Never Give In

One of the great speeches of all time was short and given by Winston Churchill. Although he was alleged to have a speech impediment, he gave an inspiring speech to a group of young people, and told them to consider those days as great days in history and to thank God for being a part of those days.

As believers we too are being given a great honor. We are granted the privilege of being a part of bringing God’s kingdom to earth. We do that through spiritual warfare. It can be an aggressive assault on darkness. But perhaps one of the greatest weapons we have is to not give in. This is one thing that Paul wrote to Timothy,

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Paul also wrote similarly to the Galatians,

Galatians 6:1, 9-10 1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Paul was telling them that we all will be tempted, but not to grow weary. Don’t give in. Do good to others. If we do this we truly displace the darkness and usher in God’s light. Is that not what the aim of our spiritual warfare should be? I think it is.

Is there someone that you can do good for today? If so, in doing it, you dispel that darkness of a need they have, and you are winning the battle. You are ushering in God’s kingdom. You become a warrior for God!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Help us do good to others. Help us to not grow weary. Help us to not give in to temptation, even if it is only the temptation to not help others. Help us to be a part of ushering in Your kingdom on earth. Help us to be the warriors You have created us to be. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Expressions Of Caring

Often when I think of spiritual warfare images come to mind of clips from “The Exorcist” where the priest is shouting and throwing water on a little girl that spins her head and vomits something like pea soup. It is interesting to me how so many different things can turn out to be powerful enough to dislodge opportunities for the enemy of our souls to creep in and cause harm to us and our fellow believers. And nobody has to spin their head around. Take the other night for example.

My family and I went to a potluck – prayer meeting. My wife was running late getting home from work. On the way home she witnessed a motorcycle accident, and needless to say she was pretty shook up. She got ready and we took off, going to someone’s house for the first time instead of the church. Of course we came across yet another accident, had to detour and got a little lost, and then we were stopped by a train! When we finally arrived twelve minutes late, as we pulled up I received a call on my cell phone. It was someone from the meeting calling to see how soon we might arrive, because they were waiting to eat until we arrived. I remember how I felt as I hung up the phone – I couldn’t believe it. They had actually waited for us. Somehow it made me feel like my family and I really mattered. Even though all they did was wait twelve minutes, those twelve minutes bought a tremendous amount of space in our hearts that could have been filled with the sadness of lack of self worth. And all for just twelve minutes.

How many opportunities do we have each day to show some small amount of caring to others? Open a door. A smile, a nod, asking someone how their day is and waiting for the answer? They really don’t cost us anything but a little of our time and willingness to treat people with respect. And when we add prayers of preparation to this, we may just get the opportunity to move the enemy of out of some influence that he currently has in their lives. Seems worth it, right? Today, we might try saying a prayer or two about such opportunities, and then look for them to see who we might bless with a little kindness. Sounds like fun to me!

Prayer
Father, we praise You and thank You for giving us Your grace. We are very blessed that little things matter to You and You provide for those little things. We bless Your Holy Name. Please show us today some of these small opportunities to reach out to others. Please help us to remember in those moments that You are giving us the power to dislodge the enemy and bring a little peace and joy to that person. And please soften the hearts of those that You bring our way to receive it as a gift from You, even to the point that we might win them, that they might receive Your Son as their Messiah. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Ushering In God’s Dominion

In Genesis we read that God gave dominion over the earth to mankind. Yet in other places in the scripture such as Psalm 103:19,22 we read that God rules over all. In Psalm 103 God tells us that He will provide our food and renew our youth. God will remove our sin and iniquity, both forgetting and forgiving our transgressions because of His mercy. As I read this from my kitchen table this morning, I was wondering how it is that man has dominion and yet God rules over everything. As I read Psalm 103 I was listening to 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman and Cover Me by Wilderness Journey, and I think I came up with part of the answer.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Paul explains that Jesus (Yeshua) is reconciling the world to Himself, just as He has reconciled us to Him. He has also given us this ministry of reconciliation, according to Paul, and we are His ambassadors on this earth. As I thought about this, Psalm 103 began to take on new meaning. If we can remember to bless God and praise Him, we become the vessels that bring His dominion and rule into reality on the earth. In that sense we do have dominion because we can choose to take on this action. We can be a part of helping Him set the oppressed free. Let’s remember to do His work today.

Bless the Lord!

Prayer
Father, we bless Your Holy Name! We exalt You above all else, and we ask You to set the oppressed free. We ask that You reach out into our lives, the lives of our loved ones and friends, and the lives of those we meet to bring about the changes we all need to bring light into our lives, to bring the mercy You extend to us, and help us to always praise You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Taking The Kingdom Of Heaven By Force

In Matthew 11 when Yeshua (Jesus) was asked by the disciples of John if He was the Messiah, He told them to tell John what they had seen and heard. He then listed raising the dead, miraculous healing of disease, sight to the blind, and preaching of the gospel to the poor. Isn’t it interesting that the gospel is included by Yeshua (Jesus) as the equal to these other items? Why might that be? After all, today we traditionally think as the gospel as the news about the Messiah and the result is rebirth spiritually if we confess our sin to God and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. And that is the gospel, and if you are reading this and have not asked Him to be your Lord and Savior, do that now and receive that blessing. In the case of what was said here, however, Yeshua (Jesus) had not yet died, so their was no salvation through His blood yet. What might He be referring to, and how would that equate to the violent taking the kingdom of heaven by force? What did the poor get that was equivalent to these other miracles? It does not say, but if the other three results were reversal of the darkness of the evil one, what is the reversal of the darkness of the poor? Deliverance from poverty? Perhaps the answer can be found by looking at places in scripture where the preaching of the good news, the gospel, is presented.

There are three places in scripture where this occurs. In Romans 10:15 Paul quotes two Old Testament prophets that said,

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (KJV)

The two prophets are Isaiah and Nahum. In Isaiah 52:7 we read,

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (KJV)

The word salvation here means aid, health, deliverance and prosperity – the whole person. So, for the poor, moving into prosperity is fitting to be compared to these other miracles, right? And what is that word in the Hebrew? Yeshua! That is correct, that is also the name given to the Messiah – Yeshua (Jesus). So now, how is it that we can we do this, and more importantly, what might Yeshua be referring to since we know that He had not yet died for us? Let’s look at the other prophet quoted.

In Nahum 1:15 we read,

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. (KJV)

Here we see Nahum saying the same as Isaiah. However, he tells us of a way to publish peace – keep the solemn feasts and perform your vows. Vows are what we say we will do, but what the solemn feasts? The Fests of the Lord in Leviticus 23! Yeshua (Jesus) was doing what He always did, telling the people to keep it simple and follow God’s commandments. What is the result? The wicked one has to depart and leave us alone, including financially in this case for the poor!

Tonight at sundown is the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles that everyone keeps when Yeshua (Jesus) returns (Zechariah 14:16-20) and is a part of the commandments that Yeshua was referring to in His ministry. From sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow is considered a High Holy Day. I say let’s publish peace and send the enemy running! Let’s keep the Feast of Tabernacles!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. Thank You for giving us the ability to say and do Your commandments. Thank You for the New Covenant, the law written in our hearts. Thank You for Your Feasts! In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

Remembering…

Today’s date is one I will always remember. My oldest child was born September 11, 1981. That was an amazing day, and my daughter has been an amazing blessing in my life. She is a manager of art stores at a regional amusement park, and is very talented. Okay, so I am the bragging father.

I will remember today for another reason. On September 11, 2001, a number of evil men, serving the enemy of our souls and theirs, came together in crafty counsel, consulting together to ends the lives of innocent people – almost 3,000 innocent people. This is an example of spiritual warfare overflowing into physical reality, in the sense that dark spiritual forces like those that drove these men to commit mass murder are out there, looking to kill innocent people. But we have a hope.

We know that we can overcome these dark forces if we will trust in God and battle them in the spirit realm. In II Corinthians 10:4 Paul tells us that the weapons we have are not of this world, but of the spiritual world, and can overcome the strong holds of evil. We need to remember days like 9/11, and use that remembrance to drive us deeper into prayer, fasting, and disrupting the evil workings of the enemy. When we do this, it stops the efforts in the spiritual realm before or during the times they are in the physical realm.

God is on our side.

Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You for being with us in battle against the enemy. We thank You that You allow us to fight alongside You in our prayer, praise , and worship to destroy the works of darkness. We ask that You comfort those that have sadness about this day, and that You crush today the works of darkness that are working today to harm others. In Jesus name. Amen.

One Great Spiritual Warfare Weapon

This morning as I was getting up preparing to write, it occurred to me that there is one weapon of spiritual warfare that is very powerful. It is likely not taught often as such, but I have found that in using it this morning it dispelled the darkness of disunity. The weapon is apology. When we apologize for something, it brings the possibility of bringing believers back together in a more harmonious state. For me, I became frustrated with my wife over how to help our daughter with her homework. That created a wedge between us, which God hates and the enemy loves. This morning I apologized. That brought us back into unity.

In Psalm 133 the writer tells us to look and see how beautiful it is for us to dwell together in unity. In Proverbs 6:19 the writer says that God hates the one that sows discord among the brethren. When we become involved in disagreements that become personal, we are not in unity and we are creating that discord, giving place to the enemy. When we apologize, we destroy the enemies foothold, and restore unity. In Ephesians 4:26 Paul tells us that we can become angry, but not to sin. He goes on to say not to let the sun go down on our wrath or give place to the devil. Last night, when I became personally upset, I violated these rules. It was good to apologize this morning, but it would have been even better to apologize last night.

God loves us all. If you have been angry with someone and let it become personal, pray. Seek God’s forgiveness. Go to the person and apologize. Do it today if possible, and let God restore that beautiful unity with that person. You will be surprised at how good it feels to use this spiritual weapon to destroy the work of the enemy.

Prayer
Father, I praise and exalt You as the Most High God. You reign in the earth and heaven. Please help us to not allow our anger to become sin. Please help us to repent, and to apologize to those that we speak to in a manner that was not like the Messiah. In Jesus name. Amen.

Spiritual Warfare Do’s and Don’ts

Spiritual warfare is much like its counterpart in the real world. If we exercise it well according to scripture, we win battles for ourselves and others. If we do it badly, we risk ourselves and our fellow believers falling under what is called in the physical world “friendly fire”, and it can have the same negative results.

Do’s
Pray for your fellow believers. Paul said in Colossians 1:9-10 that he did this continually for them. This is a pattern we should follow. Pray in the spirit for yourself and others. Pray scriptures over yourself and others. Pray for victory for yourself and others.

Don’ts
If you are praying for someone, especially for victory over some sin in their life, keep it between you and God. We can be tempted to “share” with other believers in an attempt to be spiritual. When you talk to someone about someone else’s sin, you violate scripture. It sews discord amongst the brethren, which God hates (Proverbs 6:19). It doesn’t matter that it is true, you are placing a wedge between believers and God hates that. This is particularly true if you are a leader and you get caught up in Matthew 18. In this worst case you are to treat them as unsaved. Do you speak curses over the unsaved, or do you try to reconcile them to God? A simple test: do you talk more TO someone or ABOUT someone. It should be to them. We are to speak to believers only about good things, and good and evil should not come from the same mouth (James 3:10). If we think about it, what good can come from saying the negative that the person is already struggling to overcome. Pray the good thing. Pray victory. Pray the scriptures.

Prayer
father, You are the King of the universe. Help us to pray and use our spiritual weapons only for good. Help us not fall into the temptation of gossip in the name of spirituality. Help us to bring your kingdom on the earth. In Jesus name. Amen.

Light And Truth As Weapons

In Psalm 143 we find a short and clear battle cry. When you read it you may ask, “How is this a battle cry?” There are only five verses to this chapter. But they tell a story of a person “getting their mind right” about who God is and what He will do. He starts out by praising God, but then asks God where He is. He asks why God is letting these things happen to him. He asks God for weapons to fight; he asks God for Light and Truth (we might say, “Com Lord Jesus”). In verse four he decides to take a stand for his mind and body (the tabernacle today), and declares he will praise God. Finally, he talks to himself and ask, “Why are you cast down?” He tells himself to praise God, and then praises God as the lifter of how he feels.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as ruler of heaven and earth. Thank You for being the author of Light and Truth. Thank You for always coming to our aid. Please help us to know You more and communicate with You better. Help us to understand what a father really is. Please crush our enemies. In Jesus name. Amen.

A Different Perspective On Spiritual Warfare

In prayer this morning I found myself reading and praying some Psalms aloud that I felt God wanted me to pray aloud. In prayer I was asking for direction about some of the basic things of life for me and my family. As I was pouring my heart out to God, He had me pray out loud Psalm 63. In this Psalm the psalmist praises God because God delivers Him and destroys the enemies, showing Himself to be God. I continued to ask for direction and God had me pray aloud Psalm 66.

In Psalm 66 the writer discusses the power of God that delivered the children of Israel, allowing them to walk across the riverbed and the sea bottom on dry ground. Hear the psalmist said they will praise them there, in that miraculous place. The psalm goes on to speak about how God refined us like silver, and we experience trials in life. The good news is that in the end, God brings us to a wealthy place, which in Hebrew describes this as a place overflowing with the good things we cried out to God about in our trials. The Psalm ends talking about how the psalmist will pay the vows he uttered while in dispair in the trials, that he goes to the congregation and declares God to be the great Deliverer King. Here he says that had he regarded iniquity in his heart, God would not have heard him. But the evidence is God did hear him and had mercy on him. Early the psalmist describes some iniquity or opportunities to fall into iniquity that would certainly apply here.

First, in verse seven we are warned to not let the rebellious exalt themselves. We must stay humble. Next, the afflictions described are given as a net, afflictions on our backs, men to rule over us, and passing through fire and water. This can be a bit more tricky because those that are placed over us are authority that we must submit to, and even pray for their ability to rule. So what can we cry out to God for in the way of deliverance? Judgement. God’s judgements are always right and pure. When God judges, the result is righteousness, deliverance, the good path being established, etc.

What I saw today is a different perspective than I have considered about spiritual warfare. God is eager for us to be able to stand in the midst of the assembly and tell of His deliverance. He wants us to participate in the spiritual warfare so that He can uphold us, and then we can tell others about it.

Prayer
Father, we so want to stand in the congregation and tell of Your delivering power. Help us, Father, to get through the trials in our lives. Deliver us from the wicked deeds of men. Make us to ride in the plentiful places where we can extol You and Your deliverance. In Jesus name. Amen.

Turning To God Wins The Battle

A friend of mine included me in an email this morning that I think is worth sharing. We are a part of a prayer group that is praying and doing a Daniel fast for 21 days. God gave her a scripture this morning, Isaiah 30:18. It speaks of God waiting in His mercy to deliver His people when they return to Him. He is waiting to deliver His people, and as we read on, to prosper His people. He is waiting to hear us cry out to Him and will be gracious when we do. A good question to ask is what was going on before this in this scripture to get this response from God?

The first seventeen verses are talking about how God’s people turned away from Him by turning away from His ways, from the law. There is much about the evil and deception that befalls God’s people when they turn away in this manner. They actually end up going to the wrong people for assistance. These people, the Egyptians in this scripture, do not care for them, deceive them, and take everything from them. This represents how our enemy the devil takes from us by getting us to turn away from God and focus on the wrong things. When we turn back to God’s ways and embrace the law (which is written in our heart – this is the new covenant), then God restores us to a good place. We end up on the good side of God’s judgements. This is both the simplest and perhaps most difficult spiritual warfare because it produces great results but requires us to change.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the most high God, the King of the universe. Help us return to You and to turn away from that which is deception and evil. We are weak at times, maybe most of the time, but You are not. We are asking for Your forgiveness and help to be who You want us to be. We love You. In Jesus name. Amen.