---FIGHT!!! (written by Markus Johnson)
A few nights ago I was physically attacked by the enemy and I know that when it gets that serious, you've stepped behind enemy lines in the spirit. Before I describe the attack, I want to express my most urgent cry to the body of Christ to arm themselves for war.
Ephesians 6:11-18 AMPLIFIED
Put on God's whole armor {the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies}, that you may be able successfully to stand up against {all} the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
12For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
13Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
14Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,
15And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the [a]firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness [b]produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.(A)
16Lift up over all the [covering] shield of [c]saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit [d]wields, which is the Word of God.
18Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).
The Word of God is very clear. We are at war.
One thing about fighting in the army of the Lord is that we cannot fight on the Lord's side against evil and then partake in the evil that we fight against. You will get hurt. It's dangerous.
2 Corinthians 2:11 AMPLIFIED
1To keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions
2 Corinthians 2:11 New King James
lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
The scriptures let us know that we aren't ignorant of what the enemy has up his sleeves to attack us. We must be be prepared and even though we are aware of his devices it does not mean that he will not attack. That's his method of operation and agenda.
It's very important that we stand and stand always in this fight. It's very easy to become lazy and passive but before you know it, you've taken off your armor and you've put down your sword and shield and have become a reserved soldier. God doesn't have an Army Reserves Division.
If we're an army then it's important that we all are fighting. Every soldier is responsible for those who fight along side of him/her. This will explain why we feel the heavy weight in the spirit because we feel like we're fighting alone in the battle. The Word of God declares in Leviticus 26:8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
No one fights alone.
The enemy has turned up the pressure and I would go as far saying that if you're not being harassed by the enemy then you might want to check out your commitment level to Christ. If you're not praying and doing battle in the Spirit, you most likely aren't engaging in real spiritual warfare. I Thessalonians 5:17
says to Pray without ceasing. The real fight takes place on our knees first and when we get up off of our knees the fight continues but we get our instructions on how to war in the spirit while we are on our knees.
I believe that the enemy isn't giving up anything without a fight. Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force.
When we begin to engage in spiritual warfare, we must be prepared for Satan's retaliation. All of his attacks are fear based. Based upon I John 4:18, we do not live in fear because God's perfected love in us casts out all fear. Satan, on the other hand works in the opposite. So as we established earlier, we are not ignorant of his devices and we understand now that those devices are all fear based and the motivation behind all of his attacks. If we know this, then we ought not be afraid. When we fight, we go in the name of the Lord of hosts. Just as David confronted Goliath, not in his own strength or his own name but in the name of the Lord of hosts, we too are to go in the name and power of the Lord.
This past Sunday, I was in prayer and felt led to pray for God's people everywhere in the area of stubborn situations that they are up against. I wasn't praying based upon a minor request but for that one thing that stands in your path and won't move. Maybe it's been there for months or even years and no matter how much you pray it still resists to move. When this happens, we have to join forces with other believers who know how to intercede and bombard Heaven on our behalf.
I don't know why but I felt led to really go deep and pray for people who are dealing with tough situations in their family, their church, their finances and so on. It's like, if that one thing would get out of the way, other things will fall into place so that you can do other things that God has laid upon your heart to do to advance the Kingdom.
Later in the prayer, I began to pray for myself and my ministry and some things that I needed God to do for me to advance in the Kingdom. There's a project that I've been working on for something huge and it's taken months for me to do something so small that would bring in great finances but the enemy isn't going to allow any of us to move forward without some kind of resistance.
Well, Sunday night I was finishing up on the project and submitted it for viewing and got a quick response that was positive. I was excited and felt like celebrating. I didn't have a full answer but the feedback that I had received was good enough for me to begin celebrating.
Later that night, two friends of mine were over at my house and we had dinner and were watching a favorite tv show. I started feeling strange physically to the point where I felt sort of dizzy, my head felt numb and I thought, well I better just lay down in another room but that didn't help. I went to get some water for my face because I felt hot and tried laying down again and nothing subsided so I called the guys into the room where I was and we began to pray. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest and I had thoughts of death coming to my mind and could hear in my head, this is it, you're about to go. Right then, my spirit rose up within me and I got up and started walking the floor and praying in the Spirit and pleading the blood. This went on for a good 20 minutes or so until things subsided. Even the next day I could feel the residue from whatever this attack was so I continued to step it up in prayer.
I believe that what happened was a result of what was covered in the Spirit while praying for the needs of others earlier that day. The enemy was intimidated and retaliated.
It's not the lay me down to sleep little prayers that are going to get us anywhere and I don't mean to sound like our prayers are weighed because the bible tells us in James 5:16
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
God knows our heart and sometimes the effectual and fervent prayer is simply saying the name of JESUS. It's the authority that we possess in his name that brings change. It's not how loud you say his name or even how loud you are when you pray but I will say this, when you know what you're up against and if it gets bad enough, you'll holler loud enough to wake up your neighborhood. There are even instances in scripture where the people of God lifted up their voice and cried loudly. I believe that there is something to the lifting up of our voice in prayer. God's not deaf but it's funny how we holler louder when the team on the court or field isn't doing so hot because we believe that they need to hear our voice of encouragement. Well what about in prayer. It's not that we are fighting alone but it's our God who ultimately fights for us. We must give Him our voice in prayer and in the Spirit so that He can go to war for us in the Heavenly realm. It's the spiritual law that we pray...Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Sounds like God needs permission from us. How is this done? With our tongue yielded in prayer and in the Spirit.
I have to be honest, this attack has awakened my spirit and alerted me to some things. I realize that I've shaken up the enemy's camp but I will continue to do so. I literally have felt like pulling out my keyboard and doing some damage to his kingdom and notice I spelled that with a lower case (k). It's time that we pick up our weapons of mass destruction and fight. If we really want victory, then we'll get on our knees and pray.
You might ask, "I thought that Jesus defeated the enemy. So why are we fighting for victory?" We've been given the victory through Jesus Christ and that is correct but just ask yourself, How many times have you allowed the enemy to recover ground from you? How many people do you know are participating in things that support the enemy's agenda? We are fighting because we have to take back what the enemy has stolen from us. Jesus took back everything from Satan and gave all dominion and power to us but we are losing that authority and power when we partake in things that support the enemy's agenda. When we won't pray and get in the Word and advance the Kingdom of God.
Satan has no power but when you see him at work just know, that's a result of a child of God that failed to do their part in the Kingdom. There's nothing in between or fine print. Either Jesus defeated him on the cross for once and for all or he just hurt Satan a little bit so that he would leave us alone for a little while. NO!! Jesus said that it was finished and hung his head. THAT IS OUR STATEMENT OF VICTORY!! THE FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS. PURCHASED, PAID FOR AND SEALED.
So I urge you soldier of the cross, pick up your weapon and fight. Maybe everything is peachy for you and in these times, I don't see how but hey just like the weather, you better be preparing yourself for the next storm because believe me, another one is coming. That's not a message of gloom and doom; that is the nature of of our warfare. II Corinthians 10:4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
FIGHT!!!! ---
Be encouraged!!!
-In Christ,
Nathan Noel
No comments:
Post a Comment