Our Spiritual Warfare

Hello everyone,

I’ve seen a funny scenario where some people were binding the devil, also commanding all their enemies to die, these were funny however not the type I laughed about, but the type that I shook my head for, all these were due to ignorance. It is important to be well grounded in the word of God. Till now I still discover new and deep revelations from God because I’m growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ, [ref. 2 Peter 3:18]. However, in our growth with Christ, there are things that the mature in Christ are supposed to have known and shouldn’t be doing, for instance, what made me shake my head. Today, in light of all these, I would take a look at Spiritual warfare.

We’ve often heard the popular verse of Ephesians 6:12, which says, “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 heavenly places.” Many of us confuse this not wrestling with the physical, to taking the exact way they fight physically to the spirit realms. True, there is a warfare, but the truth we need to understand is the proper definition of this warfare. Colossians 2:15 speaks of Jesus saying, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” So the question here would be, if Jesus had triumphed over the devil and is victorious forever, then what are we to wrestle for in Ephesians 6:12?

In a past write-up of mine related to this topic, I explained that the wrestling in the spirit realm is the wrestling of our mind away from the schemes of the devil. Now the devil has no power anymore since Jesus has disarmed him, the only thing he has is deceit which he attacks us with every day. Now, our Spirit as we are in Christ is the same as Christ right? But our soul—mind, will, and emotions, are still being cleansed from the former way of life, and this is where the devil attacks us, in our mind, trying to make us believe what is a lie. Ephesians 6:10 says, “…be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].” AMP. In order to wrestle the devil, we are to draw strength from Christ and not from ourselves, in order words we are to maintain what Christ has obtained from His victory.

Our fight against the devil is to fight against the strategies of the devil, therefore as I said, we are to maintain our stand on what Jesus has done and obtained for us. As we know that Jesus has obtained victory for us over the devil, then we are to maintain that we are victorious over the devil. As we know that Jesus has obtained healing and deliverance for us, then we maintain that we are healed and delivered, and more; this is the spiritual warfare. The devil brings things that are contrary to the victory Jesus obtained for us in order to shake us, but as we are well grounded in the word to know that we are victorious, we then fight FROM victory, declaring what Jesus obtained for us through His resurrection. As we keep declaring this and believe in it which is very important, the devil is powerless. Also, the most important thing is to shout at the devil to get lost, then we then declare the victories we have obtained in Christ Jesus, thus quoting the word, this was what Jesus did when He was tempted by the devil, declaring the word is very important because it is the sword of the spirit, [ref. Ephesians 6:17]. As we do this, the devil is completely powerless and has no hold on us.

It is important to be well grounded in the word in order to use this as our weapon against the devil, because he is so persistent in disturbing us, just as he is called the accuser of the brethren, [ref. Revelation 12:10]. So we don’t need to bind the devil because Jesus has disarmed him, he has no power over us, all we need to do is to be well grounded in the word of God so that we don’t fall against his evil schemes. Also, we should not command our enemies to die, we are to reach out to them physically and in prayers and also rebuking the evil spirit in them in order to get them saved, [ref. Mark 16:17]. They are lost souls that need to be delivered of the bondage of the devil which they put themselves in, remember, the devil has no power but if a person wants him to control him/her, the choice is theirs, which the so-called “enemies” did against themselves in ignorance.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” We must always remember how powerful the word of God is and who it is—Jesus.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comments, send to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Essence of the Good Shepherd (Part 2)

Hi everyone,

Last time, I looked at Psalm 23:1-3 in addressing the essence of the Good Shepherd. I explained how the Good Shepherd who is Jesus refreshes the sheep by leading them through the paths He had walked, which are the paths of righteousness and uprightness, thus bringing them up to speed in truly walking by the Spirit and not just living by the Spirit alone. In this write-up, I would continue from verse 4 of Psalm 23.

In the last write-up, we now understand how the Good Shepherd intends for the sheep to walk the right paths as He guides them, but are all paths friendly? Verse 4 says, “Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.” AMP. There are times in our lives where our paths lead to unpleasant places, where some could be dangerous, they could include trials of all sorts, it is the time to take charge, but not on your own, remember the Good Shepherd is always there.

Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.” AMP. The Good Shepherd goes through every means to protect the sheep, which is why the rod is there to protect when danger comes and the staff for guidance. Everyone irrespective of where you abide whether in Christ or not go through trying times, but it is your foundation that determines everything. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus spoke of two houses (representing people), most likely of the same kind who faced serious trials and storms in their lives, after the storm, one collapsed while the other stood firm, it was their foundation that stood strong for them; the one who stood was founded on the rock while the other was built on sand. Many times when we face trials, we may feel it is something we can handle where Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling you into His fold for safety and protection, which was what He did for the sheep and what He still does till today.

The Good Shepherd guides us when we fear when we face trials by encouraging us, this is what His staff is used for. It is in this trust and confidence that we have in the Good Shepherd that we fear no evil. As verse 5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.” AMP. The Good Shepherd assures us of never leaving us nor forsaking us as He encourages us through the anointing of oil on our head which gives us enthusiasm. He makes us so relaxed that He set a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Why? It is because we have trust and confidence in the Good Shepherd that we are always protected as His rod is there for our protection and His staff for our guidance. The evil one knows that to attack any of the sheep is to attack Him, and they know who He is and they there not challenge Him. This is the trust we are to have in the Good Shepherd.

Finally, Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.” AMP. The last verse shows what we would gain. Goodness, mercy and unfailing love would follow us all the days of our lives and this is the height of the Good Shepherd’s unfailing love towards the sheep. We must always understand that the Good Shepherd speaks for the sheep and once we have an excellent person before God Almighty as our shepherd we are sure to be in safe hands and are excellent and perfect before the eyes of God, just because of the Good Shepherd.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Essence of the Good Shepherd

Hello everyone,

Last time, I wrote on the Good Shepherd and why we are referred to as sheep in several illustrations, and not another animal or something else used to classify us. Today, I’ll look further into the importance of the Good Shepherd. So, in addressing this aspect of the importance of the Good Shepherd, Psalm 23 would be an excellent platform to view this.

Using the Amplified translation of Psalm 23, I’ll take my reference. Psalm 23 verse 1 and 2 says, “THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.” First of all a Shepherd is a person who guides tends sheep, he could also be referred to as one who watches over or guides sheep, which in this case, the sheep are you and I, and Jesus is our Shepherd He feeds, guides us and shields us, ensuring that we don’t lack anything.

Now, looking at all verse one, the Jesus is the one who shows us the way to go, how to live our lives. We must understand that His aim is to give us the best comfort we could ever think of. The aim of the Shepherd leading the sheep is not just for the sheep to just have a stroll or to just eat any grass, but for the sheep to be well equipped, eating not just any grass, but the best grass and drink from the best waters. This is what the sheep is meant to achieve, but the sheep cannot achieve them all on their own, which is why they need a Shepherd. Unlike a goat who could be stubborn to go its way thinking it knows best, it may succeed in getting the best grass and the best waters, but the process in getting there would be extremely stressful and strenuous, and getting there in the first place is a probability.

Verse 3 says, “He refreshes and restores my life (myself); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him-not for earning it, but] for His name’s sake.” What we have to understand and remember is that our effort and hard work would never be up to God’s standard. Our uprightness and right standing with the Good Shepherd/Jesus is not because we merit all these qualities but because it is the Good Shepherd Himself who merited them all. The sheep on their own are lost, without the Shepherd, they would go the wrong way, not because they intend to do that, but because they have no direction or purpose in life, so if the Good Shepherd lacks these fine qualities then the sheep are doomed. Verse 3 said we are led in the path of righteousness, for His name’s sake. This is because this is what the Shepherd is known for, righteousness, so He teaches or disciples the sheep to learn to walk the path He had walked to achieve righteousness.

Being with the Good Shepherd is righteousness on its own, it is just living in righteousness which everyone receives the moment they receive Jesus as Lord or as their good Shepherd, which also would imply casting off all their burdens upon Him, [ref. 1 Peter 5:7]. But walk the path of righteousness doesn’t come automatically, you need to walk with the Lord in order to achieve this, which is what the God Shepherd did in verse 3, thus showing and leading them in the path of righteousness, uprightness and right standing with Him, this is called walking by the Spirit, [ref. Galatians 5:25].

To walk with the Good Shepherd is an act of humility because you chose to do that yourself, just 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you.” AMP. In achieving this is where the next verse says this is by casting all your anxieties, worries and concerns once and for all upon Him because you know He cares for you. How well do we trust the Good Shepherd to all walk with Him? Log on next time as I continue unfolding the rest of Psalm 23.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Good Shepherd

Hello everyone,

I’ve often wondered why God/Jesus often referred to His children as sheep and He being the Shepherd, the question is, why sheep and not another animal or thing to describe us?

There are several places in the Bible where the God or Jesus is referred to as our Shepherd. One thing is clear the goat has a mind of its own and it’s rugged, but the sheep are not as strong as the goat, is obedient and needs guidance like a Shepherd for protection. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.” AMP. Jesus laying down His life down for His Sheep was done when He was crucified in order to save mankind. Man here represent the Sheep, we lived as goats, thinking we could solve our own problems, but we didn’t know we needed help, which was what Jesus came to show us.

Mankind lives through assumptions and probabilities, they are never sure of anything. They may prove things through science but even with that, there are mysteries they can’t understand, mankind needed help and Jesus came with the solution.

To know the right thing to do and the proper place to go can only and truly be achieved by one who knows everything and everywhere and only the Holy Spirit knows this. Jesus said in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. The Holy Spirit knows everything, so in order to save ourselves the stress of assumption and probability, we should get to know the Holy Spirit, and by this we become a Sheep through humility, thus allowing the Good Shepherd to guide us as we walk here on earth.

The reason why humility is important is that many times we could feel we don’t need the Holy Spirit because we’ve sorted everything out, but because you were born to meet the world this way doesn’t mean this is the way to live.

God calls everyone all over the world to repentance, it is left to us to obey or listen at first [ref. Romans 1:18]. Many think God doesn’t concern Himself about the lost but that’s not true. John 10:16 says, “And I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring and impel those also; and they will listen to My voice and heed My call, and so there will be [they will become] one flock under one Shepherd.” AMP. If God didn’t concern Himself over the lost would He have come in form of a man in order to save us, when the whole world was lost? This shows a God who cares. We need to understand the functions of the Good Shepherd in order to know why He is called the Good Shepherd and we His Sheep.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Your Plans and Vision

Hello everyone,

Last time I explained that the Word of God is Jesus, He is the one who gives us the Grace to get things done, which is the perfect will of God. I explained that Jesus who is the Word is perfect and as the Word, He only works with that which is perfect and true which is the perfect will of God for our lives. It is the faith of Jesus that we get to use because, our individual faith is weak and imperfect, only a perfect faith before the eyes of God can understand the perfect will of God and then use the Word of God appropriately in line with the Holy Spirit. Planning our ways is very important and the aspect of planning our lives is what I’ll write on today.

There are times where I’ve said working with God is so difficult, but the truth is God is so precise and to work with Him, there should be no level of procrastination, it is when we procrastinate that we lose speed with God and start running after Him, and it then appears as though things are hard. But remember, God doesn’t allow us to get things more than what we can handle even in temptation [ref. 1 Corinthians 10:13].

Another thing that makes working with God difficult is that we decide to plan our things ourselves, but really, what is wrong in planning our things, isn’t that what sounds as one who is truly responsible? Prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 10:23, “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Also Psalms 37:23 says, “The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in the way [and He busies Himself with his every step.] AMP. We are not to plan our steps, but to allow the Lord plan it for us and what we do is just to follow, so this shows that in the long run following God is the easiest thing to do, all you need to do is to get to know Him more, by allowing Him to direct our steps.

Trust is very important when you’re dealing with God, to trust God is kind of a scenario where you arrive at a fork in a road as you one of them lead to where you’re going which you’ve never been to before, then you see two people coming your way who claim they’ve both been to where you’re heading to and they know the best way. One of them happens to be your loving mother. Now the first person who you don’t know directs you to take path A, while your mother directs you to point B. without sentiment you pick your mother’s path, not because of anything else but the trust you have for your mother. This is the same way God expects you to familiarise yourself with Him in order allow for us to trust His decisions for us, and this can only come through the meditation of His Word and allowing the Holy Spirit interpret the Word to us. As you familiarise yourself with His Word, your faith, and trust level increases, one reason is that the Word of God is alive and living and is the discerner of the thought and intents of our heart [Hebrews 4:12].

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]-blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.” AMP. Our vision should come from the Lord God and not us trying to cook it up ourselves. And you may ask, how we get God tells us our vision and plans, ASK HIM! [ref. Matthew 7:7].

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Word as a Person and the Perfect Will of God

Hello everyone,

I’ve been talking about the Word of God as living and active, this implies that the Word is a person in abstract form, and I explained that Jesus is the Word of God who came as flesh when He came to this world. Even as flesh He is still the Word of God. Today’s write-up takes a closer look at the Word of God as a person as we fulfill the perfect will of God.

Everything in the universe responds exactly to what the Word says, it can’t do otherwise, just as a computer program which whatever it is written to complies exactly. But we are the only free moral agent who has the power of choice, so are to choose whatever we want. So, it is important that we choose what we want.

Whatever the Word is directed at, follows, be it your health, wealth, your life in line with the perfect will of God for you, why is this so, it is so because, the Word is perfect and only flows with God’s perfection, in other words, the Word of God is very effective when what He is been directed to is in line with what you were directed to do, you see, the Holy Spirit puts in our what we are meant to do and when this is done, you see the result. For instance, when Jesus made clay with His spit and rubbed it on a blind man’s eyes and asked him to go and wash at the pool, all that was left was for the blind man to just do exactly as Jesus commanded, [ref. John 9]. If he has done otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten his sight back.

The Holy Spirit knows our level of growth and He works with that, He would never place a test that we can’t handle. If it appears tough, it is because you are looking at it from the carnal perspective. But when you address it with the Word of God through faith, you see the result. The Word of God follows that which is perfect, and when you are to fall in line with Him, it must be according to what He said exactly. Still, just like a program, if you remove something as little as a full stop, the entire program means another thing.

God cannot declare a thing and get a different result, likewise you having gotten what God has called you for which is in line with the perfect will of God, cannot declare to a thing using the Word of God and get a different result. People get different results because they didn’t follow strictly to what was said. And guess what, what God asks us is always very simple, but most times it doesn’t correspond to logic, so we feel it won’t work and we don’t do what God asked us to do. But when you follow exactly what has been declared or what has been put in your heart to do by the Holy Spirit, you will only get the result of your declaration and nothing else. This is why we don’t use our faith, but the faith of Jesus.

As I have said earlier when dealing with spiritual things, do not go about it using your faith, but the faith of Jesus because our faith would always fail us. Jesus was the only man who followed exactly what God asked Him and never did otherwise, but we on the other hand on our own can never achieve such great fit, what we need is the faith of the perfect one to work with the perfect declaration. His faith gives us strength, peace, power, authority and much more. We are to drop ourselves and allow the faith of Jesus to work through us because it is only there and then we can only see the result and the perfect will of God fulfilled.

It’s very funny, Jesus is the Word of God, He is our faith, it just shows without Him we can do nothing.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Why Know The Perfect Will of God for Your Life Even as a Billionaire? (Part 2)

Hello everyone,

No matter the life you’ve lived and you feel everything I going perfectly fine and it’s not in line with the perfect will of God for your life, guess again because everyone has a purpose as to why we were born. Today, I continue from the last write-up.

The church is you and I, in other words, those born of Christ who are the members of the body of Christ. The whole essence of the gathering is to be equipped to know God more, in all ramification. When you newly receive Christ into your heart, you would need a disciple who would bring you up to speed in knowing God properly, also as Christ and the Holy Spirit about the new life and all its benefits and knowing how to communicate with the Holy Spirit in leading you to the perfect will of God for your life is.

The church is more or less a place of awareness where you get to know more and more about yourself and why you were born and your purpose here on earth.

No matter how far you’ve gone in the wrong direction, only doing what God has called you to do can give you true satisfaction because the hole is being filled. There is this sense of accomplishment, joy beyond what you’ve ever imagined and so on.

                                                                               

In knowing God, you know exactly where you’re going to and the results unlike using what is otherwise known as the status quo where the use of the five senses is the norm, but in all these, you can’t know the future, you can only assume.

As you get to know God and in turn get to know the perfect will of God for your life, you then meditate on the word of God to strengthen you, which is more the planting of the seed, the seed being what God has given you. As you meditate on the Word of God, it shapes your thought pattern, in other words, you become the Word. This is where Jesus in John 15:7 said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Also, Psalm 37:4 according to the Message Bible says, “Keep company with God, get in on the best.”

The reason why things start working out for you at this level of meditating on the Word is that you’ve started thinking and reasoning like God. Now, this is not indoctrination, this is living your true self because, you have the spirit of God on the inside of you, so when you carry the living and active Word who discerns the thoughts and intents of your heart, He refreshes your being and allows the new spirit function.

Also, as a result of all these you function in line with the perfect will of God, just as Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to  this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” You speak with great authority, declaring what you’ve meditated upon which is the watering of the seeds which then enables you to bring them to pass through your actions.

As I said before, our words create the action we take, now that you declare the Word of God over your life in fulfilling the perfect will of God for your life, it then gives you ideas and insight which you carry out. The Word which you declare affects everything around you, as the Words which you declare would never go and come back to you void, but must fulfill all that it was asked to do.

This brings me to one question since the Word goes and does things, does that mean that the Word is alive? The answer is yes, as Hebrews 4:12 attest to this, but the Word is not just a simple person as we think, He is Jesus, [ref. John 1:1, 14]. He is the authority of God, without Him, nothing happens, without Him, the world won’t have been formed [ref. Hebrews 11:3; Colossians 1:15-16]. It is the Word Jesus that we are to speak into whatever we do because the Word is perfect, He is the mind of God, this is why you need to get to know God through the meditation of the Word so that you then know the exact thing God would want you to do as the Holy Spirit guides you.

Get to know Jesus the Word of God in the next write-up. So log on next time.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. May the LORD be gracious to you and lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN.

                    

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send, to the comment section below.

GOD BLESS YOU.

PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG

                                                     

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)