born twice one Posted November 9, 2019 Group: Members Followers: 1 Topic Count: 2 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 15 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 10/31/2019 Status: Offline Birthday: 05/29/1944 Share Posted November 9, 2019 21 hours ago, bropro said: The moment a person becomes a Christian the battle is on. I heard a song one time concerning the Christian life that goes like this, "It's a battlefield brother, not a recreation room, a fight and not a game. Run if you want to, run if you will, but I've come here to stay." I believe that every believer needs to do an in depth study on Ephesians 6:10-17. It will acquaint the believer with the armor and the weapons we need to effectively defeat the enemy at every turn in our lives. I would encourage you to study this and meditate on it until you become the effective spiritual warrior that God intends for all His people to become. Study it so well, that spiritual warfare becomes second nature to you. You'll never regret it, and in the process you will glorify and please the Lord, which is what He wants. Gary I have done a lot of studying on this passage. What do you think about these ideas? First, Christians fight two wars. The war against our carnal nature. It is stated well in Romans 7 and verse 23 uses the word war. The second war we fight is for the lost. Ephesians 6 is our fighting armor for war. Second, verses 18-20 are why we put on the armor. We are to boldly proclaim the Gospel. The Gospel the message of salvation to the lost. Third, Satan's only weapon is the lie. His fiery darts. verse 16. The clue that they are lies is how we extinguish the darts. Shield of faith. Faith (a noun) means "the truth we put our trust in". We put out the darts by knowing, doing, and proclaiming the truth of God. Fourth, the two references to Satan in this passage are verses 11 and 16 devil and wicked. Both are adjectives that describe the character of Satan. Devil means "someone who tells false things" and wicked means "malicious and hurtful". We don't fight Satan we fight his evil character with the truth of God. born twice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharky and George Posted November 11, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 168 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 394 Content Per Day: 0.18 Reputation: 197 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/26/2018 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/28/1983 Share Posted November 11, 2019 (edited) Well done for trying though Bro and God sees that you tried. You know what, Jesus only worried what His Father thought. I now its hard but when I manage to only think of that, I feel great. Job 3:25 My fears come true. Job thinks his fears come true as he worries BUT. Proverbs 10:24 What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. Job ended up with a double portion of joy in the end. I doubt you will suffer as bad as Job I am glad to say. The principle might be the same though, so keep going, but even better. WORK CLEVER NOT HARD BRO e.g. wait till your faith grows through knowing your old and new testament well with memorized verses. Not that you havent done that but maybe do what I do and find ways of serving you enjoy. Jesus happier with that for you. My blog wisdomfortoday.blog Edited November 11, 2019 by Sharky and George Pasted Proverb 10:24 from youversion bible app so its right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiraculousFaith Posted February 24, 2020 Group: Members Followers: 3 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 18 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 16 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/24/2020 Status: Offline Share Posted February 24, 2020 As someone who was in your shoes about three years ago, the best advice I can give you is to pray intently, and ask God for wisdom. It's great to go online and Google your questions, and God may certainly answer you in that manner (He did for me a few times). However, I personally was shunned and ignored by some Christians in the beginning. My secular friendships were strained because of our new differences, and I didn't even "evangelize" them, I never wanted to be "that Christian". In the end, I found that I could only really rely on God to guide me, and I preferred it that way. I was tired of being lied to by the world and people who claimed to be God's followers (and may have been true believers) and didn't know how to speak to a newbie who wasn't raised in church/Christian circles. Ask God to reveal what He wants you to learn and where He would have you go, especially when you read Scripture. Following Christ is a daily reality, let him be the leader. Furthermore, you said you "trigger" spiritual warfare. As upsetting as it may be to you, this is not a bad thing. I'm wondering if you might have a background in the occult/witchcraft/New Age as I did. It definitely intensifies the warfare for a lot of people who come out of it (including me). If not, I wouldn't let it bother you too much, because being an irritation and opposition to you is certainly the goal of the enemy. You have God on your side and the armor of God. It seems hard now, but you will find you make it when you surrender to the Lord. One of my memory verses for warfare is: Ephesians 6-11 (definitely read the whole section: verses 11-18) "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." And James 4;7 "Submit {surrender} yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." P.S. Surrendering/submitting is something we all work on daily, so don't feel too bad, and keep growing. God bless you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Crocker Posted April 11, 2020 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 9 Topic Count: 4 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,621 Content Per Day: 1.10 Reputation: 3,243 Days Won: 7 Joined: 04/08/2020 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/15/1973 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Ephesians 6:11-17..,Talks about putting on the whole armor God to be able to stand against the whiles of the devil. This is a defensive position not an offense position. We are to stand in this armor of God and uphold our ground not giving place to Satan. Ephesians 4:27 says.. Neither give place to the devil. Scripture also tells us in James4:7.... Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. We give place to Satan by simply praying against him. The recognition of his lies as false and not responding to those lies is what resisting him means. We bind Satan by believing the truth and not to be moved by falsehood. When you turn on a light in a dark room does darkness scratch its head and choose whether it has to leave or not? In the presence of light darkness must leave. We bind Satan by standing in that armor of light the Kingdom. When you respond to the devil you make that falsehood real or give it validity. In the light we can’t even see Satan anymore because we’re supposed to be living in the Kingdom that’s within us. In the kingdom sickness, disease, lack or want doesn’t exist there. The problem is people come in in out of that state because the flesh isn’t totally surrendered yet. Romans 12:1 says present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. Our ignorance of the truth of what we have and are as Sons in the Kingdom is what gives place to Satan. For example when we ask God for things the Bible says we have is an unbelief and gives place to Satan. Scripture says anything not done in faith is sin. Unbelief is sin. Look at everyone when they came to Jesus to ask for something. What did they say? Lord help my unbelief. If we must pray we pray for the Lord to open our eyes to see we are already healed past tense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branchesofHim Posted April 11, 2020 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 211 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 1,463 Content Per Day: 0.21 Reputation: 759 Days Won: 1 Joined: 01/09/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 01/23/1966 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Did not God create all to be His expression? Then all created are His purpose. Indeed. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other one Posted April 11, 2020 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 29 Topic Count: 597 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 56,115 Content Per Day: 7.56 Reputation: 27,846 Days Won: 271 Joined: 12/29/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted April 11, 2020 On 11/8/2019 at 3:24 AM, ohso said: How do you balance these things? I don't want to isolate myself as a Christian from the world. On the other hand, it really brings me down when I deal with the people who are not saved. I really don't know what is the right thing to do? Thank you. God bless. First thing to think about is to grow in the Lord.... remember that you are dealing with spirits and entities behind the scenes that have been here for thousands of years and have grown to understand humans far better than most of us. Second you can play with it but in the end you will, I believe, find that you, I and everyone else really have no authority or power over the spirit world; it is the Holy Spirit within us that deals with those things.... I spent years studying the occult down to the level of Satan worship itself..... and if you don't have the Holy Spirit directing you to do that, you can't help but get caught up in it yourself.... so it's very good that the Spirit is leading you away from all that.... Third, learn to listen to the Holy Spirit when dealing with others who don't know him... and be kind, for they usually just don't know any better. Forth, none of us can save anyone... not a single person in the world has been saved by any human.... we introduce people to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, but it's the Holy Spirit that interfaces with others and changes them.... And God was doing this way before we came along.... actually he's doing it directly himself in a few places in the world from people having visions of him and coming to him for Lordship. It is just my persona opinion but it seems logical to me that the Lord is putting ill feelings for those following those other things as a protection for you... Find a completely different set of friends to become close with... I found them in a Nazarene Church, but there are millions of us good Christians everywhere..... Grow in the Lord and when you have a firm grasp on the Holy Spirit it has been my experience the Spirit will lead you into dealing with lost people. He'll show you and tell you when you should share things with others. It was a total shock to me when I met the first really possessed lady and the Holy Spirit flat refused to let me get involved..... let me know that she wasn't ready for it yet but when the time comes I'll send someone to help her. I think I was getting a bit too full of myself instead of Him LoL It's been my experience that becoming a christian is a growing process.... but unlike other things I have done in life it doesn't get boring but more exciting every day as we approach being with him . for some it will be at his returning, but for me at age 72 will most likely be a one on one meeting as he removes me breath of life and takes it back to himself. Whichever that day will be a glorious time... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Zion* Posted April 14, 2020 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 154 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 3,245 Content Per Day: 0.78 Reputation: 2,397 Days Won: 9 Joined: 12/09/2012 Status: Offline Birthday: 05/11/1984 Share Posted April 14, 2020 On 11/8/2019 at 9:24 AM, ohso said: How do you balance these things? I don't want to isolate myself as a Christian from the world. On the other hand, it really brings me down when I deal with the people who are not saved. I really don't know what is the right thing to do? Thank you. God bless. On 2/24/2020 at 6:06 AM, MiraculousFaith said: In the end, I found that I could only really rely on God to guide me, and I preferred it that way. I was tired of being lied to by the world and people who claimed to be God's followers (and may have been true believers) and didn't know how to speak to a newbie who wasn't raised in church/Christian circles. Ask God to reveal what He wants you to learn and where He would have you go, especially when you read Scripture. Following Christ is a daily reality, let him be the leader. One of my memory verses for warfare is: Ephesians 6-11 (definitely read the whole section: verses 11-18) "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." And James 4;7 "Submit {surrender} yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." P.S. Surrendering/submitting is something we all work on daily, so don't feel too bad, and keep growing. On 4/11/2020 at 2:10 PM, other one said: First thing to think about is to grow in the Lord.... remember that you are dealing with spirits and entities behind the scenes that have been here for thousands of years and have grown to understand humans far better than most of us. Second you can play with it but in the end you will, I believe, find that you, I and everyone else really have no authority or power over the spirit world; it is the Holy Spirit within us that deals with those things.... I spent years studying the occult down to the level of Satan worship itself..... and if you don't have the Holy Spirit directing you to do that, you can't help but get caught up in it yourself.... so it's very good that the Spirit is leading you away from all that.... Third, learn to listen to the Holy Spirit when dealing with others who don't know him... and be kind, for they usually just don't know any better. Forth, none of us can save anyone... not a single person in the world has been saved by any human.... we introduce people to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, but it's the Holy Spirit that interfaces with others and changes them.... And God was doing this way before we came along.... actually he's doing it directly himself in a few places in the world from people having visions of him and coming to him for Lordship. It is just my persona opinion but it seems logical to me that the Lord is putting ill feelings for those following those other things as a protection for you... Find a completely different set of friends to become close with... I found them in a Nazarene Church, but there are millions of us good Christians everywhere..... God bless you, ohso. I feel your pain It's hard when I see a lot of Christians around me seemingly happy to sow seeds of division. But the Lord said the world will know we are His because of the love we have for one another, not the need to feed our egos. We are strong, especially against the enemy when we are united - and that is why our enemy seeks to divide us. What MiraculousFaith and Other One have stated here are crucial to all our walks with the Lord. We need to grow in Him and His Word and His Spirit. Whatever is accomplished, it is not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit, as He says. We also do need each other, which is why we should seek to encourage and build one another up in the most holy faith. My advise would be to steer clear of those Christians who just seem to want to argue all the time, until you feel strong enough and equipped enough to deal with them. They may want to stir up strife, or they may simply seek validation, but to a weak believer they may prove detrimental. You are not weak, you are strong in the Lord. We are all stronger than we feel, because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Being able to walk in that knowledge is where faith comes in. We all trigger the enemy just by speaking the truth of God. He is a defeated foe, we already have victory in Christ Jesus, won for us on the cross of Calvary. Take heart, ohso. God will never leave us or forsake us, even if others do. Be blessed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manonfire63 Posted April 14, 2020 Group: Junior Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 22 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 117 Content Per Day: 0.05 Reputation: 13 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/09/2018 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/09/1984 Share Posted April 14, 2020 Given people are practicing Christianity more correctly, Christians should be living in a Christian community and neighborhood. When Moses and God lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, they were separate. They were a nation apart from other nations. They were meant to be a Holy people. In the Book of Acts Christians formed their own communities. They were separate. Quote 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8) What business does the darkness have with the light? Imagine a school council. Said School Council makes decisions about how to educate your children. Who is on the council? An Atheist? An Agnostic? Some other non-believer not centered on Christ? Given we are working to be one mind and one body, those non-believers are not one mind, and they may have had ideas that are not Godly. They shouldn't even be in the neighborhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ervin P Posted June 9, 2020 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 33 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 154 Content Per Day: 0.11 Reputation: 83 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/23/2020 Status: Offline Share Posted June 9, 2020 On 11/8/2019 at 8:24 PM, ohso said: I am pretty much new believer in Jesus and I've tried to talk to God about this and look into the Bible, but I'm still left very confused and don't know what's the best way to act. Majority of new people I meet in my life seem like nice and moral, but when I get to know them better, I find out they do not follow Jesus and to be worse, are involved in some sort of witchcraft. It can be that they are in some new age practices, or they listen to Satanic music and so on. I feel horrible that our differences in faith are the only reason I feel like I might need to remove myself from such acquaintances. I try to evangelize to them politely and respectfully. That always gets me in trouble. Either an argument will start, or I will have demonic dreams and so on. When I first got saved I really wanted to be used by God and do something for His Kingdom. Now when it seems it's starting to finally happen, I feel like I don't want it anymore, because it makes me feel bad. I see no positive results neither in others, nor myself. So I prayed differently, for God to bring me Christians in my life, because I don't want to deal with darkness anymore, it's just too hard for me. But then I realized I got involved in religion and find myself in the middle of arguments between denominations, which I didn't like and decided to leave that too. How do you balance these things? I don't want to isolate myself as a Christian from the world. On the other hand, it really brings me down when I deal with the people who are not saved. I really don't know what is the right thing to do? Thank you. God bless. I have similar situations and remember there is nothing good loving Biblical that you can’t pray for. Also, persevere in prayer and remember that God Yahweh is Almighty. 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ervin P Posted June 9, 2020 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 33 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 154 Content Per Day: 0.11 Reputation: 83 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/23/2020 Status: Offline Share Posted June 9, 2020 Also, keep praying for Love, read about loving your enemies and going the extra mile explanations on the internet. I myself have to work on all this, I am not there yet, but trying. Also, I’ll post the following: Mathew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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