Spiritual Warfare

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

This is a very broad topic, and my understanding of it just hits the tip of the iceberg. Actually, my understanding of it probably hits the frost on the tip of the iceberg…or maybe even the foam coming off the frost on the tip of the iceberg. You catch my drift.

That being said, there are some things I DO know and I know these things simply because God said them in His Word and if He said it, then I believe it. No doubting, no second-guessing, no questions asked.

Here are three things that I believe every Bible-believing Christian needs to STOP or START doing to truly walk in the freedom that Jesus died for us to have.

1) STOP AGREEING WITH THE DEVIL.

Have you ever heard yourself saying something along these lines: “I’ve been struggling with anxiety my whole life and it’s just something I will have to deal with until I get to heaven.” Or “Satan’s just really got a hold over me in this area of depression.” Or maybe what you do is allow yourself to be consumed with worry, fear, and shame. What are we doing when we say this? What message are we sending to the spiritual realm when we not only BELIEVE these things, but SPEAK them into existence? Essentially what we are doing is giving Satan the PERMISSION to continue tormenting us. We need to stop meditating on the lies of the devil, and start believing the truths of the scripture. You can start with not just reading, but BELIEVING the following verses:

GENERAL:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. –Philippians 4:8

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. –John 8:36

WORRY:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

SHAME:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. –Psalm 51:7

FEAR:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. –John 14:27

2) STOP BEING TIMID

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7

Imagine little Johnny, a 6^th grader on the playground at recess, is being bullied by an older, bigger kid named Gus. Gus tells Johnny to do his homework, and Johnny does not enjoy his evening, instead he spends it doing something he was never meant to do. Why does Gus tell Johnny what to do? Is it really about the homework? No, it’s about the control Gus has over Johnny’s mind.

Now, any adult’s advice would be to stand up to the bully. With this advice, Johnny has two choices: 1) Refuse to believe that this advice will help, or 2) Come in the next day with no homework, but with authority to tell Gus to back off.

If choosing option 2, Johnny might get punched out. And maybe the next day he’ll get beaten up again. And maybe even the next day. But Gus will inevitably lose interest in Johnny. Why is that? Because no matter how many times Johnny goes down physically, he does not back down mentally or emotionally. He no longer has control over Johnny’s mind. The fun for Gus is gone, so he goes and finds someone else to control.

I’m sure in reading this you already made the connection between Gus/Johnny and Satan/Christian. It’s funny how we can give this advice to children, and not believe it ourselves. Satan is out for control of our mind, and as soon as we “get mean” with the demon who is trying to torment us, he will eventually give up and look for someone else to devour.

3) KNOW YOUR SCRIPTURE AND WEAR YOUR ARMOR.

If you read Matthew 4:1-11, Satan tempts Jesus. In every circumstance, Jesus had a Scripture reference to “fight back” with. Here are three things Jesus didn’t do when being tormented by Satan:

1) Jesus didn’t tell Satan to “hold on one second” as He flipped through His Bible to find the appropriate verse. It’s so important for us to know the Word because when we are in the moment of sinful temptation, we are in a weak, vulnerable place, and it’s so much harder for us to get the energy to find a fitting Bible verse in that situation. If you are in a fight, you cannot tell the opponent to “hold on one second” as you grab your sword without getting struck down in the process.

2) Jesus wasn’t timid and He fully believed what He said in His responses to Satan. In Matthew 4:10, when Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan!” I can’t imagine Jesus requesting that timidly, or with a soft voice, or in disbelief that He could do anything about Satan. I imagine Jesus taking FULL authority.

Could you imagine being a teacher, and timidly asking your class of 4^th grade students “Um..settle down. Please settle down.” And when that doesn’t work, calling the principal and pleading, “Please, make the students settle down.”

Why in the world would there be anything but chaos? The students don’t believe the teacher has authority, the teacher doesn’t believe he has authority, and the principal is not about to do the teacher’s job and take authority.

We need to see ourselves as school teachers. We need to be in charge. We need to take control. We need to “get mean” with this spirit of torment and we need to STOP tolerating it.

3) Jesus didn’t merely think His responses in His mind or simply believe His responses, He spoke them out loud. He made sure Satan heard Him.

I once heard Beth Moore say, “the devil can’t hear what’s in your mind, but he’s forced to hear what comes out of your mouth.” This quote resonated with me for a very important, valid reason: there is so much POWER in our words and what we do with them actually affects the spiritual realm.

Proverbs 18:21 says: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

There is nothing wrong with believing the truth that you have complete freedom and authority through Jesus. And there’s also nothing wrong with constantly thinking about it (Philippians 4:8). But when we are being tormented, there is so much importance in actually saying Scripture out loud and using it to fight off the evil one.

Take a second to read the Scripture on the Armor of God:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Notice how the belt, the breastplate, the shield, and the helmet are all things one would wear to protect himself, but a sword is something used to fight someone off? There is so much power in scripture, and we must use this scripture as a sword and AUDIBLY REMIND SATAN what is true each time he tries to attack our minds.

Let’s also remember that unlike God, Satan and his demons are not omnipresent. In the grand scheme of things, they are NOTHING when they come up against the power of the almighty God. So what you need to do is completely CHANGE YOUR FRAME OF MIND. You were not meant to live in timidity and shame, so keep SPEAKING TRUTH. Keep BELIEVING the authority you have in Christ. And keep FIGHTING. You already have the victory, now walk in it. And trust me, Satan will stop wasting his time on you. After all…he doesn’t have much of it left.

God's Funny and Mysterious Ways...

So, yesterday I was taking a stroll through the park. My heart has not been right, and I needed to get out near nature and just take time with God and pray. As I was walking around the lake, a song popped into my head; a Christian song from back in the 90s. It goes something along the lines of "I choose You as Lord of my life..." but for the life of me, I couldn't remember how the next line went. Minutes went by, and the line was still repeating in my head over and over again, which is absolutely maddening when you have a song stuck in your head but you only know one line! Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I sat on a bench and whipped out my iPhone because I had to know what this next line was. So, I Googled the lyrics and couldn't seem to find the song, but the key words in the lyrics brought me to an ebook that caught my eye. The author was writing about an experience she had where a man she was interested in had asked her out on a date. The author immediately went to God in prayer and wanted nothing but His will in the situation. Once in the relationship, she set boundaries for her temptations because of her love for God. Her primary focus was to live for God, even at the detriment of her own hopes, desires, and dreams.

As I was reading, this woman's love for God both challenged and convicted me and I suddenly realized that I do not have that measure of love for the Lord like this woman did. Her desire was more for the Lord than marriage or a relationship, and though it stung, I realized that my desire is more for a marriage or relationship than for the Lord. What a heart change I had yesterday!

Of course, after reading that small excerpt from the ebook for about five or ten minutes, I still didn't know the correct lyrics, but the song was no longer stuck in my head. God was using a song that had nothing to do with singleness or relationships to bring me to a book that challenged my view on singleness and relationships.  And now that I have finally Googled the correct lyrics, how fitting they are!

I choose You as Lord of my life
Be Lord of my days
Be Lord of my nights
I trust in You to meet my needs
I'm choosing You who first chose me 

It's No Fun to Bless Someone Who Feels Entitled

A couple years ago, my church and I went to Atlantic City to bless the people who had been affected by Hurricane Sandy. We got together that morning and spent a couple hours putting together sandwiches and care packages for anyone we could find who could use them. It was a great feeling, and I couldn't wait to hand them out and just be a blessing to people.

When we got there, there were a number of people were grateful, and it blessed me. But there were also a lot of people who felt entitled and greedy; people who tried to usurp the whole supply of care packages, people who demanded we give them the packages, and people who walked away without saying thank you. It was a great reminder to me that I wasn't doing this for my own accolades, but to glorify God and show His love.

Though it was a learning experience for me, that's not the point of this article I am writing. God revealed something to me about gratitude. He reminded me that I found little enjoyment in blessing people with something they felt they already deserved that day in Atlantic City, and then He gently asked me to put myself in His shoes. I'll admit I'm constantly asking God for things out of my own selfishness, and often I get mad when I don't get them. "Why do other people get a house, a family, a six figure salary? Why do they get these things, and I don't have them, God?" Yes, I have a sense of entitlement as well. I feel as if I am owed these things, that I deserve these things, I often demand these things, and if I don't get these things, I am bitter. If I do get these things, I probably won't even say thank you or appreciate that God did something for me that He didn't have to. That's no fun for God!

May we always remember to be thankful every day for our blessings. Not only because it will give us great peace, but it will also bring Him great joy!

Miley Cyrus: Reaction

Originally when I saw the music video for Miley Cyrus' new song, We Can't Stop, my jaw dropped. Immediately, I was angry. Miley Cyrus is perhaps one of, if not the biggest influence in our generation's girls and young women. I decided that she has a responsibility to these girls to be a positive example in their lives and I basically came to the conclusion that she was officially the worst role model in Hollywood today.

And then I saw her VMA performance.

Anyone who saw the performance knows it was no better than her music video; perhaps even worse, but something struck me. I saw her as God sees her. When I watched the performance again, I felt compassion on her. Yes, I saw someone who is lost. Someone who has perhaps been hurt and negatively influenced by an entire childhood in the corrupted music industry.

But I also saw God's child. I saw an opportunity to pray for her. I saw someone who can be radically changed by the power of the Holy Spirit at any given time. I saw someone who, like every single one of us, desperately needs the grace of God. Someone who was fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the heavens and earth. I saw someone that Jesus died for.

May we never forget to love the wounded.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. -1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Yearn - By Shane&Shane

Holy design
This place in time
That I might seek and find my God
My God


Lord, I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I wanna yearn


Your joy is mine
Yet why am I fine
With all my singing and bringing grain
In light of Him?


I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You


Oh You give life and breath
In You we live and move
That's why I sing


Lord, I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I wanna yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion
Over You and only You
Lord, I wanna yearn

I Dare You

When I was a little girl, I remember getting bullied. I remember being called names that at that time, I didn't even know existed, and every day getting insulted about my weight.  I remember choosing to stay after school until 4:30 every day, so that I could take the late bus because according to the other kids, I was not allowed my seat on the regular bus. I remember getting physically sick every Sunday evening, with the knowledge of the horror I had to deal with for the week coming up. I remember getting things thrown at me, sitting by myself at lunch, and even being hated by teachers. I could never stick up for myself at that time, so instead I just swallowed it all. 

dare

   [dair]  Show IPA verb, dared or ( Archaic ) durst;dared; daring; present singular 3rd person dares or dare,noun

1.

to have the necessary courage or boldness for something; be bold enough

What if just one child at my school DARED to have the courage and boldness to take a risk and do the opposite of what everyone else was doing?


Friends, before I go any further here, I need you to know that this post was not so that you'd feel bad for me. I harbor nothing and am healed by God's grace. What hurts me is that many people are not yet at that point.


I just watched a video that broke my heart. I just watched a video of a 68-year-old woman who is a school bus monitor, who had to deal with being verbally harassed and insulted for an entire 10 minute video. (I could only stomach about 5 minutes of it.) They called her names that no human being should ever have to hear. They pained her to the point of tears. It brought back awful memories.


It reminded me that this is just a small instance of the pain that exists in this fallen world.


I dare you this week to do something remarkable.


Not something for your own benefit. 


I dare you this week to take one opportunity and do the exact opposite of what others are doing, or might be normal, acceptable, or even justified to you or to others.


I dare you to bless someone. 

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. -2 Timothy 1:7 

I dare you to make a difference.


And once you've done that, at the end of the day I dare you give all of the glory only to the Lord.


I dare you this week, to be extraordinary.

In Christ Alone

I'm going to post the lyrics to the song In Christ Alone. Many people know it, but it's so easy to simply hear a song instead of really listening with your heart. Please take a moment to read the rich lyrics below, but read them keeping in mind that the words below are TRUE, they are REAL, and if you are a Christian, they apply deeply to your life.


In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm


What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand


In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save


Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live


There on the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again


And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ


No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny


No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand