Spiritual Warfare

Deception is a powerful weapon! Let's say you take a perfectly normal child and teach him that he is ugly, will never win, and has no real purpose in his life. What will happen to that child as he grows up? What if you follow that child around and lie to him through his music, his media, his Science class, his church, his friends, and in his mind? What if you shatter up his family through divorce or desertion? Think about how he would feel inside if didn't  find affirmation and deep connection with his dad? This is what Satan does on a planet-wide scale. Why does he do it? Because he detests God and hates humanity with more passion that you or I have ever felt. He hated the image of God stamped into Adam and Eve. His only pleasure is further smashing and twisting the broken image of God that every human bears. Do you believe that this scenario really happens? We are all born into the kingdom of Satan and live under his deception, in bondage to false beliefs about ourselves, God and others.

Enter HOPE and RESCUE and POWER: Jesus Christ the Almighty God. Jesus Christ came to set the prisoners free! Jesus Christ used His infinite worth to pay the ultimate price. He bought us back from the curse of Satan and sin, purchasing the right to bring us into His kingdom. We are given citizenship in the Kingdom of God when we are brought by the Holy Spirit to see our own bankrupt state and depend entirely on Jesus Christ as Almighty-Savior. At this moment, we are justified and given a new, living identity as a child of Almighty God. We are given the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and is our personal trainer in how to live out our citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Through this process of sanctification, we begin to recognize and refute all of the lies we've believed and evict all of the evil influences that have furthered our captivity. We learn how to walk and live as free-born men and women of God, in the midst of a realm that used to demand our slavish allegiance.

This Kingdom-of-God truth is simply stated in the words of Jesus: 1. Go into all of the world. 2. Preach the good news. 3. Teach them to obey my commands. 4. You will cast out demons and heal sick people. 5. I am with you every step of the way.

For every child of God, these are our marching orders! 1. Go Live in the World. 2. Evangelize by teaching the good news. 3. Disciple by teaching them Jesus' truths and commands and how to apply them. 4. Bring freedom to citizens from both kingdoms by casting out demons and healing the sick. For believers, the freedom is enjoying eternal life now. For the unbeliever, it is a temporal taste of the goodness of God. 5. God decides when/where/how. He guides us through the Holy Spirit and pours His infinite power through us to give faith, salvation, repentance, healing, and freedom. He is our friend, protector and wisdom.

In this blog, I will not deal with helping unbelievers find freedom from Satan because their freedom is only temporary and will be quickly snapped back up. The only freedom an unbeliever can find is by coming to Jesus Christ to be changed from a rebel into a saint. The Holy Spirit must process the paperwork to change your citizenship from Satan's country into God's country.

Believers Have Authority and Power Because of Christ

Dealing with faux bullies. What makes bullying different from conflict is the power differential. The bully conjures up fake or real power, which makes the victim receptive to the attack. When the victim is bullied, he/she feels attacked emotionally and in his/her inner-most identity. (This is an oversimplification, but keep reading for how this applies to Satan and the believer.)

For Christians, Satan and his bullies wield fraudulent power. At the cross, Satan lost his right and power over every single citizen of the Kingdom of God. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. You used to be a slave to Satan but now you are a slave... a friend to Jesus. Your are now a documented child of the infinitely worthy and almighty God of the Universe and beyond! On your own merit and accomplishments? No, it's through the infinite merit and accomplishments of Jesus Christ that you have received this adoption, applied by the Holy Spirit through whom you call God the Father your Dad. When Jehovah is your Dad, you can no longer identify yourself in Christ as a pathetic sinner. You now have to live out the identity purchased for you by Jesus Christ. In humility towards God, man, and angels, we live out our identity. In confidence and strength, we boldly live as citizens of Heaven. 

As citizens of Jesus' kingdom, we have the rights and powers that come from Christ. We can rebuke demons, heal the sick, and lead people down the pathway of internal healing from abuse, past experiences, and possession. Christ delivers us from Hell and eternal death, AND He delivers us from the bondage and terror of evil spirits. As we realize and apply this reality to our daily lives, we will live free.

We are not contemptuous or careless of demons. No! It is only through out relationship and identity with Christ that they are to be fought and dismissed. When Jesus dealt with the Devil after fasting for 40 days, He was firm, brave, truthful, respectful, and He knew His position and life's work as God the Son. When Jesus went to do battle with Satan in the garden, He knew His position of righteousness before God. He said that Satan was coming but that Satan had nothing in Him. Jesus was perfectly holy. Satan had no power over him. The believer walks in Jesus' example. In Christ, we are sons and daughters of God. In Christ, we are righteous and Satan has no rights over us because of our sin. He accuses us but is shut down by Christ's life and blood imputed to us. Whether we're doing battle or being attacked, we walk in the authority and example of Christ. The Devil is like a roaring lion looking for a victim. Resist him and he will run away from you. 

Tips for the Battle!
1. Know Christ and Your Identity: Your confidence is in Christ! He is your authority and the authority by which you speak and work. You are part of His body and even the gates of Hell can't resist His will.

2. Clean Your House: If you leave a window of habitual sin open, you will be open for attack. You can't serve God and idols, so don't keep a favorite idol tucked away for later.

3. Clean Your Mind: You've been converted. Now, you have to convert your mind, by evaluating your thoughts, presuppositions, prejudices, and philosophies. All of the resident unclean language, images, experiences, movies, photos, jokes, and fantasies now have to be rounded up, confessed, repented of and given to Jesus. As new thoughts are put into your mind, evaluate and evict the ones that aren't truthful or pure. "Take every thought captive and give it to Jesus!" Replace those thoughts with truthful, pure thoughts.

4. Use Your Weapons: Know what the Bible says about you, Christ, and your identity. Believe it! Spend the time to learn what God says about major moral issues that you deal with. Pray all of the time. Keep a close check on your will, attitude, and pay attention to the spiritual details in your day.  Bible/Church/Prayer/Worship 

5. Be About Your Dad's Business: Jesus spent His time on-mission for His Father. It was what He was about! What are you about? 

6. Always act in the authority of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit: Demons can't hear your thoughts, so you need to speak: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you and all evil spirits to leave this person and this place. Go now." Don't act out of fear or anger. Simply, calmly use the authority you have in Christ.

7. Christ is King and Victorious: Focus on Him and His agenda. Don't let yourself be distracted or worried about spirits. Deal with them as the come, but remember that we are usually on the offensive. We are always taking the Kingdom of God into the lands of darkness.

Summary:
Which kingdom are you a citizen of? Do you deal with extreme emotions, negative thoughts, perverted ideas, voices, self-destructive or others-destructive thoughts? Whatever your experiences, the answer is the same. Don't give any place for Satan in your head, heart, or personal life. Instead, focus on knowing and living your Christ-dentity. Take authority and don't allow any demons influence your emotions, mind, or life. Be about your Father's business!​

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Follow-up Notes
Know a Little About Your Enemy
In some places the spiritual darkness is tangible. You can feel it and you see the effects. In other places, spiritual darkness masks itself in religion, pride, and humanism, yet you can see it's effects in addictions, broken families and uncontrolled emotions such as anger, sexual abuse, depression, futility, and broken identities. Satan's army changes tactics and plays from a hidden position, or bullies and hurts from a visible position of terror. Satanic spirits can cause sicknesses, mental illnesses, irrational emotions, and uncontrolled bitterness. Depending on the person and the circumstances, these evil spirits can physically inhabit and physically interact with people, causing terrible havoc in these people. One last thing to note, is that an individual can open him up to demonic bondage or it can happen to him through childhood experiences that he had no control over.

Your Wife and Children
The husband and parents are a protective covering for the children, I believe. We build a hedge around our family by doing regular worship, prayer, and Bible study together. We build internal strength in our children by training them to control their emotions, obey the first time, and how to apply God's truth. I also believe that using Biblical discipline with a child who is hard-hearted or uncontrolled with emotions will help to protect him/her from Satanic attacks.

If the husband or wife is engaged in unrepentant sin, this will open a door for the whole family to be affected by spiritual attacks. If dad loses his temper or has uncontrolled emotions, it can become open season on your children's emotions. Also, if your children are watching Satanic movies and horror films, this can open up a wide door for evil attacks on the mind and emotions. 

Worship
If you are having a serious issue in your house, invite some friends over and spend a few hours worshiping.

Habitual Sins, Immoral Sex and Drugs
All of these put a welcome sign out for passing demons to drop by and infect us. The trouble with these sins is that they can become a generational stronghold and be passed on to your grandchildren. For the Christian, these must be cut off completely.

Get Help
You might be tempted to be embarrassed or timid about telling other believers about struggles you might have. Being a Christian isn't being a one-man army. The people of God unite to fight. (Contact me and I'll help point you in the right direction.)

More Truth
Read all of the Scriptures on your identity in Christ and all of the Scriptures about spiritual warfare. What did Jesus do? What did the 70 do? How about Paul's epistles? Read Bondage Breaker and Victory over the Darkness by Neil Anderson. 

The Fight
What's your perspective? Are you a commando for Christ or are you a victim? Will you be bullied or allow your family to be bullied by evil spirits? 

Galatians 5:22-23
If you practice these, demonic powers will have less access to bother you.
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