Spiritual Attacks

If you are anything like me... your shoulders sink a little at the subject matter of spiritual warfare.   You are tired of the dreaded topic that seems to never go away.   We don't just see and hear the evidence of spiritual warfare on television and radio but we see it in our lives and people's lives around us.  It is prevalent or common everywhere... even in the church.   So you can imagine my hesitation in addressing this topic... but after I posted I heard Dr. David Jeremiah and Dr. Charles Stanley) speak of spiritual warfare as well.   This not only confirmed but encouraged my soul.  
 
In my experience and reading the bible, Christians will experience spiritual attacks from the enemy who will use just about anyone or any situation to discourage and hurt us.  We must not only realize the source of these attacks but where our life needs to be securely fastened to so that we may stand as children of God against the wiles of the Devil. 

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers  and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirit in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

The Very Real Unseen Enemy to Humanity
I once shared with you a time when I asked God if the devil was indeed real and that very night the spiritual veil was taken down to reveal our adversary.  Like a figure of a human- he has no horns, tail, or pitch fork.  He is no longer the once beautiful angel he once was.  He had no wings.  He had no armor. His outer appearance is scared and blotchy and it is reasonable to imagine this was caused when he was thrown from heaven.

 "He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven." Luke 10:18

Satan's penetrating evil eyes seemed to look straight into my soul.  He was in this dark vertical channel of a chamber that had an orange flickering glow below him.  When I could not stand to look at him anymore (which wasn't long) I turned my head away and that is when I heard a blood curdling scream that startled me awake.  The scream seemed like it was right by my bed side.  I sat straight up in bed and listened but no other scream came.  The tortured scream no doubt came from one of his deceived victims.

Needless to say I told God, " I know the devil is real now."  I didn't need any other further proof then what I saw and witnessed.  Don't make the mistake of thinking the devil is some folktale, myth, joke or some poetic symbolic illustration of evil.  He is very real.  His deception is making people think he doesn't exist or he is some friend of the rebellious.  

Satan has been deceiving many since the very beginning.  His warfare seems to be increasing, probably because he senses his time is short.  Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy but Christ came to give life and life more abundantly.  Satan wants to persuade humanity to put their hopes in material possessions and riches, power and popularity or even health -that way when he takes those things away they see no value or hope in what they perceive as life.  But LIFE isn't what the world believes is life.  Life is GOD who gives of himself.   God gives ensuring love, sustaining hope, lasting peace, abounding joy, undeserved mercy and grace. Things the Devil doesn't want us to know or understand.  In fact he rather deceive in order to steal the reality of those things in our life and he works hard at it.
      

 "Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and declared war against the rest of her children- all who keep God's commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus." Revelation 12:17                 

 
We find out a lot about ourselves in spiritual attacks.  We find out how far from God we are or how close we are to God.  We also find out a lot about God and his ability to keep us calm as we allow him his rightful place on the throne of our heart. 

Dream of a Spiritual Attack

In the dream a man brought a white horse into the front of sanctuary of our church building.  The horse got spooked and ran to the back of the sanctuary where I was sitting.  I calmly put out my right hand knowing somehow it would come to me.  When it came to my hand it transformed into furious white hound and took my right hand into its mouth to bite it.  I was not afraid or even surprised by this sight.    I might have been had the bite actually been a bite but the hound couldn’t harm me.  When the master retrieved the dog, I could see into the animal's mouth.  Around the inside of hound’s teeth was a blue substance that prohibited the hound’s teeth from biting down onto my hand. 

I admit the subject matter somewhat troubled me ... but instead of letting it get the best of me I sought God and after a few weeks these images were revealed one by one. 

Spiritual Attacks

 "Dear Friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.   Instead, be very glad- for these trials make you partners with Christ in his sufferings, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world." 1 Peter 4:12-13

"God blesses those are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."  Matthew 5:10

We will all experience as Christians spiritual attacks in one form or another but thank God he has warned us of these attacks in His word and by His Holy Spirit.

Keep These Things in Mind.

1.      Be thankful for the warning from God.  Thank Him for his protection. Psalm91:10-11

2.      Don’t become preoccupied with potential attacks. John10:10

3.      Seek discernment from God concerning those individuals and situations that come across your path. James 1:5

4.     Stay Alert. 1 Peter 5:8

5.     Draw close to God. Humble yourself before God. Stay submitted and reliant on God for understanding especially in the midst of an attack.  God will keep you calm.  James4:7-8

6.     Remember God is on sentinel duty in your life. Psalm27:1-5

7.     Thank Him again knowing you have put your life in His hands. He is your peace. John 14:27
Remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering much more-even at the cost of their own life. 1 Peter 5:9-10 

Sin, Failure & Humble Hope 1

I started writing this morning about failure and the humble hope that arises from such occasions in our life when we come to God in our failure. It, being my day to carpool, I stopped writing, picked up and dropped the kids off at school, got some gas and on my return trip home flipped on the radio and there Dr. David Jeremiah was talking about failure.

It was a reassuring message in just the right season. God who knows everything about us, even when we will flip on radio, wants to reassure us of his love even in our failures.

I hope I have never made it sound like I never failed because I would be a liar. Failure has helped me succeed and regain focus in my life many times. I don’t pretend to understand all of God’s ways and workings and how failure works to our benefit in our lives but God knows just as certain successes encourage us he also knows what failures bring about Godly change and perspective in our life.

This last weekend was one such occasion of failure in my life. I let an unsettled topic and discussion divert my attention off of Christ. I felt like I was being forced into a decision I didn’t feel comfortable with. I felt pressured, challenged and maybe even manipulated to conform to the wants and needs of others. I felt as if my opinion and reasons were being questioned to the point I felt like my opinion really didn’t matter. I felt like I wasn’t getting any adequate support and had to defend myself. I felt like I was being labeled as biased unfair and unreasonable. All that seemed to matter was people getting what they wanted not considering all that would be involved.

And in feeling this slew of negativity I got really frustrated to the point I vocalized it in an angry manner. I didn't curse or swear or punch a hole in the wall or break anything but I was thoroughly upset. You know when you are so upset and you start to have those conversations in your head and you just blurt out whatever is on your mind. And everyone else is going "Where the heck did that come from?" That is what I was doing? You don't think straight when you are angry.

"Hostility, quarreling, outbursts of anger, division." had taken over.

Of course when conflicts arise "like these" they aren’t just behind closed doors. They happen at just the right moment like as you're heading to church to teach, bible study, Sunday school, do a sermon, go to a friend’s house or out to dinner.

Others, who shouldn’t be involved in the discussion, are hearing the conflict which brings more adversity, pressure, prejudices, and lines drawn in the sand. I say "sand" because typically when you get to this mental state a foundation of sand is all you have and quickly the storm washes the sandy foundation away making every thing crash to the ground. You step down off of the Christ foundation which is the rock onto your own understanding and it doesn't matter what you seem to say or do because you aren't centering your heart on Christ and when you don't do that.... your godly communication and ways of handling the situation take a long hike.

Was the devil involved? I am sure to some extent. He knows exactly what issue or sore subject to pursue and suggest- to strike at the most opportune time. He knows not just your book of likes and dislikes, he knows your schedule and what you are going to teach, he knows if your head isn’t completely in the game and when to throw and bring up that unsettled topic of discussion your way. He knows what will get your attention or divert your attention. And once he persuades you to hit that first domino, he watches the rest of the dominoes fall as he suggests everything from past failures, how others might see your value, how no one sees your efforts and sacrifices, and piles on misinterpretation, guilt, accusation, anger, imaginations, and self- pity to the point you start to question your value and ability in any role. You just want to throw your hands in the air and give up seeing all that has taken place.

That being said, I have found that after situations like this, where it seems Pandora’s box has been opened, we who have Christ- still have hope. Nothing is hopeless. Most people would give up but not us. Why?

Paul writes: “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ the Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.” Romans 7:15-8:2

So Paul excusing sin and saying we can go right ahead and sin whenever we feel like it, of course not.

He saying that when you do fall into sin- you have an advocate in Jesus Christ to free you from that sin, which gives us the hope of Jesus Christ to continue on in the faith. If we did not have this hope how in the world could we continue in our Christian faith? Our faith would be a sham and a counterfeit. There would be nothing to encourage us without Jesus Christ as our Savior. We could only looked forward to hell and death not eternal life in heaven.

And if there is one who looks upon others in judgment for their failure and lack of devotion to God, watch out.

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.” 1 John 1:5-10

Just look at all the people great and small in the bible who have failed because of their sinful nature yet God chose to forgive them and relieve them of their burdens so they could continue on to preach on the Good News.

Jesus told this story to some who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector. The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery, I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.” Luke 18:9-14

Hope stirred up out of trouble and times of failure sometimes does a heart good. I found after my ungodly actions, I was more angry with myself then anything else or anyone else in the situation… even if the situation did or didn't get settled I was going to be angry with myself for acting the way I did.

As a biblical teacher and Christian I knew better but the only option I had to relief myself from my failure was to turn my failure over to God and asked for his forgiveness. This goes with saying, try to make it right with those you have wronged by your ungodly actions as well.

Admitting failure releases any commitment to carry on a front. It frees you from your sin. Failure can become as Dr. Jeremiah puts it a mean, vicious, unmerciful giant and a slave to fear of failure in your life. Being human we are going to fail but what counts the most is where we take that failure and what we do with that failure.

Let this be encouraging. There are people who act as if sin doesn't bother them but when they face God they will be very concerned about their unforgiven sin. There are people who don't want to come to God because of sin but they have it all wrong. You come to God to forgive you of your sin. A Christian doesn't just know it is wrong to sin but "hates it" when they do sin. Exposed or not exposed, sin should bother the Christian until they ask for God's forgiveness. God is also the place where we give our failures to him. Knowing you are imperfect in the flesh makes you fully aware of your need for Jesus Christ.

Had a friend tell me that when he was younger, he was "sleeping with" a woman. They weren't married and when he got saved it became apparent to him that it was sin to have "sexual relations" with a woman before marriage. Conviction came over him and they were married soon after.

Maybe we should look at ourselves as the criminal on the cross next to Jesus. He knew he was going to die. He knew he was going to have to face God for his sins. He could do nothing to make it right with God. He was nailed on a cross and he knew he was going to hell unless he had an advocate to plead for him in heaven. And in humble failure and in faith he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:42-43

We all know this but I will put here anyway because it brings comfort.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:16-21

Why is the Cross a Threat?

Jesus said "They hated me without cause." John 15:25.

The cross... the cross signifies Jesus and the Father's love for us. So why is the cross a threat? Why do people hate the cross without cause?

To the devil and the demons it is a very big threat and they will use any organization and individual to get rid of any cross. Just think if a single cross in the Mojave desert has gotten the attention of organizations and individuals who have this unexplainable hate or extreme dislike towards the cross- then you know the cross is a major threat to Satan and his demons. Who would of thought that a post with a vertical and horizontal post put together would be such a problem. Think about. Other symbols don't seem to be a problem to these groups and individuals - just the cross. Where the simple cross stands- "the" saving message stands and that message is a great threat to our spiritual foes. We don't fight against flesh and blood but Satan and his demons. Those poor human saps don't know what they are doing and who they are serving when they fight to take down the cross. If they knew who they served they would stop.

If so called atheists see the cross as a threat - and they calm there is no god. Then what threat is there in the cross? Why are they fighting "something" that they say doesn't exist? Seems like a waste of money and energy to me.

Satan and his demons want the saving message of the cross to vanish from view in hopes they can take as many souls with them when they finally meet their destruction and judgement by God. They want the message of the cross to vanish because they know if the message of the cross is remembered and passed down then they are defeated and the blindfolds come off of those who are spiritually blind and that means those set free- set more people free in the freedom of Christ Jesus. And if you are reading this and you think Satan and his demons are not real- let me tell you I know for certain that they are no myth. I thought Satan was some fictional character until God brought down the spiritual veil and I got to see him first hand.

The cross... People have been murdered because of the message of the cross. They have been persecuted? They have been haunted down. They have been slandered and misquoted because the message of the cross.

"Do you remember what I told you? 'A slave is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me." John 15:20-21

Why do atheists and groups like the ACLU want to ask you and force you to take down your crosses? What is this repulsive response and hatred they have towards the cross alone? Why not any other symbol?

Is the cross offensive? No. It should be the most wonderful sign we have as God’s creation. Are there groups out in this world that use the cross in offensive ways? You bet.

The cross of Christianity is not a threat to the human. It is not a fashion symbol or a symbol of hatred and prejudice.

The cross is a sign that without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins- there is no way to Heaven. (There is no way to Father except through the son- Jesus Christ.)

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Before I was saved and Holy Spirit filled my understanding of Jesus was tiny and as I grew in the ways of society and men I hated when “true” believers would use the name Jesus Christ.

"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

I lived NOT according to God's will but the world's will- mostly afraid that if I gave my life over to God I would lose all "fun". Unfortunately I held onto this philosophy for so long I became a very unhappy and unsatisfied person in a deep hole that I couldn't get out of. I saw my life as worthless and so I did the one thing I thought I would never do- I gave my life to God. Who saw worth in my life and He reached down into that deep miserable hole gave me a new life- a life I did not deserve and wasn't even expecting. From living in spiritual blindness to living a new life in His Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 45-21-24 “Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the LORD? For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but me. Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me." The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.”

Before I gave my life to the LORD, I wanted to believe that God would not send me to hell- I had not killed anyone and I was a “good person” BUT my definition of “good” was in my comparison to other human beings not to God himself who is perfect. We all fall short of the glorious standard of God.

When we look at the law -murders, liars, thieves, covetors and adulators all stand the same fate without Christ Jesus. We all fall short and are guilty of breaking God’s law. The law shows us how we all have served sin and sin has been our ruler not God. Exodus 20:1-17

Romans 3:19-28 “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

People who choose not to believe that Jesus Christ is the way to eternal life in heaven are not just fooling themselves but if they keep their false hope they are going to hell. Hell is very real place. I have heard the blood curdling screams and seen Lucifer/ Satan above it.

The cross says we cannot get into heaven by our own efforts. For if we could get to heaven by own efforts Christ Jesus (the only sinless man to walk the face of this earth) would had died in vain.

Those who want to get rid of the cross- do not know they serve Lucifer who wants to take their souls to hell. Lucifer is revengeful and comes to kill, steal and destroy. Some might say, isn't God able to protect his chosen creation? He is but if his chosen creation chooses not to seek Him and have confidence in Him and put their hope in Him- they are running from God not to God. Lucifer has been at this for quite some time. He is an expert at seduction and influencing understandings and encouraging false religions and manipulating and twisting God's truths.

People don’t seem to know God created them for purpose. They are continually unsatisfied because they look for this purpose but they never find that purpose because they don’t seek God to show them their God given destiny. People's prideful thinking make them believe they themselves create their own destiny and are made right with God by their own good deeds.

Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

People do good deeds in their own human understanding and these ways do not to honor God. They do it to make themselves feel and look good. They do it for pleasure, power and popularity. They do it for their own benefit not to honor God. When these good deeds are tested with fire they will just be ashes because God was not in it.

The symbol of the cross of Jesus Christ is powerful. It claims that faith alone in Jesus Christ will give you eternal life. And in this faith in Jesus Christ- we are free from the law of sin -for when we truly give our lives to Jesus Christ we are transformed. We no longer practice sin and serve the spirit of this world but God.

Romans 2:29 “No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”

Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

The spirit of this world (Satan) does not want you to find your true destiny that God has created you for because then you would be against him and against him you will be empowered by God's Holy Spirit which defeats him and the forces of evil. Lucifer rather keep you captive and try to satisfy you with temporary pleasures and counterfeit promises until the day when you will be thrown into hell with him- for he already knows his fate..

In the cross- comes your true life and if some deem the cross to be a crutch then so be it. I rather be empowered by the Holy Spirit and living my true life that God has created for me then be tricked and side tracked to live some lie that takes my fate to hell. I rather be empowered by the Holy Spirit and to fear nothing but God himself. I rather know and seek God for He is limitless in what He wants to show and have me experience. He wants to enrich our lives spiritually beyond our imaginations.

In the cross we are set apart, heaven bound, liberated and empowered and hopefully now you can see why the enemy of our souls would want the cross to be forgotten and silenced.