The devil is out to get you. Why is this concept so hard for many to believe? Why do our churches rarely ever address the power in the darkness and how it brings havoc to our lives? Why don’t they teach us how to fight Satan? I’m going to leave that question for you to address with your pastors, elders and leaders. I would like to share some discoveries I have made through experience as well as the inspired writing of John Hagee.
The older I get the more blessed I feel. I look back on my life and I now can recognize the battle fought for me in the heavens. God has sent His angels to war for my life many times when I didn’t deserve saving. Jesus saw something in me, something I couldn’t see and He rescued me for His plan. Because of His love I am a vessel used by Him to bring glory to His kingdom. Now at 61 years young I am discovering my place in His kingdom and the true meaning found in this scripture…
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Psalms 139 13-16
Jesus love me first and I was precious to Him and His intention for me was there from the beginning. As I devote time to studying His Holy Word, worshipping Him in a community of like minded believers and attending meetings lead by Godly people who speak truth my faith and love for Jesus Christ grows in passion and strength. Knowing God is key in doing battle for His Kingdom. As I position my life as a servant to Jesus Christ…I am changed. Let me be perfectly clear I am not without sin. I still make mistakes, bad decisions, Satan and sin still know me and call me by name. However, I can fight this battle because I have Jesus on my side.
Satan sends his demons and spirits to disrupt God’s plan. Understanding him and how he operates will help you win the battle. When you identify his lies and method you can use the power God has given you to destroy the devil’s attempts to keep you captive. The more you study the Word of God, the more the Holy Spirit reveals the areas in your life that need to come under the total authority of God’s Word. Once revealed, it is essential that you take action. However, if you choose not to separate yourself from these destructive influences, you allow the evil forces to grow stronger.
“Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” Matthew 12:45
Battle Truths
- Do not be deceived; the devil’s forces are active in and beyond the walls of the church.
- Underestimating the devil is suicide; it is akin to becoming an ally with the opposition for your own defeat.
- Rationalizing sin is Satan’s substitute for confession and repentance.
- Satan’s primary target is our mind, we must guard against thoughts that are contrary to Scripture and submit them to the directives found in God’s Word.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Satan takes pleasure in using demonic spirits to influence people serving in ministry and involved in church because he uses them to spread his doctrine of strife, doubt and discord like a deadly virus. You must ask yourself…Where is my thought life taking me?
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8
“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.” Mark 11:23
Satan uses doubt to bring distrust into any situation. He will sow seeds of doubt in our belief in the supernatural power of Jesus because he knows if he can hinder our ability to fully grasp hold of God’s power through His Holy Spirit…Satan loses. The devil’s ultimate goal is to stop your ability to accomplish your divine destiny.
SATAN’S DEMONIC SPIRITS
Spirit of WORRY
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:25-33
Anxiety attacks you emotionally and physically. Worry is faith in fear not in God. When you sense the spirit rises up within you seek God and the truth in His Word. You cannot change what you will not confront. What you will not conquer will conquer you.
Spirit of FEAR
“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Revelations 1:17-18
“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Fear paralyzes the mind; it weakens the will and destroys the dream within you. Once the spirit of fear has a hold in your life it sets a course to destroy your life and future.
Spirit of RESENTMENT
The definition of the word resentment is a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury. Anger towards any person whom you perceive has offended you.
King David cried out to the Lord to be healed from those that offended him. I believe the feelings brought by being offended was far more dangerous than the actual offense. Being offended leads to resentment which in turn leads to bitterness which is emotional poison.
Read Psalms 17, 27, 35, 109 and 143 for help and healing.
“No mature Christian who is seasoned in the Word has any reasonable excuse to live their life offended.” Brian Houston – Hillsong
Once you are held captive by this evil spirit relationships are destroyed, it takes the joy and peace out of your life. You will find yourself continually finding reason to begrudge those around you. Something as simple as not being invited to a social event when you thought you should be can stir up jealousy and bitterness. It also gives way for pride to distort your self worth. Being passed over, losing a contest, missing an opportunity for a bonus or promotion. Cain fell victim to this spirit and killed his brother Abel. King Saul chased David across the hills of Israel in an attempt to prevent him from becoming king. Satan’s plan is to fill your mind with this emotional poison. It is said that resentment is cyanide of the soul.
Spirit of REBELLION
God has a definition for this spirit,
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23
“You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.” Deuteronomy 13:4-6
This spirit resists or defies any form of authority. Our churches today have allowed this spirit to corrupt society like never before. Their watered down sermons focus on self-pleasing, instant gratification rather than God-pleasing and sacrifice to serve. Our leaders are failing to teach basic precepts found in the Word of God. One essential precept is submission to righteous authority. This lack of submission or obedience has caused truth to become a blurred gray area in which people make up their own belief, truth, and identity.
Our children turn to gangs to find the boundaries they are not receiving at home. There is a generation that is quick to loot and burn, they partake in acts of violence against those who have take an oath of service to protect us all in the name of “right to protest”. Many times they cry racism as an excuse for their behavior.
This vicious spirit uses domination, intimidation and manipulation to undermine us. They are strongholds that have infiltrated our lives and the lives of our love ones.
- Domination: sole purpose is to control others, it demands attention and power,
- Intimidation: forces people to do things they don’t want to do, uses bullying and exploitation,
- Manipulation: managing someones actions or emotions in an unfair manner, manipulators force or seduce others to achieve their own end results, it is motivated by self-gratification.
The spirit of Rebellion makes idols of our wills, opinions and lusts. God will not share His throne with any other man or spirit. Only through repentance and submission to the will of God can we be free from rebellion’s grasp.
Be a Warrior not a Victim
How can we become God’s warriors? Acknowledging the existence of demonic spirits and their master Satan is the first step. Knowing that we are all victims in some way. We must identify the weak points in our armor. All of us are unique therefore everyones armor is different. Know yourself through honesty and humility, submit yourself to Jesus Christ. Spend time understanding His love, coming to Him totally surrendered, heart and mind open, asking for forgiveness…God can break the bondage you are captive in.
We must be mindful of the battle which is raging between Satan and his demonic spirits and our Heavenly Father. God created us for His pleasure and divine purpose, Satan destroyed that prefect union in the garden through lies and temptation. God came to earth in Jesus Christ His son, to make a way to repair our brokenness, bring atonement for our sin and infuse us with His supernatural power through the Holy Spirit. His love for us is greater than any weapon Satan can muster.
“For you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14
“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3
Our Heavenly Father gives several warnings to His people about worshipping other Gods, this warning is as important today as it was in the old testament because Satan has learned how to disguise himself today among social and political issues distracting us from our true purpose. Unfortunately, it’s working…we are in end times as spoken of in the Bible, we as believers must arm ourselves and use all the supernatural power available to us through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.
It’s only through repentance and submission to the will of God that we can be freed from these spirit’s evil grasp. We all are suffering under one or more of these spirits, our emotions must be carefully guarded to protect our supernatural peace…what the Bible describes as “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
My prayer for you and for myself is that God would give us discernment and reveal any area of our life that would invite a demonic spirit in and through His grace remove it from us. Giving us the wisdom to see with His eyes the devil’s lies before they can bring harm to us and those we love.
Thank you to John Hagee for his insightful writing. Much of this post is from his book “The Three Heavens”. I strongly suggest you purchase this book there is so much to grasp, such amazing insight and wisdom!
Be Blessed, Laurie
Over the last few months I have had the honor of ministering to the women incarcerated at our local county detention facility. When God first called me into this ministry I had no idea of how much I would grow as a Christian and how God would push the boundaries of my life and my husband. In bringing the Gospel to these hurting women God has help me look at my own life and the personal need for repentance.
For ladies young and old our appearance plays a huge part of who we are. In a world so caught up in how the physical body looks the road to feeling comfortable in your skin is difficult. Every form of media tells us we have to look like a A&F models. In fact some of you may not know but when A&F launched one of their first catalogs the young men were shirtless. Their catalog looked more like a glamour magazine than advertising clothing. In their stores they put large screen TVs with videos running of young people scantily clad with clothing that looked two sizes to small. This has been going on for decades. During my time braless halter tops and mid-drift blouses with one inch zippers on jeans were the rage. Bathing suits had less fabric than underwear. Today, plastic surgery to increase or decease your body is common. Products that will help you lose weight, grow your eye lashes, hide wrinkles are billon dollar industries. Satan wins this battle everyday. All of this creates insecurity, low self-image and unworthiness. To further complicate things the devil has us believing we need to look like a princess to catch and keep the prince. Unfortunately, how we look often determines whether doors will open or close in life as well. So in all of this how do we as Christian Women find our truth, our identity and value. How do we balance obsession with a healthy view of self? 
Instructions For Life According to Jesus Christ 