Scripture: Ephesians 6 v 10 - 12:
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might, put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Over the past 35 years that I have served the Lord Jesus
Christ, this constant truth has guided me: to be strong in the Lord you have to
KNOW your enemy and know how to defeat him. We are in a war zone of spiritual
dimensions that too many Christians have no clue about.
I was dropped in the deep end by Jesus in 1980 when a
young woman who was possessed by demons - her grandfather was a satanist who
sold her soul to satan when she was born in exchange for occult and witchcraft
power - came to stay with me while fleeing her satanist husband. Talk about on
the spot training. I had never heard of
demons at that point. Even her name was a demon!
The Lord raised up a small team of deliverers to pray for
her through days and nights of wrestling with these demons. It was an
exhausting and exhilarating experience that revealed our authority over demons
and taught us how to minister to the saints in bondage.
It is important for every Christian to know how to deal
with the enemy because as this age draws to a close the war will get more
intense. The way ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al Shabaab have escalated their
psychopathic warfare is a good example. How do you fight against them?
The most important thing is to realise that every Islamic
extremist is possessed by demons of rage, rape, murder, warped righteousness,
religious fanaticism. These are what Paul calls spiritual wickedness in high
places. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood! They look like people but
they are empowered by demons and when they are in a gang or large group they
feed off each other in horrible atrocities. The world has no real answers to
this threat.
Jesus does! Paul tells us to put on the whole armour of
God to be able to stand against the tricks of the devil. We have a spiritual
armour that protects us and enables us to overcome the enemy who have been
stripped of armour and weapons. Their only form of attack is through the
gullibility of their host bodies.
Demons can only con, bluff, lie, deceive, outwit through
cunning slyness. Demons are disembodied spirits that seek a human or animal
body to manifest their true nature. Their ploy is to persuade you to sin and
keep doing it until they control you. Like drug addiction. First you are hooked
by the strongman say Heroin and then they take over and unravel your life.
Demons of lies, theft, uncleanness, fornication and betrayal move in to that
human body to disintegrate the personality. That is their real mission.
Our armour exposes every lie. It consists of the girdle
of truth; breastplate of righteousness; shoes of peace; shield of faith; helmet
of salvation and sword of the Spirit. Put on this armour daily and no demon can
deceive you or capture you. Jesus came
to overcome satan and his demons as a man so we could follow His example. Its
giving us back our personality and life.
You also have the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit; plus
Jesus in your heart. If God be for you who can be against you? Just the fact
that the militant extremists are losing large numbers of members who are
converting to Christianity should tell you something. Many thousands of Muslims
have also abandoned their religion to follow Jesus because they cannot condone
the evil atrocities of the militants. The prayer of faith can move mountains.
We are on the winning side so we must keep praying to
remove enemy strongholds in ourselves and others. Its a blessing that so many
have responded to these messages in the past week to be set free of false
angels of light; spirits of divination and other forms of witchcraft. Their
lives have changed and they are encouraging others to take a proactive stance
to work out their own salvation.
Prayer: Father God, Jesus came to set the captives free.
That's us, Lord! Thank You. Now that we are free Lord show us how to help those
who are in denial and in trouble. Teach us to wrestle effectively against the
forces of darkness to maintain our right standing with the Father. In Jesus'
name. Amen.