Battle Lines

The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis Chapter 15

At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.

"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it more magic?"

"Yes!" said a great voice from behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad....

"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."

I love C. S. Lewis’ book series the Chronicles of Narnia. His ability to write a child’s fantasy story and equate it to spiritual warfare is nothing short of a genius. Reading this fiction story of children traveling to another land allows the mind to break through the natural and see into the supernatural with ease.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

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.

Satan is real. 

The battle is fierce. 

The delusion is on and thicker than ever before. 

Satan's ways are deceiving and he will stop at nothing to acquire a soul. He sows the bad in with the good, the bad thoughts with the good thoughts. He has no pity or sympathy and he is great in doing evil. He is very smart, driven and inspired by a vicious, cruel heart.

Our fight is not against atheist or other religious cults. Our fight is against the angel of light, Satan the great deceiver, and the only way we can fight this mortal enemy of ours is on our knees in prayer and worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, love our neighbour and those who just don’t see, the ones who have fallen under the spell of Satan.

The battle is increasing and Christians should be wearing their armour and hit the ground often in supplication to our Father in heaven, seeking His face, His wisdom and His will.

Our society is lacking prayer. 

We need to pray for the advance of God's cause not for the advance of man's cause. Praying according to the will of God and not to twist the arm of God, is where mountains are moved; spiritual mountains. 

James 4:3 ESV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The battle lines are being drawn, there are only two sides to chose from. Either you are with God or with Satan, there is no other choice. 

Praying and praying,

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Light Dissolves Darkness

Mark 5:1-5 NIV

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They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

Our society does not regard Satan as a real being. Even in some churches the members will ignore this. But Scripture tells us otherwise. There is a real evil being and he does a lot of under cover work in the area of mental illness, divorce, physical & sexual abuse, self degrading, insecurities and so on.

When we read Mark 5:1-5 we see that Satan likes to isolate, shame and torture the people he controls. His power is inhumanely strong and he uses this to hold people in fear and bondage. When the evil one achieves a hold in our lives he will lead us into self-destructive behaviour.

Satan is around and he is roaming and wanting to destroy as many lives as he can before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. As his time grows short, he is becoming fiercer and if he notices that he can have a chance with you in pulling you away from Jesus or stop you doing the work God has for you, he will. He will tempt and deceive you. He is a seducer and will stop at no means to take you down.

Focus your thoughts on Jesus Christ and His word. He will fill you up and defeat the tactics of Satan. When Jesus brings to mind a sin you have done, just repent of it and ask for His forgiveness, this closes up the hole that Satan can get a foothold on, Ephesians 4:26-27. Get involved in a church and have people praying for you. Remember Satan wants to isolate you and bring you into darkness. Where there is light the darkness must flee. And when you see someone under distress, pray for them. Have compassion on them and realize that this is a spiritual war and they are under attack and are in need of prayer and maybe need leading into repentance for a sin they have committed, like anger, hatred or just pure frustration.

1 John 1:5-7 NIV
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Praise Jesus, He has overcome the darkness and through Him we can too.








Blessings,
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Where is your Treasure? Think Before you Speak Part 2

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Matthew 6:19-21 NIV "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


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I have a vivid imagination and it zings from one idea to another at incredible speeds. Pictures forming and morphing into something else before I even grasp what I saw. I am very sensitive to the Spirit world. Things that are of God my heart bursts with excitement and things that are of Satan I will feel all the pulls of anger, hate, envy and so on. I have a very active thought life which is good and bad at the same time, for it is very easy for me to get lost in God's Spirit, praising, worshiping, dancing and to give all over to Him, but it is also very easy for Satan to get at me and he loves to do this through insecurity, self consciousness and such as these.

                     How do we control our thoughts and deflect temptation?

God, Satan and self feed our thoughts and we have the choice who to listen to, for God made us with free will. John 8:44 NIV "...the devil...He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." The devil cannot possess or have authority over a Spirit filled Christian but he can control your thoughts if you allow him access. God does not judge our thoughts, which is temptation, but He does judge you on your motive and actions or if you ponder on a bad thought. Satan tempts your thinking and emotions and skulks his way into your decisions and actions. Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Ephesians 6:11 NIV Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. God has given us Spiritual armour to wear in defense of the attacks of Satan. The Greek word for devil in this passage is diablos (dee-ab'-ol-os) this comes from "dia" and "bolos". "Bolos" means to throw at or to hurl accusation at. The word ball comes from this. To throw bad words and negative thoughts at. "Dia" means to put a hole through or penetrate. When these two words are put together we get: to penetrate and to throw at; Satan's nature is to throw accusations at you until he penetrates your mind. Once he penetrates the bomb is released! Satan has no other way to defeat a believer but through our thoughts and our amazing God has given us armour to wear that deflects the fiery darts of Satan.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We cannot change our life by trying to change our behavior, we need to go deeper into the root cause of our behavior; we need to change how we think. Proverbs 23:7 NKJV For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. We need to line up our thinking with God's then Satan is blocked out. How? Put on the armour of God and walk in the Spirit.

So many things influence our thinking and media is huge! The motto in our house is if it is not good for a child to watch, read or participate in then neither should we. Matthew 18:2-4 NIV He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And He said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." When you have a precious baby around you want to protect them from all harm. Such care is taken to make sure they eat well, dress well and we are also so careful with what they watch or read and who they play with. My mom use to say, "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil". I have carried that on into my family and as our children have grown I have kept that rule. (Not that it is always followed but I do try!)

                                                 Where should our thoughts linger?

Since we are citizens of heaven we need to think on heaven and not things of this world. Philippians 3:19-21 NIV Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

You might be saying to yourself right about this point, "But how do we do this? How, when we live in such a materialistic world, do we think on things that are not of here?" This is a choice that you need to make, you are what you think on.You need to decide for yourself if you want a mind like Christ. You have the control and you enforce it by what you put into your mind. Just like when a new baby comes into the home you prepare your home for safety, same thing here. Your mind is the home of God and you want to fill that home with good things. Do you want your prayers answered? I know I do!! Wrong thoughts will keep God from answering our prayers. Psalm 66:18 NIV If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Romans 8:5-8 NASB For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. This is pretty serious stuff!!! If we are in the flesh we cannot please God! I don't know about you but these verses alone would convince me to change my thinking pattern to one that pleases God.

James 1:14-15 NIV but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Impure thoughts are not sin; they become sin when we entertain them. Satan tempts and leads us into sin but we are in control of weather we sin or not. Satan wants to make us doubt the goodness of God, this was his tactic for Adam and Eve and this is his weapon that is used on us today.

If your treasure is in heaven then you will be focusing and thinking on these things and filling your mind with such to add into your treasure box because they are important to you. Where your treasure is there you will find your heart and what lies in your heart you will think and ponder on and that will come out in your speech.

The times we are living in are rough and as the years go by it is difficult to pull away from the things of this world but we have Jesus and He knows what we are going through for He suffered temptation too! He is our ultimate intercessor and if we go to Him and ask for help He will provide it.                                                                                                                    Google Image

Think Before You Speak Part 1

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I received a comment from 'Anymonous' requesting I do a post on "our thought life". I asked God what He wanted and I had a very strong impression laid on me the He puts people in my path for a reason, so I concluded that was a yes!! :)

Isaiah 55:8-9NIV "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." 

What is thought?

According to Dictionary.com definition #10; thought is...a judgement, opinion or belief and according to Wikipedia our 5 senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch all contribute to our thought process, this is also known as the flesh.

Ok we have an idea of what thought is so what does God say about human thought? Genesis 6:5 NIV The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Pretty harsh. :s What else? 1 Chronicles 28:9 NIV...for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 

                                                  WOW, pretty powerful stuff!! 

What controls our thoughts? Mark 7:20-23NIV Jesus tells us..."What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come--sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person." Galatians 5:16-17NIV "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh...."

Before the fall Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God, they had fellowship with Him. Then Satan came in and tricked Eve and Adam into disobeying God and that caused separation or the fall. You see up until this time Adam and Eve listened and obeyed God's voice, they chose to follow Him and then along came Satan the snake and convinced Eve to disobey God and obey self, or the flesh. They heard the voice of God, self and Satan; three voices then and we still hear three voices today. I don't want to venture into hearing the voice of God but I will directed you to a couple of good blogs, one that is focused on just that; God Speaks Today, Sandy Cooper is an amazing writer and she has written many wonderful posts on hearing the voice of God and my daughter, Squeaks at The Minstrel Warrior who has put up a good post on the Voice of God as well. I urge you all to check these two sites out as they are really good.

God wants to have fellowship with us and He had already devised a plan even before the fall because He knew that Satan was going to trick weak minded Adam and Eve. Jesus, God's plan, restored our fellowship and we have this to hold on to. Ephesians 2:1-10NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.

So our thoughts are directed by : God, self and Satan. We are told in Philippians 4:8NIV...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. If we think on 'The Whatever Verse' then what comes out of our mouth will be God honouring and glorifying to Him. We need to choose to divert our thoughts of 'self' or 'the flesh' and consciously choose to think on God and His word then when we speak our words will mimic His voice and we can walk in faith that He will answer our prayers and heal people we pray for.

Although we are dead to self, we still sin so we need to regularly confess our sins to God. The word 'confess' is in the present tense and that means it is a continuous act in our lives. 1 John 1:9NIV If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Where do our thoughts come from? From within. Matthew 6:20-21NIV But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.....For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This really sums everything up for where our treasure is that is where you will find our heart and where our heart lies is what we will be thinking about and what we are thinking about is what will come out of our mouths. Hebrews 3:1 NIV Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus...

We hear three voices but really there are only two choices when it comes to focusing our thoughts on, it is either right or wrong; God or Satan. And when you really get down to the basics there is only one voice that we should be listening to and obeying and that is God's voice and we can know His voice by studying His word. When we study His word and have Him as our treasure then our thoughts will be directed towards His thoughts and when we speak, if we guard our tongue, we will glorify Him. Really that is what we are here for, to worship and have fellowship with the Creator of the universe.


Hebrews 4:12NIV For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
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