down. In fact, Joshua said to Moses, ‘it sounds like war in the camp,’ but Moses had to correct him, ‘no, it sounds like singing.’ Joshua did not defile himself with pagan worship once removed from Egypt.

Every action we choose causes a physical and spiritual reaction. It either pushes us towards or away from our call. Joshua didn’t realize that each step he made led him to have to fill the shoes of Moses at the time he was making them, but God was watching him. He was preparing him for greatness. The LORD is preparing you for greatness as well, are you walking in steps necessary to see that greatness?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Step To Greatness.

¹¹ Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. ~ Proverbs 24:11

Today is Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity. Today we remember those who have been silenced before they even had a chance to breathe their first breath of air. Those who were silenced before they even had a chance to be born. As Christians, we aren’t called to turn a blind eye to this kind of evil. We are called to confront this evil and remove it from our land. What does that mean?

We are to pray for the LORD to move in our midst, forgive us for allowing it to go on for so long, and then we are to vote for those willing to change it. Willing to protect the unborn. That is our charge given to us from above.

Today, take some time to pray for those who are thinking of aborting their baby. Pray for those who have aborted their babies. And pray that those facilities that abort babies would no longer exist.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray For The Silenced.

³⁶ For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. ~ Leviticus 23:36

It says that for seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. Here’s the thing though, that’s not what the original Hebrew says. When you go to the original Hebrew the words “food offerings” isn’t actually written, it was added in for “clarity.” But instead of adding clarity it actually changes the meaning of the verse. See, they knew Numbers 29:12-34 says in great detail the different sacrifices for each day, which they equated to being food offerings. The Hebrew word there is actually ‘iššeh which literally means “a fire offering” or “that which is burned.” Why does that change the meaning of the verse?

Because it’s an offering brought forth by fire not a food offering that they were commanded to bring to the LORD. Different offerings sacrificed by fire daily. Why does this matter? Because as Christians, we now follow a new and better covenant. The old is the predecessor and it was the physical foundation for a spiritual continuation. No longer do we sacrifice bulls and lambs because Christ has been sacrificed on our behalf as the final sacrifice.

If we read the New Testament we see this fulfilled, for even the Old Testament points to this.

[5] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; [6] in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” [8] When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), [9] then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. [10] And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5-10

³³ And to love Him [God]  with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Mark 12:33

So, what does that mean for us Christians today?

[10]  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. [11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— [13] each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

[6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6-7

Our actions, how we live our lives, that is now our offering by fire. We aren’t a did sacrifice. Our actions are not a food sacrifice, but they are an offering treated and brought forth through fire. Why? Because fire purifies. It puts the weight of something to the test. It sees what something is truly made of. That’s why the LORD is a consuming fire. For who can withstand Him and who can stand against His wrath?

Therefore, each day should be a different offering sacrificed by fire to the LORD. A different action and/or act of faith to the LORD. Why? The Fear of Booths was about remembering the importance of putting faith in the LORD and acting on that faith. For faith without actions is dead.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fire Sacrifice.