Spiritual Warfare

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

My friend, God is a warrior! (Exodus 15:3) Satan has diligently (and effectively) taught the body of Christ in recent years that we do not have to engage in spiritual warfare in our personal lives, nor confront demonic principalities over territories and nations. He has fed us with these lies while he plunders our marriages, our children, our churches, cities and nations, and keeps our churches void of power.

Jesus admonished us to cast out devils (Matthew 10:8, Mark 16:17); He did not say that God would do it, He told us to do it! The devil is our responsibility, and nothing will be done about his activities unless we do something about it!

“Well, you talk about the devil too much!” “We don’t have to fight the devil because Jesus defeated him, and Satan is under our feet!”

These are statements that I have heard frequently, and they sound good, but we need to apply wisdom.

Consider this man…

“Well, God has given me dominion over grizzly bears!” “He said so in the book of Genesis!” (Genesis 1:26) “I’m going to go camping in the Rocky Mountains, and I don’t have to be concerned about grizzlies, because grizzly bears are under my feet!”

He takes no gun with him, no protection, and leaves his food lying out in the open all night because he has authority over grizzly bears.

What would we think about such a man? Would you consider him a fool for thinking like this? Did you know that this man could be prosecuted through state and federal laws for criminal endangerment and gross negligence, especially if he brought others “camping” with him?

Yes, it is true, God has given us dominion (Luke 10:18-19), but he has also given us knowledge! We have very specific tools and methods for dealing with dangerous animals, and those that have knowledge in these things do quite well in exercising their God-given dominion.

It is also true that Satan has been legally defeated by Jesus Christ on the cross (Hebrews 2:14, Colossians 2:15), and if we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, and obey His Word, then there is no power that can defeat us! But we have to know God, not just know about him. He cannot be the Jesus that your pastor preaches, or your favorite evangelist or prophet; He must be the Jesus that you preach! Your authority must be real to you! (Acts 19:13-16)

So many people let their pastor do all the work; they come to church on Sunday and hear the Word, but they never read the Word for themselves. When the devil comes around, they run to the pastor, “Help me!” “Help me!” “Pray for me!” But their pastor can’t save them because they must grow up and confront the devil for themselves!

Satan should be the one running from us, not the other way around! We should give him a bad day, every day! We should be the ones that go on the offensive when he is at ease, not us defending ourselves all the time. All of our armor is on the front of our bodies, because God never intended us to run! (Ephesians 6:13-18) God has called us to attack! Satan has no armor; he has no protection unless he can trick us into not using our weapons, through lies and deception.

Hammer him with the Word of God and drive him out in the name of Jesus! “Well, maybe it’s not the devil!” “Maybe the problem is with me!” Well, it probably is, but the deception that led to it, and the oppression that hinders you from walking out of it is of the devil! Drive him out and the light will go on, and the barriers standing in your way will be removed! God is not resisting your efforts to obey His Word! It’s really quite simple; good things come from our Heavenly Father, and bad things come from the devil, and if you know what God’s Word says, you will know the difference between a good thing and a bad thing! (James 1:16-17)

Brothers and sisters, we have all the power that we need to confront and conquer any opposition, for greater is He that is in us (The Holy Spirit) than He that is in the world! (The devil) (I John 4:4) Does this mean we will never have any battles? Not by any means, but the victory is assured! Praise God!