Thoughts and Ways

 When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7)

There is a song that I’ve been listening to on repeat for the past few weeks called Undah di Blood. One of the lines goes “Fighting against three terrible enemies; the World, Satan, and Myself against me. I’m used to hearing about spiritual warfare against the world and satanic powers. But how do you fight against an enemy that is built into your very nature? How do you win the battle against your sinful flesh?

The apostle Paul when addressing the Corinthian church tells them the keys to winning the war against your flesh. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV it says

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Fruitful Thoughts

Your mind and body are your personal garden of Eden. Within you, the Lord God walks daily and lives side by side through His Holy Spirit indwelling inside of your spirit. The fruits that your life produces will be based on the seeds that are planted in the Garden of your Mind. Your mind is where foundational change will first take place in your walk with the Lord. Empowered by His Holy Spirit is where you will begin to have the thoughts of Christ. The first step in that process is recognizing that your flesh constantly produces unrighteous thoughts brought about by a lifetime of worldly seeds planted into your mind. Therefore we must forsake and leave the old thought system behind.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:7-9 ESV”

Meditation on Scripture 

Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to meditate on God’s word. Meditation is not just emptying your mind to nothingness. Meditating on God’s word is an active transformation of your mind’s thought patterns. It is a renewal process that takes uproots the weeds of your old thoughts and implants God’s word instead. In your quiet place with God calm yourself and replay the scriptures over and over in your mind and say them with your mouth. Over time you will forge and experience new ways of thinking take over. Those new ways of thinking will lead to producing kingdom patterns of living in your life.

“This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8 ESV”

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The Weapons Of Our Warfare: How To Fight In The Spirit Realm

 Why We Fight

Since the beginning of time, God has ordained seasons in our life. There is a time for love, and hate, a time for peace and a time for war. A time to plant and a time to gather what was planted. Just as the seasons change in nature, we experience a changing of seasons in our natural lives. After the season of crushing that all Christians will go through comes a time of renewal and refreshing from the Most High God. Often times we miss out on the season of refreshing because Satan attempts through various means to extend the times of crushing. Just like how the Israelites had to fight to gain their promised land so must we secure spiritual victory in order to see it manifested in the physical realm. 

God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1). God always declares the end from the beginning, calling those things that be not as though they were. When God says that as believers in Christ we already have every spiritual blessing and that He has given us all things pertaining to life in godliness, then our job is to know that this is so. However, the enemy of our souls will not just let us possess the promise without a fight. Better yet Satan will love nothing more than to keep us trapped into thinking that this is just how life is. If you find yourself stuck in an endless loop of setbacks, always on the brink of a breakthrough but never attaining the victory, this is a sure sign that Satan has you trapped. The good news is that God has given us the tools we need to change the narrative of our life. Let's dive into the weapons of our warfare!

The Armor of God

No country waging war will send soldiers into the field without equipping them for battle first. The apostle Paul first identifies who the true enemy is (intel) in Ephesians 6:11-12. Our true enemy in life are spirits operating under the kingdom of darkness and their willing human agents. These human agents act as a flow through for demonic spirits to operate in our realm. Just like the church prays for God's will to be done on Earth so to do Satan's children pray, levy curses and facilitate for Satan's will to be done on Earth. The human agents are the puppets masking the true spiritual enemy identified in Ephesians 6:11-12. Our true focus must be on the spiritual puppet masters behind the scenes and to that end God has given us spiritual armor.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand. Therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The armor of God is designed for offense and defense for the child of God. For some Christians the thought of fighting spiritual entities is illogical. To that end I would question why do they serve an invisible God and assume that there isn't an invisible enemy diligently working to thwart Gods' purpose on Earth. The armor of God is actual spiritual equipment that must be put on each day. Especially at night or before you go to sleep. When we sleep is when we are most vulnerable and it is also when the curtain between the spirit world and the physical world is fluid. In our sleep is when we often engage our spirit enemies. I'll write on that in a different article, on another day.

The armor of God was not made for the child of God to retreat. From the sword of the Spirit to the shield of faith every article was made to help the believer to stand their ground and fight the enemy. Our orders are to either go on the offense and take ground or defend the hard-fought position that was already won.

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