Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

How to Get Straight in a Crooked Church

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in Luke, Our Spiritual Process

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broken places

 

10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath… Luke 13:10-14

 

This story from Jesus’ life was really about two bent out of shape people. Obviously, we see the woman who was bent over double for eighteen years. But another person was bent-out-of-shape as well…a religious rules keeper. The length of his torment was unknown. Both were crippled and attending this fellowship. One was crippled by a spirit of weakness and the other was crippled by a spirit of legalism and bitterness. Jesus could only help the woman. The man continued on in his crooked condition.

Dr. Luke specifically informed us that this woman’s suffering was more than a “medical condition“.  Instead of employing a medical word to describe her problem, Luke used the phrase “crippled by a spirit.” Then in verse 12 Jesus also used the word “infirmity“.  It’s the word asthenia, which doesn’t mean “sickness caused by disease” but “weakness“.

When I was a kid, people used to refer to alcoholics as having a “weakness“. In other words, these otherwise strong people were weak when it came to alcohol. They were weak, when others were strong.

About 30-40 years ago, this all changed. Alcoholics were no longer considered “weak”. It was said they had a disease. This also helped because insurance started paying for their treatment. But, in one sense it is disease. The Bible says the sins of the father are passed down 3-4 generations. So, a disease it is. But, these same folks are weak as well.

It’s probable this woman’s weakness was caused by some demonic influence because Jesus says in verse 16 she had been “bound by Satan” for eighteen years. Demonic spirits can provoke physical problems, but not every illness or disease is caused by demons. There were twenty-six recorded miracles where Jesus healed someone of a physical problem and only seven of those were caused by demonic influence.

This particular encounter became a battle over truth. At some point eighteen years ago, a lying spirit had convinced this poor woman she couldn’t stand up straight any longer. From the language Luke used, it appeared she had no physiological cause for her affliction. When Jesus came along issuing “truth“, it became her opportunity to be set free from her affliction. All spiritual warfare starts in your mind. The mind is ground zero where most spiritual battles are won or lost. Praise the Lord – she believed Jesus’ words, after He touched her.

I know you may have heard this story before, but it fits well here. Have you ever seen a circus elephant tied to a small wooden stake outside a circus tent? The grown elephant could easily rip the wooden stake out of the ground. But when elephant handlers are training baby elephants, they use a strong, iron anchor bar and drive it deep into the ground. When the baby elephant tugs and tries to get away, he can’t do it.  He experiences the pain of the shackle on his leg. Eventually he gives up and stops pulling.

As the elephant grows, they replace the iron bar with a wooden stake. This is why the now grown elephant doesn’t pull away; he doesn’t think he can… so he can’t. It’s not the stake in the ground keeping him in place; it’s the thought in his mind that keeps him there. One of the devil’s greatest tools is to try to erect a stronghold in our mind to make us think we can’t do something God has told us to do.

I have a long list of lies about myself which I used to believe. These were all lies the demonic realm tried to use to keep me enslaved. I was no different than the baby elephant. It has taken a lot of scripture and revelation from heaven to pry the demonic junk out of my life. I don’t know of any growing believer who has not had to receive some kind of deliverance from the Lord. It is part of the process. The devil is a liar and the father of lies. It is the lies we continue to believe which enslaves us. It is only as we bring our brokenness to the Lord that He can heal us. We are who God says we are! It is only then that we can grow strong in broken places and truly minister to others.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

 

How to Make Deviled Ham (II)

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Luke

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An appeaser is

 

In order to make Deviled Ham you have to get rid of good and also you have to “un-invite” or “dis-invite” Christ from your community.
In the Gospel of Luke, the community could live with a crazy, naked man living in their cemetery, but Jesus Christ had to go. And by doing this, they threw out the only hope their community had for redemption.

We are seeing the same course of action being taken in our communities as well. What is wrong with our nation is not so much the presence of drugs and alcohol abuse or the violence and crime. What is wrong is that there is no Christ and no Christian presence in our communities to offer hope and healing. Real believers are MIA. The ones remaining were neutered long ago, so they don’t act like real believers. Even as I write this, poor little baby Jesus is being kicked off main street on His birthday as though He was loitering. We have become so accustomed to evil and it’s presence, we no longer speak out against it. It many cases it has become illegal to speak out against evil and point the way to redemption.

Have we really made real peace with evil? Will our pact hold? During the years of World War II and the Cold War, there was a word for this — appeasement. Appeasement described the efforts of peace at any cost and of accepting evil. This is what Israel has tried to do … give land for peace. It hasn’t work, nor will it work.

In 1938, Britain and France, still trying to recover from World War I, signed the Munich Pact, which basically said they would accept Germany’s take over of part of Czechoslovakia, as long as Germany agreed not to take any other territory. The policy became known as appeasement, and it didn’t work. Germany eventually took over most of Czechoslovakia, and then a few months later, swept into Poland. World War II began shortly after.

We are in a spiritual warfare. We will never win through appeasement… by accepting the unacceptable. We win our spiritual warfare by standing firm in our faith.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Three Components of Every Spiritual Battle (Part 1) War Over the Word

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Times of Testing

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I can’t tell you the number of times someone has sat across from me and said, “I don’t know why I am under attack? I just don’t understand why these things keep happening to me? I don’t know why the devil has such a personal interest in me?  Why won’t he leave me alone?  I am so tired of the battle!” Does this sound familiar?  If we haven’t said it out loud, most believers have thought it.  If we are going to win the battle, we must understand why we are in a war over good and evil. We must understand the components of every spiritual battle. Listen to the story of when Jesus was under attack. We will just cover the first four verses today.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘ Man shall not live on bread alone.’”  (Luke 4:1-4)

We learn from this story there are three reasons for every spiritual battle, including the ones you and I go through over and over. Whenever God begins to lead you into something greater, the devil will do anything and everything to keep it from happening. He doesn’t want you to access more of God, or reach the higher place in God’s will and purpose for your life….So, the battle intensifies.

Luke 4 helps us understand that when God has spoken a word, that same word or words will be tested.  Actually, it’s not so much the word being tested, as it is our faith in and commitment to that word. This story is more than a “temptation narrative.” It is about spiritual warfare. It reveals the warfare that ensues whenever we’re on the verge of progress, increase, or launching into new areas.  This attack upon Jesus’ life happened immediately after Jesus was baptized and the Spirit descended on Him. As He was about to embark on His earthly ministry, Satan aggressed. Does this sound familiar? If Jesus’ committment was tested by the devil, our commitment will be equally challenged.
What is this battle between “good and evil” about in Jesus’s life? When you get a chance today, look at Mark 4 and compare verses 1 and 14. Jesus arrived walking in the “fullness of the Spirit” and exited the desert “walking in the power of the Spirit.” The difference between walking the “fullness of the Spirit” and walking the “power of the Holy Spirit” is found in the battle between the two events. Your power, or lack thereof, is found in the spiritual battles you face. It is imperative we understand the components of spiritual warfare in order to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Satan attacked Jesus in three different areas.  Every Spiritual battle is over something, and we need to know why. So we can look at this passage and learn how to stand strong in time of battle.

THE WAR OVER THE WORD OF GOD (1-4)

Jesus had just heard a fresh word (confirming word) at the end of chapter three. We could call this a REVELATION. Something concealed was now revealed. It is only after this revelation came that the warfare arrived to test this word. This is one of the reasons battles come. Battles come our direction according to the level of revelational knowledge we obtain. When the Word becomes alive in you, and revelation is imparted unto you, Satan will begin to battle you over God’s Word.

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh ……and we beheld His glory.” Any time the Word becomes flesh in you and it becomes a reality, Satan knows you’re a step closer to seeing the glory of God and seeing a promise fulfilled in your life.

Mark 4 teaches us that the Word is a seed. And when the Word is sown, Satan is perched, ready to devour the seed to keep it from taking root, producing, and bearing fruit to the glory of God. Many people know the Word of God in PRINCIPLE, but not in PRACTICE. The reason they fail to put it into practice is because they failed in battle because of the word. Satan fought and battled them until the word DID NOT become FLESH!

Unfortunately, this means many believers are living on the level of INFORMATION, and not REVELATION. And when revelation knowledge comes, Satan will intensify His attack, trying to get you to rely on other sources to sustain and help you. Remember, Satan is coming after the Word! You must bow your back and say, “I am not going to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!”

There is a story told about a little boy in a grocery store that I think illustrates the battle over knowing and doing. The boy was standing near an open box of peanut butter cookies. “Now then, young man,” said the grocer as he approached the young man. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” replied the boy:
“Nothing.” “Well it looks to me like you were trying to take a cookie.”
“You’re wrong, mister, I’m trying not to!”

Yes, the battle for good and evil begins when we are young. You may not have understood what the battle was about when you were young. Now, you are older and hopefully wiser. Stand on the precious promises of God. Your strength and power comes from being victorious.

 

Part Two -War Over the Will of God
Blessings,
Pastor

Testing Your Metal – Spiritual Warfare!

25 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in Times of Testing

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10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:10-12

      In the past few blogs I have been examining the major areas of testing all believers must endure to grow strong in the Lord.  In all of these different areas, some never move on to bigger and better things.  The Kingdom of God does not offer “social promotions.”  Some stay in their testing due to neglect.  Others become so infatuated with their “trials” and wrongly conclude that failure is the norm.   Regardless the reason, failure to proceed results in little or no growth.  God calls us to walk in victory and doesn’t want any of His children living below the spiritual poverty line. 

      Another major area all believers must learn, grow, and be tested in is the area of Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance.  Some new believers will arrive here right from the start.  Why?  They come to Christ straight out of bondage.  It is imperative these new converts learn and keep their freedom in Christ.  Not everyone comes to know the Lord from a sterile church pew.  Some find the Lord at the bottom of a bottle or while in the clutches of witchcraft.  Staying free is imperative for them. 

      Outside of this group I just mentioned, my concern is that most believers never allow the Lord to take them through the process of becoming a warrior.  Over the years the church has treated spiritual warfare like our nation treats its armed forces.  Hey, in America it is always someone else’s job to fight wars and engage in battle…. not the everyday citizen.  This is not true for everyone, but it is true for many. 

      The truth is that in God’s Kingdom all His children are raised to be free, ready, willing, and able to conduct spiritual warfare.  I know not all are called to take the lead, but all are called to fight!  Unfortunately, over the centuries too few have heard the call to arms and push back the enemy.  Remember, “the gates of hell are not supposed to prevail.” 

      The first order of business in Jesus’ ministry had to do with a confrontation with Satan.  Our lives are not different.  Many believers have needlessly been mowed down spiritually because:

  1. They were not completely free themselves.
  2. They lacked the tools to fight.
  3. They lacked the training to fight, with or without weapons.
  4. They were told by other believers not to even expect a battle. 

      Therefore, those who have neglected their training and testing don’t even know where the actual battle is being waged!  Like many of the previous generations of believers, they choose instead to spend their energy and zeal fighting other Christians.  They become vessels of contention and strife rather than warriors of deliverance.  Satan just sits back smiling, because he has not even been attacked.  As someone once said, “The Christian army is the only army that shoots its own wounded.” 

      If you have not allowed the Lord to train, teach, and test you in this area…. please allow Him to do so.  We are entering into a season when the Kingdom desperately needs its warriors trained, tested, and ready to fight.  Our verse in Ephesians reminds us that our warfare is not in the physical, but spiritual realm.  Our call is to “be strong in the Lord” and able to draw on His strength.  There is no time like the present to pursue the Lord and allow Him to reveal to us our armor.  Are you ready?