war

  

 

GOD'S PURPOSE

Answering God's call to, "Follow Jesus," quickly discovered it's not a lovely walk in the park. Great inner peace was immediately evident, and everything started changing from the inside out. Yes, God became alive, even real, with his presence and power.

Being able to stand up, grab his hand, and start walking with the Son of God, there is a realization of great clarity: the Creator's purpose, a relocation into the kingdom of light, with a new heart bubbling, spewing, gushing with enternal life - War!

SINCE BEGINNING OF TIME

It would be much easier, as Enoch experienced, to walk with God and then just disappear. Or, get taken up to heaven by a flaming chariot, like Elijah.

Abba Father, is actively preparing, training, and deploying willing, and ready individuals to enter immediate combat. Glad I didn't let such an opportunity pass me by. This war has been going on since Adam and Eve. Only recently, its been severely intensifying, while showing signs of coming to a head, with an immanent end. The signs of the time tell us Jesus is coming back very soon.

NATURE OF WAR  

Talking to his disciples, Jesus said, "You are in the world, but not of the world." 

In our lives, we all struggle with inner conflicts daily:

James 4:1(NIV) - What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

1Peter 2:11(NIV) -  Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

Beyond personal conflicts, the scale of this war goes beyond comprehension - causing more damage to our planet and the human race than all previous conflicts and wars combined, since the beginning of time. And yet, it's hidden, invisible - we can sense only some of this war's resulting death and destruction. It rages on, ever escalating.

BATTLE GROUND IN BRAIN

Many battles are won or lost in the brain of a child of God - always ongoing, 24/7.

2Corinthians 10:3-5(NIV) - For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

We must agressively control our thought life to avoid "stinking thinking." My favorite pastor said, "Letting a crow land on your head is easily prevented. And, no one will let a crow build a nest in their hair." Problem is, we often let the devil build a nest in our brain, and even hatch eggs there (myself included). We can, and should, resist and reject any ungodly thoughts. There's no reason to passively accept or even ponder any and every thought that floats into our mind. Our mind is a spiritual battle ground, a war is raging, so we must have complete and continual control of each and every thought. Dominate the battleground.

People mock and accuse me of being brainwashed. Indeed!

Ephesians 5:26(NIV) - ...to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word...

Bible reading, hanging out with friends who love Jesus, listening to Christian music I like, thanking God for all the cool things in life, speaking in tongues, praising the Lord, attending my home church and meetings, are some things that have been super helpful in getting a handle on my thought life.

NO MIDDLE GROUND 

The war has been between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness - the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan (aka, Lucifer, devil), the Creator, with his angels, and the disobedient, created spiritual beings. The natural creation, including flora and fauna, and the human race, have been caught in the middle, since Adam and Eve's disobedience.

God has no intentions of letting the enemy drag the entire human race down into the lake of fire. For this reason, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth, and redeemed mankind. If we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, rose from the dead, and is Lord of all (even Lord over the devil), we become born-again into God's kingdom - children of God forever. Countless millions are in God's kingdom, but many, many have yet to be freed from the power of darkness (the absence of Jesus Christ, the light of the world). That's what we're up against. There's no "kingdom of shadows" or "nation of shade"- it's a life with Jesus Christ or without (light and darkness).

Ephesians 6:12(NIV) - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

BATTLE IS THE LORD'S

1Samuel 17:47(NIV) - ...for the battle is the Lord’s...

Exodus 14:14(NIV) - The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

2Chronicles 20:15(NIV) - ...For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

The Old Testament battles of Israel, after they were set free from Egypt, are great examples of actual physical battles Israel experienced, in history, all of which were initiated and directed by God. In many battles, the army of Israel didn't need to lift a finger - God did everything, they just had to show up to see God's work. Other times, the Lord required Israel to do most of the heavy lifting, but God was with them, always giving the victory.

It's important to note - Israel only won a battle when Israel followed God's directions and guidelines for each campaign. Failure to do so, resulted in defeat.  

Deuteronomy 20:3-4(NIV) - “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

Joshua 23:10(NIV) - One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. 

As soldiers in the Lord's Army, we should never attempt to engage the adversary or any of his minions on our own. "Those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God." We must always understand it is the power of the Holy Spirit, and God's authority, in the name of Jesus Christ, that we cast out demons or resist the enemy. Without the Lord, we are nothing. In the Bible Jesus Christ gives believers the authority to cast out demons. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are also given authority to "resist the devil" and/or rebuke the devil. We do this as a believer washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names, power and authority. In Jesus Christ a believer is, "the righteousness of God." So, I resist, rebuke, or cast out a demon, in God's power, representing His authority (in the name of Jesus Christ), not in my own power, or my own knowledge. When we speak the name of Jesus Christ, it isn't a magic word, or an encantation, it's as a representative of the kingdom of God (who follows Jesus wholeheartedly, full of the Holy Spirit).

In the Book of Acts, the Sons of Scheeva, attempted  an exorcism, using the name of Jesus Christ, and the demon inside the person replied, "Jesus, I know, Paul I know, but who are you?" They were beaten up and chased away, by the demon-possessed person. The Sons of Scheeva did not believe in Jesus Christ.

 

PUT ON ARMOR OF GOD 

 

 

WEAPONS OF WARFARE

• Bible: read, read out loud, memorize, read the entire Bible (from cover to cover, once every year); take notes when someone is preaching (and review later)
• Faith: Forsaking All I Trust Him; speak in tongues often to build up your faith
• God's Presence: practice the presence of God all the time (download a free copy of "Practising the Presence of God" by Bro. Lawrence, and read it often)
• Holy Spirit: be led by the Holy Spirit, get baptized in the Holy Spirit, pray in the Spirit, try to be filled with the Spirit all the time, pray in the Spirit
• Learn to hear and listen to God's still small voice
  
• Prayer: pray with 2 or more believers, pray in a large group (out loud), prayer silently, pray in a closet (so no one can see or hear you), pray in the name of Jesus Christ, pray with understanding, pray in the Spirit, pray in tongues, learn about and do intercessory prayer, be a prayer warrior, fast and pray
• Name of Jesus Christ: Live a life that is consistant with his name. Love the lord with all your heart and soul, speak his name in faith, represent the kingdom of God by being led by the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit
• Blood of Jesus: Believe and have faith that his blood washes away all sin, confess your sins and asks him for cleansing by his blood; when you take the Lord's Supper, remember what the blood of Jesus does, and has done.
• Forgiveness: stop waiting for apologies; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do; forgive people you forgot to forgive; ask the Lord to dig deep in your heart and rip out every root of bitterness; read Psalm 51 out loud many times; forgive people 7 X 77 times, and more; forgive yourself
• Fruits of the Spirit: Be patient and grow in the church God wants you to attend. As you grow beyond baby stage, and start to mature, the fruits will start coming out. Often "self control" takes longer than the rest, but it will come out eventually. Most important fruit, of course, is LOVE (it can tide you over until the other fruit start appearing). If your brothers and sisters are shaking your hand instead of kissing you on the  cheek when they greet you every meeting, maybe its not the right church. 
  
• Unity: Be one with other believers, through love, as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one; love, edify, and serve brothers and sisters; meet with other believers and grow in the Spirit together; learn to be a servant like Jesus
  
• Structure of God's Army: Jesus is the head of the body of Christ; Jesus is the head of the church; in the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit has apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors; apostles establish churches and serve pastors; pastors are the head of individual churches, shepherds of the flock, serve and make disciples; evangelists are used by the Holy Spirit to bring new believers into the body of Christ (often with signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit); teachers equip, prepare, and help young believers in the body of Christ mature; prophets serve all the body of Christ, not only local churches, to edify believers in the body of Christ, and point to future events as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
  

*All 5 are gifts from the Holy Spirit to the body of Christ, and normally do not operate independently of each other, ordinarily the 4 all coordinate with the Apostle or vice/versa.

**Within a Local Church the Pastor is the head. As the Holy Spirit confirms in the body of Christ, the Pastor may appoint elders, and then deacons.

This post is only intended to build up other brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. By all means, double check with your Bible translation to make sure everything written here is coming from the Bible and OK with the Holy Spirit. There's really no time to sit on the sidelines as a spectator. The spiritual war is full on, with casualties and destruction daily. If you are a spiritually healthy Christian, it's time to enter the battle. Our Commander and Chief is Jesus Christ the Lord of Hosts. Your Commanding Officer is your Pastor. If you don't have a church, ask God to help you find the one He wants for you. Go there, and start growing in the Lord patiently. In time, the Holy Spirit will give you gifts to better serve your brothers and sisters.

The time for hesitation's through.

No time to wallow in the mire.