WayneB Posted August 28, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 4 Topic Count: 232 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 7,261 Content Per Day: 0.96 Reputation: 79 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/30/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/19/1959 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 49 minutes ago, Your closest friendnt said: What I am suggesting is that Paul follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to put wood in the fire. Just think for a moment what would have happen if the snake had bitten someone else. For I think that not only that the Lord knew that the snake was there, but the Lord may have guided the snake to be there and that it was not just an accident . Divine Providence . No argument here brother; Scripture doesn't say one way or the other. Unlike when Phillip was sent to the exact place at the exact time to witness to the Ethiopean (Acts 8:26), there is no mention of the viper being anything other than a chance happening. Could it have been as you say? Sure...but the Word just isn't clear on it. It is clear that Paul testified to his shipmates that an angel of the Lord spoke to him during the storm at sea and told him to not fear, that there would be no loss of life and that he would stand before Caesar (Acts 27:23,24). So yes...Paul was on a divine mission and a viper would not stand in the way. My approach to understanding Scripture is to keep it in context (as you have) to the culture and events before and after and look for the deeper, spiritual meaning but I am careful to not base any conclusions on perception or assumption. I do believe that God is sovereign in all things, omniscient and omnipresent, and that His Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, bringing us comfort, understanding and directing our steps. We just need to listen and not let our flesh filter His truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneB Posted August 28, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 4 Topic Count: 232 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 7,261 Content Per Day: 0.96 Reputation: 79 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/30/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/19/1959 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 2 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said: Just because you have use a point of study, "understanding the works of the enemy", may I suggest that at the same time we also have a point of study in our minds, " understanding the works of the Holy Spirit"... Absolutely...which is why the study started with "First and foremost, Know who you serve" and ended with "Submit to God" which requires us to... 1) Be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1); 2) Walk in Christ (Colossians 2:6-9); 3) and by the Spirit (Galatians 5:1, 16, 22-25); 4) and lastly, abide in Christ (John 15:1-7). Know Your Enemy.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneB Posted August 30, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 4 Topic Count: 232 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 7,261 Content Per Day: 0.96 Reputation: 79 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/30/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/19/1959 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Study outline posted in pdf format for Willa. Know Your Enemy.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willa Posted August 30, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 68 Topic Count: 185 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 14,224 Content Per Day: 3.34 Reputation: 16,647 Days Won: 30 Joined: 08/14/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted August 30, 2016 I still get a notice that the page does not exist. I usually get that for Word doc. Might have to give up. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPaulG Posted September 17, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 71 Topic Count: 340 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 16,834 Content Per Day: 4.73 Reputation: 13,548 Days Won: 81 Joined: 07/24/2014 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/02/2000 Share Posted September 17, 2016 On 9/19/2007 at 8:53 AM, WayneB said: Know Your Enemy.doc Saints, Last month, my wife and I attended a Bible conference in which we met an awesome man of God. His name is James McDonald with Walk in the Word Ministry. Through his teaching, the teaching of other pastors and the awesome atmosphere of worship at the conference, we were fired up for the Lord...the fire in our hearts stoked with the Word of God and the breath of the Holy Spirit! Then we came home to problems that immediately bogged us down...so severe at first that I even missed going into the jail to minister the night after we got back. We were chumps... I mean the Enemy got us good! That week, I began to download some podcasts from James' website and he happened to be in a series about spiritual warfare (In it to Win it) with two of the podcasts being a two-part sermon on the Ten Things You Should Know about Satan. It was a great study and my eyes were opened wide to the spiritual assault we were under. That Saturday, while my wife taught at a Women's Bible and Health conference, I stayed home and worked on a Study series using the podcast from brother James. I spent five hours writing the outline and preparing for teaching it in the jail beginning the following Monday night. It was tough to get through...it seemed that everything that could distract me popped up. Phone calls, problems with my laptop, and the likes...nothing serious, just distractions. Regardless, I got through it. My thoughts when I began preparing the study was that before we know the Enemy, we need to know Who we serve!!! So that is where I started and ended up with a 3-part study starting with Know Who You Serve, then moving on to the Ten Things You Should Know about Satan and finishing up with the Top Three Ways to Fight the Enemy. It took four weeks to teach... about 6 hours! It was an awesome experience. One of the nights, Satan used one of the inmates to offend some of the other inmates and they left the study that night...but they came back the next week! The night I finished with the Ten Things You should Know part, an inmate came to me after and confided that he had intended to attack (he said kill) another inmate who had made him angry but after the study, his eyes were opened to the fact that the Enemy of God was playing him for a chump!!! We prayed together and he was back the next Monday night, taking notes on how to fight the Enemy! The focus of my ministry in the jails has been and will remain to be Jesus Christ and the HOPE found ONLY in HIM. BUT...I am seeing it more clearly now than ever before in my own life, the lives of others and the world that tries to consume us... there is a BATTLE going on (yup, knew that...nothing new) but most of the brethren are NOT prepared to fight!!! The Enemy is strong and his minions outnumber us, I believe by a wide margin!! Yet, if we stand firm with God's Armor properly fitted, the Enemy will not only leave us but he will flee from us!!! Why? ...because we have Jesus Christ on our side! So here is the outline of the study, attached as a Word document. There is a lot more meat to it but I work off outlines only and let the Holy Spirit fill in the blanks. All I can say is that it opened my eyes and seemed to have made a difference in the lives of about 60 inmates!! Keep in mind, this outlined turned into a 6-hour sermon/lesson! UPDATE: Although I no longer go into the jail and prison, I still use this outline to teach in our church. I believe that we ALL need to be aware and knowledgeable when it comes to the Enemy and his tactics. The Bible crystal-clearly says, "Resist the devil AND he will flee from you." James 4:8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Carpenter Posted December 31, 2022 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 36 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 23 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/25/2022 Status: Offline Share Posted December 31, 2022 On 9/17/2016 at 6:00 AM, KPaulG said: The Bible crystal-clearly says, "Resist the devil AND he will flee from you." James 4:8 That's it. That's what we are asked to do. And Ephesians 6 only details what any born again in Christ believer already has. It's more like reminding us to use our faith to resist the arrows from the devil and our sword, which is the Word of God. And may I say, you used it well! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
com7fy8 Posted January 23, 2023 Group: Senior Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 41 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 873 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 520 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/05/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted January 23, 2023 To be humble, to be kind . . . and enjoy how God succeeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
com7fy8 Posted January 23, 2023 Group: Senior Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 41 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 873 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 520 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/05/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted January 23, 2023 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) So, one basic for standing against Satan is, that we do not let anything or any person have power over us to get us anxious. But instead we obey how our Father rules us in His peace. We do not trust, then, how anxiety would have us seeing things. Worry is a pathological lier!! And therefore do not trust and obey what anxiety would have us thinking and doing. If we obey how God has us pray, His own peace will guard our "minds" against howsoever Satan would attack our "minds" . . . easily . . . because God in this peace is almighty against any Satanic stuff which can mess up a person's mind. Therefore, submitting to God includes seeking and obeying how God corrects and cures us so we are ruled by God in this peace. "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15) So, this is basic Christianity, to which all are "called in one body". We all are called to be guarded by God's peace, all the time. And in this peace of our Creator we have His creativity for how to love any person, and what to do about any evil and any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
com7fy8 Posted January 23, 2023 Group: Senior Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 41 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 873 Content Per Day: 0.46 Reputation: 520 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/05/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted January 23, 2023 As has been said, we are not in a chess game with Satan!! We do not only try to figure out what he is doing, and we do not have to answer to his moves. But keep attentive always to God, and simply do what He has us doing. When something attacks, make sure with God so we do what He pleases . . . while He will have all things working in His strategy for His good with us. He will not just watch out for us, but God is all-loving so His results will bless all people and not only us ourselves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other one Posted January 23, 2023 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 29 Topic Count: 596 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 56,043 Content Per Day: 7.56 Reputation: 27,785 Days Won: 271 Joined: 12/29/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted January 23, 2023 It's been a while since this thread was active. Might I just add a little experience. many years ago i thought I needed to understand the enemy better to fight it so i went on this really crazy research trip into places that Christians should never go. It seems that the more you try to learn about the dark side, they more they will open up to you and put you into places to really learn first hand. Well I'm not allowed to get into details about all that, but I can tell you that I firmly believe that the Lord let me do that to learn something that we all should know. As humans we do not have any power or authority in the spirit world. And since Satan has been around since way before Adam and Eve, he is a professional of understanding what makes humans tick. You can't out smart him for any length of time. He doesn't come to you in a red suit with horns a tail and a pitch fork... He comes with everything you ever wanted and will find ways to offer it to you. There is only one defense against Satan and that is a healthy relationship with the Holy Spirit. You get that by having Jesus as your Lord and interface with them every day all day and night. If demons approach you, ask the Holy Spirit to deal with it. Ask him to keep you from situations you might fail as a human and he will do that. Just a little personal experience that I don't believe goes against any scripture. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts