Misinformation: A Spiritual Warfare Tactic

^{NLT.John.8.44} For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Today the most powerful nation on the planet (in terms of its military and economic forces) is having an election which will generate much rhetoric in the days to come. Things there are continually heating up and Christians are not immune to the divisions, in fact, sadly Christians are often at the heart of the tension and conflict.

Today we’re back with Norman Mitchell who writes at The Wild Frontier and while this appeared back in March, it so timely for this day. Click the header below to read where it first appeared.

Misinformation About Misinformation

More and more often, I’m hearing people refer to the current global environment as a “post-truth world.” It seems that the wholesale abandonment of truth is stronger now than at any other point in my lifetime and perhaps than what has occurred in several generations. If nothing else, global communications have enabled the propagation of lies at an unprecedented scale.

Deep fakes are pervasive. Truth is obscured by layers of deception. Information warfare is being employed around the clock—even by those who are ostensibly on your side. People from all quarters are mastering the technique of “admit nothing, deny everything, make counter-accusations.” At a minimum, their goal is to sow enough confusion that the masses doubt that truth can ever actually be determined. Any dissent is conveniently labeled misinformation, and dissenters are either shouted down, shadow-banned, de-platformed, or otherwise maligned.

Our society has largely fallen for the dangerous pseudo-philosophy that truth is subjective, which ultimately means that there is no truth. This self-defeating premise is particularly insidious, as people give up on truth and instead, begin surrounding themselves with like-minded people who share their ideology.

People disseminate disinformation (intentionally incorrect information) to bolster popular support for their agendas. They employ supposed fact checkers who, it seems, are just as agenda-driven as those who employ them.

On any issue, the global forum is quickly divided into two camps, each accusing the other of lying. Language, rather than evolving to describe new concepts with greater precision, is being intentionally co-opted and twisted to obfuscate issues and conceal agendas.

I’ve been frustrated for years with the lack of intellectual integrity within American institutional Christianity; but the secular humanists, for all their criticism of Christianity, are taking this dysfunction to a whole new level.

It’s not for nothing that in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Devil was considered to be the father of lies. Paul warned Timothy about a time when people would “not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but… will turn aside to myths.” (Paul’s second letter to Timothy, NET Bible)

Humans have seen this madness play out many times throughout history, and our prophets have warned us about the perils of rejecting the truth. With a little bit of open-minded reasoning, it becomes self-evident that truth must be supreme over all else if we want humanity to survive with any modicum of civility. Yet, despite all the warnings, and despite the historical precedents, an anti-truth ideology is possessing the masses on a global scale. Apparently, some people just gotta touch the stove.

If a significant proportion of voices in government, social, and even religious channels are employing disinformation, how do we sort through the deluge of deceit? For those who still believe the truth is important, here are a few guidelines that may be helpful in avoiding being taken in by the lies and delusions which surround us.

1. Truth exists as an objective reality. Truth is that which stands on its own. It is neither changed by nor dependent upon one’s opinion.
2. Truth must be our highest objective, for it is only by confronting reality that we have any hope of finding purpose in life.
3. A true claim is generally independently verifiable.
4. Strive to perceive agendas. If someone makes a claim that serves an agenda, their credibility should be suspect. Is the claimant seeking truth above all else, or are they making the claim to achieve a short-term, personal benefit?
5. If you must lie to get people to side with you, you are automatically wrong.
6. If you shut down dissent by claiming that to dissent is wrong, you are automatically wrong.
7. If you must employ coercion to garner support for your cause, you are automatically wrong.
8. If you must resort to sophistry (smart-sounding, subtly deceptive language) to bolster your case, you are automatically wrong.
9. You should be willing to have your beliefs falsified. This doesn’t mean that you can’t hold convictions. It simply means that you have decided that you value the truth over your own beliefs.
10. Be skeptical. This is the foundation of critical thinking. Being skeptical or being a critical thinker simply means that you require sound evidence before believing a claim.

Now, more than ever, it is critical for us to be perceptive and wise. If we don’t decide here and now that truth is our ultimate pursuit, then I fear that we will watch the world around us disintegrate into self-destruction. And a lot of people are going to suffer.

Spiritual Warfare: The Weapon of Lies

As we soon approach devotional #4,000, it amazes me how many times a reading is tagged with the words, spiritual warfare. Even on my other more topical blog, Thinking Out Loud, this is a theme which is constantly recurring

This theme appears in so many books. Most authors agree that the battlefield on which the warfare is enacted is our minds. Think of bestsellers such as Battlefield of the Mind or Victory Over the Darkness. Spiritual warfare need not be the province of Charismatic or Pentecostal authors however, and it’s a topic we shouldn’t back away from. The battle is real.

Today at Devotions Daily, there was an excerpt from a forthcoming book, Winning the War in Your Mind, by Oklahoma pastor Craig Groeschel. To read it in full, click the header which follows.

Old Lies, New Truth

…You are constrained by a lie, something that doesn’t exist. The Enemy has arranged enough hurtful circumstances, in key places of your life, in which you got just enough jolt — a bit of a shock, a sting of pain to your heart — that you have decided trying even one more time is just not worth the risk. What makes it worse is that the number of places where you have stopped trying is growing ever larger.

The greatest weapon in Satan’s arsenal is the lie.

Perhaps his only weapon is the lie. The first glimpse we have of the devil in the Bible, we see him deceiving Adam and Eve in the garden. He created doubt in Eve’s mind by asking her,

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” — Genesis 3:1-5

What Satan did in the garden back then is the exact same thing he will attempt to do in your life today.

In 2 Corinthians 11:3, our thoughtology professor Paul said,

I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Satan will whisper accusing questions and deceptive statements. He schemes to twist your mind, because if he can, he then

• diverts you from your purpose,
• distracts you from God’s voice,
• destroys your potential.

If he can get you to believe a lie, your life will be affected as if that lie were true.

Unfortunately, Satan’s lies are easy to believe. Why? Part of the reason is that because of sin, we have a flawed internal lie detector. God warned us:

• “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9).
• “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

That’s definitely the problem, so what’s our solution? How do we access God’s power to stop Satan’s lies? How can we demolish his strongholds in our lives?

If Satan’s primary weapon is lies, then our greatest counter-weapon is the truth of God’s Word.

Not just reading the Bible but learning to wield Scripture as a divine weapon. God wants us to view His Word that way. See how Hebrews 4:12 offers a direct solution to the warning of Jeremiah 17:9:

The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

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Excerpts from Zondervan books are used with permission from HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel, copyright 2021 Craig Groeschel.

De-Mystifying Spiritual Warfare

Eph 6:12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

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“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”  Luke 10:19

About a year ago we borrowed an item here from the the New Wineskins blog at Patheos by Josh Draffern, and yesterday I decided to see what he’s been writing lately, where I came across this article. I really felt this opened a frequently-discussed topic in a new way, and I hope you’ll agree. Click the title below to read this at source, and bookmark the site so you can make return visits.

What If You Could Take the Mystery Out of Spiritual Warfare?

What if you could take the mystery out of spiritual warfare? Growing up as a church kid, there were several Bible passages that continually fascinated me. Whenever the story of David and Goliath was told (1 Samuel 17), I would imagine that I was there in the crowd, watching history unfold. I loved imagining that like Peter I might have had enough faith to walk on water when Jesus gave the invitation (Matthew 14:22-33). Right up near the top was Paul’s picture of spiritual warfare and the description of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. The imagery of swords and shields was very compelling for a middle school boy, and the thought of fighting demons seemed like the real life version of all those fairytales I heard growing up where the hero slayed the dragon and saved the princess. For years, that’s where my understanding of spiritual warfare remained: medieval sword fights and imaginary battles with demons.

What if you could take the mystery out of spiritual warfare? When I finished high school and went off to a Christian college I continued to be interested in the topic of spiritual warfare and for the first time was exposed to books outside my narrow field of evangelical teaching. The good news was that there was a whole spectrum of teaching on spiritual warfare out there, especially from the pentecostal and charismatic stripe of Christianity, that claimed to know all sorts of fascinating information about spiritual warfare. The bad news was that too often these books left any semblance of biblical grounding behind and relied on supernatural revelations that changed from book to book. In the end, I was left with little I could trust and less I could understand.

What if you could take the mystery out of spiritual warfare? After college I spent two years overseas in Africa as a missionary through the International Mission Board, the missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. There in Africa I saw two distinct demonic manifestations happen with my first month of being there, moments that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Finally, this seemed like what I had always expected spiritual warfare to be like! But as quickly as they appeared, they dissipated. No more demonic manifestations after that, nothing that fit the stereotypical episode of spiritual warfare. Just normal, mundane, everyday life. Could spiritual warfare exist if nothing extraordinary appeared to be happening?

What if you could take the mystery out of spiritual warfare? Once I came back to the United States and began working full-time in local churches as a youth pastor, I began to see the evidence of spiritual warfare all around me. Good Christian marriages were falling apart left and right, entirely preventable divorces were being filed, and kids were left with emotional scars from a broken childhood that would threaten to haunt them for generations. Good kids from good homes were making bad decisions that left life-long consequences. Division and strife riled through churches as the enemy seemingly went unchecked in our midst. Like a dull ache in the back of my head, I knew we were being defeated in spiritual warfare, but I didn’t know how to fight back. Should I purchase a sword and shield? Did I need to go demon hunting or go searching for territorial powers like the books I read in college suggested? Should I wait for an undeniable demonic manifestation and deal with it then? Even after decades following Jesus and reading the Bible, the mystery of spiritual warfare remained simply that: a mystery.

What if you could take the mystery out of spiritual warfare? As the years went by and I became a senior pastor of a local church, I had the opportunity to teach through the armor of God in Ephesians 6 on a number of occasions. In preparation for a message, trying to grasp the armor of God in a way that could help my congregation (and myself) better understand Paul’s teaching on spiritual warfare, I tried a different approach, one I ultimately believe was prompted by the Holy Spirit. Instead of focusing on the pieces of armor, as I had always done and as commentaries always did, I ignored the pieces of armor completely and simply focused on what was attached to the pieces of armor. That small shift changed everything.

When you think of a marriage, if you had to settle on one image or one event that best encapsulates a marriage it would most likely be the wedding day. A wedding is a beautifully scripted ceremony that visually captures and celebrates the love and commitment between a husband and wife. From the flowers and the cake to the wedding dress and corsages, the beauty and elegance of the wedding ceremony celebrates the finest of what a marriage should be. Yet no one would try and make the argument that the only way to properly be married is to dress up every day in your tuxedo or wedding dress and walk down a rose petal strewn church aisle. In fact, if someone made a routine of putting on their wedding dress or tux so they could be married that day, he or she would be missing the whole point. Marriage isn’t the tuxedo or wedding dress, those are merely symbols. It’s the love and commitment represented by the wedding ceremony that’s the key.

When Paul writes to first century Christians to instruct them on the basics of spiritual warfare, he gives them a metaphor to hold onto, a symbol. He describes spiritual warfare in terms that mirrored the physical warfare every reader would have been familiar with. Every first-century believer reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians would have been painfully aware of the power of the Roman soldier. And just as the Roman army conquered the known world of the time, Paul instructed early Christians on how to be just as victorious in the spiritual battles that raged around them. But the pieces of armor have always been a metaphor. It doesn’t make any more sense to think the key to spiritual warfare is putting on pieces of armor than to think that the key to a successful marriage is to wear your wedding dress or wedding tux every single day. The key isn’t the pieces of armor, but what’s attached to the pieces armor. Right there, hiding in plain sight, we discover the steps we need to begin to win the war in the spiritual.

 

This is an excerpt from (hopefully) an upcoming book to be published on spiritual warfare. [For meaningful conversations on this and all my other content, join my Facebook Group: Josh Daffern Digital]

 

Spiritual Warfare: The Battle in Scriptures

Eph 6:12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

According to my recent search, we have covered the topic of spiritual warfare many times here, but tucked away in a very old post — you had to click a button to read the full piece — I discovered a collection of scriptures on the topic, and thought they were deserving of being presented here. These are from a sermon I did many years ago in Toronto, and I think I was in my NLT phase at that time! Many of the copied texts are consecutive verses in the same passage.

1) We are in a war.

2Ti 3:12 Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

2)     We are fighting on enemy territory.

1Pe 2:11 Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls.

Jhn 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

3)     We are not to use the enemy’s weapons

2Cr 10:3 We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods.

(We don’t fight the way the world fights.)

2Cr 10:4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds.

2Cr 10:5 With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ.

4)     We may lose some skirmishes but eventually we win the war

a) We can do this!  Previously attained perfection is not required.

Rom 7:21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.

Not the verse you were expecting? And this was Paul!   But using the language of the Olympic games, he “pressed on toward the prize” and wrote:

2Cr 12:6 I have plenty to boast about and would be no fool in doing it, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it. I don’t want anyone to think more highly of me than what they can actually see in my life and my message,

2Cr 12:7 even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud.

2Cr 12:8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

2Cr 12:9 Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.

2Cr 12:10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So he’s saying, ‘don’t look for inner strength, but know there is strength in weakness.’ We can do this, but on his strength, not our strength.

b) We are the “occupying army” that God has to work with on this enemy territory.  Yes, it makes no human sense!

Similarly, victory will come through his logic and reasoning, not our logic and reasoning.

1Cr 1:25 This “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength.

1Cr 1:26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.

1Cr 1:27 Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

1Cr 1:28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important,

1Cr 1:29 so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

c) But we are “people in process,” people being changed into something new.

2Cr 5:14 Whatever we do, it is because Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live.

2Cr 5:15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.

2Cr 5:16 So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now!

2Cr 5:17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

So we enter into the battle not weighed down by who we were yesterday, but knowing who God is making us into today.

d) The result is that we are to take on the holiness of a holy God.

His picture of what we are collectively becoming is beautiful and radiant.

Eph 5:26b-27 (Message) – Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.

e) But it begins with us as individuals: 

What the church is becoming collectively begins with you and me, and our choosing to strive for holiness and righteousness.

Rom 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

 

The Difference Between Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance

Not the kind of deliverance we’re discussing today

Today’s teaching is from the website GreatBibleTeaching.com. This is a topic we return to frequently because life is spiritual battle much of the time. Many times the articles come from a Pentecostal or Charismatic perspective, and I think the issue there is not that such groups over-emphasize spiritual warfare, but that other groups don’t discuss this enough. There are so many related articles at this website that this time I very strongly urge you to click through to read this article at source.

The difference between deliverance and spiritual warfare is that deliverance is dealing with demonic bondages, and getting a person set free, whereas spiritual warfare is resisting, overcoming and defeating the enemy’s lies (in the form of deception, temptations and accusations) that he sends our way. Deliverance involves the breaking up of legal grounds, the tearing down of strongholds (offensive spiritual warfare), and the casting out of demons. Spiritual warfare on the other hand, is dealing with three key things the enemy sends at us: temptations, deception and accusations.

This teaching will give you an idea of how spiritual warfare works. There are other teachings on this site that will go into more detail on certain areas of spiritual warfare.

Offensive vs. defensive warfare

Spiritual warfare comes in two ways: offensive and defensive. Offensive warfare is tearing down the strongholds the enemy has formed in your mind through deception and accusations, and defensive warfare is guarding yourself against the tactics or schemes of the devil.

The enemy’s three primary weapons

There are three things that we can expect from the devil. The Bible tells us that we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against demonic forces. Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The three primary things we struggle against include:

#1 Deception: To deceive somebody means to make another person believe a lie or something that is not true. When the enemy sends deception your way, it is an attempt to deceive you into believing something that is not true, so you will fall into error. Strongholds are built through deception. A stronghold is formed when deception takes hold in a person’s mind. A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that stems from believing something that is not true.

From the very beginning, Satan deceived Eve into believing that God’s Word was not true. In Genesis 3:4, the devil told her that she will not surely die as God said she would in Genesis 2:17.

#2 Temptation: Temptation often follows deception. First the enemy tells us, “You won’t surely die!”, then he makes the fruit on the forbidden tree look good to us. Since Eve accepted Satan’s deception (his lie), now the tree that she was not supposed to touch looked good to her. She was tempted (enticed) to sin, because she allowed herself to first be deceived. Temptation is when we are enticed or encouraged to sin in one way or another.

In Matthew 4, Jesus was led out in the desert to be tempted by the devil. The devil tried to convince Jesus that it would be harmless to jump off a building. Often people will be so drawn to sex with their boyfriend/girlfriend when the enemy tries to convince them that it is all harmless and fun, when it’s not harmless at all, but an open door to the devil. Jesus saw through Satan’s deception, and resisted the temptation by speaking God’s Word. King David said in Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

When the enemy tempts you, he’s showing you the worm… but behind that worm is a hook. The Word of God helps you see the hook behind the worm.

#3 Accusations: The devil is known as the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). He is known to take a believer who has done an embarrassing or gross sin in their past, and continue to rub it in their faces and beat them down with guilt and condemnation over their past.

Dealing with deception

We have two weapons to deal with deceptions: the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14) and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) which is the Word of God. Both are truth, which is found in God’s Word, so why are they given two different names (a sword and a belt)? Because one is meant to be defensive (the belt), while the other is meant to be offensive (the sword). This means that the Word of God is both an offensive and a defensive weapon. A belt is something you wear to guard against an attack, while a sword is used to slaughter the enemy.

You use the belt of truth (God’s Word) to guard against the enemy’s deception (lies) he sends your way, while you use the sword of the Spirit (also God’s Word) to tear down existing strongholds (deception that took hold) in your mind.

In Romans 12:2, we are told to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” How do we renew our minds? By getting in God’s Word! In Ephesians 5:26, this process is referred to as washing of water by the Word: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

Dealing with temptation

In James 4:7, we are told to resist the devil and he will flee from us. But it’s not that simple; in the same verse, we are also told to draw near to God. Dealing with temptation is a two fold process of resisting the devil and drawing near to God. The closer you get to God and the more you become aware of His love, the less power temptation will have over you.

James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (The context of those verse is clearly speaking of temptation).

In the teaching Forgiven Sinner or Saint?, it shows you how the power of sin (temptation) can be broken in our lives.

Dealing with accusations

The fiery darts of the enemy in Ephesians 6:16 are accusations sent our way. For example, when the devil tries to accuse us of our past sins, we are to have faith in the work of the cross and know that they are forgiven and not to look back. Faith is what we use to put out the fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). We are not to meditate about our pasts, because they have passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17), and our sins have been forgotten (Hebrews 10:17).

Ephesians 6:14, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth (knowing your sins have been forgiven through your faith in the work on the cross), and having on the breastplate of righteousness (not our righteousness obviously, but the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus);”

Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but because of the work of the cross, we can receive the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22, Galatians 3:6). Therefore when the enemy tries to remind you of your past, tell him it’s been washed away (2 Corinthians 5:17), your sins have been forgotten (Hebrews 10:17) and you have the righteousness of God (Romans 3:22)!

There are other teachings on this site [GreatBibleStudy.com] that will specifically help you wage war against the enemy’s accusations. They include Condemnation versus Conviction, The Power of Your Thoughts and Dealing with Guilt.

The tearing down of strongholds

A stronghold is deception that’s taken hold in a person’s mind. It’s an incorrect thinking pattern based on a believed lie. People can get incorrect perceptions of God by listening to Satan as he tells them how God doesn’t love them, etc. People can feel like dirty old sinners when they believe Satan’s accusations as he continually reminds them of their past (which has been washed away!). Strongholds are based on lies from the devil. They can come in the form of deception or accusations. Accusations always lead to guilt and the feeling of unworthiness, which weighs you down and tears you apart spiritually.

Since strongholds are built upon lies that we have been fed, the way we tear down strongholds is by feeding on the truth (in God’s Word), which is the opposite of what the enemy has been feeding us. If the enemy has been feeding us a lie, we need to stop eating the lie and start feeding ourselves the truth. The weapon we use to tear down strongholds is found in Ephesians 6:17, “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” A sword is an offensive weapon and is meant to tear down and kill the enemy’s troops. Strongholds are the devil’s assets in war, and he uses them against us. Take up the sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) today, and start slaughtering the enemy’s assets that he’s been using against you!

The teaching on Strongholds will give you a much better understanding of how strongholds work and how to tear them down.

Some good spiritual warfare books

Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer

Basic Training by Kim Freeman

Spiritual Warfare by Derek Prince

A Lesson in Spiritual Warfare from a Wildlife Park

Today’s reading is from the blog Bring Bread. Your enjoyment of this article will be greatly enhanced with the pictures posted at the original source. Be sure also to click through to page two.  Here’s the link for Spiritual Warfare: What to do When You Encounter a Lion. I also encourage you, once there, to pick a few friends and copy and paste the link (not the article, you might miss page two and your friends would miss the pictures) and send it.

 “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…”1 Peter 5:8, 9

There are very few sounds as frightening as the screams of a horses, and mine were screaming–running for their lives. Hooves thundered across the pasture until I could feel the rumble in my body. Accelerating, they hurled themselves into a thick pole fence, crashed through and raced away. I looked back and scanned the canyon rim. A tawny blur flashed across the edge of my peripheral vision as fear crawled up the back of my neck. Something was out there… hunting, stalking.

Living in wild country has its challenges; encountering predators is one of them. Concerned for the nearby unsuspecting rock climbers, I called the sheriff’s office to report a cougar sighting. A few days later, a pamphlet from the Dept. of Fish and Game arrived in the mail—a tutorial explaining the rules of engagement in the event of a mountain lion encounter.

This is lion country.

The pamphlet warns that a person must be alert and careful to avoid an encounter with a cougar. However, if someone does find themselves face to face with a lion, there are things they must do… and things they must not…. if they want to survive.

How interesting that the image of an apex predator is used in the Bible to describe the devil and his intentions toward us. We know evil is out there—we see the destruction, the broken lives, the sorrow… all evidence of the devil’s handiwork, but like the unwary hiker who unexpectedly encounters a lion, we, too can get caught off guard and find ourselves face to face with evil when we least expect it. After all, we live in lion territory…

• BE ALERT

The lion is out there. We just don’t always see him. It’s uncommon for someone to see a cougar in the wild. But make no mistake… if you’re in lion country, he’s out there. A master hunter knows how to be still, bide his time, and watch. The devil, like the cougar, lies in wait, watching… following…

Is the devil determining who is weakest among us and taking note of who’s been separated from the group, making the easiest prey? Probably. That’s what lions do. They’re opportunists and the devil is no different. He’ll attack if he can get away with it. So,

“Be sober, be watchful.”1 Peter 5:8

• DO NOT RUN

The pamphlet explains that if you do see a cougar, you must never, ever turn and run. Running triggers the instinct in the cat to chase. When the chase begins, accidental encounter becomes predator hunting prey. Scary as it seems, your chances of survival increase if you face the lion and stand your ground.

When the devil’s doing the stalking, the rules of engagement are exactly the same.

The Bible tells us to flee evil, but resist the evil one.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  James 4:7 

A cougar’s preferred method of attack is to ambush from behind. He’s patient and waits until his prey is preoccupied and unaware of his presence. Likewise, the devil is a master ambusher, attacking when your guard is down. Facing the lion shows him that you’re not easy prey. That’s courage. How do you apply that spiritually? Take a courageous look at what is going on in your life. If you’ve let your guard down and have been ambushed by sin, don’t run from the truth.  Face it and then deal with it.

“…for we are not ignorant of Satan’s designs.”  2 Corinthians 2:11

• PICK UP ANY CHILDREN WHO ARE WITH YOU

When you know that there are predators around, you don’t let your children run off out of sight. As Christians, you don’t let new believers get too far out by themselves, either. Living in lion country requires that you keep the less experienced close so they don’t become casualties of the hunt. Keep an eye on them, because they’re especially vulnerable to attack. And when they do stumble and fall, pick them up and get them out of danger.

“… encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14

• MAKE YOURSELF APPEAR LARGER THAN YOU ARE

If a lion is sizing you up as potential prey, but discovers that you’re larger than he thought, that you’re aggressive and unafraid, he might not attack, after all. Spiritually speaking, there is just one way to appear larger than you are, and that is to be in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? When the enemy of your soul is stalking, remind yourself and the devil who you are… adopted into the family of God, redeemed from sin, transferred from the jurisdiction of darkness and a joint heir with Christ. You are sons and daughters of The Most High God and the brothers and sisters of The King of Kings. You are so much more than the devil can handle!

“…for I will contend with those who contend with you…” Jer. 49-25

• SHOUT

Loud noise can scare away a wild animal. In cougar country, you are advised to speak loudly, sing, and even shout so that the predator will move out of the way when he hears you coming. I wonder if that’s how the devil reacts when the mouths of God’s children are filled with praise.

“Shout, and sing for joy…for great in your midst is The Holy One of Israel.” Isa. 12-6

• RAISE YOUR ARMS ABOVE YOUR HEAD

So you’ve done everything to keep the lions away and yet, there you are, face to face with one. Now what? Raise your hands above your head. Really. It feels awkward, but there’s just something about it. To the lion, raising your arms above your head is a threatening gesture… an aggressive stance… a fearless attitude.

Likewise, when the devil crouches to attack, lift your arms. The only One you’re surrendering to is God. Raise your arms in praise to God and declare victory over the enemy!

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Exodus. 17:11

• PICK UP ANY WEAPON YOU CAN FIND

In spite of what you may have heard on TV, predators are not our friends. They are unpredictable and a very real danger. Those who live in wild country know this. So, even though you’ve followed all of the pamphlet’s advice, you may still find yourself in a do or die situation. If so, pick up any weapon you can find.

In cougar country, any weapon you can find might be a rock or a stick.

The Bible tells us that when David faced a giant, all he had was a rock. When Moses faced down an evil Pharaoh, he had a stick.

We have something far more powerful—a spiritual, conceal-carry weapon.

The Word of God.

Make sure you’re carrying and are adept at using it.

And take …the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.  Ephesians 6:17

• REMAIN STANDING…FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE

Fish and Wildlife makes it clear: Never let a lion knock you down. Your chances of survival are slim-to-none if you’re on the ground. Always fight to remain standing and fight for your life, facing the attacker.

It’s no different with the devil. Whether he comes out of nowhere, or you’ve know he’s been stalking, if he knocks you down, it may be just a matter of time before you’re unable to get up again. So, fight for your life. And stand.

 “… that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

The image of a prowling lion to describe the devil in relation to us is a fearsome thing… the sobering reality of life on a fallen earth. Until Jesus returns, this remains lion country. Yet, there’s no need to fear because Jesus defeated the evil one on the cross of Calvary, and then gave us the weapons so that we can defeat the devil, too. Our safety is in Christ.

Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” 1 Cor. 16:13

Discouragement: A Subtle Tactic in Spiritual Warfare

But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.  (II  Cor 7:6)

Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.  (II Cor 2: 7)

“Why do you want to discourage the rest of the people of Israel from going across to the land the Lord has given them?  (Num 32:7)

Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. (Ezra 4:4)

They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. (Neh. 6:9)

So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery. (Ex. 6:9)

After they went up to the valley of Eshcol and explored the land, they discouraged the people of Israel from entering the land the Lord was giving them. (Num. 32:9)

Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’ (Deut. 1:21)

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”  (Deut 31:8)

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Josh 1:9)

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. (Josh 8:1)

“Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” (Josh 10:25)

Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.  (I Chr. 28:20)

He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  (II Chr.20:15)

“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! (II Chr. 32:7)

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you.I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.  (Is. 41:10)

Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!  (Ps: 42:11 and Ps. 43:5; same lyric)

Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. (Col 3:21)

I am convinced that one of the subtle schemes of the enemy is to bring discouragement to God’s people.  Most of us are familiar with the many “Do not be afraid” or “fear not” verses, but there are many scriptures — 28 in the New Living Translation (NLT) reference discouragement in one way or another, the translation used for the above verses.  (18 in the new NIV, 6 in the ESV, 5 in the NASB.)

I also wonder if much of our modern-day depression is really spiritual-warfare.  Depression and discouragement seem to go hand-in-hand.  The word depression is used sparingly in the above-mentioned translations…

After that, whenever the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness lifted. (I Sam. 16:23, The Message)

…though the Bible being more literary and poetic than most other books, often refers to a broken heart:

I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken.My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people.Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets.  (Lamentations 2:11, NLT)

A glad heart makes a happy face;a broken heart crushes the spirit. (Prov 15:30 NLT)

Their insults have broken my heart,and I am in despair.If only one person would show some pity;if only one would turn and comfort me.  (Ps. 69:20 NLT)

My heart is broken because of the false prophets,and my bones tremble.I stagger like a drunkard,like someone overcome by wine,because of the holy wordsthe Lord has spoken against them.  (Jer. 23:9 NLT)

For myself, today an element of spiritual warfare to it which was more overt, but the feeling I was left with — or the thing that my emotions connected the dots to, the way you attribute someone in a dream to someone you know — was that of discouragement.

It can really eat away at you if you let it.

So don’t.

Spiritual Warfare

The posts on this blog tend to be short and to the point.   But this time around, I thought I’d post the text from my upcoming Sunday sermon.    Currently, I’m only speaking about once every couple of months.   I really wrestled with what to do this time around; I started to write an outline only to be driven back to old notes.   But then these notes kind of jumped off the page, and with a little reworking, here’s what I’ve got so far:

This Means War!

• Imagine you are one of the people being sworn in as a new citizen
• You correctly answer all the questions about George Washington or Sir John A. MacDonald if you’re in Canada
• You attend a ceremony where you are officially welcomed as a citizen
• You’re then told the country is at war and you are needed to serve
• You’ve been drafted, and you truly didn’t see that coming!
  

A Lesson in Spiritual Real Estate

Today’s devotional post is really, really different. In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis used a fictional story to make an analogy between the visible world and the hidden, spiritual world where warfare is constantly occurring. (The same is true of the modern Christian fiction classic, This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti.) The key scripture verses appear at the end, but if this realm is new to you, reading those first will provide context.

To read this at the blog Saint in Training: Words of Faith, Hope and Love, click the title below.

Agent of Evil Makes a Sale: A Parable

•••by Rebecca and Christine Wilcox

A parable of the house swept clean – Luke 11:24 and 26.

Roaming Spirit: “So how’s the real-estate business these days?”

Agent of Evil: “Booming!”

Roaming Spirit: “Great! You got anything open for me?”

Agent of Evil: “Oh yes, I’ve got just the place! Plenty of room, right environment – it’s the perfect locale.”

Roaming Spirit: “Wow! How’s the neighborhood, do I need to worry about the wrong element coming in?”

Agent of Evil: “Oh nooo – not at all. This house is situated perfectly. There’s no Godly element to be found anywhere! The music is Carnal, the eating establishments are Trash TV, Romance Novels, Violent Entertainment and the neighbors are just as bad!”

Roaming Spirit: “Sounds like a great place to live. The last house I lived in started going to church on a regular basis and had the nerve to read the Bible every day. Even its neighbors changed. I was used to the low-down and dirty kind but it decided to cut them loose and get neighbors with a Christ-like mind. When It started fasting and praying regularly things just got to be way too uncomfortable to stick around.”

Agent of Evil: “How awful for you! Well my friend I can see why you had to move out. Now let me tell you, this house has a great big pool of self-loathing to swim around in. It’s so big you can throw a pool party and invite everyone you know.”

Roaming Spirit: “Tell me more!”

Agent of Evil: “The attic is wide and spacious – empty as you please; nothing there to keep you from storing plenty of junk. Closet space is to kill for! Pack in past-sins, fear, disappointment, lust, hate, avarice, malice and discontent to the hilt! And the kitchen – well I’ll tell you, you can cook up some mighty fine Sin in there. The fridge comes stocked with profanity, gossip, slander, deceit, accusation and spite.”

Roaming Spirit: “Hmm…it all sounds too good to be true, the real seller is the foundation. That’s key.”

Agent of Evil: “Certainly is – no worries about that. This house is built firmly on the Love of Money: nothing but Fire Baptism can destroy it and if you’re worried about that we have insurance.”

Roaming Spirit: “Oh yeah what kind?”

Agent of Evil: “Strong-Hold, Strong-Hold, Lies & Deceit is the provider and a mighty find job they do too. It’s a rare thing for Fire Baptism to find its way to a house insured by them!”

Roaming Spirit: “Speak no more – I’m sold! When do I move in?”

Agent of Evil: “No time like the present. It’s been swept clean and stands empty just move right on in.”

Roaming Spirit: “I believe I will and I’ll take a few of my buddies with me.”

Agent of Evil: “Hahaha, the more the merrier I always say!”

Agent of Evil watches with a satisfied smile as Roaming Spirit moves in and mutters to itself, “Another house sold and so many more to go.” It sighs, “A Demon’s job is never done!”

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Beloved, we can either be a house ripe for the taking or a temple of the Holy Spirit, the choice is ours.

Meditation Scriptures: 

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’  Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”  Luke 11:24 and 26

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Unseen Warfare Going on Constantly

I spent less than 24 hours in Las Vegas nearly 30 years ago. The guy I was with wanted to visit the casinos. I heard the constant whirring of the machines, the bells announcing winners, the balls sliding around the roulette wheels.

And then we left. The drive home was several days, and I was back several weeks, when it occurred to me that back in Vegas, the machines were still humming, the coins were still dropping, the wheels were still clicking. The show plays out day after day even when you’re not there to see it.

Maybe you or someone you know has had a time in their life when they experienced online addiction to adult sites. I know I have. Every once in awhile it occurs to me that all those websites are still active, people are still clicking the images to see more, perhaps parting with their credit card number for the privilege. That world still exists even though I don’t return to visit.

In Ephesians 6 we read familiar words:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. (KJV)

The battle described earns the subtitle “A Fight to the Finish” in Eugene Peterson’s version:

^10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

^13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. (Message)

I’ve just finished reading a new Christian fiction title, Soul’s Gate by James Rubart that I won’t take time to review here except to say that it’s very similar to a landmark Christian novel of 25 years ago, This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. This particular genre may not appeal to everyone, but it is a reminder — perhaps even a wake up call — to things taking place around us in the unseen realm of spiritual warfare.

Two-and-a-half years ago, I wrote about the dynamics of spiritual warfare in this post. I think it’s well written and it’s filled with scripture references, but it fails somewhat in that it looks at the collective warfare that we wage as aliens and strangers fighting on enemy territory, but is light on describing the individual warfare taking place more subtly for the souls of you, your family, your friends, your co-workers, your fellow students, your neighbors.

For that, you need to dig into the dynamics or spiritual warfare on a personal level, such as you find outlined in this article.  If you believe that there is an enemy fighting your soul, you may be looking out for attack, but missing the ways in which that attack can come.  It may involve something as innocuous-looking as discouragement as we saw in this study.

Furthermore, there are people reading this who believe in the “us versus them” aspect to spiritual battle, but would want to stop short of suggesting that there are actual demons involved.  However, to neglect that possibility is to ignore a significant amount of Biblical evidence, as we saw in this piece.

…In his earthly ministry, Jesus often taught in parables; and I believe a fiction story can be helpful in personifying the enemies (plural intentional) that are waiting to do battle with our souls. Seeing them and somewhat visualizing them through a novel helps us to be open to the possibility of recognizing them when they appear in real life.

Sadly, some have been conditioned through their denominational background or their personal preferences to cast aside notions of the demonic realm. But I found that reading Soul’s Gate really begs each reader to ask themselves, “How much of this are you going to consider fictional, and how much of this do you feel is real?” 

Because the warfare is still playing out even if you’re not presently experiencing it.

The Mechanics of Spiritual Attacks

This appeared today at Ray Ortlund’s blog under the title You Have Authority in Christ.

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”  Luke 10:19

In Dynamics of Spiritual Life, Richard Lovelace proposes that one of the “primary elements of continuous renewal” in a church is “authority in spiritual conflict,” pages 133-144.  We are not on the defensive.  We have authority from Christ himself.  The blows we do receive from Satan “come from a retreating enemy,” as Lovelace says, because of the decisive victory of Jesus on our behalf.

Lovelace draws from Scripture five fall-back strategies of Satan:

1.  Temptation

“The enemy strategy here is either to disfigure a Christian’s witness through public scandal, to gain some evidence through which his or her conscience can be accused and discouraged, or to weaken faith in the possibility of sanctification in some contested area.”

2.  Deception

“Negatively, demonic agents induce a strong conscious aversion to biblical truth, an inability to comprehend it and a distaste for what little can be understood. . . . Positively, the forces of darkness inspire and empower anti-christian religious counterfeits . . . . The deceiving work of Satan can even be done in and through Christian believers, as Christ’s famous rebuke of Peter shows.”

3.  Accusation

“Demonic agents italicize the defects of Christians and the churches in the minds of unbelievers and cause true Christianity to be branded with the image of its own worst exemplars . . . . They are also particularly active in dividing Christians from one another into parties . . . . Finally, satanic forces attack Christians directly in their own minds with disturbingly accurate accounts of their faults, seeking to discourage those who are most eager and able to work for the kingdom.”

4.  Possession

“The Gospels plainly describe a condition in which human victims come almost helplessly under control of alien personalities.”

5.  Physical attack

“From data in the Gospels it appears that demonic agents can occasionally cause illness, at least psychological and neurological ailments like dumbness and epilepsy.”

More should be said about all this, and Lovelace does say more.  But he wisely affirms, “The battles we fight against [demonic powers] should not be occasions of anxiety.  They force us back to reliance on Christ’s redemptive work and enhance our dignity and authority as redeemed saints who have the power to judge angels.”

While searching for an image to accompany this article, I came across an article in the blog of Randolf Brown where he introduces a 6th tactic: Distraction.  He also had posted the following chart.

Remembering Jack Hayford

Only one other time in the history of C201 have we repeated an article in our quotations series. With the passing last month of Jack Hayford I decided to repeat this, which first appeared in 2014. Many in the Hollywood community attended his church; one you might know is Stormie Omartian, author of the The Power of a Praying… series, who went to Church on the Way with her husband Michael. If I start naming names, however…

I know some of you prefer the articles to the quotations, so here’s an excerpt from a longer piece by him in 2005 to get you started:

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ~~ 2 Peter 2:4-5

The living God dwells where His people worship, and life happens where He dwells. It is my conviction, therefore, that the life-flow of a church congregation will rise only as high as their worship of the Godhead. We cannot underestimate the importance of teaching the Word of God, but the Word itself reveals that worship is what the Christian Church is all about.

The book of Ephesians says that we who trust in Christ are to be “to the praise of His glory” (1:12), “built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (2:22). Peter describes the people of God as “living stones . . . being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). Each member of the Body is a part of the temple of the Lord, summoned to be a “living stone” of His dwelling.

God is looking for a place to dwell. We know of nowhere else in the universe except earth where God is not praised or welcomed. In the words of Jesus Himself, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). During His ministry, Jesus had no home. When He was born, there was no room at the inn (Luke 2:7). In one sense, this is just an interesting analogy, but in another, it is a dramatic demonstration of the fact that God has a hard time finding a place to be on this planet.

In order for the foundation of our “spiritual house” to be firmly established, it is important that we understand the biblical grounds for worship. These derive from the saga of loss and recovery of humankind’s fellowship with the Almighty God…

He then continues to list six stages of this saga; to read the complete article click here.

For the rest of you, here are some quotations from CrossQuotes.org:

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I don’t perceive my call as one to protest the culture but to proclaim the Savior.

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God gives grace to sinners and glory to saints.

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The inevitable fruit of vital worship will be a transformed people who become transforming instruments of God’s grace and deliverance to the world.

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Worship , in a very real sense of the word, opens a doorway to the power of His presence, confounding dark powers and overthrowing sin’s destructive operations.

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Worship is about encounter– coming into God’s presence.

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Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped.

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Worship , in a very real sense of the word, opens a doorway to the power of His presence, confounding dark powers and overthrowing sin’s destructive operations.

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God will crush the obstacles in your life if you will follow in His way.

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Revival is going to come because somebody in your generation is willing to pay the price.

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As leaders today, we must be warned of our common vulnerability to being distracted by the abundance of “enhancements” available to ministry today. We can become mesmerized by the array of church cosmetics for helping our church look better. “Makeup” isn’t evil, but it’s no substitute for leading believers to “take up” the disciple’s cross and be shaped as His true followers. We’re within frightening reach of being able to grow bigger churches while failing to grow bigger people.

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The greatest tool of evangelism when it comes to loved ones is to be genuinely loving and friendly to them without the taint of manipulation. …Winning people to Christ is not conquering them or verifying yourself. It is about showing so much of Jesus that they cannot resist Him.

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The power of the fast is found in the abject humility of people who desire the Lord’s way in their lives more than the bread that sustains their physical bodies. Fasting is an announcement the soul makes that the body will not rule over it, and it declares there will be no relief until the issues set before God are resolved in spirit.

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The issue of faith is never founded on our ability to “move the mountain,” but faith in the Mountain maker. Visualizing a victory or working up a “feeling” of faith is a pathetic human attempt to get something to happen. Real faith lays hold of the Faith-giver (Eph. 2:8), who holds all power for every need, and trusts Him to answer our prayer as He promised He would do.

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The Greek word for boldness, parhesia, means “outspoken, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech, frankness, candor, cheerful courage, the opposite of cowardice.” Here, it is divine enablement that comes to ordinary people exhibiting spiritual power and authority. Parhesia is not a human quality, but a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Just one person would have made the difference! God sought that person. How many situations are there today, in our world, where the Lord is looking for just one person to stem the tide of sin’s hideous destruction? He is not looking for a perfect person, just one who will stand before Him on behalf of the people who cannot stand for themselves.

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Our greatest victories are rarely won in an instant, but in the morning-by-morning application of His truth and power which overthrows the strongholds of darkness in our world and secures His purpose in us.

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All successful, spiritual enterprise is based upon clear understanding of the forces which oppose us and direction for dealing with these influences. The carnal mind is unfit for spiritual warfare. Our natural human perception can at best only lead us to the doorway of understanding and never through it.

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We know that if we call on the Lord He will answer. Often, however, our expectations are too small, and we ask based on what we know is possible. But He is the God of the impossible! The Lord sees the situation from every side and has a bigger plan than any of us dream. He did not choose us to do small things.

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The Bible is…as necessary to spiritual life as breath is to natural life. There is nothing more essential to our lives than the Word of God.

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Jack Hayford elsewhere at Christianity 201:

• Spiritual War: Rules of Engagement (Sept 1/2011)
• Interceding Specifically (Oct 21/2011)

Can Any Christian Do Deliverance Ministry?

This question came up four years ago and I thought I’d revisit it, as this is a topic which, outside of Charismatic and Pentecostal environments, is not discussed among Evangelicals.

The issue is whether or not ‘the average Christian’ when in a situation of spiritual confrontation can move in the power of the Holy Spirit, or if they need to retreat and defer to ‘the experts’ in this area of ministry. An analogy to the movie Ghostbusters, while rather distracting, is not entirely out of place here. Who are you gonna call?

Before we begin, an important question to ask is, ‘Does the person seek healing and deliverance?’ If the person who needs Christ doesn’t particular want Christ’s help — and I’ve met people on both sides of this equation — then you’re possible going to proceed differently.

If this seems like a “Duh?” question, remember that Jesus first asked a man who had been sick for 38 years the same thing in John 5:1:

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

Another clarification needs to be made between deliverance ministry and spiritual warfare, something we looked at here in January, 2014:

The difference between deliverance and spiritual warfare is that deliverance is dealing with demonic bondages, and getting a person set free, whereas spiritual warfare is resisting, overcoming and defeating the enemy’s lies (in the form of deception, temptations and accusations) that he sends our way. Deliverance involves the breaking up of legal grounds, the tearing down of strongholds (offensive spiritual warfare), and the casting out of demons. Spiritual warfare on the other hand, is dealing with three key things the enemy sends at us: temptations, deception and accusations.

So we need to keep that distinction in mind.

Deliverance is certainly similar to the supernatural gifts of the spirit in 1 Cor. 12, yet it is not one of them; of the nine listed, see especially these:

The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles… (12:9-10a)

This certainly gives the believer confidence that part of our ministry can include operating in the supernatural realm. Also, bringing relief to those in need was part of Christ’s mandate as shown in Luke 4:18 (AMP):

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity]

and then he tells us (John 14:12-13)

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.“

In Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out the 72 disciples and then we read in vs. 17:

When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

The tone suggests a bit of surprise on the part of these short-term missionaries, but also implies something which came naturally or organically because of their connection to Jesus. We get this sense two verses later in 19-20:

[Jesus:] “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

While the last half of the 16th chapter of Mark has been disputed because of manuscript corroboration, it is there we find a ‘spiritual power package’ of instructions including verse 17:

These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.

You have the authority. So why have we relegated deliverance ministry to being a the purview of a very select few?

It might be that this passage brings with it the potential for deliverance ministry failure:

^{Mark 9.17} One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

^19a Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you?…

…²⁵ When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”…

…²⁸ Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.

The Pulpit Commentary elaborates:

Though all things are possible to faith, some works are more difficult of accomplishment than others. This kind can mean only this kind of evil spirit, or demons generally. But the latter interpretation is excluded by the fact that the apostles had already exercised successfully their power over devils without special prayer or fasting. The words point to a truth in the spiritual world, that there are different degrees in the Satanic hierarchy (comp. Matthew 12:45); some demons are more malignant than others, and have greater power over the souls of men. In the present case the possession was of long standing; it revolved a terrible bodily malady; it was of an intense and unusual character. The mere word of exorcism, or the name of Jesus, spoken with little spiritual faith, could net overcome the mighty enemy. The exorcist needed special preparation; he must inspire and augment his faith by prayer and self-discipline. Prayer invokes the aid of God, and puts one’s self unreservedly in his hands; fasting subdues the flesh, arouses the soul’s energies, brings into exercise the higher parts of man’s nature. Thus equipped, a man is open to receive power from on high, and can quell the assaults of the evil one. (emphasis added)

Elliott’s Commentary adds:

The disciples, we know, did not as yet fast (Matthew 9:14-15), and the facts imply that they had been weak and remiss in prayer. The words are noticeable as testifying to the real ground and motive for “fasting,” and to the gain for the higher life to be obtained, when it was accompanied by true prayer, by this act of conquest over the lower nature.

or perhaps this passage from Matthew is in the back of someone’s mind:

^17.14b A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷ Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.

¹⁹ Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”

²⁰ “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.

We often refer to the website, GotQuestions.org. Some non-Pentecostals or non-Charismatics downplay the need for this as a specialized ministry. Since you’ll find this thinking online in various places, here is a sample from their site:

…The Gospels and Acts relate that Jesus and the disciples cast out demons. The teaching portions of the New Testament (Romans through Jude) refer to demonic activity yet do not discuss the method of casting them out, nor are believers exhorted to do so. We are told to put on the whole armor of God…

…The Gospels and Acts relate that Jesus and the disciples cast out demons. The teaching portions of the New Testament (Romans through Jude) refer to demonic activity yet do not discuss the method of casting them out, nor are believers exhorted to do so…

…It is interesting that we have no record of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples on how to cast out demons…[and then the commentary goes on to list a rather significant number of ‘exceptions.’ Hmmm…]

Did we answer the question at the top of the page?

I think the issue here is not the office or title of the person rebuking the evil spirits, but rather the preparation of the person entering into such a ministry.

Of course, some situations are extremely short notice. We don’t know exactly when we might find ourselves seeing or being part of a direct demonic confrontation. I believe in those situations, a person who has heard God’s word on this subject, and is thereby aware of the powers that exist should resolve to act in whatever timely opportunity is available. (But I also believe God will give you some foreknowledge to be prepared to do so.)

In other parts of the world, I’m told that demonic activity is much more acute; much more visible. People in those situations don’t need to be told what they’re dealing with, they see its effects.

So the answer is both: It is a ministry that is the specialty of some pastors and Christian leaders, but it is also within the reach of any Christ-follower who has prepared themselves for the task.

Do you want to take this on?

It’s definitely worth remembering that the seventy-two were sent out in pairs. That might be a better way to apprentice in this type of ministry.

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In any deliverance situation, there’s also the issue of providing ‘filling’ to someone whose ‘casting out’ of something has created a void or a hole. In Matthew we read the words of Jesus,

^12.43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. ⁴⁵ Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

There are some good resources online on this topic, be discerning as you search however, and recognize that there are differences of opinion on this issues from different theological traditions.

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Scriptures today were all NLT (just because) except where indicated.

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing Your Identity; To Whom You Belong

Our continuing quest to find new sources of devotional material for you took us today to the page of “Come and See” daily devotions. “Evangelical Ministries International is a ministry with a Vision to ensure the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached throughout the world.” They are based in London, UK. After reading several, we chose a two-part topic for today. Click the links to read these where we found them.

Never Lose your Identity (I)

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1st John 4:4, New King James Version).

Knowing our identity is important because this determines our position in the physical and spiritual realms of life. People with little insight into their identity are easy prey to the devil and his desolate fallen agents, as they are confused and so their agony and eventual defeat is inevitable.

The Bible records that Immediately after the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist, an important announcement was made by Almighty God concerning Jesus’ identity: “and suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:17, New King James Version).  This revelation was essential for the purpose of Jesus Christ to be fulfilled. It upset the devil and he immediately reacted by doing what he does best: “to steal, kill and to destroy.” (John 10 verse 10a, New King James Version).

The devil duly sought to destroy the identity of Jesus, as the Bible relates: “the tempter came to him and said, ‘if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:3, New International Version). The devil then attempted on two more occasions to test, discredit and question the identity of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Refer to Matthew 4:6-8).

Today’s key Bible verse reveals our real identity because it states that we belong to God and not the devil; the verse also assures us of a positive outcome to any situation we may encounter in life. We overcome life’s trials because the Spirit of God lives in us: “For the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.” (1st John 4:4, The Message).

Recall that when Jesus was betrayed and delivered up for trial, the main charge against Him was centered on His identity. The Bible states: “but Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’” (Matthew 26:63, New International Version). This further suggests how relentless Satan is about stealing our identity or confusing us about our true identity in Christ Jesus.

Your new identity in God through Jesus Christ, holds the key to your victory over the devil and his ugly works in your life. But if you confront him as a natural man, you will be defeated because he is used to the ways of individual men and women; however he cannot deal with Spirit-filled saints of God. John 3: 8 states: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. Moses did not confront Pharaoh as a mortal man but as a god. Here, the Bible states: “so the Lord said to Moses: ‘See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.’” (Exodus 7:1, New King James Version).

Your spiritual source is Christ Jesus and you are born of the Spirit of God: this is your true identity and you should never doubt this. Also, never allow the enemy to steal your identity through deceptions.

Let us pray: “Father, You live in me by your Holy Spirit. I refuse to be confused regarding my true identity in You,” in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

Never Lose your Identity (II)

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1st John 4:4, New King James Version).

If the devil repeatedly challenged the identity of Jesus Christ, then he will certainly attempt to do the same to all of us. Apostle Peter cautioned us saying: “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1st Peter 5:8, New King James Version). When we refer to the term ‘identity’  we are not concerned with physical appearance, which is of no importance in spiritual warfare. Instead we refer to our identification with the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day.

The size of Goliath was irrelevant when David challenged him (1st Samuel 17 verses 1-57) and they both understood the place of divine identity in warfare; both men identified with their deities. Thus, Goliath cursed David in the name of his gods, while David answered him saying: “you come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1st Samuel 17 verse 45, New King James Version).

David made this declaration based on his awareness of his covenant identity in God through Abraham, knowing that this gave him the spiritual advantage needed to defeat Goliath. He later declared in Psalms 139 verse 14: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” (New King James Version).

As mentioned in the first part of this series of devotionals, the exploits of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry were traceable to his awareness of who He was. We must all be aware that the wicked spirits of this world do not recognize or respect anyone based on physical features such as the colour of their skin, size of their muscles or degree of intellect. Nobody can fight and win spiritual warfare using those attributes. For example, when the seven sons of Sceva tried to imitate the Apostles, they were beaten and stripped naked by the demon which possessed the man whom they encountered. The evil spirit said: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” (Acts 19 verse15, New International Version).

When we accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, by giving our lives to Jesus Christ, we automatically assume the spiritual identity of the Son of God. This enables us to function like Jesus: “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.” (Acts 17 verse 28, New King James Version). We must realize that we are programmed for success and not failure, victory and not defeat, faith and not fear, blessings and not curses, progress and not regress, life and not death.

Let us pray: “Father, You live in me by your Holy Spirit. I will not be confused regarding my true identity in You,” in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

The Roller Coaster Ride of Ministry and Missions

If you knew me many years ago, there was a period when I would always sign letters

In my mind, I was hearing the KJV text from where I first learned it:

For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

Today, I would probably refer you to a more recent translation, such as the NLT:

There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.

If you think about, this is the format of every missionary, church, or parachurch organization fundraising letter or ministry report you’ve ever received.

→ The good news is: God is working in the lives of people, we are seeing results.
→ The bad news is: We face [financial/staffing/logistical/spiritual-warfare/etc.] challenges.

There’s always a challenge. Today in church, the guest speaker shared this:

The greatest challenge in life is not having a burden to carry.

That’s right, without some mountain to climb or river to cross, our lives would actually be rather boring. Certainly there would be no growth. I discussed that quotation with a friend after the service was over, and he said, “Yes, but that’s we all want. We want it to be easy.”

Matthew Henry writes:

Great success in the work of the gospel commonly creates many enemies. The devil opposes those most, and makes them most trouble, who most heartily and successfully set themselves to destroy his kingdom. There were many adversaries; and therefore the apostle determined to stay.

Some think he alludes in this passage to the custom of the Roman Circus, and the doors of it, at which the charioteers were to enter, as their antagonists did at the opposite doors. True courage is whetted by opposition; and it is no wonder that the Christian courage of the apostle should be animated by the zeal of his adversaries. They were bent to ruin him, and prevent the effect of his ministry at Ephesus; and should he at this time desert his station, and disgrace his character and doctrine?

No, the opposition of adversaries only animated his zeal. He was in nothing daunted by his adversaries; but the more they raged and opposed the more he exerted himself. Should such a man as he flee?

Note, Adversaries and opposition do not break the spirits of faithful and successful ministers, but only kindle their zeal, and inspire them with fresh courage.

I checked out a number of commentaries online for this verse, and ended up pulling out several of my print commentaries. One of the greatest insights came at the bottom of the page of the NIV Study Bible:

many who oppose me. Probably a reference to the pagan craftsman who made the silver shrines of Artemis and to the general populace whom they had stirred up (Acts 19:23-34).

Interesting that what appeared to be spiritual opposition was actually rooted in commerce; people who had a vested financial interest in maintaining commercial interests in a pagan form of worship. Think about Jesus and the money-changers in the temple:

^{NIV Matt. 21:12} Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.

I’ll let Eugene Peterson re-phrase the Acts reference above:

^23-26 …a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way.” A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, “Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province.

²⁷ “Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!”

^28-31 That set them off in a frenzy. They ran into the street yelling, “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” They put the whole city in an uproar, stampeding into the stadium, and grabbing two of Paul’s associates on the way, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. Prominent religious leaders in the city who had become friendly to Paul concurred: “By no means go near that mob!”

^32-34 Some were yelling one thing, some another. Most of them had no idea what was going on or why they were there. As the Jews pushed Alexander to the front to try to gain control, different factions clamored to get him on their side. But he brushed them off and quieted the mob with an impressive sweep of his arms. But the moment he opened his mouth and they knew he was a Jew, they shouted him down: “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!”—on and on and on, for over two hours.

Some people believe that finding the heart of many world and regional conflicts is simply a matter of “follow the money.” The point is that we don’t know and we don’t always see why people are so very bent on opposing us in ministry. Not to minimize Matthew Henry’s interpretation, it’s simply too easy to say, ‘It’s the Devil;’ or put things into some general spiritual warfare category. Maybe your devout faith and witness are simply “bad for business” for someone nearby.

…My opinion would be that where ministry is taking place many challenges and overt opposition will occur. If it’s not, maybe you’re doing it wrong.

Greater opportunities = Greater opposition.

But the good news is that most of the time the opposite is also true.

Greater opposition = Greater opportunities.

Romans 5:20b (KJV) says,

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Ministry life involves both: Great opportunities for harvest and life change, and many who would rather keep the status quo.

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Earlier today I launched a fundraising page at GoFundMe for an orphanage in Haiti that we’ve come to know over the past seven years. Our oldest son Chris has been on the ground there twice now and participates in their fundraising activities back home in Canada. If God has blessed you and you’d like to make a difference, I invite you to click through to the page and then consider any encouragement you can give through your donation.