Spiritual Warfare; The Next Generation

Ezekiel 33:1-9 NIV

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

7“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

 Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock!

I hear the sound of a clock and it is getting louder and louder every day reminding me that the time is short. I just recently read an article talking about how Lesbian premier orders Ontario’s sex-ed update to teach kids about giving sexual ‘consent’ from ‘the very earliest stages’. My heart just sunk. How can God be pleased with us? Surly our time here on earth as we know it must be running out.

I have read Ezekiel 33:1-9 before and felt an underlying nudge on my heart but it was only a dull probing. Today, as I read this familiar passage, that nudge was pretty intense and I felt if I ignored this probing I would be disobeying Father's leading. Where is He leading me? I am not too sure. I am pretty certain I am not a watchman but I am also certain that as a Christian, I have a duty to share what I know with those who Father brings into my path.

This year I am helping out with our churches after school program and youth/young adults. Many of these kids do not know much about God and I am thrilled that I have a moment in their week to share Jesus with them. What I am noticing is the more I share the more the spiritual warfare increases. Last week while helping serve lunch to these kids the warfare was so intense that after the kids left I felt very drained and just needed to be along with Daddy. What I learned was I was lacking proper prayer cover. I went in, in the flesh and not in the Spirit. There is a war for the next generation and the devil is pushing the limits. The only way to overcome is to humble myself to Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead and direct me. This week I went in to help after having spent a lot of time in prayer for those kids, the workers and drawing a blood line around the church asking Father to hold back the attack of the evil one. What a difference!!! The rebellion was gone and those kids were receptive to the word being shared.

I see God cannot be pleased with us at all. How can He when we have regulations, like the one I shared in the above article, being pressured into our school system. How can He when we have walked away from His rules to follow those which please the flesh? We, as Christians, need to blow the trumpet and spread the Word so we don't have the blood of none believers on our heads. (Here I made a mistake and mixed up two thoughts. See comment from Brenda and my response.) Once we have shared the Word then we have done what we are supposed to do and it is up to those listening to make a choice.

Prayer. 

Intense prayer every step of the way is needed if we want to see these strongholds come down. 

Blessings,
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What Do Your Actions Say?

Romans 8:5 NIV
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

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I love the caption on this picture!

Changing our thinking pattern will change our walk. I know many Christians who say 'I'm only human', and that gives them the freedom to sin. If we tell ourselves we are saved then the excuse to sin will be lessened and the more we walk in way of the Spirit the more fruit we will produce and the fleshy desires will be replaced by the desires of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:13 NIV
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

In the above verse, Paul is speaking to believers, Christians like you and me. It is very plain to see that if we are living fleshy lives we will die. I am not a believer of once saved always saved. With verses like Romans 8:13 how can anyone believe this?

Romans 8:14-17
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and we willingly follow we are children of God and brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ, but we need to share in Christ's sufferings so we can also share in His glory. I believe that denying our flesh is suffering and sometimes to a very great extent. The temptations of this world and the draw to blend in can be very difficult to stay away from, especially with all the media that surrounds us. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus, denying our flesh, in the year 2013 makes a Christian stand out like a beacon, which, by the way, is just what we want to do!

I'm saved and I want my actions to shout it out to all who see me.

What about you?

Blessings,
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How To Battle

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First part of this series is Warrior God.

Forces in the spiritual realm are set against us so we must battle or the enemy will invade and prevail over us. We must don our spiritual armour and wear it 24/7 and stand up to our enemy and fight because forces are set against us and if we are idle the enemy will run us over. If we do not fight the enemy will be relentless in attacking us and will take our blessings away. Whether we like it or not, spiritual warfare is going on 24/7, Satan and his army are not going to back off just because we are ignorant of his devices or tired of fighting. Oh no, he will fight even harder until we are so bound up in demonic chains that we are totally harmless to his kingdom.

Unbelief in spiritual warfare does not stop the oppression of the enemy, that only gives the enemy an advantage over us. Remember:

Exodus 15:3 NIV

The Lord is a warrior;

    the Lord is his name.

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A child of God should not behave like a civilian or a citizen of the world but needs to take on their responsibility and be a soldier in the Lord's army.

Ephesians 6:12 NIV 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The word struggle or in some versions, wrestle, implies fighting or hand to hand combat. Struggle defined by dictionary.com says: to contend with an adversary or opposing force. to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence. to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow. (of athletes and competitors) to be coping with inability to perform well or to win; contend with difficulty: After struggling for the whole month of June, he suddenly caught fire and raised his batting average 30 points. This word gives us the picture of extreme fighting, a battle that one does not give up on until they win the fight.

1 Timothy 6:12 NIV

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Psalm 144:1 NIV

Praise be to the Lord my Rock,

    who trains my hands for war,

    my fingers for battle.

Jesus is our teacher, ask Him to show you how to do battle and He will. Remember He is faithful and Father hears our prayers if we are not living in sin and stay under the covering of the Blood of the Lamb. There are some rules to warfare and if you follow them you will be successful in the battle.

Deuteronomy 20:1-8 NIV

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.” Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”

From reading this above passage we see that we are to go into prayer knowing God is with us and we have no reason to fear because it is God who will be fighting for us. We also see that if we are distracted when we go into prayer then our prayers are not effective and we are open for a sucker punch to the vitals by the enemy. We must deal with the distraction first in order to win the war.

Psalm 8:1 NIV

Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

    in the heavens.

Always start your prayers off with praise and worship. God is worthy of our praise so when we go to war we need to acknowledge Him for Who He is, praise Him and know that He is going before you into the battle field.

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confess your sins. You cannot enter into the presence of the Lord while you are living in sin or have unrepentant sin in your heart. You need to be right with Him because when you are He will hear your prayer and He does answer right away. It is either yes, no or wait.

Ephesians 6:18 NIV

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 

Now you are ready to pray all kinds of prayers in the Spirit. What does praying in the Spirit mean? Check out GotQuestions.org for a good explanation. Here is a little snippet of their answer...The Greek word translated “pray in” can have several different meanings. It can mean “by means of,” “with the help of,” “in the sphere of,” and “in connection to.” Praying in the Spirit does not refer to the words we are saying. Rather, it refers to how we are praying. Praying in the Spirit is praying according to the Spirit’s leading. It is praying for things the Spirit leads us to pray for.

Next post will be on why we must fight.

Blessings,
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Christians Have The Spirit of God

Ephesians 1:17-23 NIV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

This prayer from Paul is one that we should be praying for each other, that God will give us His Spirit of wisdom and revelation to the children of God. What a powerful prayer indeed, that we would know the power in Jesus that is available to His followers. What blows me away is we are told that this power is the same as that which raised Jesus from the dead and placed Him at the Father's right hand. This power is far above the rule and authority that Satan has here on earth. What did Jesus do with this power? He forgave the sinner who was willing to change their ways and healed them from sickness and demonic possession. How do we go about using this inheritance that is available to us? First, I believe that we need to be not living in sin but repenting and changing our ways. Second, I believe we need to have the concerns of those which belong to our Father; lost souls. Third, we need to preach the Gospel and lead people into repentance and rebuking past sins. Then fourth we pray for physical healing which should come about by faith in Jesus and His healing sacrifice on the cross.

The church is the body of Jesus Christ and we are the completeness of Jesus who seals all. When the body of believers work together under the instructions of Jesus Christ then we are His hands and His feet working to bring lost souls into the family of God by leading them into repentance of the old way of life and into putting on the new way.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NIV
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Paul tells us here that Christians have the Spirit of the Living God inside of them, not the spirit of the world which is Satan. We are able to understand what God has given us because of His Spirit living in us. Those who are not believers cannot grasp this at all. To them it is just foolish stories and fairy tales. And so they should think this because God's wisdom is not of the worldly wisdom at all but of a heavenly wisdom, a mystery to those who have not Jesus.

Children of God, you are very special and our Father has gifted each of you with a specific purpose from Him alone. Seek what these gifts are and then use them to glorify His name. I pray Ephesians 1:17-23 along with Paul for you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that you will understand the power that is available to you in Jesus Christ. I still struggle with this as I cannot wrap my mind around it. But with His help I know He will open it up and revelation will come.




Blessings,
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