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Engage the Battle

Spiritual warfare has in recent years been controversial.  It can get confusing.  Some say we should do warfare and some say not to.  The best thing to do is look at the life of Jesus and piece together His example.

JESUS IS WATER BAPTIZED

Jesus is baptized by John.  When He comes up out of the water two things happen.

Matthew 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

  1. Heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him
  2. The Father spoke from heaven.

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and His Father confirmed His identity.

MOVE FORWARD INTO THE WILDERNESS OF TEMPTATION

The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  He fasted 40 days and nights. He was hungry.  Not only was He hungry, but He was tempted by the devil during that time.

We are told about three of the temptations.  I find two particularly interesting.  The devil starts the temptation with, “If you are the son of God…”

He tempted Jesus by first challenging His identity as the son of God.  The temptation was crafted to cause Jesus to proudly defend His sonship.  Jesus passed the temptation.  He overcame the frontal attack two ways.

  1. He spoke the truth of the Word of God
  2. He gave direct rebuke/commands to the devil

YOU ARE GOING TO WAR THE SAME WAY 

A lot of what comes after you will focus on your identity.  Why?  Because you are a son of God and you carry authority in the earth in Jesus name.  The last thing the devil wants you to understand is who you are and what you are authorized to do.  Still there is more to this warfare than temptation alone.

There are other places in the New Testament where we see Jesus:

  1. He directly cast the demons out of people
  2. He directly rebuked the devil who incited Peter, His own disciple to unbelief
  3. He continued to speak the truth to his enemies
  4. He moved territorial spirits…the demons of the Gadarene knew this and begged to not be sent out of the area. He allowed them to stay

JESUS TAUGHT THE DISCIPLES ABOUT THE FUTURE CHURCH (THAT’S US)

Jesus had brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  It was the place that housed the temple of Pan.  It was rumored to be the gate or portal into hell.  After arriving in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked them who the people were saying He was.  They answered several things, but then He asked them who THEY said He is.  Peter answers correctly with “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus commends him on this and tells Peter that the revelation is not of man but God has revealed this to him.  Then he says something monumental to the future of those who believe revelation of Jesus to be true.

Matthew 16:18-19 (NKJV)
18  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus, in the place of the gate/portal of hell, tells them that His Church would be built on the revelation of who Jesus is and the very authorities of hell would not be able to overcome Her.

THEN HE GIVES MORE INSIGHT TO THE WARFARE THE CHURCH WOULD DO IN THE EARTH

  1. What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven
  2. What you loose on earth will be loosed heaven

The translation is a little awkward in the perfect tense but you could translate it this way.

“Whatever you permit on earth will have already been permitted in heaven.”

“Whatever you do not permit on earth will have already not been permitted in heaven.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 

The Church, that’s us, was going to be empowered with authority to enforce what had been purchased by the Blood.  Whatever the church refused to let manifest…heaven would back her.  The sacrifice of Jesus stopped a lot of things and purchased a lot of good things as well.  The Church would not be a headless body.   Jesus is the head of the body of Christ.  We do what we see Him do.

CAN YOU SEE THE VICTORY WE ARE BRINGING IN JESUS NAME TO THE WORLD?

1 John 4:17 (NKJV)
17  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Seems like a tall order.  Especially when we don’t see the “Church” as being powerful.  But she is supposed to be powerful.  She was never meant to be a sniveling victim.  Even when problems break out against her.  This doesn’t mean she is without trouble.  NO!  Trouble comes, but she overcomes.

DID JESUS GIVE US ANY OTHER CLUES HOW TO WAR? 

Yes, He did!

Luke 11:20-22 (NKJV)
20  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

Jesus in the context of casting out demons refers to something called a strong man.  This is a reference to the devil and his demons.  Jesus is the stronger than “he”, the devil.  He has overcome the devil and has passed the authority the Father gave Him to us, the church.

Therefore, we are not fighting a new battle.  We are enforcing the victory of Jesus in the earth.  The devil is called the prince of the power of the air, still functioning in the earth but he is technically defeated towards the people of God.  We have Jesus authority to “take” the strongman’s goods.  We bind the devil and take what he is exploiting.  That may be people, cities, or nations.

BUT LET’S START YOU ON WARFARE OVER YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY

Don’t hop in and try to overcome the darkness in nations when your life and your own home is in jeopardy.  Let’s begin at home first.   This will get you started.

  1. Fortify your life in prayer…speak the Word over yourself and family.  This is part of your warfare you need to do for a while
  2. Submit/align your life to that Word of God you are speaking
  3. Resist – Resistance is not just a defensive position. It is defined in the on-line dictionary as being in opposition. That is an offensive place where you are taking territory, not just defending it.

THIS IS A BIBLICAL WAY TO COOPERATE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BRING FREEDOM TO YOURSELF, FAMILY, CHURCH, OR CITY

James 4:7 (NKJV)
7  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

ARE THERE SPIRITS THAT STILL CAUSE PROBLEMS AND CONFUSION?

Absolutely!  You may recognize a couple of these I will mention.

  • Spirit of fear
  • Perverse spirit
  • Jealous spirit
  • Spirit of heaviness (has depression)
  • Infirmed spirit
  • Spirit of divination

I HAVE A LIST OF THE SPIRITS THAT ARE LISTED IN SCRIPTURE

It is free for you to download.  It is called Strongman: Engage the Battle.  I have it available in Spanish as well.

HOW TO USE THIS TOOL…

You will see the different spirits listed that are in the Bible.  There will be characteristics of each spirit listed underneath their names.

  1. Bind the spirit

Such as, I bind you spirit of fear from my life and my mind.  I resist you in Jesus name.

You can do this over your family and eventually get with some others to pray and pray it over your church. (after you pray the Word of God over your church a while to fortify it)  There are some video prayer meetings on this site that will show you how to fortify your life and church then war.

  1. Loose the God Word over your life.

Such as, if you bind a spirit of fear, you loose the Love of God because according to the Bible, perfect love casts out fear.  If it is a perverse spirit then purity from the Lord would be what you loose.  Simple!

ENGAGE THE BATTLE

You are not in this alone.  The Holy Spirit is with you to help you.  He will guide you into the revelation of God’s Word.  The battle is real and happens whether you know it or not.  You might as well be equipped and win!  Hello Warrior!!!

Blessings,

lisa

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© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2019

 

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The Porch Pirate

In Texas, we have companies that deliver goods directly to your door.  I have to admit, it has been a revolution for me.  My life is busy and it is easier to order on line and have it show up at my door for a price I am satisfied with.  So I have learned to enjoy this amenity.

The one major drawback to having packages left at your door is what we call “porch pirates”.  They sneak around and take your packages before you can retrieve them.  I am happy to say that people taking our packages hasn’t been a problem for us, but living rural in a city began presenting another problem.

It started when I ordered some treats for my dogs.  The package arrived and by the time I was home to get it, it was torn up and much of the dog jerky was gone and the rest was scattered over the porch.

The next box was an expensive chocolate that I can eat on the diet I’m on.  It is individually wrapped and inside sealed packages.  To ship it they wrap it in cold packs and seal that off as well as packing it to ship and boxing it.  When I got home to get my box off the porch.  The box was open.  There were chocolate wrappers that were torn open, but not with teeth. It looked like someone had opened the little hard to open packages, like I would.  I was puzzled.  The porch pirate had struck again.

Our supplements were opened.  Other packages opened.  For a while, it was a mystery.

THEN ONE DAY I SAW THIS!

Porch Pirate
Teenager raccoon runs across porch.

My porch pirate is a teenager raccoon!

AS I WAS CONTEMPLATING THIS

Spiritual things always come to my mind. I’m just wired that way. I began to think about how even though I had already paid for what was in those boxes, something was stealing it. I felt violated. Especially over my chocolate! Then it occurred to me.

JESUS HAS PAID FOR MANY THINGS FOR US

1 John 3:8b (NKJV)
8 … For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus paid for our deliverance from dark demons. He bought our ability to live in health. He has delivered it to us. Yet something keeps taking it off the “porch”. I paid for that chocolate, but something else ate it. Jesus paid for what you need, but something else will try to stop you from receiving it.

WHAT DO I DO WITH A PORCH PIRATE?

Well, I don’t have the heart to kill the raccoon. I realize he is looking for a food source. I just have to beat him to my package. I’m getting better at it.

THE DEVIL IS LIKE A PORCH PIRATE

The devil is the one who is a thief. I have to beat him to it. That means I have to be pro-active to look inside God’s word and discover what has been given to me. Then I must refuse to let the devil have it. I have to “armor up”.

Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

WHAT HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM YOU?

Can you get it back? If it is to be retrieved this is the way to do it. Go into God’s Word and see what He has promised you. Putting that Word on your lips (saying it) helps keep the devil, who behaves like a porch pirate, from robbing you blind. The whole armor of God is made up of the Word of God. Put your foot down! Let something rise inside. You are a majority with God as your helper. Take it back!

lisa

© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2018