Breaking Enemy Strongholds***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It is early but the battle is raging and He wants to speak to me about something very important in this spiritual war.  There is a sense of urgency in the atmosphere, yet I feel the peace in His Presence.

The unseen world is engaged in a kingdom battle over God's creation and humans are the focus in this warfare.

I hear the words of Paul written so long ago in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians. II Corinth 10:4, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have Divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

Our weapons are not carnal (worldly) but Divine (Heavenly).

The Holy One speaks to me about the carnal weapons we pick up to fight a Holy war and how defenseless we are against evil when we choose to use them.  If we engage in our earthly/worldly battles using the weapons of pride, hatred, retaliation or even fear, we are defenseless against the real enemy and the evil one knows our vulnerability.  How can hate defeat hate?

Godly wisdom is a Divine weapon that defeats the evil one and his agenda every time.  With Godly wisdom comes Truth, Divine discernment, Divine discretion, and Spirit self-discipline. With our Divine weapons we can stand firm and not walk into the baited traps set by our relentless adversary.

With our Spirit provided weapons, we have and can exercise Divine power and authority over all the fiery darts of the wicked.  Knowing our potential as "born again" believers, we must choose to exercise our privilege, and before we engage in any altercation with the enemy outside, we need to first gain victory over the darkness within, otherwise known as our flesh. 

The Salvation that Jesus brought and the Cross provided  was more than just a forgiveness of the sins of our flesh.  Jesus came to die the death that the original Adam refused to die to.  The death that Holiness required was not physical but so much deeper and more attached to the flesh that contains our spirit. 

The graphic torture of the crucifixion of the flesh man, Jesus, captures most of the attention and we recoil at the mental images and thoughts of His flesh death.  But the more agonizing part of the wrath of Holiness was the death of the relationship Jesus had with God, the Father.  That separation is what all of us would have suffered, not just for a period of hours or days, but for all eternity were it not for His great sacrifice in our behalf.

On that day over 2000 years ago, God in flesh form, Jesus, took the spiritual, relational death and separation that is present in our sin nature and experienced it for every one of us.  That is the price He paid.  As He died, so died the sin nature we are all born with.

Then, 3 days later, from out of the tomb walked the Resurrected Savior of all mankind.  His Resurrection was a preview and foretaste of our own.  For all who come to accept the death of the sin nature that He died, all are the recipients of the Holy nature that replaced it.

Flesh is the constant factor to our life on earth.  However the temptations of the flesh we continue to live with after our Salvation, are no longer a compulsion but a choice.  Jesus came, sent by the Father God to offer humanity a choice.  Salvation is a choice each one of us makes to be rescued out of the mire created by our "sin nature". 

As we choose to accept the Salvation through Jesus Christ, the great "exchange" is made:  our carnal life for His Divine one.  But while that decision can be made in a heartbeat, the choices to surrender all to His control come day after day after day.  Only by and through our new nature can we make Godly decisions and actually become Christ-like in our actions. 

When our flesh is permitted to dominate and lead in our choices and actions, we gain the reputation of being "Carnal Christians" to our unnecessary shame and defeat by the evil one.  The message of the Holy Spirit today requires me to look within. He is pointing out some dark places that need to be cleaned out.

I realize that I must first gain victory over the battle from within before I can be more than a conqueror in the world outside myself.  I need to lay down these carnal weapons I have relied on in past skirmishes.  For the sake of my Lord's great Name and reputation and victory in the conflicts I have with the world around me, I must employ the Divine weapons He provides.

As I confer with the Holy Spirit and surrender to His perspective and the Truth found in His Word, I see more clearly where the conflict begins.   The Divine weapons we have available are powerful to bring down strongholds.  Strongholds are nothing more than a power grip on my flesh.  My flesh controlled reaction to to people and situations forms the real battle in the war to become more like Christ. Call it the goal of the Holy Spirit or the purpose to the battle that rages within, I must choose to respond to the convictions of my Lord, put away all that is unholy in my thinking, and follow His lead in my actions and reactions. 

When the  personal strongholds are broken, the enemy has no power over me.  My perspective changes and I find other ways to handle each crisis that leads to uncommon victories, and what some might term, supernatural miracles.   These "supernatural miracles" are nothing more than allowing God to be God and watching in awe, with the rest of my world, as His hand moves through a rescued and redeemed life.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?      

        

 

Signs of the End?***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The darkness of the night gives way to the light of a new day.  I hear the voice of the Spirit as He speaks to the symbolism of the darkness and the light.

"Sin covers the land like a blanket but the day is coming when the darkness will give way to the light of a whole new world."

What a comforting thought amid all the news of evil advancing into what was once a more peaceful place.  Words have been written and these days foretold.  Jesus spoke clearly about these days and His words have been recorded in Matt 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

Over the course of the history of earth and man, wars and rumors of wars have shaken down nations and the people therein. Munitions to destroy all of life as we know it are sophisticated and plentiful.  So what is different today?  And can we interpret that what we are experiencing is the "end times" of Biblical prophesy?

In my lifetime, I have seen such an acceleration of knowledge that it makes my head spin.  With the acceleration of knowledge, comes the escalation of evil.  There are just a multitude of ways to rob, kill and destroy anything that gets in the way of self-promotion, or lust for human power and control.

While there are countless men and women using their creative minds and passionate hearts to alleviate human suffering, there are murderous and evil dominated people blowing up the planes carrying them to important destinations along with other innocents who are just along for the ride.

There are nations seeking peace, but it seems that more and more wicked individuals are seeking war.

Luke 21:10-36:  Jesus said to His disciples, "Watch out that you are not deceived, for many will come in my Name saying, "I am he" and "the time is near".  Do not follow them.  When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened.  These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away". 

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes, famines and pestilence in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven".  Jesus goes on to reveal that persecutions will come upon His disciples and followers.  Christians following our leader, Jesus the Christ, will be hated.

While wars and persecutions have taken place since the time of Christ's days on earth, there are events to come that will signal the final countdown of man's days and the end of the world we now live in.

There will be a day on the calendar when the Lord will return and bring His chosen ones into a world without sin.  But in the meantime:

Luke 21:20 says, "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that the desolation is near.  Vs 24 says, "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles (non-Jew) until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  On earth nations will be in anguish and in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive at what is coming on the world, for the Heavenly bodies will be shaken.

Vs 22, "AT THAT TIME, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud in power and great Glory.  When these things take place, stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near".

These words at this time in history need to be etched into our brains because Jesus goes on to say, Vs 34, "Be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.  For it will come upon all who live on the face of the earth.  Be always on the watch and pray you will be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man". 

While the warning is general, the way of escape is personal:  "Pray you will be able to escape".  "Pray you will be able to stand before the Son of Man".  Only as we call upon the Name of the Lord will we find personal security and then be able to help others find theirs.

Since religious persecution and worldly dissipation are to be expected during these perilous end times, there is a Holy mandate to encourage and love each other within the Body of Christ.  As the day draws near, we need to stop what has been tantamount to "shooting the wounded" within our ranks.  We need to break away from the ungodly fears that promote unholy judgement of others called by His Name.   

We need great discernment that comes from our relationship with the Lord, through His Holy Spirit to rightly identify the real threats and be willing to come alongside the Godly, but weaker vessels, among us. We need to warn and then to help others to pray.

These warnings are clear and the directives firm.  Be full of care so as not to fall victim, and do not be frightened by all that you see unfold.  And then, the Great Commission commands that we throw a lifeline out to those who are about to perish.  Our peace becomes a beacon light that draws others to our Savior.

I do pray that I will be able to escape all that is coming upon the world.  I do pray that I will be able to stand before Jesus., the Son of Man    How about you?  Are you ready for His return?

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

                                

  

         

No Condemnation!

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The assassin of my soul has been busy at work doing what he does best:  ACCUSE ME.

The Holy Spirit speaks to the tempter's snare and reminds me, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1  Why then does the guilt plague our minds and shame pursue us in forms of bondage to our soul?

The Holy One knows my every thought and enters into this mental dilemma, "Forgiveness is the bedrock of Christianity and yet is taken for granted without realizing the necessity of repentance".

When the Lord Jesus modeled humility in the washing of the Disciples, the message was clear that we are to serve one another in the most menial and humble ways, but today, I see another point to His words, "A person who has a bath needs only to wash his feet".  John 13:10.   In the context of the this verse, Jesus was answering Peter's objection to the act of Him cleaning Peter's feet.  "Unless I wash you, you have no part of Me."

We walk daily in a fallen world where temptations abound and we falter in our commitment to Holiness.  Sin continues to be a problem to our flesh and we often buckle even as we have the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ to stay above the temptations. The process of being made Holy while in our flesh is called "sanctification". 

The trials presented to us are all a part of God's permissive will, and they are designed to ferret out the sin within not to condemn us but to perfect us.  Part of the deception within the church is that we become wholly "holy" when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as our substitute and His death as the atonement for our sin. 

We take the principle of forgiveness for granted and give no thought to the need to come in humble repentance to the One we grieve in our flesh failures whenever they occur.  While we can rest in the assurance that our sins are forgiven: past present and future, there remains the responsibility to confess, repent, and actually receive the forgiveness promised.

In the wonder of God's forgiveness we fail to realize that sinful thoughts and acts will continue to be part of our temporal experience and there is the need for daily cleansing from the walk on fallen soil.  That daily cleansing is called repentance.

The guilt and condemnation builds up within us like cholesterol in our arteries,  unless we take the action that is the cure.  Does forgiveness automatically happen when we sin against our lord?  Absolutely,  and He executes forgiveness as we are exhorted to do even if the offender doesn't ask for it.   But the human side cannot fully appropriate the forgiveness unless and until we ask for forgiveness and know we are forgiven. 

We are commanded to forgive one another, but I question whether we can truly forgive others unless we deal with God on the subject of personal daily forgiveness. The "accuser of the brethren" stands accusing and he targets our failures.  There is nothing we can do but agree when we fail.  We can declare we are forgive because that is true, but there is a deeper peace that comes when we go to our Heavenly Father and consciously ask for and receive His forgiveness. 

Once we know that we are clean and forgiven before God we can move on to the self forgiveness that truly sets us free.  That is the place of fulfillment where there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because most of the condemnation we feel comes out of our own guilt.

Tucked into the Father's forgiveness and purged of our self-condemnation we are beyond the reach of the accuser.

The command to love our neighbor as our self hinges on self love.  Self love comes with self forgiveness.  Self forgiveness happens when we acknowledge our sin and failure and make the choice to forgive. 

James talks to the Church about the need to confess our sins one to another and pray for each other as part of the greater healing process.  James 5:16.

The need for forgiveness is not just a one time Salvation day experience.  The day of Salvation is the day we enter into a new relationship with God called the Sacred Romance and just as in a human one, where we need to ask the other person to forgive us when we grieve their love, so it is with Holiness.

As we might daily grieve our Beloved, we need to daily repent.  That is the process of Sanctification and the big emotion that can get in the way of that Divine process is flesh pride which seeks to control, exalt and fuel itself.

It is humbling to realize we are not made perfect in the moment of our Salvation and will never get to that place in our flesh and there is no magic wand that can substitute for the work of disciplining our flesh under the rule of the Spirit.

Sanctification is a long trudge through a deep swamp of flesh yuck.  Forgiveness must not be taken for granted without the acknowledgement of sin and required repentance.

Psalm 139:23, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart.  Test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." The Holy spirit is leading us and the pathway of His perfect will is through repentance and forgiveness.

I think it's time to get rid of the pent up condemnation of the enemy and into the sweet place of repentance where the blessing of forgiveness flows to me and through me, and where "no condemnation" is my daily reality. 

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?