Spiritual Warfare

[jsca777]

INTRO

It is my desire to see the body of Christ recognize the enemy, and how to fight against the enemy in the spirit realm. Sadly, many believers don't realize that we have an adversary who seeks to destroy humanity. It is necessary to recognize the adversary working against you(Ephesians6:12, 2nd Corinthians10:3-5) to walk in victory. Anyone who desires to stand for Christ is going to encounter demonic attack, for you are coming against Satan's kingdom when you've committed yourself to Christ.

Although not everything is a demonic attack, much of what people deal with is a demonic attack. Some troubles are caused by lack of common sense and disobedience to God's Word. For example, if you drive recklessly, you end up in an accident, that was your own fault. If you eat unhealthy, you eat a lot of junk food, and high cholestral foods, you end up sick and your health falls apart over the years, that was not a demonic attack, that was simply your own irresponsibity to take care of your health.

Tormenting thoughts, reoccuring bad dreams, strife in marriage, behaviour problems in children, failure, poverty, some sicknessess and disease, depression, bi-polar, are ways that the enemy attacks your life. He attacks you though you relationships with others, especially through your spouse, he attacks you on the job, he attacks people's health, he causes bad things to happen to people. The world calls that "bad luck." Luck supposively means, things that come about by chance. But when your dealing with the spirit realm, these things don't just happen by chance.

I've divided this into 3 different parts.

1. Recognizing The Enemy In The Spirit Realm

2. The Kingdom Of Heaven Take It By Force

3. Walking In Victory

[jsca777]

Part 1 of 3-Recognizing The Enemy In The Spirit Realm

2nd Corinthians10:3-5 "Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For our weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty though God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations that exalt itself above the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

The Word is telling us here, that we cannot fight against a spiritual enemy through natural means. It is useless to fight against the adversary though carnal means. You need to fight against what your going through, by the Spirit of God. Ephesians6:10-18 instructs us to put on the whole armour of God in order to stand against the wiles of the devil. The offensive part of the armour, is the Sword of the Spirit(vs.17) which is the Word. To be victorious in our walk with the Lord, you need to fight with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

Many christians don't realize how neccessary spiritual warfare is. They recognize all the mess that goes on in the world, they recognize all the evil that is done, but they don't recognize that Satan who is the god of this world, the price and power of the air who works through the sons of disoebedience(Ephesians2:2). He uses people to do his evil works for him. Jesus recognized Satan influencing Peter to persuade him not to go to the cross when He said, "get behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense to me(Matthew16:23)." Paul through discernment, recognized a spirit of divination, operating in a servent girl when he casted that spirit out(Acts16:16-18). Jesus acknowledged a spirit of infirmity causing a woman to be bound for 18 years in Luke13:11-13.

In 1st Peter5:8, Peter says, "Be sober, be vigilant; for your adversary the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Devour means to eat up, to consume, to annihilate, to destroy. Peter is telling us, that we need to be sober(be self controlled in our thinking), and that we need to be alert, we need to be aware, we need to be diligently watchful. None of this, "oh, that is giving the devil glory," gobliguk. The enemy seeks to devour us. Another word for seek is, "to strategize." The enemy formulates strategies against us, to try and devour us, to try and consume us and destroy us. He is seeking to destroy marriages, families, he is seeking to discourage you, to get you to give up, to get you to think you can't amount to anything, to get you into depression, because he is afraid that if you stand firm in the Lord and walk upright with God, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it(Philippians1:6).

The enemy tries to get you out of God's will and to not trust God. He knows that he cannot take you out himself for greater is He that is in you(1st John4:4), so he has to get you to succumb to him, to get you to give place to him, to be complacent, full of worry, fear, unbelief, discouragement, confusion. He uses every type of deception, evil thoughts, discouragement, to get you to give up rather thanfight the good fight of faith. Peter tells us straight out that you need to take the adversary seriously. Not that we are to be afraid of him, for being afraid of him is exactly what Satan wants. But we can't be ignorant of him either, or he will get an advantage over you(2nd Corinthians2:11). You need to be alert to the fact that you have a spiritual enemy who works constantly against you. Just because you can't see him, doesn't mean he is not there. When people gossip about us and speak slander against us, when people wicked people plot evil against us( as they did against Daniel, the 3 hewbrew boys thrown into the furnace, and Mordacai), when people rise up against us to try and bering us down, they are being used by the devil. They are being used as "tools or weapons." This is what christians need to recognize.

Ephesians6:12 tells us who our battle is against. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians6:12 tells you right there that demonic forces work against mankind to destroy mankind. That scripture even illistrates that demons come in ranks. There is a heirarchy of demonic forces working against you to opress you, to hinder you from doing what God has called you to do, to wreck havoc in your life. Again, you have to fight by the Spirit of God. Even Jesus casted out devils by the Spirit of God(Matthew12:28).

[jsca777]

Part 2 of 3-The Kingdom Of Heaven Take It By Force

In Matthew11:12, Jesus says, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, but the violence take it by force."

That is the words of Jesus. Jesus announces to His disciples that all who call upon Him as Lord and saviour, you are in a spiritual battle. All who want to serve Christ, all who want to reach out to others, make a difference in people's lives, who want to evangelise, you have an enemy who will try to hinder you and that you cannot be a passive christian, you cannot be a spectator or a side line christian to walk in victory. You cannot be lukewarm, you cannot be in church on Sunday and be in the world the rest of the week and expect to be victorious. You have to be violent against the powers of darkness. You have to fight the good fight of faith(2st Timothy6:12). The world is a habitation of cruelty(Pslam74:20). We are dealing with a wicked, immoral society who is under the infuence of the devil. Since our battle is against demonic forces, you need a rightoues and holy anger and be violent towards the enemy.

Many christians go to their pastors, they go to the elders for prayer when calamity strikes their lives. Many talk about how the devil is attacking them, how their lives are messed up, how he is afflicting their health, how he is causing havoc in their lives, in their jobs, families, but they need to know how to stand for themselves. You can't always depend on others to pray and fight for you. They won't always be around. You need to get violent with Satan yourself and take authority over him. Jesus gave us that authority(Matthew10:1-8, Luke10:19, Mark16:16-18, it is up to us to use it. The authority that Christ has bestowed upon believers is only good is used. What good is the armour of God, if you don't put it on?

If your in self pity, if your complaining about your problems, if you thinking defeat and negativity, he will continue to knock you down over and over again. He has no pity on you, he has no sympathy for you, when your crying, he is laughing, when your down he will kick you again and again and again. That is why we need to pick up the Sword of the Spirit and fight the enemy.

[jsca777]

Part 3 of 3-Walking In Victory

It is time for the body of Christ to rise up in power and destroy the works of Satan. Jesus gave us the authority to tear down the works of Satan, so why is it not happening the way it should? Jesus come to destroy the works of the devil(Acts10:38, 1st John3:8). Jesus came to set the oppressed free and heal the broken hearted(Luke4:18). The apostles got people delivered from the oppression of the devil(Acts5:12-16). Jesus gave us the gifts of the Spirit(1st Corinthians12:4-11) to do the work of ministry. He never gave us those gifts for us to sit back and do nothing with them. He wants us to use them to build up the body of Christ and tear down the kingdom of hell.

The people that Satan is afraid of, is those who know who they are in Christ, who are wlaking upright before God, who know their authority in Christ, and will stand against the powers of darkness. Satan is not afraid of those who run around terrified of him. Satan isn't worried about christians who scream, cuss and lose their cool when he attacks them. He is not afraid of spiritual weaklings. Also Satan is not afraid of those who ignore him and don't take his operations seriously.

Many witches and warlocks do their enchantments, incantations, spells, hexes, vexes, jinxes, bewitchments and curses against the body of Christ all the time. The sad thing about that is, many christians don't even know that they do this. If the body of Christ recognized this and took authority over witchcraft and destroyed the powers of witchcraft, in the name of Jesus, witchcraft would never prosper. Witches and warlocks would never have their way. That is why they desire to keep christians in ignorance and keep them spiritually asleep. So that christians would not cast down every spell, jinx, enchantment, incantation, bewitchment, hex, vex, they wouldn't destroy the works of potions, satanic rituals, curses by the power of the Lord.

But witches and warlocks fear christians who pray with authority and power and pray spiritual warfare because when we do that, many will get delivered from whatever the witches and warlocks have done against them.

Jesus made us more than conquerors(Romans8:38). He gave us power over all the works of the enemy(Matthew10:8). He wants us to be victorious, to be overcomers, to be men and women of valor.

[JCISGD]

thank you jsca, you have described much of the defeat in my life. I have known of what you say but i had not seen or forgotten the need to violantly oppose Satan and his malice towards me when i wallow in self pity and passivity.

[2Joyful]

WOW and .....jot

These are some really great points made concerning spiritual warfare.

We must understand that if there is anything that continue to come against

us that satan has placed an attack on our lives. I'm talking about the same things that occur over and

other and over. We are living Godly lives, but this one thing or things keep happening.

I'm talking to those who are living Godly lives and can't put their finger on why is this happening?

Satan has placed an attack and we must take it by the horn, relieving that it's an attack from him, calling

the attack out by name, pleading the blood of Jesus and casting it out in the Name of Jesus, with authority.

There was this family member, that was always causing unrest in my home. At first I didn't relize it, but by

the Spirit, it was brought to life. Finally I anointed my home with oil, prayed and when he came and stated up,

I simply said this is not who is before me, I call you out old wicked one, you will not rob my home of peace and I

will not let you have him.

My family member gave out a laugh, and I knew satan was using this to try to soften me up and accept it as if

my family member was just cooling down, but I simply said in the Name Of Jesus, you must go. Such a peace

came in my home. But because of the sinful life style this member lives, I have to apply this authority so he

will not cause unrest when in my home from time to time. He says he is sorry and don't understand why he do

the things he does. I have shared, but he is going to have to releaize its up to him receiving Christ so that he

will be delivered. But when he is in my home, there's no place for satan actions

Thank you,

jot

**PS, I must add we must be cautious that we do not give undue attention to satan, where it causes us to want to lay everything on him.

We must examine ourselves to see if our actions are causing God to correct us and bring certain things to light. **

[MorningGlory]

WOW and .....jot

These are some really great points made concerning spiritual warfare.

We must understand that if there is anything that continue to come against

us that satan has placed an attack on our lives. I'm talking about the same things that occur over and

other and over. We are living Godly lives, but this one thing or things keep happening.

I'm talking to those who are living Godly lives and can't put their finger on why is this happening?

Satan has placed an attack and we must take it by the horn, relieving that it's an attack from him, calling

the attack out by name, pleading the blood of Jesus and casting it out in the Name of Jesus, with authority.

There was this family member, that was always causing unrest in my home. At first I didn't relize it, but by

the Spirit, it was brought to life. Finally I anointed my home with oil, prayed and when he came and stated up,

I simply said this is not who is before me, I call you out old wicked one, you will not rob my home of peace and I

will not let you have him.

My family member gave out a laugh, and I knew satan was using this to try to soften me up and accept it as if

my family member was just cooling down, but I simply said in the Name Of Jesus, you must go. Such a peace

came in my home. But because of the sinful life style this member lives, I have to apply this authority so he

will not cause unrest when in my home from time to time. He says he is sorry and don't understand why he do

the things he does. I have shared, but he is going to have to releaize its up to him receiving Christ so that he

will be delivered. But when he is in my home, there's no place for satan actions

Thank you,

jot

Wow, what you wrote just hit me between the eyes about something going on in my own life right now. Maybe it is satan causing the problem I'm having. I need to pray about this. You're so insightful, Jot!

[ColleenLovesMischief]

Did Bi Polar really get called a Spiritual problem????

[jsca777]

Did Bi Polar really get called a Spiritual problem????

Regardless of what they call it, it is a demonic attack against people's minds. I have been called that throughout my life and struggled with depression. Satan used my past hurts and wounds to try and destroy me this way. To get delivered, we need to take authority over those spirits, command them to flee in the Name of Jesus, then we need to get our minds in right thinking order so that the adversary has no room to get back in us. We need to know the Word as it is the truth and the truth will set people free(John8:32).

What does the truth set people free from? It set speople free from lies and deception. Satan is the father of all lies(John8:44). He is the liar behind the root of emotional problems. For example, throughout my life, I had been told that I was stupid, dumb, useless, a piece of garbage, that I would never amount to very much if anything at all, that I would never achieve very much. Satan used cruel, inhumane people to implement those lies. That is what lead to depression, and attempted suicide for me. Because then, I did not know the truth or who I was in the Lord, I believered the lies of the devil. Now I know the truth, I don't believe Satan's filthy lies anymore. That is a key to getting free from depression, biploar, and any other demonic affliction against the mind.

[CAP73]

Are you writing a book or is this all just for our benefit?