Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… This is a milestone week for me. This blog is number one hundred-fifty. I remember when I first had my website set-up, I told my webmaster to skip the blog section. “I’m not a writer” I told him, (and I suspect there are some of you out there who might still agree with that assessment), but he was persistent saying, “everyone has a blog”. When I first started, my goal was to make it to twenty five. But I gotta tell ya…I’ve learned to thoroughly enjoy writing them and I look forward to each Monday rolling around.
On Thursday of this past week (6/9), I had surgery for a herniated disk. The disk was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve, which transferred pretty severe pain to my hip and knee. It took two years to eliminate all the possible solutions that didn’t solve the problem, but Thursday I walked out of the hospital pain-free! I know many of you indicated you were going to lift me up in prayer, so here is a rousing, “Thank You”! and another rousing, “Yea God!!”
Last week I wrote part one of this two-part series entitled, Spiritual Warfare: Winning the Battle.” I got more response from this posting than perhaps any other, so here is part 2.
Ephesians 6:10-13 tells us that as followers of Jesus Christ, what and who we are up against. And believe me, it is very real! “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor (the truth of God’s Word) so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 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 spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”
As I pointed out last week, to those who are still of-this-world and not in-Christ, I know how crazy this sounds to you. When I was a non-believer, which was for half a century, whenever I heard someone talking about satan, demons or demonic forces – or Spiritual warfare – I would challenge them and ridicule their belief by proudly stating my conviction that it was the church’s method of instilling fear to keep their flock in line. I thought I was way too smart to fall for such a tale. But today I realize my faulty belief developed because I was the one ignorant of the truth.
If you’re a non-believer and of-this-world, satan doesn’t bother you because he doesn’t need to. He has you right where he wants you. His sole purpose is to keep you separated from God and in his dark domain, and that’s exactly where you are. But when you learn the truth and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, satan and his evil minions will stop at nothing to keep your mired in their darkness, and they’ll work relentlessly to shipwreck your new journey in-Christ. Satan is the master of lies and deception, and we – through our own effort – are no match for him!
Satan, or the devil, is referred to in Revelation 12:10 as “the accuser of our brothers and sisters.” That voice that you hear in your head – the one, coincidently, that sounds like your own voice – telling you “you can’t do that”; “you’ll never measure up”; “you’re less than”; “look at yourself, how can you think God loves you when you’ve failed AGAIN!”. That’s satan! That’s what he does!! He accuses us of our failure; he causes us to doubt our new identity in-Christ (that we’re truly forgiven – FOREVER!; that we’re worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes…even when we fall short!) And He will throw every temptation our way and try to convince us “it’s OK”. “Remember how good that felt…”; “no one will know…”; “everyone is doing it! What’s wrong with you? You’re nothing special…” 1 Peter 5:8-9 reinforces the strength of satan’s attack: “Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith…” Otherwise, you will be one of the victims!
Lies and deception. Lies and deception! LIES AND DECEPTION! That’s all the power he has over us! But he is THE master at accusing us of our failures and our weaknesses. Therefore believing that we can resist him or defeat him through our own effort is sheer folly!
So what can we do in the face of this onslaught? The answer is the last sentence in the paragraph above: “take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.” In fact that is the example Jesus displayed for us in the wilderness when he was tempted three times by the devil. It’s the perfect example, and it is the ONLY answer! Jesus knew that he was in the Father and the Father was in him, and of course he knew the truth because he IS the truth!
Therefore, our only answer to the lies and deception of satan is to know our true identity in-Christ: that we ARE a new creation in Christ; our sin-nature has been replaced by the Holy Spirit. We are grafted into God’s family; we are now a Child of God. Our sins – past, present, and future HAVE already been forgiven; we HAVE inherited eternal life; we are worthy and acceptable in the eyes of God, not because of anything we did, but because Jesus paid our sin-ransom at the cross. We are a Saint in the eyes of God because we are covered with the blood of Jesus. Therefore in God’s eyes we are not a sinner, but a Saint who occasionally falls short. AND, we are heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm and all the promises in the Bible. That is why it is so important to abide in the Word…to get these truths firmly embedded in our inner-being, in our Spirit-man. But we must also become aware of the promises that are ours. We must have a firm platform of faith (of Truth) on which to stand, AND we must have these truths on the tip of our tongue, ready to confess in the face of satan’s lie if we have any expectation of standing firm against our enemy.
I have explicitly listed our new identity in-Christ. Now I want to share with you some truths and promises that will become not only an indispensable part of your platform of faith, but will be the truths you can quote back to satan in the face of his lies and accusations. Remind satan of the source of these words…just like Jesus did. Begin by saying, “It is written…then quote the Scripture (in the first-person “I”). (Ref. Matthew 4:4) {Trust me…I am not trying to turn this into a “prayer formula”, but if Jesus did it…well, what can I say???} So start by saying, “It is written”…then quote the Scriptures below as needed:
“I have been given authority over all the powerful schemes of the devil. No harm will come to me.” Luke 10:19
“He that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he that is in this world.” (satan) 1John 4:4)
“When I call to Him, he will answer and show me great and mighty things which I did not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
“God works for the good in all things for those who love him and are called to his good purpose.” Romans 8:28
“There is no condemnation for those who are in-Christ.” Romans 8:1
“I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me.” Jeremiah 5:18
“I have been redeemed and forgiven.” Colossians 1:14
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
These truths and promises are only a miniscule sampling of all the riches in glory that belong to you because you are in- Christ. As we continue down this path of growing and maturing in Christ, I would like to close with this truth that eludes each one of us now and then. “And so I tell you, keep on asking and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks. (Luke 11:9-10) Enjoy this journey!
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May God Bless Y’all,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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