SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 6

              SPIRITUAL WARFARE BLOG 6 – FEAR (CONTINUED)

     ONE OF THE MOST 10 TERRIFYING ROPE BRIDGES IN THE WORLD

 IF YOUR FRIENDS WERE CROSSING THIS BRIDGE AND WANTED YOU TO         

                        JOIN THEM…….WOULD YOU?

NOT LONG AGO WE WERE WATCHING A MOVIE WITH  SCENES SHOWING A MOTHER, FATHER WITH THEIR DAUGHTER AND HER WEDDING PARTY APPROACHING A VERY LONG ROPE FOOT BRIDGE HIGH OVER A SWIFTLY RUNNING RIVER. IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE THE GROUP WAS ON THE BRIDGE MOVING ACROSS…ALL EXCEPT THE MOTHER…SHE HAD BEEN LAST IN LINE…ON PURPOSE! SHE WAS PETRIFIED TO EVEN APPROACH THE BRIDGE, LET ALONE CROSS IT! 

OBVIOUSLY, FEAR HAD HER IN ITS GRIP!  THE FURTHER THE GROUP PROGRESSED ACROSS THE BRIDGE THE MORE INTENSE THE FEAR BECAME.  THE GROUP WOULD LOOK BACK FROM TIME TO TIME ENCOURAGING HER TO FOLLOW THEM….EVEN HER HUSBAND.  BUT SHE REFUSED TO BUDGE.  FINALLY HER HUSBAND TURNED AROUND, CAME TO HER AND TOGETHER THEY HEADED BACK TO THE HOTEL.

TRAGICALLY, SHE HAD BOWED TO FEAR! WAS THIS THE SPIRIT OF FEAR, OR JUST PLAIN SOULISH FEAR? THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!  THIS WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN COUPLE IN THE FILM. UNFORTUNATELY,  FEAR CAN OVERCOME EVEN THE STRONGEST OF CHRISTIANS….IF  WE ACQUIESCE!

IF YOU WERE TO CROSS THIS BRIDGE, JUST HOW WOULD YOU DO SO? WOULD YOU WALK ACROSS IN GREAT CONFIDENCE, FULLY ASSURED  THAT YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER, EL  SHADDAI, OUR GREAT POWERFUL SHEPHERD  IS  PROTECTING YOU  ALL THE WAY (JEHOVAH ROI), OR WOULD YOU WALK ACROSS HESITANTLY, WITH FEAR AND TREPIDATION, HOLDING ON THE ROPES FOR DEAR LIFE, OR EVEN  CRAWLING ACROSS, PERSPIRING PROFUSELY?  OR JUST PLAIN REFUSING TO CROSS, AS WAS THE CASE OF THE WIFE IN THE FILM, LETTING FEAR DICTATE YOUR DECISION ?

THE CRUCIAL QUESTION BEFORE FOR US: “IS THERE A BRIDGE OR ARE THERE BRIDGES IN OUR LIVES THAT WE ARE AFRAID TO CROSS BECAUSE OF FEAR?” WE MUST ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT THE ENEMY OF OUR VERY BEING, SATAN, IS PERSISTENTLY STALKING US, MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT! THAT’S HIS JOB, “ SEEKING  WHOM HE CAN KILL AND DESTROY (JOHN 10:10). HOWEVER, WE MUST ALWAYS KEEP BEFORE US  GOD’S  ASSURANCE THAT “GREATER IS HE (GOD) WHO IS IN YOU THEN HE (SATAN) WHO IS IN THE WORLD!” ( 1 JOHN 4:4)

IT IS CRUCIAL TO KEEP IN MIND, THAT FEAR IS NOT ALWAYS THE RESULT OF SATAN AND HIS MINIONS HARASSING US….THE WORLD AND OUR FLESH CAN BE INSTIGATORS AS WELL! 

A WORD OF CAUTION….SOME BIBLE VERSIONS WILL USE “SIN NATURE” TO DESCRIBE THE FLESH.  THIS CAN NOT BE SUBSTANTIATED IN SCRIPTURE ,FOR WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A “DIVINE NATURE” ( 2 PETER 1:4.)  THANKFULLY, BECAUSE OF THE POWERFUL WORK OF OUR SAVIOR AND LORD JESUS ON THE CROSS, WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, FOR IT HAS NO DOMINION OVER US ANY LONGER, THANKFULLY!  ( ROMANS 6:14)

IN ADDITION, HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HEAR CHRISTIANS DECLARE : “I AM A SINNER, SAVED BY GRACE”?  REALLY? WHERE IS THIS FOUND IN SCRIPTURE?  WE SIN IN OUR FLESH , BUT TO REITERATE, WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, AS STATED IN ROMANS 7:1-25; 8:1-37. JESUS DECLARED IN JOHN 9:31, “GOD DOES NOT HEAR SINNERS, BUT IF ANYONE IS A WORSHIPER OF GOD AND DOES HIS WILL, HE HEARS HIM.”

 LET’S REVIEW THE SCRIPTURE “FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER AND OF LOVE AND OF A SOUND MIND.” (2 TIM. 1:7)

 IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THIS SCRIPTURE THOROUGHLY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF FEAR  AS IT RELATES TO THIS SPECIFIC SCRIPTURE IN 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 , FOR WORDS CAN BE TRANSLATED DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING UPON THE CONTEXT OF  THE SCRIPTURES. UNFORTUNATELY, SO MANY READ A SCRIPTURE SUPERFICIALLY WITHOUT GOING DEEPER AS TO JUST WHAT THE HEBREW OR GREEK TRANSLATION IS . FOR EXAMPLE, FEAR IN THIS SCRIPTURE IN THE GREEK TRANSLATES ”TIMIDITY”! (1167 STRONG’S CONCORDANCE). CONSIDER THE GREEK FOR FEAR IN LUKE 1:65 “AND FEAR CAME UPON ALL….” WHICH IN THE GREEK MEANS “TERROR/ALARM. (5401 STRONGS). THIS WOULD BE THE CASE OF THE LADY AT THE BRIDGE…SHE WAS TERRIFIED, NOT TIMID!

LET’S RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION: “WHAT BRIDGE OR BRIDGES  ARE YOU TIMID, TERRIFIED OR REFUSE TO CROSS IN YOUR LIFE?

MAY I ENCOURAGE YOU TO SEEK THE WISDOM OF THE LORD AS TO FEARS THAT COULD WELL BE HIDDEN IN YOUR VERY BEING.  ONCE EXPOSED, THEY CAN BE DEALT WITH, FOR YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR, WORRY, FRETFULNESS, OR ANXIETIES..THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT THE WAY GOD WOULD HAVE US LIVE…AMEN?  IN FACT, HE DEALS WITH THIS VERY SUBJECT IN MATTHEW 6:25-34….MEDITATE IN THESE TRUTHS AND SEE HOW YOUR LIFE BECOMES LESS AND LESS FEARFUL/WORRISOME. 

THE LORD HAS PROVIDED STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH FEAR IN OUR LIVES AND WE WILL CONSIDER THESE MORE IN DEPTH IN THE NEXT BLOG, ESPECIALLY HOW TO DISCERN  WHERE FEAR COMES FROM…THE FLESH OR SATAN.

UNTIL THEN, BE COMFORTED AND ENCOURAGED WITH GOD’S WORDS IN 1 JOHN 4:18 “PERFECT LOVES CASTES OUT FEAR”; 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 “BEING FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT WILL CAUSE YOU TO BECOME FEARLESS”!

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND GOD’S COMMAND: “BUT BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES. FOR IF ANYONE IS A HEARER AND NOT A DOER,HE IS LIKE A MAN OBSERVING HIS NATURAL FACE IN A MIRROR; FOR HE OBSERVES HIMSELF, GOES AWAY,AND IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT KIND OF MAN HE WAS.” (JAMES 1:22-24)

                             BE GLORIFIED LORD, BE GLORIFIED                                                                                 

                                               

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 5



CONTINUING WITH MOSES, DAVID, JESUS AND  MY SPEAKING TO THE 5 TORNADOES IN KANSAS.......

AND WHAT DO WE READ IN JOHN 13-17 CONCERNING JUST WHAT JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES BEFORE GOING TO THE CROSS?  LET'S
LISTEN IN....

"SIMON PETER SAID TO HIM,  'LORD, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?' AND JESUS ANSWERED HIM, .BUT YOU DO NOT KN0W WHERE I CAME FROM AND WHERE I AM GOING." (JOHN 8:14);
"WHERE I AM GOING YOU CAN NOT FOLLOW ME, NOW, BUT YOU  SHALL FOLLOW ME AFTERWARD."
(JOHN 13:36)

BUT NOT TO FEAR BECAUSE I  AM SENDING ANOTHER COMFORTER, HELPER (JOHN 14:16), AND TEACHER (THE HOLY SPIRIT) WHO WOULD EMPOWER THEM AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, TO "GO DO WHAT HE DID WHILE ON EARTH". (JOHN 14:12)  " AND THESE SIGNS WILL FOLLOW THOSE WHO BELIEVE: IN MY NAME THEY WILL CAST OUT DEMONS; THEY WILL SPEAK WITH NEW TONGUES; THEY WILL TAKE UP SERPENTS; AND IF THEY DRINK ANYTHING DEADLY, IT WILL BY NO MEANS HURT THEM; THEY WILL LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, AND THEY WILL RECOVER."  (MARK 16:17,18 AND MATTHEW 4:23,24)

RECENTLY IN REFERENCE TO MY TAKING AUTHORITY OVER THE FIVE TORNADOES AS DESCRIBED IN PART 3, I WAS ASKED BY A READER: "WEREN'T YOU AFRAID WHEN YOU SPOKE TO THE TORNADOES?"  MY RESPONSE WAS "NO, FOR IT WAS NOT I WHO 'DEVISED THIS'"!  GOD FORBID! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A MONUMENTAL CATASTROPHE, IN THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A WORK OF THE FLESH AND THUS LACKED THE EMPOWERMENT/AUTHORITY/ DIRECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE HERE AND " HOW DOES IT APPLY TO ME?" YOU ASK.

 BASICALLY THIS,.CHRISTIAN,,,,,

WE MUST ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT JESUS, BORN AS MAN,  AT ABOUT AGE 30, WAS  BAPTIZED IN THE RIVER JORDAN BY JOHN THE BAPTIST AND AS WELL, BAPTIZED (EMPOWERED) IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (MATTHEW 3:16), SO AS TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY IN SETTING THE CAPTIVES FREE, (ROMANS 8:3) REDEEMING/RESTORING THOSE WHO WILL AND TO BE OUR MODEL AS TO HOW WE ARE TO LIVE. AND TO SERVE!

JESUS RELIED UPON HIS HEAVENLY FATHER THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, TO GUIDE HIM IN EVERY FACET OF HIS LIFE..  THE FACT BEING, JESUS TRUSTED HIS HEAVENLY FATHER FOR HIS WATCH CARE OVER HIM 24/7! AND IT IS THE SAME WITH US!

THUS THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION FOR EACH OF US, HIS CHILDREN, HAS TO BE: "JUST HOW MUCH AM I TRUSTING MY HEAVENLY FATHER?" AM I LOOKING IN FEAR AT THINGS SEEN, OR AM I LOOKING IN FAITH AT THINGS HOPED FOR...(HEBREWS 11:1) "

JESUS' MISSION ALL THE WHILE WAS TO ACCOMPLISH THE WILL OF THE FATHER! WHEN JESUS WAS 12 YEARS OLD, HE TOLD HIS PARENTS AS THEY WERE SEARCHING FOR HIM: "WHY DID YOU SEEK ME?,DID YOU NOT KNOW I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS?" (LUKE 2:49)
HE KNEW WHAT WAS BEFORE HIM...WAS HE FEARFUL?  CERTAINLY NOT!  WHY NOT?

JESUS RELIED UPON HIS HEAVENLY FATHER THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE HIM IN EVERY FACET OF HIS LIFE..  THE FACT BEING, HE TRUSTED HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WHO WAS FAITHFUL IN HIS WATCH CARE OVER HIM...AS HE IS WITH US, THANKFULLY!

THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION FOR EACH OF US HAS TO BE: "JUST HOW MUCH AM I TRUSTING MY HEAVENLY FATHER?"

         IN WHICH TENT ARE YOU BASICALLY LIVING?

                            TRUSTING THE LORD

                                                 WHICH SO BLESSES HIM

"LEAN ON, TRUST, AND BE CONFIDENT IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND MIND, AND DO NOT RELAY ON YOUR OWN INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS KNOW, RECOGNIZE AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL DIRECT AND MAKE STRAIGHT AND PLAIN YOUR PATHS." (PROVERBS 3:5,6 AMP)

                                                OR

                              LIVING IN FEAR/WORRY

                                           WHICH SO GRIEVES, OFFENDS, SADDENS
                                            THE HOLY SPIRIT (EPHESIANS 4:30 AMP.)
                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                         

JESUS INSTRUCTS US IN LUKE 12:32 "DO NOT FEAR, LITTLE FLOCK, FOR IT IS YOUR FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM."  AND JUST WHAT IS THE "KINGDOM OF GOD"?  THINK OF A KINGDOM IN DAYS OF OLD...THERE WAS A KING AND HIS PEOPLE....AS LONG AS THEY LIVED IN THE KINGDOM, HE PROVIDED/PROTECTED THEM. AND AS IT IS WITH US, AS LONG AS WE HONOR OUR KING AND SUBMIT TO HIS LORDSHIP, HE MORE THAN PROVIDES/PROTECTS  HIS PEOPLE......FOR ONE OF HIS NAMES IS JEHOVAH JIREH, OUR PROVIDER, AND JEHOVAH ROI, THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD AND HE CARES FOR/PROTECTS HIS SHEEP!

AND IN MATTHEW 6:25-34, THE SCRIPTURES CONCENTRATE ON THE FOLLY (SIN) OF FEAR/WORRYING!  WHY "SIN"?  WE ARE NOT TRUSTING GOD AND INSTEAD LETTING SATAN/FLESH REDIRECT OUR THOUGHTS (FEAR/WORRY).  GOD ALMIGHTY TELLS US TO LET HIM GUIDE/DIRECT OUR THOUGHTS. "COMMIT YOUR WORKS TO THE LORD, AND YOUR THOUGHTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED." (PROVERBS 16:3)

JESUS DECLARES IN VERSE 25, "THEREFORE I SAY TO YOU, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT YOU WILL EAT, OR WHAT YOU WILL DRINK, NOR ABOUT YOUR BODY, WHAT YOU WILL PUT ON.  IS NOT LIFE MORE THAN FOOD AND THE BODY MORE THAN CLOTHING?"; "THEREFORE DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW, FOR TOMORROW WILL WORRY ABOUT ITS OWN THINGS. SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY IS ITS OWN TROUBLE."

JESUS COMMANDS HIS PEOPLE IN MATTHEW 28-30: "COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." (V.28) "TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME, FOR I AM GENTLE AND LOWLY IN HEART, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS". (V. 29)  "FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY  BURDEN IS LIGHT" (V.30)

SAINTS, KEEP IN MIND WHAT JOSHUA PROCLAIMED: "...CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE......AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD." (JOSHUA 24:15)

                                     

PRAYING THE BLESSINGS OF THE LORD BE UPON YOU AS YOU MEDITATE ON WHAT 

HAS BEEN WRITTEN...AND ABOVE ALL, AS IT IS WRITTEN IN JAMES 1:22-25:

"BUT BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOURSELVES.

FOR IF ANYONE IS A HEARER OF THE WORD AND NOT A DOER, HE IS LIKE A MAN OBSERVING HIS NATURAL FACE IN THE MIRROR; FOR HE OBSERVES HIMSELF, GOES AWAY, AND IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT KIND OF MAN HE WAS.  BUT HE WHO LOOKS INTO THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY AND CONTINUES IN IT, AND IS NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK, THIS ONE WILL BE BLESSED IN WHAT HE DOES." (NEW SPIRIT FILLED LIFE BIBLE)   

BE GLORIFIED LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, BE GLORIFIED  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                         

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 4

"BUT....I WAS AFRAID!"

                     

         FEAR AND TRUST

 

WHERE IN THE BIBLE, DO WE FIRST MEET   FEAR?

 

GENESIS 3:9,10 - "THEN THE LORD GOD CALLED TO ADAM AND SAID TO HIM, 'WHERE ARE YOU?  SO HE (ADAM) SAID, 'I HEARD YOUR VOICE IN THE GARDEN, AND I WAS AFRAID BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; AND I HID MYSELF.'"

 

ADAM AND EVE WERE THEN EVICTED FROM THE GARDEN AND BEGAN LIFE IN THE WORLD BEING SEPARATED FROM GOD BECAUSE THEY DISOBEYED HIM..THUS BEGAN A LIFE OF FEAR AND TREPIDATION FOR THEM AND ALL  

 MANKIND!  

"SAY TO THOSE WHO ARE FEARFUL-HEARTED, BE STRONG, DO NOT FEAR!....."  (ISAIAH 35:4)

"FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER AND LOVE AND OF  A SOUND MIND...." (2 TIMOTHY 1:7)

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE WORD "SPIRIT"!  WE WILL ADDRESS THAT CRITICAL ISSUE AT ANOTHER TIME.



DAVID AND GOLIATH

QUESTIONS: WERE MOSES, DAVID, OR JESUS FEARFUL AS THEY CONFRONTED SUCH  FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES?  AND WAS I FEARFUL WHEN I COMMANDED THE TORNADOES "TO DISSIPATE"?  NO! AND WHY WERE WE NOT FEARFUL? BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT SET EACH TASK INTO BEING!  IT WAS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE OBEDIENT.  ON THE OTHER HAND, WHY WERE ADAM AND EVE FEARFUL?  GOD SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT.." AND THEY SAID "WE WILL..."!  THE REST IS HISTORY!

IT IS CRUCIAL TO MAKE THE POINT THAT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT DAYS, PEOPLE SUCH AS  MOSES AND DAVID WERE VISITED AND EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR SUCH  SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENTS, THEY JUST DIDN'T DECIDE ON THEIR OWN ONE DAY TO PART THE RED SEA OR FIGHT THE GIANT! THESE WERE ACTS OF GOD!

UNLIKE NEW TESTAMENT "BORN AGAIN" CHRISTIANS WHO ONCE THEY ASK TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, ARE FILLED AND EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO ACCOMPLISH THE TASKS ASSIGNED TO THEM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

 JESUS WAS BAPTIZED IN THE RIVER JORDAN BY JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME UPON HIM (MATTHEW 3:16).
 
WHY WOULD JESUS (GOD ALMIGHTY) NEED TO BE BAPTIZED AND FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, YOU ASK? PLEASE REMEMBER, JESUS CAME TO EARTH, BORN OF MAN TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT THE FATHER HAD ASKED OF HIM. THUS, HE NEEDED TO BE EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER TO BEGIN HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY.  I WAS BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH THEN EMPOWERED ME TO SPEAK TO THE TORNADOES, AS HE DIRECTED,.AND TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT THE LORD HAS FOR ME.  THIS IS NOT UNIQUE FOR JUST ME, BUT AVAILABLE TO THOSE SPIRIT FILLED SAINTS WHO SEEK TO BE USED BY THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

                                                       
                                      THIS TOPIC WILL CONTINUE  WITH PART 5

                                    TO GOD BE THE HONOR, GLORY AND PRAISE

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 3

FEAR/WORRY ARE TWO OF SATAN'S MOST EFFECTIVE WEAPONS AGAINST BELIEVERS

      FEAR VS TRUST

 KEEP IN MIND THAT FEAR AND TRUST RUN PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER

LET'S CONSIDER THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF FEAR AND TRUST BY LOOKING AT MATTHEW 8:23-27 AND MARK 4:35-41


"JESUS INSTRUCTED HIS DISCIPLES TO CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE...NOW WHEN HE GOT INTO THE BOAT, HIS DISCIPLES FOLLOWED HIM AND SUDDENLY A GREAT TEMPEST AROSE ON THE SEA SO THAT THE BOAT WAS COVERED WITH THE WAVES. BUT HE WAS ASLEEP. THEN HIS DISCIPLES CAME TO HIM, SAYING 'LORD, SAVE US!  WE ARE PERISHING!' BUT HE SAID TO THEM; 'WHY ARE YOU FEARING O YOU OF LITTLE FAITH?' THEN HE AROSE AND REBUKED THE WIND AND THE SEA, AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM."

HIS DISCIPLES WHO WERE IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES. SADLY, THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW JUST WHO THIS JESUS WAS.....BUT THEN THEY SAW HIM IN ACTION, FOR HE TOOK HIS AUTHORITY AND SPOKE AGAINST THE 'TEMPEST' WHO HAD TO OBEY HIS COMMAND, AS SATAN HAS TO OBEY OUR COMMAND UTTERED IN THAT NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES, JESUS THE CHRIST...FOR IF JESUS ABIDES IN US AND THOSE OF US WHO ARE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE ARE EMPOWERED TO COMMAND THE STORMS IN OUR LIVES AS WELL.."PEACE BE STILL!"  YES, WE CAN...LET ME SHARE A PERSONAL TESTIMONY CONCERNING OUR AUTHORITY AS SPIRIT-FILL BELIEVERS.


 SEVERAL YEARS AGO, MY WIFE AND I WERE VISITING OUR DAUGHTER AND FAMILY IN KANSAS CITY, KS.  IT WAS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND IT BECAME USUALLY DARK.  ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WAS A NEWS FLASH ON THE TELEVISION ANNOUNCING THAT FIVE TORNADOES WERE HEADED OUR WAY! OBVIOUSLY THAT WAS AN ATTENTION GETTER! SINCE IT WAS GETTING CLOSE TO DINNER TIME, OUR SON-IN-LAW HAD ORDERED "TAKE OUT" AND ASKED ME WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT OUR GOING TO PICK IT UP!  I WAS SURPRISED BY HIS QUESTION, THINKING "THERE IS NO WAY WE NEED TO VENTURE OUT! THEN I HEARD MYSELF DECLARING "YES, LET'S GO FOR IT"
WE HEADED OUT AND NOT LONG INTO THE TRIP, I SAID TO MY SON-IN-LAW, "THIS IS GOING TO SOUND VERY STRANGE TO YOU, BUT I AM GOING TO PRAY AGAINST THESE FIVE TORNADOES HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US.AND I AM GOING TO USE A WORD IN MY PRAYER THAT I VERY SELDOM USE AND THAT IS 'DISSIPATE"! I TOOK A FEW MINUTES TO SHARE THE STORY ABOUT JESUS IN THE BOAT AND SPEAKING "PEACE BE STILL" TO THE STORM, AND THE STORM CEASED! I PRAYED THE PRAYER, WE CONTINUED ON,  ARRIVING AT THE RESTAURANT AND WENT IN TO THE BAR AREA  WHERE THE "TAKE OUT" WAS.....AS WE WALKED IN, THERE WERE SEVERAL TV MONITORS PLAYING AND WE SAW/HEARD A METEOROLOGIST DECLARING:" FOLKS, WE DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS, BUT THE FIVE TORNADOES HAVE DISSIPATED!"

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT BLOG.....

                                      TO GOD BE THE GLORY, HONOR AND PRAISE                                                                             


                                    

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 2



 

 

 

ONE OF SATAN'S MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER IS

 

FEAR

 

 WHERE DOES FEAR COME FROM?  IT IS A SPIRIT FROM THE PIT OF HELL SENT  OUT TO HARASS THE SAINTS!  AND IT SPAWNS WORRY, PANIC, DISPAIR, AND ANXIETY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, WHICH RESULTS IN OUR MINDS BEING CLUTTERED WITH VAIN IMAGINATIONS MOVING US INTO THE FLESH REALM WHICH THEN DRAWS OUR FOCUS QUICKLY AWAY FROM THE LORD AND WE MOVE FROM TRUSTING THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, RESULTING IN  SATAN DECLARES: "GOT CHA!".

 

THUS WE HAVE ALLOWED THE ENEMY TO STEAL OUR PEACE , OUR JOY , AND OUR STILLNESS! 

 

WHAT DOES THAT WONDERFUL PRAISE SONG DECLARE: "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.....".  AND WHY DOES THE LORD WANT US TO "BE STILL"? HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY HEAR THAT "STILL SMALL VOICE" SAYING TO US: "YOUR EARS SHALL HEAR A WORD BEHIND YOU SAYING,'THIS IS THE WAY, WALK IN IT,' WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE RIGHT HAND OR WHENEVER YOU TURN TO THE LEFT.'"

 

AND WHAT DID MOSES TELL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN EXODUS 14:13,14 AS THEY WERE FLEEING FROM EGYPT?   "AND MOSES SAID TO THE PEOPLE, 'DO NOT BE AFRAID. STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD, WHICH HE WILL ACCOMPLISH FOR YOU TODAY.....THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU, AND YOU SHALL HOLD YOUR PEACE." WERE THEY IN A STATE OF FEAR....ABSOLUTELY!  BUT GOD WAS WITH THEM ALL THROUGH IT ALL AND THEY INDEED

EXPERIENCED THE "SALVATION"(BEING SET FREE FROM....) OF THEIR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY...EL SHADDAI.

 

 MY WIFE AND I DURING THE CONSTUCTION OF THIS BLOG (AND SHOULD WE HAVE BEEN SURPRISED?), WERE IMMERSED IN  A VERY SERIOUS SATANIC ATTACK THAT WAS ATTEMPTING TO BRING FEAR UPON US AND WE HAD TO BATTLE THAT "SPIRIT OF FEAR" THAT SO WANTED  US TO TAKE OUR EYES OFF OUR TRIUNE GOD! 

WE KNOW THAT WE ARE TO FIGHT VAIN IMAGINATIONS (FOR THE BATTLE IS IN THE MIND) AND "TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST. " ( 2 COR. 10:5)  THANKFULLY, HE WALKED WITH US THROUGH THE NIGHT AND THE NEXT MORNING WE SAW VICTORY! PRAISE GOD...HE WAS FAITHFUL AND TRUST WORTHY THROUGH IT ALL!  AND WHAT DID WE LEARN THROUGH THIS...TO FOCUS ON OUR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND  "CASTE ALL OUR CARES UPON HIM FOR HE CARES FOR YOU".... BEING ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING" (1 PETER 5:7) AND TO BRING QUICKLY TO MIND NOT TO LOOK AT THINGS SEEN, BUT THINGS HOPED FOR.  WE ALSO TOOK OUR ASSURANCE AS TO WHAT IS WRITTEN IN ROMANS 8: 34b,37 "....JESUS IS EVEN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, WHO ALSO MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US" AND BECAUSE THEY ARE, VERSE 37: "YET IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US!"

 

                               SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART 3 WILL COVER:

 

                  WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TELL US CONCERNING FEAR?

 

 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 " FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER,

AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND."

 

MY PRAYER FOR YOU IS THAT YOU WILL HAVE "EYES TO SEE, EARS TO HEAR, AND A HEART TO RECEIVE" (ISAIAH 6:10) THAT WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS REVEALING TO YOU IN THESE BLOGS.

 

                                                         TO GOD BE THE GLORY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

              

                                                                          PART 1

 

FIRST AND FOREMOST- DO YOU KNOW JUST WHO YOU ARE WARRING AGAINST?

  

SO WHO IS OUR ENEMY?

 

 

TRAGICALLY, SO MANY HAVE NO IDEA WHO THEIR ENEMY IS!  CONSIDER THIS....IT HAS BEEN DECLARED THAT THERE ARE THREE ENEMIES. HOWEVER, THERE IS A 4TH:

 

                                                                *  SATAN

                                                             

                                                                *  THE WORLD

                                                            

                                                                *  THE FLESH AND THE........

 

                                                                *   THE church - NOTICE THE LOWER CASE

 LETTERS...THIS IS MAN'S CHURCH. NOT GOD'S CHURCH!  THERE IS MARKED

 DIFFERENCE....MORE ON THIS LATER.

 

                                                                *  SATAN

 

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE BLOGS, WILL REMEMBER THE BLOG DEALING WITH SATAN, THE TEMPTER WHICH LISTS JUST WHO IS HE AND WHAT HE HAS TO OFFER....  THAT WAS THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS BLOG.

 

IT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES: "YOU ARE EITHER OF GOD YOUR FATHER, OR OF THE DEVIL WHO IS YOUR FATHER." (JOHN 8:42-47 AND LUKE 11:23) 

 

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOUR FATHER IS? HAVE YOU HEARD THE LORD JESUS KNOCKING AT THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART AS IT IS WRITTEN IN REVELATION 3: 20 "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK.  IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR, 'I WILL COME IN AND DINE WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME."  ALSO IN JOHN 3:3, JESUS SAYS TO NICODEMUS CONCERNING BECOMING A CHILD OF THE LIVING GOD AND INHERITING THE KINGDOM OF GOD: "MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS ONE IS BORN AGAIN (FROM ABOVE) HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD".  NICODEMUS, ONE OF THE PHARISEES, QUESTIONS HIM FURTHER, SINCE THIS HAS NOT BEEN REVEALED TO HIM AND AGAIN JESUS RESPONDS: "MOST ASSURDEDLY, I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS ONE IS BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT, HE CANNOT ENTER THE KINDOM OF GOD, AND VERSE 6: "THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE FLESH IS FLESH, AND THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT, IS SPIRIT."

 

THUS, WE ARE AT WAR, AND AGAIN CONCERNING WHO THE ENEMY IS, IT IS WRITTEN: "FOR WE DO NOT WRESTLE AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES , AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS AGE, AGAINST SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKNESS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES."

 

                                          

                                       

SO OFTEN CHRISTIANS FORGET THAT MAN IS NOT THE ENEMY, BUT SATAN AND HIS COHORTS...THUS WE ENTER INTO SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND NOT AGAINST MAN...FOR IT IS SATAN AND HIS MINIONS THAT WE MUST FIGHT...CONSIDER WHAT IS WRITTEN IN MATTHEW 11:12: "AND FROM THE DAYS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST UNTIL NOW THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERS VIOLENCE AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT (THE FOUL SPIRIT WORLD) BY FORCE."

IT IS HERE WHERE MANY WOULD DECLARE: "OF COURSE WE ARE

FIGHTING AGAINST MAN..JUST LOOK AT THE WARS OVER THE CENTURIES...AND WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE  FIGHTING....TO THE EYE, MAN AGAINST MAN!  THE RESPONSE TO SUCH A DECLARATION IS: "AND WHO TRULY IS THE INSTIGATOR OF THESE WARS....SATAN AND HIS FORCES MAN!" THIS IS NOT GOD'S BEST FOR THE MAN HE CREATED INITIALLY, THEN COMES SATAN BANISHED FROM HEAVEN AND SENT TO EARTH "SEEKING WHOM HE CAN KILL AND DESTROY!."

 DO NOT DISPAIR AND DECLARE "WOE IS ME!"  GOD ALMIGHTY HAS EMPOWERED HIS SPIRIT FILLED SAINTS WITH STRATEGIES FOR RESISTING AND DEFEATING SATAN....REMEMBER, "YOU ARE OF GOD, LITTLE CHILDREN AND HAVE OVERCOME THEM (SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST), BECAUSE HE WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THAN HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD." ( 1 JOHN 4:4)

STAND BY FOR PART 2 IN THE DAYS TO COME..."PRAYING YOU HAVE EYES TO SEE, EARS TO HEAR, AND A HEART TO RECEIVE" WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS SPEAKING TO YOU THROUGH THESE BLOGS.....

                                                          


 

  



GO DEEP IN YOUR WALK WITH THE LORD