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

DO NOT BE FAINT HEARTED

I HAD PREVIOUSLY PROMISED THAT THE NEXT BLOG WOULD DEAL WITH SPIRITUAL WARFARE, BUT FELT THE NEED TO SHARE THIS CRITICAL INFORMATION WITH YOU NOW......



                    A WORD FROM ALMIGHTY GOD

NOTE:  THIS WORD WAS RECEIVED BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG AS THE LORD AWAKENED ME AT 4:30 AM ON JULY 26, 2014 AND INSTRUCTED ME TO "WRITE WHAT I SAY TO YOU."

"THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!  HERE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO MY LOVED ONES:

THESE ARE TROUBLED TIMES, BUT LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, FOR I KNOW THE END FROM THE BEGINNING.  AND I HAVE A PLAN FOR MY CHILDREN...FOR EACH OF YOU.  BE ENCOURAGED, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU SEE AND HEAR GOING ON AROUND YOU!  MY ENEMY AND YOUR ENEMY IS OUT TO DESTROY ALL THAT I HAVE CREATED, INCLUDING MY CHOSEN ONES!  THIS HAS BEEN A BATTLE OVER TIME, BUT IS SOON COMING TO AN END AS IT IS WRITTEN.

I SO WANT MY CHILDREN TO BE PREPARED FOR WHAT IS TO COME...SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY.  IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CLING TO ME LIKE NEVER BEFORE (PSALM 91).  DRAW CLOSE TO ME, AND I WILL DRAW CLOSE TO YOU.  ALLOW ME TO GUIDE AND DIRECT YOU AS ONLY I CAN, FOR I HAVE WISDOM THAT YOU WILL NEED IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THE COMING DAYS!

STAND FIRM ON THE TRUTH OF MY WORD.  DO NOT LET FEAR CONSUME YOU, BUT BE STEADFAST AND BE COMFORTED KNOWING 'I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.'  I WILL MAKE A WAY WHEN YOU THINK THERE IS NO WAY!  DO NOT BE FAINT HEARTED.

AS I CALLED NOAH TO WARN THE WORLD OF PENDING CATASTROPHE, I CALL MY PEOPLE TO WARN OTHERS AND TO SHARE THE LIGHT OF JESUS
FOR THOSE WHO WILL RECEIVE HIM.  THE WORLD REJECTED WHAT NOAH TRIED TO SHARE AND THEY PERISHED!  BUT THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE A HEART TO RECEIVE WHAT I WOULD SAY THROUGH YOU....WHAT I WOULD SAY THROUGH YOU TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE!    LET MY LOVE BREAK FORTH IN YOU WHICH WILL DRAW THOSE WITH A HEART TO RECEIVE ME.

ARE YOU WILLING TO LABOR WITH ME?  I WILL GUIDE AND DIRECT YOUR FOOTSTEPS, JUST BE WILLING AS DAVID WAS WILLING TO BE MY INSTRUMENT TO OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE!  DAVID WAS BOLD! ARE YOU WILLING TO BE BOLD FOR MY SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING?  THINK NOT THAT THIS IS TOO DIFFICULT A TASK FOR YOU.  DAVID WAS BOLD IN MY STRENGTH! 

AS IT IS WRITTEN, 'YOU CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT ME (JOHN 15:4-8)."  BECAUSE IT IS ALSO WRITTEN THAT 'JESUS IS SEATED AT MY RIGHT HAND INTERCEDING FOR YOU, YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.'  (ROMANS 8:34,37)

GO FORTH, GO FORTH AS I GUIDE AND DIRECT YOU AND REJOICE."

CONTINUATION OF "COME TO MY TABLE"........

 

NOTE:  BEFORE I BEGIN THIS POST, I NEED TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT NOT LONG AFTER PATRICIA AND I  FINALLY OPENED THE  DOOR TO THE KNOCKING OF THE LORD ON OUR HEARTS, (REV. 3:20), THE LORD  BLESSED  EACH OF US WITH THE SAME MISSION STATEMENT FOR SERVING HIM WHILE ON THIS
EARTH -  INITIALLY IT WAS "TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE", THEN LATER HE ADDED: AND "TO EQUIP THE SAINTS."  HOPEFULLY THESE POSTS WILL FULFILL HIS MISSION FOR US AND FOR YOU!

   
THE PREVIOUS POST DEALT WITH THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY INVITING HIS CHILDREN: "COME TO MY TABLE." WHERE EVERY THING WE NEED FOR TODAY
IS AVAILABLE FOR US, BUT WE MUST COME!  STANDING BACK AND JUST WISHING FOR WHATEVER OUR NEED IS,  WILL NOT MAKE IT BECOME A REALITY! AMEN?

 IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT I REVISIT THE PREVIOUS POST BY ADDING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS THE LORD ALSO HAS PLACED ON HIS TABLE:

         *  PURITY - 2 COR. 6:6

         *  THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD  -  EPHESIANS 6:10-17
   
         *  "RIGHTOUSNESS" - HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS....NOT OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

         *   "STRENGTH" - ".BE STRONG IN THE LORD" - EPHESIANS 6:10

         *   "THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT" -  EPHESIANS 6:10
       
         *   "THE HOLY SPIRIT" - ACTS 1, 2
  
         *   " THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS IN GALATIONS 5:22,23: "LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF CONTROL..."

         *   " THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - 1 CORINTHIANS 12-14

         *   " COURAGE" - DEUT. 31:6

.MANY TIMES, PATRICIA AND I COME TO HIS TABLE AND FED ON THE ITEMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE AND APPROPRIATE FOR US INDIVIDUALLY AND TOGETHER....AND EACH TIME WE DID INDEED "EAT" FROM HIS TABLE, WE WERE FED THAT WHICH WE NEEDED! WE FIND IT A VERY BLESSED VISUAL UPON WHICH TO FOCUS. 

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHARE WITH OTHER READERS HOW YOU HAVE COME TO FEED ON "HIS TABLE" AND WERE INDEED FED!

BE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED AS YOU PARTAKE OF GOD'S PROVISION FOR YOU...(JEHOVAH JIREH...OUR PROVIDER).


                                                              

COME TO MY TABLE

 

 

MOST OF US HAVE WALKED ALONG THE BUFFET LINE, TRYING TO DECIDE JUST WHAT TO PUT ON OUR PLATES, ALSO REALIZING THAT WE CAN "GO BACK" LATER.

DO I ALWAYS FIND MY FAVORITE FOOD (LOBSTER) ON THE BUFFET...NO!  BECAUSE THAT IS MAN'S PROVISION WHICH IS LIMITED.

 

AS PATRICIA AND I WERE IN PRAYER THIS MORNING, I ASKED MY USUAL QUESTION: "LORD, WHAT IS IT YOU WOULD SHARE WITH US AS WE BEGIN OUR DAY?" AND THE HOLY SPIRIT SAID: "COME TO MY TABLE, WHERE EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE DAY IS THERE!" HE CONTINUED:

 

    *  DO YOU NEED COMFORT -  COME TO MY TABLE

 

     *   DO YOU NEED HEALING -  COME TO MY TABLE

 

     *   DO YOU NEED JOY - COME TO MY TABLE

 

     *   DO YOU NEED PEACE  - COME TO MY TABLE

 

     *   DO YOU NEED WISDOM  - COME TO MY TABLE".

 

YOU GET THE MESSAGE!  YOU CAN SEE ON MAN'S BUFFET THERE ARE MANY MANY ITEMS FROM WHICH TO CHOSE...AND THANKFULLY, THEY KEEP THE BUFFET WELL SUPPLIED...THEY DON'T RUN OUT OF FOOD, BUT IT CLOSES AT A CERTAIN HOUR!  OUR HEAVENLY FATHER NEVER EVER RUNS OUT OF ITEMS HE KNOWS HIS CHILDREN NEED, AND IS OPEN 24 HOURS PER DAY, 7 DAYS EACH WEEK, THANKFULLY!  AND THE ADDITIONAL BLESSING IS...IT IS FREE FOR THE ASKING.

 

QUESTION:  DO YOU APPROACH HIS TABLE, AND HOPEFULLY YOU DO OFTEN, HOW DO YOU APPROACH HIS TABLE,....WITH EXCITEMENT, KNOWING THAT WHAT YOU SELECT FROM HIS TABLE IS IN FACT YOURS? OR DO YOU APPROACH HIS TABLE WITH APPREHENSION AND WEAK FAITH THAT THIS REALLY ISN'T GOING TO HELP ME? 

 

YOU ARE AWARE OF THE SCRIPTURE WHICH DECLARES..." IF ANY OF YOU LACKS WISDOM, LET HIM ASK OF GOD WHO GIVES TO ALL LIBERALLY AND WITHOUT REPROACH,  AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO HIM, BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, WITH NO DOUBTING, FOR HE WHO DOUBTS IS LIKE A WAVE OF THE SEA DRIVEN AND TOSSED BY THE WIND" ( JAMES 1:5-6  SPIRIT FILLED NKJV BIBLE).

 

WHAT A BLESSING  KNOWING THAT WE KNOW THAT WE CAN "COME TO HIS TABLE" AT ANY TIME....FOR OUR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY (JEHOVAH JIREH - GOD OUR PROVIDER)  SO DESIRES TO PROVIDE FOR HIS CHILDREN SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY...WHAT "FOOD" IS ON HIS TABLE OR BUFFET THAT YOU NEED THIS DAY?

 

BE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED WITH HIS PROVISION AND MAY OUR LORD EL SHADDAI (THE ALL POWERFUL AND ALL SUFFICIENT ONE) BE GLORIFIED. AMEN?

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

GETTING STARTED

Greetings....as you look at this amazing photo (found on Google), you could not help but wonder just how this relates to "Enhancing Your Christian Walk"...stay with me and let me explain...

As it is Patricia and my custom after our evening prayer time, I ask the Holy Spirit what wisdom He might have for us as we close the day.  We have been doing this for several weeks now, and He is so faithful to share a word with each of us which supports the word the other has been given.  For example, one evening He gave us the word "bottle"!  We wondered just what this had to do with anything scriptural, but as we considered the word, the scriptural implications were amazing!  But this discussion is for another time...in the meantime, give some thought as to just how a simple word like "bottle" can have any spiritual significance and be ready to share when this topic is addressed....be challenged...your homework!

Back to the incredible photo....the evening of the 11th, the Holy Spirit gave us the word "Bulwark", obviously a word not part of our every day usage.  We pondered the word and went to the dictionary for the extent of its meaning: "a wall like defensive structure, and A STRONG SUPPORT OR PROTECTION"! (Merriam-Webster's Desk Dictionary 1995).  The photo...a perfect example of an incredible "bulwark"...notice this walled structure was holding back thousands of people (enemy perhaps) from making entrance...obviously a huge "protection" for those on the inside of the wall.

The analogy of the "bulwark" regarding the scriptural significance is that the Holy Spirit is taking a worldly word and relating it to our spiritual life!  "In what way?", you ask.  Almighty God, one of His Names being El Shaddai (the ALL POWERFUL, AND ALL-SUFFICIENT ONE) has a "wall of strong support" around His children 24/7 for our protection... a foundational truth we as His children must fully believe and stand on!  "And those who know thy name will put their trust in Thee; for Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek thee". Psalm 9:10.

And in conjunction with El Shaddai...consider Proverbs 18:10 - "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man -upright and in right standing with God - runs into it and is safe, high [above evil] and strong." (Amplified Bible)

To conclude...God's people in times of need, have a "bulwark" to run into and are SAFE from attacks on our spirit, soul, and body!  By faith we accept this as security, comfort, and truth....Amen?