We have come to the end of the series on Spiritual Warfare and rapped it up with a rather difficult subject of Deliverance Ministries. Growing up in the 80s in the Brethren Church "it" was mentioned. But as the big baddie it was best for us to keep clear of it. The enemy has even used Hollywood to make himself look powerful and Jesus helpless. As a result many of us are scared to approach anything that resembles demonic. Last Tuesday we learnt that is not just about exorcism, it's about setting someone free in Jesus' name. Jesus is the key. Victory is through the cross. Victory is in the name of Jesus. Victory is in the power of the Holy Spirit. God is glorified and lives are changed!
The enemy is not going wait for us to get our act together. He is constantly on the prowl. All around us people are coming under his influence. We have to ask Jesus to remove the scales from our eyes and just look around. It starts off small but if not checked it grows … Oppression » Harassment » Obsession » Compulsion » Control and finally if you are an unbeliever Possession. We need to recognise first the enemy and then in name of Jesus tear down the strongholds he builds in the mind.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. - 2 Corinthians 10:4
We need to put on the armour of God and join the active ranks. No use just ignoring the enemy and hope he will go away. We need resist him and he will flee.
23 August 2007
18 August 2007
The Secret Weapon
Wow, I have just come back from an awesome prayer session at Minuteman Press in Parktown North. We as a group of men descended on Dave Tucker's new franchise to pray and dedicate it to God. Here we prayed, broke bread on our knees and anointed all the rooms. I felt that all the spiritual warfare lessons we did up to now have paid dividends. Here we were dressed up in our armour and claiming the ground for God. We carried God's Standard before the spiritual troops and planted it firmly at Minuteman Press in Parktown North. This here is God's country.
Okay that is enough of what has happen today in the battle. Now for what we did last Tuesday: At cell we spoke about the Christian’s secret weapon. Something we tend to rather use in defence not as it was meant to be use, in offence. And that weapon is Prayer. It is the weapon that the enemy fears the most. It is our Ultimate Weapon.
Prayer is so powerful that the enemy tries to break down the power before it happens. The enemy does everything to stop us talking to God. He distracts us from Prayer so that we become infective wimps.
Here is an extract from Edward Bounds' book "The Weapon of Prayer". It was written in the 19th century (This piece was reformatted by Katie Stewart) …
"GOD'S great plan for the redemption of mankind is as much bound up to prayer for its prosperity and success as when the decree creating the movement was issued from the Father, bearing on its frontage the imperative, universal and eternal condition, "Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession." In many places an alarming state of things has come to pass, in that the many who are enrolled in our churches are not praying men and women. Many of those occupying prominent positions in church life are not praying men. It is greatly feared that much of the work of the Church is being done by those who are perfect strangers to the closet. Small wonder that the work does not succeed. While it may be true that many in the Church say prayers, it is equally true that their praying is of the stereotyped order. Their prayers may be charged with sentiment, but they are tame, timid, and without fire or force. Even this sort of praying is done by a few straggling men to be found at prayer-meetings. Those whose names are to be found bulking large in our great Church assemblies are not men noted for their praying habits. Yet the entire fabric of the work in which they are engaged has, perforce, to depend on the adequacy of prayer. This fact is similar to the crisis which would be created were a country to admit in the face of an invading foe that it cannot fight and have no knowledge of the weapons whereby war is to be waged. In all God's plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray. The men are to pray in every place, in the church, in the closet, in the home, on sacred days and on secular days. All things and everything are dependent on the measure of men's praying. Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life. We pray as we live; we live as we pray. Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet. The mercury of life will rise only by the warmth of the closet. Persistent non-praying eventually will depress life below zero."
"Go back! Back to that upper room; back to your knees; back to searching of heart and habit, thought and life; back to pleading, praying, waiting, till the Spirit of the Lord floods the soul with light, and you are endued with power from on high. Then go forth in the power of Pentecost, and the Christ-life shall be lived, and the works of Christ shall be done. You shall open blind eyes, cleanse foul hearts, break men's fetters, and save men's souls. In the power of the indwelling Spirit, miracles become the commonplace of daily living." -- Samuel Chadwick
May God give us the grace to take up the weapon of prayer, and to use it!
Okay that is enough of what has happen today in the battle. Now for what we did last Tuesday: At cell we spoke about the Christian’s secret weapon. Something we tend to rather use in defence not as it was meant to be use, in offence. And that weapon is Prayer. It is the weapon that the enemy fears the most. It is our Ultimate Weapon.
Prayer is so powerful that the enemy tries to break down the power before it happens. The enemy does everything to stop us talking to God. He distracts us from Prayer so that we become infective wimps.
Here is an extract from Edward Bounds' book "The Weapon of Prayer". It was written in the 19th century (This piece was reformatted by Katie Stewart) …
"GOD'S great plan for the redemption of mankind is as much bound up to prayer for its prosperity and success as when the decree creating the movement was issued from the Father, bearing on its frontage the imperative, universal and eternal condition, "Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession." In many places an alarming state of things has come to pass, in that the many who are enrolled in our churches are not praying men and women. Many of those occupying prominent positions in church life are not praying men. It is greatly feared that much of the work of the Church is being done by those who are perfect strangers to the closet. Small wonder that the work does not succeed. While it may be true that many in the Church say prayers, it is equally true that their praying is of the stereotyped order. Their prayers may be charged with sentiment, but they are tame, timid, and without fire or force. Even this sort of praying is done by a few straggling men to be found at prayer-meetings. Those whose names are to be found bulking large in our great Church assemblies are not men noted for their praying habits. Yet the entire fabric of the work in which they are engaged has, perforce, to depend on the adequacy of prayer. This fact is similar to the crisis which would be created were a country to admit in the face of an invading foe that it cannot fight and have no knowledge of the weapons whereby war is to be waged. In all God's plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray. The men are to pray in every place, in the church, in the closet, in the home, on sacred days and on secular days. All things and everything are dependent on the measure of men's praying. Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life. We pray as we live; we live as we pray. Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet. The mercury of life will rise only by the warmth of the closet. Persistent non-praying eventually will depress life below zero."
"Go back! Back to that upper room; back to your knees; back to searching of heart and habit, thought and life; back to pleading, praying, waiting, till the Spirit of the Lord floods the soul with light, and you are endued with power from on high. Then go forth in the power of Pentecost, and the Christ-life shall be lived, and the works of Christ shall be done. You shall open blind eyes, cleanse foul hearts, break men's fetters, and save men's souls. In the power of the indwelling Spirit, miracles become the commonplace of daily living." -- Samuel Chadwick
May God give us the grace to take up the weapon of prayer, and to use it!
10 August 2007
Helmet of Salvation
Just a short one this time.
Next in the series of knowing the enemy we covered the helmet of salvation.
In 1 Thes 5:8 it says "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation ."
We discovered that the helmet is a very important part of the armour. The hope of salvation is for the head. It covers our minds, intellect and reasoning. Our minds are the playground of the enemy. He has known us for over 40 years (well that's in my case, please add the extra years to the 40 as you see fit ;-). He knows how we think so he can easily manipulate us into doing the wrong thing. The importance of the helmet does not need much convincing does it now. We need to protect our minds in the hope of God's salvation.
Next in the series of knowing the enemy we covered the helmet of salvation.
In 1 Thes 5:8 it says "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation ."
We discovered that the helmet is a very important part of the armour. The hope of salvation is for the head. It covers our minds, intellect and reasoning. Our minds are the playground of the enemy. He has known us for over 40 years (well that's in my case, please add the extra years to the 40 as you see fit ;-). He knows how we think so he can easily manipulate us into doing the wrong thing. The importance of the helmet does not need much convincing does it now. We need to protect our minds in the hope of God's salvation.
05 August 2007
Shield of Faith
Last Tuesday we learnt how to engage our enemy by taking up the Shield of Faith. By faith we can move beyond just standing firm and being defensive, we can now face the enemy head-on. The shield gives us confidence. The shield is the faith in God's blood that was spilt for us one and for all. Faith that the victory has already being secured. Someone once answered the question of "What is faith?" with these simple words "I'm ignorant, and I cannot answer well, but I think it is taking God at His Word."
In God’s Word we read …
"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." (Psalm 73: 23-28)
I want to learn to choose faith, even when fear seems more reasonable.
In God’s Word we read …
"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." (Psalm 73: 23-28)
I want to learn to choose faith, even when fear seems more reasonable.
26 July 2007
Write it on our hearts
As we continue with the "Invisible War" series we are learning more on how our enemy uses condemnation and doubt to keep us from experiencing God's love and power. How many times have we questioned our salvation or even God's grace of forgiveness?
Here is one lie which the enemy uses a lot with me.
God won't accept because I keep on sinning even after I have asked Him to forgive me.
The enemy specialise in this type of condemnation and doubt. Once I have fallen yet again, he condemns me for sinning; telling me that I'll never be free and that I'll never be able to please God. Did God really forgive me last time? And so it goes on.
Chip Ingram reminded us that we have to know the scriptures to be able to withstand these types of attacks. The power of condemnation and doubt is broken by the truth. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciple. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" John 8:31-32. To answer the lie which I mentioned above the enemy uses often with me is found in Isaiah 53:4-12 and Isaiah 54:10. God has never rejected me when I approached Him over and over again with the same sin.
Jesus said we need to know his word, write it onto our hearts, as we will never know when we will need it.
Here is one lie which the enemy uses a lot with me.
God won't accept because I keep on sinning even after I have asked Him to forgive me.
The enemy specialise in this type of condemnation and doubt. Once I have fallen yet again, he condemns me for sinning; telling me that I'll never be free and that I'll never be able to please God. Did God really forgive me last time? And so it goes on.
Chip Ingram reminded us that we have to know the scriptures to be able to withstand these types of attacks. The power of condemnation and doubt is broken by the truth. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciple. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" John 8:31-32. To answer the lie which I mentioned above the enemy uses often with me is found in Isaiah 53:4-12 and Isaiah 54:10. God has never rejected me when I approached Him over and over again with the same sin.
Jesus said we need to know his word, write it onto our hearts, as we will never know when we will need it.
09 July 2007
Belt of Truth
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3
This week we started going through the armour that God has supplied us for the spiritual battle. The belt was the first thing a Roman soldier put on. It was very important because it was the main item which held together the rest of the armour. The sword hung from it and the tunic was tucked into the belt to insure that he could march without restriction. The belt bound everything together giving the soldier a sense of firmness, making him feel secure, and able to meet the enemy's attack with confidence. There was security in the belt.
Paul states that we have to put on the belt of truth.
Truth?
Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life. So when we fasten the belt of truth around our waist, we are putting on God's truth as revealed in Jesus. In other words we are "putting on" Jesus. In Hebrews somewhere it tell us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Now doesn’t that sound of stability? I am all for something solid, something I can hold onto. So Jesus as the belt that held the Roman armour together gives us a sense of firmness, making us feel secure, and able to meet the enemy's attack with confidence. There is security in Jesus.
This week we started going through the armour that God has supplied us for the spiritual battle. The belt was the first thing a Roman soldier put on. It was very important because it was the main item which held together the rest of the armour. The sword hung from it and the tunic was tucked into the belt to insure that he could march without restriction. The belt bound everything together giving the soldier a sense of firmness, making him feel secure, and able to meet the enemy's attack with confidence. There was security in the belt.
Paul states that we have to put on the belt of truth.
Truth?
Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life. So when we fasten the belt of truth around our waist, we are putting on God's truth as revealed in Jesus. In other words we are "putting on" Jesus. In Hebrews somewhere it tell us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Now doesn’t that sound of stability? I am all for something solid, something I can hold onto. So Jesus as the belt that held the Roman armour together gives us a sense of firmness, making us feel secure, and able to meet the enemy's attack with confidence. There is security in Jesus.
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