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STAND AND RESIST

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STAND AND RESIST

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5: 8-11)

‘Spiritual warfare’ is a very current topic in the Christian world. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful teachings around regarding spiritual warfare; we have international prayer movements that teach and write about spiritual warfare; we even have people who regard themselves as specialists on spiritual warfare – generals, they are sometimes called!

But what is ‘spiritual warfare’ if there is such a thing in the Bible?

Unfortunately, many of the ideas about so-called ‘spiritual warfare’ are gleaned from the Old Testament – things like identifying ‘Jezebel’ and other kinds of spirits, identifying principalities and powers and pulling down strongholds, doing Jericho marches and prayer walks, dealing with gates and altars etc., etc. We have to ask, ‘How legitimate is this way of dealing with the devil? Is this the teaching of the New Testament?’

Both Peter and Paul did not deny the existence or the activity of Satan. He is powerfully at work in the world through unbelieving people. But what power or influence does he have in the lives of believers and how do we deal with him and his minions?

Firstly, for those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He rose from the dead and who live by the truth, Satan has lost the power to deceive. Jesus exposed and defeated him through the cross (Col 2: 15) If not, then He died in vain. When He cried out, ‘It is finished!’ He meant it. Believers have been ‘rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought (us) into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’ (Col 1:13, 14)

As long as we believe and live by the truth, he has no power to touch our lives any longer. The only power he has is the power we give him when we believe his lies and open ourselves to his influence. We are immune from his wicked schemes. So, what does he do? He tries to trick us into believing that he still has the power to harm us. Peter and Paul’s answer to his lies? Stand! Stand! Stand in the truth! Don’t fall for his lies. Don’t believe what he insinuates. Resist him by submitting to God and standing firm in the faith.

It is true that our struggle is against principalities and powers, not human beings. They are the agents through which the devil works. It is true that the devil is always trying to destroy us, like a roaring lion on the prowl for prey but, as long as we are aware of what he is up to, and do not allow him to lure us into his ways, we have nothing to fear. We are protected by the power of God’s name. (John 17: 11)

But what about so-called “warfare” against the devil in the world? Are we not supposed to engage the enemy on behalf of the lost? Yes, we are, but not in the way that it is being done. We must take our pattern from the New, not the Old Testament. It is not the so-called spiritual warfare prayers that rescue people from their wicked ways but the power of the truth.

The city of Ephesus is a case in point. When Paul went to Ephesus, it was the seat of the worship of the many-breasted goddess Diana, or Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, of wild creatures and of birthing. She was called ‘great’ to distinguish her from all other lesser goddesses of the same name. She had the attributes of Ashteroth, the female counterpart of Baal.

How did Paul deal with Diana-worship? Did he lead prayer marches around the city? Did he hold prayer meetings to discern the identity of the principalities and powers over Ephesus and pray ‘powerful’ prayers to pull down strongholds? Did he pray at the gates of the city? No, he did none of these things. He preached Jesus. And the result? People turned to the Lord; they burnt their books on witchcraft; Diana lost her power and the silversmiths, led by Demetrius, lost their business and set off a riot against Paul.

Jesus told His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, the ‘red light district’ of Israel, where Pan was worshipped by people having sex with goats, that there where the devil’s practices were rife, He would build His church and not even hell itself would be able to withstand it. How would He do that? By placing His yoke, His way of understanding and applying God’s teachings, on the very people whose yoke was the yoke of Satan.

Come on, people of God. Let’s get real. Let the Bible teach you, not those who have invented their own theories and now consider themselves experts. We do not need to be taught how to do spiritual warfare. Every time we obey the word of God and live by the truth, we defeat the devil. Every time we share the message of Jesus and someone turns to the Lord, he loses another battle.

If we spent as much time sharing our faith with others by our lives and lips instead of learning how to do spiritual warfare and engaging in these futile activities, the kingdom of God would be advanced more powerfully than it is advancing right now.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Flesh Or Spirit?

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FLESH OR SPIRIT?

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8.

But, for Paul, it’s not all good news!

The bad news is that all have sinned. The good news is that Christ died for all. The bad news is that not all people are saved. The good news is that all who believe in Jesus Christ are no longer under condemnation. The bad news is that those who are still following the desires of their fleshly nature are under the sentence of death. The good news is that those whose minds are focussed on the Holy Spirit are alive and at peace with God.

Where once the distinction was between Jew and Gentile because the Jews thought they were better than the Gentiles. They had the law of God and they didn’t worship idols like the Gentiles did, so they thought, so they were favoured by God and the Gentiles were not.

But now the distinction has shifted from race group to faith group. There are still two kingdoms at work, not Jew and Gentile but the kingdom of God and the dominion of Satan. How do we know to which kingdom we belong? It depends on who controls our minds. With who or what are our thoughts preoccupied? Since what we do and who we are begins in the mind, what we think in the end determines our destiny.

The person who is focussed on self; self-indulgence, self-fulfilment, self-gratification, is clearly still living in the realm of the flesh. Selfishness dominates; the world is very small, consisting only of self and those who can contribute to the pleasure and satisfaction of selfish desires.

The person who has escaped from the clutches of the flesh through believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and receiving the salvation He bought for us through His death, has a new focus – the Spirit of God who lives in his heart and enables him to set a new direction in his life. Instead of pleasing himself and satisfying every fleshly whim, he now wants to please God and enjoy God’s peace and do his will.

Life and peace – isn’t that what everyone wants to enjoy? But the pursuit of life and peace takes people down different paths depending on what they believe. The woman Jesus met at the well outside the village of Scar in Samaria believed the life was about being loved by a man. The path she took to fulfil her desire, however, took her into more and more guilt and shame and left her lonely, dissatisfied and despised by her fellow villagers.

Jesus gently revealed to her that the love she thought that a man would give her, would never satisfy her inner need, because only God’s love and a life lived for Him would bring her the love and peace she craved. Jesus called it “living water”. Drinking deeply of God’s love revealed through the gift of His Son would satisfy her thirsty soul forever. But she had to make a choice. She could not carry on with her old life. It was killing her. She had to turn her back on what she believed and embrace a new faith – a faith in the Messiah she had just met, who came to lead her out of her slavery to sin and into the realm of a new Master

We all have to make the same choice if we are to experience the life Jesus made possible for us, and the inward peace that will hold us steady as we navigate all the stresses and demands of this mortal life. It is impossible to have one foot in each kingdom. It’s either God’s kingdom or the devil’s domain. It can never be both…and…

When you choose God’s way and trust the Lord Jesus, you are on the way to everlasting life!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The Beast Is Dead!

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THE BEAST IS DEAD!

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in me.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Romans 7:21-25.

Despair! Was there ever despair like this?

Trapped by a power much stronger than himself, Paul felt as though he were caught in the claws of an enraged beast which was destroying his life and he was powerless to overcome it. Have you ever felt like that?

Years ago I was in a relationship that produced ongoing cycles of anger, resentment and bitterness which lasted until I was able to forgive, only to begin the cycle all over again when the same provocation happened. In despair I cried out to God, “How will I ever get free from my old nature?” I, who am not given to seeing visions, had a vision that morning on my knees.

I found myself in a walled garden. It was springtime and the garden was full of new growth. There were trees and flowers everywhere; new plants were coming up and the garden promised to be very beautiful. But there was also a huge black beast in the garden. It was pacing up and down, trampling the plants, and causing destruction wherever it walked. I cried out to God, “O God, how can I get rid of the beast?”

I heard a voice say, “Turn around.” As I did so, my vision changed. I was inside an ancient tomb. The tomb was empty, but there were signs that a body had been there; bloodied grave clothes lay on the stone slab. Again the voice said, “Turn around.” As my eyes became used to the gloom, I saw the beast lying dead on the floor of the tomb. My heart leapt for joy.

Once again my vision changed; I was back in the garden but this time there was no beast to destroy. The trees were heavy with luscious fruit and the flowers were in full bloom. There were no weeds and the paths were neatly laid out. Jesus, the gardener, was walking with me in the garden. “This is my garden,” He said. “The fruit belongs to me. You may walk in my garden but you may not pick the fruit.”

When the vision faded, I felt light-hearted and free. I understood that God had given me a vivid picture of Romans 7 and 8. The beast in my vision was my old nature, ruthlessly destroying everything wherever it walked and I had not power to control it. But…Jesus put the beast to death when He died on the cross. When He rose from the dead, the beast was left lying in the tomb. It no longer had the power to destroy in my life.

The garden represents my life, and Jesus, the gardener is in control. By His death He has put to death the power of my old nature to control me and to destroy what He is cultivating in me. As long as I allow Him to take care of my garden, my life will bear fruit for Him because the beast is dead and no longer has any power to destroy what He is growing in me.

Despair has been changed to hope. I am no longer a slave of sin. My old nature remains but it lies dead in the tomb. Its only power to influence me depends on whether I allow it to do so by believing that it can still hurt me. As long as I believe the truth that Jesus has set me free from the power of my sin nature, I can choose to obey God and allow the Holy Spirit in me to strengthen me to obey.

Once again, it’s a partnership of faith between me and God. I believe what God has said; I make the choice to obey Him; by His grace He enables me to do what I have chosen and He gets the praise!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.