Saturday, August 1, 2015

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE?

(WHAT IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE? PART 2)


In my previous post I gave an overview of spiritual warfare. You must realize and accept that you are born into a fallen world that is in a state of war and that you are at war with malevolent things in the heavenlies who will do all they can to turn you away from God and damn your soul to hell.

Furthermore after accepting you are in a state war, the next step is to prepare: survey the terrain, know the enemy, assess your army and the weapons at your disposal.

Essentially we have three enemies, and as such we must do three things:


  • We war against powers and principalities in the heavenlies; thus we need to know their tactics.
  • We war against the evils of the world system; we must be strong in our principles so that we will not conform.
  • We war against ourselves; we must know our strengths and weaknesses and be able to tear down strongholds that are keeping us from seeing and walking in the truth.


I'll continue on general things you need to remember about spiritual warfare:


3. The third thing you have to remember is that your number 1 weapon is the Word of God, which is the Truth. There are two kinds: Logos and Rema. Logos is the written, inerrant Word of God in the Bible and Rema is the revelation that the Holy Spirit speaks directly into you. The revealed word of Rema should always be in harmony and agreement with the written word of holy scripture. If there is a disconnect, you need to check what spirits you've given an open door to and might be speaking to you.

Using this weapon is simple - read holy scripture and saturate in it, and go out and do what you understand out of it. It doesn't matter if you don't understand a whole lot. The more you read and with faith obey, the more the Spirit of God will give you light to understand.

The more you cleave to godly men and women of God in fellowship, then you'll have other people help you understand it. You can also download and listen to godly teachers with a media ministry and listen to their testimonies and preaching. God has used many of these teachers to speak to people who otherwise have no one to minister to them or to teach them. I recently discovered the sermons of the late David Wilkerson who used to preach at Time Square church in New York. He has already left this earth to be with the Lord but he's one of the most anointed and powerful preachers I've ever heard in all the decades I've listened to gospel teachings. Share his sermons to your friends and family and listen to them yourself.

4. Your priority is to protect yourself. You protect yourself by keeping clean. Later I'll talk more about the Weapons of Our Warfare which includes a discussion on how purity is power. But for now what you need to understand at the most basic level is that you can't go out and wage spiritual warfare and save your family and other people much less your community or your city if you can't even protect yourself. A maimed or critically wounded (or dead) soldier is no good. So your first priority is to make sure that you are saved, protected and clean.

"Ephesians 4:27: Neither give place to the devil." If you give him a finger, he's going to want your arm. If you give him your arm, he'll pull your whole body and soul into hell. 

Demons feed on sin. The bigger sin, the stronger they get. You starve them and they won't be interested in hanging around you that much. God will deal with your big sins. Later as you continue to walk in the Spirit, God will also deal with your small sins. Philippians 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."

5. Your responsibility is your family. We only have so much control or influence over others except ourselves and the people who believe in us. But we wield a great power over our young children. If the Lord has gifted you with a child, you have been appointed steward over that child. That child is dependent on you and up to a certain age - you are the only God that child will ever know. You represent God to that child.

Children are empty white canvasses, and parents are painters. If you are a parent you can paint anything on that blank canvass. You can take that young heart and mold it in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The family is the very basic building block of society, a social unit instituted by God himself. If you do your job in the home and turn that child's heart towards God, that's one child who will grow up into a productive and beneficial member of society whom God will use to bring solutions to the world and not add problems to it. 

You are that child's protector, nurturer and teacher. You are the master of your house and the children you raise are little servants whom you are raising to serve God when they come of age. 

Luke 12:42 "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" You need to feed your children the Word of God in due season - that is when they are young and pliant and not wait until they are adults and are hardened by drugs and the cares of this world. There is a reward waiting for all parents who watch over the children that the Lord has given them to raise. 

This is my story in a nutshell: I am an only child to two loving God-fearing parents. My parents were enticed by money and when I was around 9 years old, they went away to another country to work and kept away for 5 years. During those 5 years the devil got to me and I learned to go astray in all possible ways. Even though I had guardians over me, the devil knew I was an open target, and that's what he did.  From that day my parents left me over to the care of other people my life changed forever. The damage that it did to my family was so deep the wounds are still being felt to this day. I became an adulteress, a fornicator, rebellious, exposed to witchcraft and all sorts of things that it only took the grace and power of God to save me. 

We are a protective covering over our children. We are the first line of defense against evil. If you really need to be away from your children and your spouse put a cap on how long it should be and make every effort to be with them as quickly as possible.

6. You have been called into the Great Commission. There was a time when I used to think that evangelism was the job of missionaries or the pastor or just the church workers. It's everyone's job. How you are are called to it is between you and God but if you understand the principles behind it, it will encourage you to be so ever involved.

When you win people for Jesus you are conquering territory for the Lord. If by whatever effort you make you turn one person away from sin and turn him to the Lord, and that person in turn wins other people for Jesus, and those people pay it forward and multiply in number, you are doing your part in growing the kingdom.

If these people have the truth of God in their hearts they will not adulterate, fornicate, take drugs, and live holy lives and teach their families and friends to do likewise. If you see a community where people fear God, you will see the outward effect. When your church evangelizes government leaders and those leaders come away with a fear of God in their hearts they will enact good laws, they will rule with righteousness and fear. They will influence more people to turn to the Lord.

When a whole nation moves in unity under God, that nation is under God's protective covering. Judgment is turned away from the land, and the Lord keeps their enemies at bay. In the book of Jonah, Jonah preaches  to the city of Nineveh. The whole city heeds the warning, and repent in sack cloth and ashes. They are saved from a terrible judgment.

Why do we engage in evangelism? The whole land has to come under God for the protection of that land. Under God, that land will prosper.

So in a nutshell = being right in the Lord, making sure your family is in order, and cooperating with your church and doing what you can to engage in the Great Commission to win your country for Jesus is spiritual warfare. 

My country is not perfect but it is the only country in the world where divorce is not legal. A lot of people oppose this and I understand them. But this law is one of the most palpable signs that the Philippines is a country that holds the institutions of God in high regard. In other christian communities in the world they debate about the value of circumcision and yet in my country circumcision is standard practice for all male children regardless of the parents' beliefs. Christian influence is strong in television, print and social media.

We are also known as the "only Christian nation in Asia." That may be true, and yes we do have a strong Christian population in the country. But going to a church and calling yourself a Christian doesn't mean you are one. However considering the strong church presence and influence here I pray that God will continue to show his mercy on us.

My prayer is that the church in the Philippines will wash its robes in the blood of Jesus and purify its ways that God may give us more power and dominion to conquer greater territory for the Lord. And when we do that this nation will not come under God's judgment. Judgment begins in the house of the Lord - 1 Peter 4:17.

Meanwhile, America's Supreme Court has very lately declared same sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Celebrations have been staged in support and recognition of this act all over the world. The Harbinger is one book that talks about America's impending doom because it is increasingly turning its back on God. Will God bring judgment on that land? Will repentance and a faithful remnant stay terror and judgment away from that nation? We will see the answers to these soon enough.

It says in the Bible that there will come a time when iniquity will abound and judgment will come to all on the face of the earth. Because of the wickedness of man we can't stop this ultimate end from arriving. If a people act in unity for their nation that judgment can be deferred. Nevertheless we are commanded to engage in the Great Commission because when we bring the gospel to every listening ear on the planet, we hasten Christ's return.


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