Understanding the Battlefield

(Ephesians 6:11-12) “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

 

“We have enemies to fight against, a captain to fight for, a banner to fight under, and certain rules of war by which we are to govern ourselves. “Finally, my brethren (Eph_6:10), it yet remains that you apply yourselves to your work and duty as Christian soldiers.”” (Matthew Henry)

 

Have you ever consider who you talk to the most on any given day? Your reflex answer may be, my spouse, children and the like, but it is obvious we speak to ourselves more than anyone else. I am constantly engaging my brain about my standing before a holy God and it is in the mind where the battle is won or lost. But what chance do we have if we do not understand the battlefield? We will always be like water tossed to and fro by every thought and vain imagination that creeps up on us. This is where Satan attacks, just source enough doubt in one’s mind and his job is done. See Eve’s encounter in Genesis. It caused so much havoc that sin found life for the very first time in our world. Far more deadly than the Corona virus. What chance do those have who do not understand the battlefield? Zero! But by the grace of God here the Christian stands. I am constantly reminded not to be conceited regarding salvation and how it happened. It’s always the goodness of God that leads an individual to repentance. Why one and not another? God knows!

 

All the same, we must be prudent concerning the battlefield. Paul makes it very clear, that there is a war in the spiritual realm, an unseen realm that is as real as the crackle coming from my fire. We must not overlook the unseen enemy, their objective is to get us to fail. They have been commissioned by their king, Satan! He has ordered them to challenge daily living with an overarching objective to target the Christian and get them to curse God, so that they may die eternally. See Job chapter 2… Some of us may have witnessed demonic possession, that’s when a spirit enters a body and takes control. It is an undeniable event that is impossible to denounce. However, all of us have be subjugated to demonic oppression. Simply put, acting out against the will of God at any given time. It is often because we have been influenced by the scheme of the devils influence. How does it all work? He entices us with our weakness, that nagging thorn in our flesh that we find takes up most of our deliberation. If we are not yielding to it we are fighting to find grace to keep it at bay.

 

At this time, let me right another wrong that so many perceive to be the truth. Can a Christian be demon possessed? NO! Can a Christian be subdued (influenced) by a demon? YES! Here are two great example to illustrate my findings. Judas Iscariot walked amongst the disciples, he acted as one of them, but a time came when he was demon possessed, up until then he was full of trickery within the circle, he controlled the money bag and only ever swayed externally by evil forces and his own carnal lusts, see James 1 and 1John 2. I wonder how much talking Judas did with himself, concerning his actions? Then it happened, “Satan entered him”, took control of his actions; “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.” (Luke 22:3)

– Here we can clearly see that Satan entered Judas and the next verse tells us of how he then went away looking to betray Jesus. An immediate fruit of possession, by intention he look to betray Jesus. Peter also gives us some insight to being influence by the devil. This speaks of oppression and not possession and yet they both have the same intent, to thwart the plans of God.

“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””  (Matthew 16:21-23) 

– Peter obviously believe he was acting to protect Christ from harm. Instantaneously the Lord turns to him pulling no punches as he automatically recognizes Satan’s influence over Peter. And addresses him as Satan, wow what a blow that must have been to Peter. I can only imagine what he had to deal with emotionally. But he obviously got through it, no differently to how we need to get through the challenges and influence that evil forces have over us. This is oppression and not possession. Churches that are constantly cursing out demons from believers have understood very little. A Christian’s body houses the Spirit of God, do you believe HE would allow the enemy to possess HIS abode? Does God allow Satan to sit on His throne? Although it is obvious that is what he wants, but it will never happen! So too, a demon will never possess a Christians body. Not to say their resolve may not be to try. They have and will continue to cause havoc wherever a door is left slightly ajar.

 

What are we to do? We need to stand believing in the finished work of our beloved Saviour and then take up the whole armour of God if we are to overcome, Dressing for battle is a fortitude of faith, which feeds our hope. One day very soon, we will see our King reigning over all, where every knee will bow to Him and confess Him as Lord. How I long for that day, even so come quickly LORD JESUS.

 

 

“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

 

 

Signing off

 

 

Tyrone

The Enemies Tactics 3

 

The greatest weapon that the devil wields is the ability to get people to believe his lies as truth. And my beloved it doesn’t take much for us to chomp that baited hook, all he really needs is something that is close to home, an itch that needs to be scratched. It could be our religious upbringing, traditionally a no-go zone when it comes to our reasoning. Tell a catholic not to worship saints and see their reaction. Sainthood isn’t linked to our carnality although we must learn to walk in the Spirit and it will obviously affect the way we live our lives, however, our flesh has been tainted by sin and therefore a blemished vessel can never be used as a vessel of honour and this is why we need a new beginning, we need to be born of the Spirit, we need to be "born again". We are not reborn, or reinvented, we do not repair our chinked armour, whilst revisiting of our childhood handicapped lifestyle. Or the shrinks psychobabble that is spoken into people’s lives, if it helps, is will only ever help you manage your sin. It’s wicked because it allows you to live with sin as if there is no offence towards God, nullifying the work of the cross in your mind over a particular issue.

 

The beauty of salvation is the past is forgiven and forgotten, it’s a brand new beginning. But we must understand our sin and the part we played in it before we will ever find forgiveness. The way this happens is to be covered by the blood of the Lamb, we need the Lords sacrifice, which we receive through repentance and confession. Just like the thief on the cross we need to acknowledge our sin, whilst looking for no wiggle room because of it, accusing others while looking to excuse ourselves, “we aren’t so bad”. It’s this type of mind-set that that is prone to entrapment. In your own time have a look at the two thieves on the cross and see the different responses they had towards the Lord Jesus and then look at HIS response. See Luke 23; 39… Are you amongst the Christians that are always looking for goodies from the Lord? Or do we understand, at least in part what the Lord has saved us from, ourselves and our sinful natures. We must learn to “put on the mind of Christ” all that simply means is to we must learn to be about our Fathers will and not our carnal wants as we learn to suffer whilst bringing Him glory. It’s through suffering that we learn to walk in obedience and rely on the finished work of the cross. Satan despises this type of mind-set and looks for any opportunity to thwart your progress. The prosperity gospel, he is behind it, even though it is preached in churches. Do not be fooled, he is the master of trickery, in fact he is the “father of lies”. We must learn to walk in the Spirit. Simply put we need put on the full armour of God, see Ephesians 6, which has nothing to do with prosperity, in fact it is the complete opposite. It’s through suffering that we learn to crucify our flesh. Here is irrefutable confirmation; “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” (1Peter 4:1)

 

Let’s take this a little deeper and unpack Peters exhortation on what we are to expect as obedient Christians, as this thought continuously reverberates through my mind, “to the one that overcomes”, a constant reminded that it is the faithful that will be blessed into eternity. Sure we may have to struggle for a season, it is the call to Christianity; “to suffer for a season”, it’s part of God’s design for all who believe in the resurrection and confess Jesus as Lord of their lives. If we are not being challenged by the trial of life, whilst claiming Christianity as our own, then we need to examine where we stand. The idea of suffering enables us to look towards our hope, our eternal reward; sons of the most high, we will be numbered amongst all the faithful, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Noah, Daniel, David, all the apostles and what about; “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:36-38) – Prosperity a lie and all those who preach it as our right are liars and whatever they preach can not be trusted.

 

Many of us will not receive the abundance of their rewards, those penned in scripture, but we will be home, praising our God into eternity. If  our struggle is to intensify, so be it! our God is in our corner and we can approach the storerooms of grace to overcome whatever we will soon face. Ever so come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

“Grace be with you all”

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

The Enemies Tactics 2

 

The enemy and his tactics 2

But first we need to understand the history behind the plan of salvation and how we ended up here…

Here is a brief overview

Mankind was created in the likeness and image of God; “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) 

From the outset of creation we are taught that God had a plan which included us, in fact it was more than just an inclusion, we were given responsibility to have dominion over the earth; “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” – by this time one third of the angels had rebelled in heaven and made war against God and his regiment, the obedient angels, who had defied Satan and remained loyal to God. Satan and his regiment was defeated and cast out of heaven; “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9) – From this time on Satan and his followers objective was to deceive those whom had been given dominion over the earth, the human race, and it all started way back in the garden with Eve; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:1-4) – Satan the mastermind of deception – it’s his deceitful aptitude that will eventuality lead millions, if not billions into the Lake of fire. We can deduce from this engagement that Satan had now executed his plan to deceive, he challenges the Word of God and Eve bites into his lies and for the very first time sin enters the world. God then inflicts a similar punishment and casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden; “therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.”  (Genesis 3:23) – After banishment we learn that we are born into sin and are forbidden to eat from the tree of life; “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”  (Genesis 3:24) 

Eve’s womb produces a murderer, Cain kills Abel, a fruit of sin and the confirmation of the sentence, death.

 

The story of Job then teaches us many valuable lessons and helps us understand Satan’s objective, which is to get us to rebel against the Word of God and then ultimately curse God and die. Read the book of Job or at least the first two chapter to get a clear indication of Satan’s intent.

 

Nevertheless, from the outset God always had a plan to rescue us from our quandary. The Word then becomes flesh and Jesus is born through the womb of the Virgin Mary, lives a life of sinless perfection, then he dies on a cruel roman cross and on the third day is raised from the dead, opening the door for redemption. The gospel now becomes the only hope for mankind’s salvation, which when implemented correctly mends the breach between them and God. They now become sons of God. The one and only hope we have in defeating Satan’s objectives is to cry out to Jesus; “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:13) – We must acknowledge that we are sinners and in dire need to be saved from our sin, when this is realised the solution is simple. We must confess our sins asking God to intervene and save us from the shackles that Satan has over us and then look to Jesus for rescue, believing in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead and that he has made a way for the sinner to be saved. We then need to confess him as Lord of our lives and the rest is then worked out over time. The initial transformation must be a radical one, if not something is amiss. If a baby is born through a mother’s womb encapsulated in water. How radical is that transformation as it enters a completely different environment and breaths on its own for the very first time. When a person is "born again" their eyes are opened and for the very first time they receive an intuition to see heavenly truths. We now understand that we have a far greater responsibility than ever before to come God's way. Our lives change as we learn to walk in the Spirit and depend on the finished work of the cross. It’s at this juncture that the light switch is flipped and we are then “born again”. We now realise what is of utmost importance. This is where the real battle begins, and thank God that the work of salvation is a marathon and not a sprint. We will have heartache along the way, BUT GOD will teach us HIS ways as we learn to shed our old natures and follow in the footsteps of our great Saviour. Did you know that an olive is placed between two stones and then crushed to extract what so many covet, olive oil? We will have to suffer in this life to become like our great Saviour, but it will be worth it all; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2)

 

The Christian has a hope like no other, heaven with all its glory will be ours, and the faithful will receive glorified bodies just like the Lord Jesus’ and we will be addressed by the only true God as sons. God will be our Father and we will be his sons, fellow heirs with Christ, wow! How I long for that day to arrive, even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

“Peace to all of you that are in Christ.”

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone        

 

The enemies tactics 1

 

Understanding the enemy and his tactics is a common thread appreciated amongst any of the Great War heroes. And yet we have so many factors that need calculating when it comes to living the Christian life. All other religions understand the need to conquer the flesh and its passions but lack the wherewithal to achieve the desired result. Only because they rely on their abilities to reach a certain outcome and because they are sinful by nature, when pressed hard enough, will always end up failing. We are all born into sin and fall into the grouping, sinner! However, this classification is not stamped into our passports even through it should be, it would help us understand our state before a holy God from the outset. This is where the enemy has tricked people into believe a lie. Acceptance of our sin is dependent on the individual’s circumstances. Or rather a need to live a life that suits their needs, in spite of their defiance towards the law of God. Tolerance from others has become the order of the day, with very little consideration, if any towards God’s law. Democracy a word absent from God’s way of thinking. His Word is final and not up for debate when it comes to doing things under the banner of righteousness. He is righteous, we are not, even if some think they are. It’s like trying to mix oil and water, it will never happen. Liken human flesh to oil and God to water, you can put both into the same container but unless one of the two changes its structure they remain alone. The water unable to penetrate the oil and vice versa.

 

Our arch nemesis, the devil and his armies has a single objective, which is to get each individual “to curse God and die” (see the book of Job) and he will do whatever it takes to trip up the greatest follower of Christ. When it comes to the unbeliever he needn’t worry too much, for they have latched onto his mandate and are living as they please with him as their father. How do I arrive at such a conclusion? Everyone that acts out against the teachings of the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ is doing the devils bidding and therefore whether knowingly or not, have play into his hands; “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  (John 8:44) – Anything or anybody that contradicts the Word of God in any form or shape is playing into the hands of Satan’s objectives. This is where a decision needs to be made, do you believe this to be true or not? “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – In other words any religion that does not acknowledge that the only way to God the Father is via the Lord Jesus Christ has played into the hands of the devil and have believed a lie. Even so called Christian organisations have erred for the sake of power and shifted their mediator to Mary, the mother of Jesus who in her own right was a sinner like any other. Sure, I will not underplay her role, for who am I? She was blessed amongst women, chosen by God to give birth to Jesus, the only begotten son of God. It was though her womb that he entered the world and was given a body of flesh and blood. Through his life he achieve the near impossible, he lived a life of sinless perfection, never breaching the laws of God. The very first and last human to ever achieve this, hence the power he now yields as Saviour to all who dare to call out to him, through repentance, acknowledging their sin. Mary a wonderfully privileged individual who also needed to acknowledge her sin and need for a Saviour. She too had to call upon the name of Jesus to find forgiveness for her sin. When an organisation instructs you to pray to Mary as your mediator, they have played into the hands of the enemy and Satan has achieved his objective. You are believing a lie as your solution to achieve your objective, which is ultimately heaven, is it not?

 

We all want to end up in heaven, by hook or by crook is most of the world’s end game. There is no hook or crook when it comes to God’s mandate with regards to the Book of Life, here are the facts; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  (Revelation 20:15) – What does this teach us? There is a book, the Book of Life, a registry in heaven with the names of those entitle to enter it, those whose names are not penned into that book will end up the Lake of Fire. I wonder how many people have been honest about this fact. How many funerals have you been to where the motto not been “rest in peace”? There will be no rest in the Lake of Fire.

 

God has made a way for all of mankind to be ushered into his kingdom, heaven is a real place and the reward for all who come God’s way and fight the good fight of faith with the Lord Jesus as the pivot to it all. Without him, no heaven, the Lake of Fire awaits.

 

Therefore I will leave you with these encouraging words, and I tell you a truth, I am not lying, this is what you need to do to have any chance of making it to heaven; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

 

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen”

 

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone   

Considering the Variables

The fantasy world allows us to escape into a realm that gives an individual the upper hand. It levels the playing field and allows our minds to right the wrongs we witness. We lap it up because there is a small part of us that would love to be like them. From an early age in our lives we want to be praised and especially by our fathers. When we become a Christian the shift is server in so many areas of our lives but the need to impress our Father never changes, except now we have a new Father and He is the Father of lights, the creator of the universe. An impossible task if left to our own devises, but blessed be the name of our beloved Saviour Jesus Christ, the ONE who made this task attainable. In him we have the ability to bring glory to God. However, there are some variables we need to consider…

 

·        We have an enemy that will do everything in his power to keep us from our objective. He uses our old habits to nullify the work of the cross in our lives. If you were once a compulsive liar, he will get you to fall back into that behavioural pattern. Or if money was your thing, he lures you with it and may even trick you into exploiting the gospel for the sake of your carnal desires. The list is endless, but be wise in your deliberations. See things for what they are, look into the mirror and ask God to show you who you really are and then something can be done about it. The Lord Jesus gives warnings in the book of revelations when addressing the churches and the pattern throughout has the same emphasis; “he who conquers” will be rewarded and “he who has and ear let him here what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

·        Here is a fact that will come to pass; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”  (Matthew 7:21-23) – Do we habitual ask ourselves on a daily basis is my priority the will of my Father and am I sincerely striving to find the grace I need to overcome the hypocrisy of my life?

·        “many are called but few are chosen”  (Matthew 22:14) – What does this mean? Think of it like this, a group of individuals respond to the idea of becoming a paratrooper, they like those wings that decorate a shirt and the prestige it brings. Many enlist for the course but before long the intense training takes its toll and many wash out. Only a handful receive the accolade. “Many are called but few are chosen”.  

·        Therefore, it’s about learning to put off our old natures as we learn to put on the mind of Christ, It’s imperative, if not, we  may find ourselves standing amongst the many. I don’t know about you but that thought has often jolted me into action, but by the grace of God here I stand. How often I’ve had to dust my knees off to seek out God’s forgiveness. “While we have breathe we have hope.” There can be nothing that carries such weight in our lives. Family, children and their needs must remain a distant second.

 

With that now as a backdrop let us hear Peter’s instruction; “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” “

(1Peter 1:13-16)

 

There is a cost, we must die daily, and yes, some will have to die and are dying for their commitment to Christ but that is nothing new, many have been martyred for the sake of the Gospel and there will be more just over the horizon. Beloved it will be worth it all, we have a hope that stretches beyond our wildest dreams, you perceive that the imagination of the comic book cartoonist have learnt to wet our appetites, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” The faithful will receive glorified bodies just like our Saviours glorified body; WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE! Whatever the cost, let us encourage one another to good works that glorify our heavenly Father. I have another confession to make, I eagerly long for the day when I hear the voice of my heavenly Father ushering me into his kingdom, how I long for that approval and yet in the same breath my gaze will shift to Christ accomplishments understanding the responsibility which grace has taught me to play my part in the equation. It’s obvious that we have been saved by grace, which is a gift of God, but we have our parts to play. We must learn to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

“To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone