Tag: Be Aware of Spiritual Warfare

“³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.” ~ Genesis 4:3-5

Who are we when we bring an offering before the LORD? Are we Cain? Or are we Abel? I guess the easiest way to answer that question is by taking a step back and evaluating our offerings. When we do something for God, that’s an offering. When we do something for others, that’s an offering before God. When we put money in the offering plate that is an offering before God. But how do we do these things? Do we do them with love? Do we do them begrudgingly? Do we do them out of selflessness? Do we bring our very best?

But why? Why does it matter how I bring my offering, at least I brought one. At least I did this for that person. At least I did it. So what is wrong with that? What’s wrong with bringing your second best? What’s wrong with just showing up? Think about it like this, life is a test. Each opportunity is how you study for the test, and each offering is how you take the test. If you don’t study for a test, then chances are you’re gonna fail that test. If you put down an answer that is wrong, then your answer is wrong whether you wrote it down or not. The answer is still marked wrong. Why? Because there is a right answer, just like there is a right way to bring an offering.

Don’t just bring an offering before the LORD, bring your best. Why? Imagine if you constantly help someone no matter what it is, no matter how extreme it is, no matter how impossible it is. But when you ask for something from that person, they begrudgingly do it. They complain the whole time. They act as though it is the biggest inconvenience to them. I don’t know about you, but I would just tell them not to worry about it. Why? Because that is unacceptable. It’s selfish.

God gives us everything we need. He died for us. He got off His throne and became man, yet we can’t bring an offering before Him. We are living in a selfish world, but don’t allow the world we live in to dictate our actions. To dictate who we are, for we are made new. We are no longer a part of this world, but a part of the Kingdom of God. So, therefore, be an Abel, not a Cain. Be a man or woman that brings their best and sets it down before God’s throne.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bring Your Best.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Similar Content

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes.’” ~ Leviticus 18:1-3

A lot of times as Christians, we expect that when we are brought into our promise, that everything will be perfect and dandy. But that’s not the way things work. We have to continue to fight. We have to realize that with each step we take to get closer to fulfilling our calling, there will be a bigger obstacle in our way. Just because we reach our promised land, it doesn’t mean that we have fulfilled our calling. There is always something more for us to do until we are taken up, whether by death or by rapture, but until then we are to keep going. We are to keep fighting.

Why? Because we are in a real war. We are in an unseen, for the most part, war. We are in the middle of the supernatural, spiritual war. The enemy doesn’t want to see us do the will of God, so with every step, we take closer to God, the Devil throws something harder for us to overcome. We don’t just walk into paradise, and that’s it. We march into paradise as a warrior ready for the battle ahead of us. That’s why Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”

We can’t expect to be passive and see the Kingdom of Heaven. We have to take it by force. We have to fight for it. Just as God had to tell the Israelites to leave behind the bondage of Egypt and not get into bondage in the new land He promised them, so does He say the same thing to us today. We have to let go of our past and be careful what we allow into our future.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take It By Force.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Similar Content

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹²I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, ¹⁴and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ¹⁸‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹Pleasepardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” ~ Numbers 14:11-19

How many times has God said He would blot out those wicked Israelites and start over through Moses? Yet each time Moses pleads with the LORD and is able to change His mind. Here’s the thing, we do not serve a God who changes. But we do serve a God who will change His mind depending on how well you argue your case. Why? Because God isn’t a malevolent dictator. If God wasn’t interested in Moses’ opinion, He would have never told Him what He was going to do. We see this all throughout the Bible that God will tell His plans to one whom He trusts, with whom He has a strong relationship with. And they will defend a case for why He shouldn’t do it. Moses did this must’ve been 10 times at least. But what we don’t understand is how to be a good lawyer.

We have to learn how to be a good lawyer. In order to be a good lawyer, we have to learn how the courts of Heaven work. We have to understand that the Court of Heaven has rules and specific procedures we have to follow. We can’t just speak random words of foolishness and expect God to overturn His initial ruling. Instead, we have to know the Bible. We have to know how to go before God. We have to know how to enter His courts. We have to know how to petition Him. We have to know how to quote scripture. We have to know how to defend. But how do we learn these things? We read our Bibles. We pray. We worship. Psalms 100:4 “Enter His Gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

How many of our prayers start with petition instead of thanksgiving? Instead of praise? How many of us actually take the time to thank Him for what He’s done, instead of continuously just asking. I’m not saying we shouldn’t ask. I’m saying we need to understand how to ask. We need to understand how to petition. Derek Prince, one of the greatest prayer warriors of our time, said in his book, ‘Secrets of a Prayer Warrior,’ unless we first give thanks for someone or something, we have no right petitioning God for them. If we want to see something take place, we must first thank God for what He has already done. We can’t expect to say, ‘gimme gimme gimme,’ and never once take the time to say thank you.

God is not a dictator. He doesn’t want to just do things, He wants input. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t have a divine council that He speaks with. He wouldn’t come to us and tell us of His judgments. We have to understand that we are in the gap. We have to stand in the gap and petition for others. Just as Moses stood in the gap. Just as Abraham stood in the gap. Just as Derek Prince stood in the gap. We have to stand in the gap. We have to be prayer warriors, so that we may change the mind of God that He may not bring judgment on those who deserve judgment. But instead that He would show mercy. We must remind Him of His word, as the others did. We must remind Him of His character as the others did. Not because He forgets. But so that you may build a case before Him and He may see your heart through your prayers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bring Your Petitions.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Similar Content

“So Joshua said to the Israelites. ‘How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?…’” ~ Joshua 18: 3

Has the LORD put a dream or a great vision in your heart? It’s been sitting there for years now, but you’re afraid to venture out. You find excuses, you let others discourage you, and procrastination sets in, and it all prevents you from starting. Don’t be afraid to step out into that ministry God has called you to, yes there will be giants, but God will fight for you and deliver you. Go on start that business venture He has put in your heart. Having relational problems? Seek Godly counseling, and do not be afraid for the LORD your God is with you.

What He has given you no one can take it from you, but you can lose it through disobedience or unbelief. The Israelites, when they had first come out of Egypt before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they were discouraged by a bad report and though they were on the precipice of their promise they lost out because of unbelief. Don’t let unbelief or fear steal your dream or your promise, trust God, He will bring about a great victory for you.

Our Heavenly Father, we need boldness and confidence to achieve the great dream, the great vision that You have placed in our hearts. Help us not to spend our time waiting for the right moment or the right opportunity where the sun is shining bright, and the skies are blue, but rather help us to find ourselves in the midst of Your Will for our lives and to take possession of that God-given dream or promise or vision and grant success.

In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

Back to Spiritual Warfare?

Back to Daily Bread?

Similar Content