Post by Les Brewer on Oct 24, 2014 9:44:17 GMT
Rick Renner--The enemy may try to lord himself over you, and he may attempt to exert his foul influence in your life. However, most of his attacks are merely empty threats and illusions he uses to feed fear into your mind. If Satan can get you to believe his hellish tales, your faith will dwindle, your strong stance will waver, and he will truly begin to take a temporal position over you that does not belong to him. But the only place that right- fully belongs to the devil is the small space of ground that is right underneath your feet!
Preface
The apostle Paul sets the example with spiritual warfare of putting the devil under our feet…will we learn?
2 Corinthians 10 World English Bible
1 Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full. 7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s. 8 For though I should boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down) I will not be disappointed, 9 that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters. 10 For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present. 12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you. 14 For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ, 15 not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence, 16 so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done. 17 But “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”✡18 For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
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✡10:17: Jeremiah 9:24
Your influence in this world is through love and grace in preaching the gospel. We advance the kingdom of God this way, through Jesus. This is not through boasting or pride. We reach out and touch our community, with weapons that bring freedom in Christ and not bondage. VV14-18 We are commended by the Lord Jesus and not by ourselves. He sends us and equips us with weapons such as love and grace as we humble ourselves. The question is will we?
As mentioned last week in Part 1, obedience and humility is the key to victory. We are actually weapons in God’s hand of grace when we are humbled and obey. The contrary is true also. When we are not submitted to Christ we are used by the enemy. Our gifts are hijacked and though it may appear at first to be work done by the Holy Spirit, there is a lack of love, peace or joy in the work. The results are bondage to the devil. The fruit of the Spirit will not be evident when a person is being used by the enemy through oppression. We must be ever so careful about this. When someone is oppressed by jezebel, witchcraft or a religious spirit, they will show signs of pride or being stubborn. They will want to be the center of attention or those they want to be in leadership, those they control, (their disciples). They will resist change, and love the old ways or old wine, but new spiritual wine is rejected. There will be jealousy or envy too with those who are in leadership. Remember the Holy Spirit will keep the genuine servants of God humble. We are not the Holy Spirit, but we must check our hearts from time to time and humble ourselves before Christ. We should only be boasting in the Lord:
1 Corinthians 1:29-31 World English Bible
29 “that no flesh should boast before God. 30 But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."
When things don’t go the way of evil wants, they will manifest NEAR us, the most. They (those influenced by these spirits), love to be boastful about themselves and what they think God has done through them, but if they are exposed watch out. They will respond by attacking the character or leadership of those in authority. These will not be subtle attacks. The attacks will come behind the leaders back. When things are going the way evil wants, they usually show themselves the the boasting. They are also happy to bring about religious happiness and some sign and wonders done through evil or the flesh. As mentioned many times this is an authority problem. The leaders will always be questioned by them and mostly behind their back. The evil spirit will not allow them to submit to spiritual authority in Jesus name. This will cause division and disorder. They want things their way. More religious, and less flow in the Holy Spirit who brings lasting peace and transformation in the mind and the heart.
How do we employ the weapons we have and who we are fighting against? Through love. In the apostolic outreach or evangelistic ministry we face these three: the spirit of jezebel, religious and witchcraft. They oppose us as an unholy trinity and we need to see them and rebuke them. The weapons we have are a construct of love through lethal weapons arrayed against the enemy(Galatians 5). The challenge is that many are not using the weapons they have been given in grace through faith in Jesus. (Ephesians 2).We must engage and win. Jennifer LeClaire’s new book on the subject says this:
“Satan’s Deadly Trio” by Jennifer LeClaire
The spirits of Jezebel, religion and witchcraft—When immature or inexperienced believers enter harvest
fields that strongly oppose the Gospel, the dynamics are ripe for this unholy trinity to wreak havoc on the whole evangelistic endeavor. This is because these participants, though willing to minister, are not usually trained to guard their hearts and minds against high-level spiritual attacks.
Indeed, even experienced warriors can fall prey to the workings of Jezebel, religion and witchcraft in Gospel-hostile nations. I have seen missionaries in heated arguments over who will maintain possession of the room key during day-trips. I have watched full-blown strife in the midst of a vote to decide whether the team’s bus will stop at a restaurant so famished people can eat or go back to the mission base so exhausted people can rest. And I have witnessed plenty of unhealthy competition over who gets to use the microphone at outreaches. Of course, I have also seen God move for His glory despite the fleshly or childish mind sets, because it is not His will that any should perish (see 2 Peter 3:9).
The point is, however, that the potential demonic inroads to our souls are real—and alarming. No one can submit to the flesh and submit to the Holy Spirit at the same time. The works of the flesh are especially wicked—and when we sow to the flesh we reap corruption (see Galatians 6:8). The Amplified Bible says we will “reap decay and ruin and destruction.”
This deadly trio of Jezebel, religion and witchcraft stirs up the flesh, tapping in to tired bodies, hungry stomachs, prideful tendencies in our souls, as well as traditional mindsets that have not been renewed. “
Another area these spirits attack is our imagination. We must be careful. Vision and imagination are connected to our focus on Christ. Religious spirits love to attack us here. If we are not reading the bible daily and in prayer we begin to skip into the realm of our imagination. It is a form of “Day Dreaming.” This is where the enemy fights us. The battle for our mind is in the area of thoughts:
Colossians 2:16-23 New Century Version
16 So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. 17 These things were like a shadow of what was to come. But what is true and real has come and is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself and worship angels. Such people enter into visions, which fill them with foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. 19 They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow. 20 Since you died with Christ and were made free from the ruling spirits of the world, why do you act as if you still belong to this world by following rules like these: 21 "Don't eat this," "Don't taste that," "Don't even touch that thing"? 22 These rules refer to earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only man-made commands and teachings. 23 They seem to be wise, but they are only part of a man-made religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies, but they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.
Vain imaginations are like a video or sound byte that begins to play in our minds. We must stop it at its roots:
Jonas Clark:
PRESUMED CONVERSATIONS
Many start visualizing, in their minds, a presumed conversation that they'll have with someone. They may think of someone they're going to meet at work, and begin to think about a conversation that has not yet taken place. Their mind begins to drift into the realm of imaginations. An imagination then may begin to rise up and speak into their soulish realm. The voice of fear may be released into their imagination along with insecurity, doubt, rejection and unbelief. They then find themselves imagining things that haven't even happened. This is called the work of imaginations.
And,
An imagination may say, "You're going to be a defeated person all your life," when the Word of God says, "You've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places." When the Word declares, "God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus," an imagination may rise up against it to destroy God's plan and purpose in your life. God may speak to you saying, "I've called you, and I have anointed you," but an imagination may say, "Yeah, but nobody loves you, nobody wants you, and nobody will listen to you." That's the voice of an imagination, and people are living in imaginations instead of living out the promises of God's Word.
Or,
PULLING DOWN IMAGINATIONS
"Bringing into captivity every thought…" God knows about our ability to drift out into imaginations and He has made provision in His Word for us to conquer this area. So He is declaring, "The weapons of your warfare are not carnal, but mighty through Him, to pull down those thoughts that would rise up against God's will, God's Word, and God's ways, in your life."
We do not fight by the flesh, but the enemy does. They attack our brains! They have rules they want us to follow. These rules conflict with the word of God and the Holy Spirit:
2 Corinthians 10 World English Bible
“3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.”
The apostle Paul clarifies how we fight. We are walking in the Spirit so we don’t fight against what we see, the physical people, we are fighting against the spirit realm. The weapons we use are spiritual. The armor we put on an even the sword we raise. The strongholds we fight against in the Philippines Handumanan or anywhere in outreach are real. They are not just imagined, but are spiritual attacks which create a place for the enemy to dwell in our flesh or minds, the flesh. We take these captive by OBEDIENCE TO the word of God. This means submitting to authority in our life.
John Bevere says:
“If we learn how to obey God, we will have no trouble recognizing God's authority on another.” #Undercover
Heart Check: If you are ALWAYS being told by your leaders or accountability partners to submit or to humble yourself, that means you are not really humbling yourself at all. You may think you are, but we can easily deceive ourselves, let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit bring conviction. If we ignore the voice of the Lord then you are just speaking words or doin lip service thus merely hearing the word, but not doing it. The older we get the more stubborn we can be to transformation by the Word, thus the saying, “It’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks.” We need to see it in us to repent. We will not be transformed by the wishful thinking of religious or human rule following. Saying I humble my self is a prideful statement if not in prayer. We need to humble ourselves by actions and not words. Repentance is really changing our mind by the Word of God (obedience) and not trying by our own stubborn will to change, but faithful submission to the authority of the Word in Jesus name and the authorities in our life (Pastors or ministry heads). This is done by faith not academic study or mental acknowledgment.
We tend to tear down those in authority God has placed to help us grow, the longer we know them. Familiarity breeds contempt. We see things in their life and use it to make ourselves look better and hurt them. This is human nature, but when we won’t change this through submission, then the enemy will come into create a stronghold of rebellion. Wed can’t plant a church this way. It will bring division. If you don’t like me you are not forced to work with me. No one twisted your arm to volunteer. I’m here to serve and support each and everyone here. If you can support me as your Pastor then you won’t follow. There are churches all over the world crumbling spiritually and physically because of this kind of rebellion. The enemy has infiltrated and will not go until we begin to get in line with God way of doing Church business. It is clear there is only God way to plant God’s church. He says to love people and to make them disciples of His and not ours. We need to know people to teach them. We can sit around and dream about how to do this or we can obey Jesus and just go and make disciples and compel them to come into fellowship with Jesus and us.
The community needs to know the love of Christ through you so they can receive Him. This means connecting them to the community of believers, who will then minister and disciple them. No one person can reach an area, it takes a team that is locked and loaded with the weapons they have been given. The weapon of love you carry is not for you alone. Give it away. Stop holding back. His Church will explode in maturity when we think corporately as one Church in love:
Ephesians 4 World English Bible
I beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. 7 But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”✡ 9 Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds* and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
This WORD is about love and grace. You and I (WE) are called to go and love by applying the grace given to us, and through us to others. The grace is like an ointment or (anointing )that touches people over time and raises them up and empowers them. This grace comes through faith. We can’t expect changes that will last by these one-time ministry operations. Ministries that abandon new believers are everywhere. We will not abandon new believers. We are here to stay and bring transformation through preaching the word of God. (Romans 12) To disciple we use Project 21 by Paul and Bunty Collins outside the Church and Word Leadership Institute materials inside the Church. We don’t deviate from this plan. Teaching has been standardized to ensure we will build up to mature believers from the Word and not through opinion or the teaching of man as read earlier and where these rules will actually retard growth or lead some astray to human opinion:
Colossians 2:22 These rules refer to earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only man-made commands and teachings. 23 They seem to be wise, but they are only part of a man-made religion. NCV
Conclusion
The best weapon we have against the enemy is the Word of God. It is used in humility and love, accept when rebuking the enemy. Jesus rebuked the devil three times in the desert. He could have destroyed him right there, but then we would have not been saved. He chose the nails so we could be saved. He used the Word of God (Rhema) to rebuke the devil, will you? Any demon is forced to obey the Word of God, when there is a spiritual legal reason. When it is established, by who’s authority you command, “In Jesus name”, they must obey. The word of God then is a rhema sword to the enemy through you. Humble yourself unto God use the Sword of truth!
In spiritual warfare it is important to learn to rest in Christ alone just like in regular combat, we must rest. We learn to rest through faith in Christ and victory is ours. Even when we are fighting we are at rest through the grace or dunamis power received in Christ. We abide in Christ!
Let’s close with this word:
Hebrews 4 World English Bible
1 Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. 3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest”;✡although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works”;✡ 5 and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.”✡
6 Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, 7 he again defines a certain day, today, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said),
“Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.”✡
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. 9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. 14 Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession. 15 For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.
Some of us may have been hurt in our past. Maybe we are carrying a grudge. The spirit of offense needs to be rebuked. We have never truly forgiven those who we perceived to hurt us. Hurts will keep coming. The enemy loves to use those closest to us. We need to understand how to love them despite the attacks:
Graham Cooke
"Areas where we've had humiliations, harsh words, stinging rebukes, false witness, misrepresentation, discrimination, where we've been victimized, we've had disfavor shown to us, prejudice, or we've been ostracized in some way - all those areas are part of the penetration that the enemy is seeking to bring into our lives. Every time you've come under some of those things and they have impacted you, touched you, wounded you, thrown you off course, whatever, it’s an act of penetration by the enemy which means that you can come into this relationship with Jesus as your fortress, but if you don't take those barbs out, then the enemy is already inside the gate."
From THE OVERCOMING LIFE 1: UNDERMINING THE ENEMY by Graham Cooke
Today we lay all the offenses at the feet of Jesus and forgive those who have hurt us. We are now released to use the weapons like love and grace (mercy), Jesus has given us, through His authority! Amen? db
