satan Little s

I have been in a lot of thought about spiritual warfare lately and I wanted to write a blog about what my thoughts were on this subject.  I want to share from my own experiences in the hopes that whoever reads this will become as free as the Lord intends for them to be.

Personally I feel the most free by completely ignoring the devil or whatever distractions he has up his sleeve, unless of course I'm lead by the spirit to do otherwise.

We should be led by the Holy Spirit in all things and no other spirit.  "For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."

I find freedom when I pray in faith to receive the mind of Christ or the mind of His spirit. For "the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace" and godliness. 

I also enjoy focusing my thoughts and heart on Philippians 4:8, "Finally brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things " 

I realize, that in addressing some of these topics, some unbelievers might think I'm out of my head but the fact is that the supernatural realm is more real than the world we see with our own physical eyes.

There is power in not giving the devil any place whatsoever.  But if you are experiencing a lack of concentration on the things of the Lord, or if your struggling with anxiety or depression, then maybe there will be times where the Holy Spirit will lead you to bind any evil spirit coming against you. "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven."

 It's not impossible that the Holy Spirit might someday lead you to cast evil spirits out of someone who is dealing with a lot of torment emotionally, mentally or physically. 

I have met many Christians over the years who were afraid of the devil and I used to be one of those Christians, but its important to go to God's word on these matters.  We need to believe what it says in Luke 10:18 that "no power of the evil one shall by any means harm you."

If ever it seems that the enemy's hand isn't leaving your life, you may want to ask the Lord what in your life you haven't submitted to him. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourself to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Perhaps sometimes we can become blind to areas in our life where we haven't resisted the devil or where we haven't submitted to God.

Are we on fire for Jesus right now?  Are our hearts burning with passion for him?  Is he in all our thoughts and the focus of all our dreams about the future?  

I think if we are honest with ourselves maybe we could be in desperate need of a revival in our hearts.  I don't say this to condemn anyone, but I do pray that Jesus will be first place in all of our hearts, including my own.

Maybe you're like one of those wise virgins in the parable whose lamp never went out.  God knows your heart wherever you are in life. 

I pray we all have a heart that delights to submit to him in all things.  This could be painful to our flesh, but if we want to have a relationship with God on his terms, that is what is required of us.

How do we do that?  How do we keep our hearts pure?  Only with the help of the Holy Spirit.  But let's not forget to ask God for help as often as we need it. 

Will we fall short of the glory of God?  Always.  But as long as we are quick to repent and change our way of thinking we will experience the spiritual growth God desires for us.

It does say in the word of God that satan our enemy "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."  Is the word of God completely true?  Yes absolutely.  It's true to me and the more I say that the more peace I feel.  We need to just see that verse in its proper context.  Speaking from my own experience, my earthly father is always warning me about things that could cause me heartache or things that could go badly for me because he cares deeply for me.  I know he just wants to protect me and help me to think things out more clearly.  This is God's heart for us and he is only trying to do the same thing.  He has given us free will to choose our own destiny, so that is why he needs to warn us.

Could the devil become a roaring lion in your life?  Yes, but only if you give him place in your life, by not submitting to God and not resisting him.  If, for example, a person smoked a pack a day for three decades and didn't resist the devil or temptation.  If they didn't submit that desire to God, its not impossible that this person could end up breathing from an oxygen tank.  Even if they did have faith in Jesus.  It's not impossible that such a person could be eternally saved, but in such circumstances, has the devil become a roaring lion in that persons life?  I think regretfully so, yes.

I don't believe God wants us to constantly be afraid because fear is tormenting.  I don't believe he wants us to be terrified of satan or what he might try against us, but he does give us a warning spoken in love. 

One of the most overlooked open doors to the enemy through which he can harass us is through un-forgiveness.  Look at the parable of the unmerciful servant. One of the easiest things for us to do as a  Christian or non-Christian, is for us to think about past hurts and to hold onto the resentment that came from it.  We can usually think of a thousand different ways to justify it.  We can even use the word of God itself as a defense to harbor un-forgiveness against someone.  I am ashamed to say I have actually done this before in my life.  We can come up with a thousand different reasons why we would think un-forgiveness is ok.  We may think it's because he or she didn't believe the same things I did about God so on and so on.  We can in fact become blind to our own un-forgiveness and years can go by that way.  But we shouldn't forget that some of the most inspiring Christ-exalting testimonies come from people who graciously delighted in forgiving those who completely did not deserve it. 

Some people even go as far as to say that the only unforgiveable sin is un-forgiveness itself, because "if you do not forgive others their sins, your father in heaven will not forgive you." 

It is something that should be taken seriously. We should be thinking of those we withhold forgiveness from and know that they might change for the better someday.  What could God do with them if he completely had his way in their life?  He could completely change them.   

Some pastors are used to heal, save, and restore thousands because they are willing to treat an ungodly person like they are the apple of Gods eye.  Not because it is always convenient, but because they can see into the distant future what God intends for that person to become.

Sometimes it could be our own un-forgiveness holding back sinners from walking into the glorious light of God's presence.  Father and son, father and daughter, reconciled for all eternity somewhere hopefully in the future.

Another way the enemy keeps people in darkness is through fear. 

For example, someone who loves God with all they have and with great sincerity of heart, but is afraid they could be misled by another spirit when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit is living out of fear.

I remember back seven years ago when I had the same fears.  I thought God intended way more for my life with him then what I was experiencing as a conservative Baptist, but I myself was afraid of being misled.  I thought I would be unable to spiritually discern between spirits. 

I am happy to say I finally did experience the more abundant life God had for me, and that I believe he has for everyone.  It didn't happen until I let go of the fear that was holding me back.  After I did I didn't feel any more lack in my relationship with God.  It seemed like my faith moved to a height where I could not have my spirit quenched for long time.  It was definitely one of the best times of my life.  I was listening to praise and worship songs for hours in my apartment, and just enjoyed being completely amazed at how amazing God's Holy Spirit is.

All I can say is if you ever do get off track with God, and you honestly don't mean to, I think God knows that and he is faithful to bring you back to the straight and narrow path. 

If the fear I wrote about is what you are fearing will happen to you; if you think that you could be misled spiritually, don't worry. 

You can always look at your life and your fruit and ask the Holy Spirit to show you if are you on the comfortable broad road or if you are on the straight and narrow path that leads to life.

Jesus says don't fear those who can kill the body but rather be afraid of him who can cast body and soul into hell.  This verse seems to invoke fear. 

For a time I was unsure about this verse when it was brought to my attention. 

Some old friends who were studying the original Greek showed me that the word for hell in the original Greek is gehenna, which means a trash dump.  I later felt like the Lord brought me to the conclusion that if gehenna is an ok place to be why is Jesus saying I should fear him because he could send me there.  But hell is explicitly talked about as a lake of fire where there will be gnashing of teeth, so I that is why Jesus said that. 

If you ever feel a lack of peace with God about where your relationship is with him remember Jesus said, "Lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge me in all your ways and I will make your path straight."

So in conclusion, what I believe God's intention for us as his children, is to not be tormented with fear of satan.  To always let him be a little s in your life and not a huge horror movie S.  Be obedient to the word of God the Holy Bible because there is no other way to resist the devil. 

The devil himself is afraid because he knows his end, but if you renew your mind by the Spirit, you will find yourself becoming more and more courageous.  Satan's so-called power can become a distant memory and he can become the defeated foe.

I personally believe the only thing the Lord would have us fear is the Lord himself.   We fear God out of respect just in the same way our fathers taught us to respect them and fear the consequences of what could happen if we were disobedient to their wishes. 

Lord I pray for anyone reading this blog that you will comfort them by your Holy Spirit and unfailing love.  I pray for everyone and myself that we would walk in this life the way you intended victoriously.

In Jesus name amen :)

How Satan Attacks Us

(A blog my wife wrote) http://www.orangecountyangel.blogspot.com/


There is a middle ground to dealing with the demonic world.

You don't want to think about Satan all the time, because the more we think about him, the more power we give him.

But you don't want to ignore him either.

Last night I totally freaked myself out lol.  I woke up somewhat scared like at 2:30am and a few minutes after I woke up the door to my room totally opened by itself.  I was thinking, "ah that's the stuff you see in horror movies!  A demon just entered my room!" lol 

But logically it could have just been a gust of wind.  The door wasn't latched all the way.  But it still scared me a lot.  :)

That could have been me thinking about demons and Satan too much though.

We shouldn't always focus on Satan but we need to acknowledge that he is there, and the Bible does say he is the ruler of this world.  We need to be active in praying against his attacks on our lives and the lives of those we know.  That's why it's called spiritual warfare.  We are in an unseen war whether we realize it or not.

In the first chapter of Waking the Dead by John Eldridge he talks about the fact that we need to have somewhat of an understanding about Satan, after all he is shooting arrows at us all day and all night.  We need to pray against his attacks on our lives.

Mike Erre did a sermon on "Thy Kingdom Come" at Mariners and he said, "If we are not careful we will forget that our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, and we will start to try and fight flesh and blood."  Amen?  Rather than fighting our real enemy who is Satan.  No person you know is your enemy.  No person on this earth is your enemy.  You know who your real enemy is?  Satan!  Satan uses people as pawns, those closest to you usually, to get at you.  He gets in people's minds and uses them to discourage you, to make you angry etc.  He is not all powerful of course like God, but he has more power than we realize.  And we need to be aware of that. 

We've all been guilty of trying to fight flesh and blood.  Satan tries to pit us against each other.  And often times he succeeds.  Divide and conquer right?  There is strength in numbers, so if he can get us to divide and isolate he has us.  Or he can get at us easier. :(  That little jerk lol

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, that means we then can't defend ourselves against Satan and his demons as well.  I don't think Christians can ever be possessed.  There is a verse about "the evil one cannot touch you" once you are saved.  But Satan can get in our heads. 

He is called "the accuser of the brethren."  So he can try to accuse our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to us in our heads.  :( 

But the more we stay connected to the vine, to Jesus, the stronger we are and the more we can "extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one."  Satan will send arrows your way all day AND all night, and you need to recognize them for what they are. 

"The truth shall set you free."  If you don't see the truth that it's Satan you may think God has left you for a time or that others really are out to get you or hurt you.  Or that static you may hear that keeps you from hearing God, that is Satan.  That depression and hopelessness you feel, that is Satan.  That anger at someone you are close to, that is Satan.  The Bible says, "Don't let the sun go down on your anger and don't give the devil a foothold."  So our anger can give Satan a foothold in our lives.  So be very careful about anger. :( 

I had a thought last night that Satan is like a little toddler.  He is weak and annoying but toddlers can still make a lot of noise and be pretty destructive. 

He wants to get under your skin.  He is like a small child.  And you need to talk to him like you would to a child.  I'm serious. :)  Tell him, "Get behind me Satan!"  :)  He needs to be corrected or he will think he can do and say to you whatever he wants.  You have to take authority over him, because you have it, and tell him to get lost. :)  Any thought you have that is discouraging or brings you down, tell Satan to get lost.  "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Amen!  :)

There was a video we watched last night at Brave of Angela Thomas speaking.  She is so cool. :)  But she shared about a friend she had that came to her house and would always pray over her house and her kids' rooms.  She said one time this lady was making all kinds of noise in her back yard.  Angela went out and was like, "What are you doing?"  The lady said, "I'm telling Satan he cannot come here or mess with your family or your kids!  I'm spitting on Satan!" lol :)  Funny but we need to do that more.  We need to get mad at Satan and beat him up and spit on him. :)

One time my friend and I were going to pass out some pb and j's to homeless people.  She texted me something like, "God can't use me, I'm no good" or something like that.  I was like, "Noooo Satan don't talk to my friend anymore!"  And I did a little Kung Fu in the living room trying to beat Satan up! lol :)  Funny but true. 

We need to go to war against him a little more.  We can't ignore him and we can't fixate on him, but we need to do battle with him sometimes, to take back our own minds and the minds of those we love. :) 

Ultimately Satan only has power over Christians that we let him have.  But we don't even realize how often we give him power over us.  Any time we give in to worry, fear or anger, that gives him power.  Anytime we let our emotions rule us, that gives him power.  So be careful of your emotions. :( Be careful of not having control over yourself and your mind and thoughts, because Satan just might then walk all over you. :(  I know, I have experienced this.  Self control is key.

We also defeat Satan by being more thankful and complaining less about things.  Satan wants to keep us feeling miserable.  God wants us to be thankful. 

"The joy of the Lord is your strength!"  And how do we have more joy?  By being thankful! 

"Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because he's given Jesus Christ his son.  And now let the weak say I am strong.  Let the poor say I am rich.  Because of what the Lord has done for us.  Give Thanks."

That was one of my favorite songs as a kid that my mom would sing to me at bed time.  Awe.....yes my mom would sing to me God songs every night.  Praise God for her!  :)

But we really need to give thanks more and that will keep Satan from having a foothold over us also.  We need to always thank God for all the ways he has blessed us, because there are many if we really look at them.  That is how we can have more joy in the Lord. :)  That is how we can have the abundant life that Jesus promised!  Give thanks people! lol :)  And God will bless you. :)  Amen. 


And on a less serious note, so you don't get overwhelmed thinking about Satan lol check this out.....

Here are kids dancing and singing in the backseat of cars. They are all so cute!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS8olx432eY

God is good!  "Children are a blessing from the Lord!"  Cause they always make us laugh and not be so serious.  lol amen! :)

May God watch over you and protect you and send his angels to guard you!  Amen! :)

Great Awakening

A Third Great Awakening?

A light to the nations; I have chosen America to uphold my standards of biblical morality.

A light to the nations, and a refuge from tyrants; a safe haven for my children of Israel to flee.

A light to the nations; so many starving poor and countless foreign tongues I have sent to thee.

A light to the nations; but unless you repent, an example to the nations you will dreadfully be.


Chosen to give with generous hearts with charity and compassion in this land of the free.

Chosen to live your lives through my Spirit, and for a short time, through my eyes you would see.

America, if you believe you deserve to be the wealthiest nation, I fear you believe a lie.

For you America have dashed my heart into infinite pieces and now oceans of tears for you I cry.

Your judges allowed a bright young future to be taken from My hand.

And your judges allowed innocent blood to drench the land.


Not a church to up rise for the children's sake that they might learn of my ways.

Not a church to up rise for them in adulthood to convict them of there immoral craze.

America, once beautiful, so far away from me your heart has turned.


I fear that Satan's desires of destruction upon you can be so easily fulfilled and earned.


Arise good shepherds, let my Spirit of might echo from your tongues!

Arise good shepherds, let my boldness thunder from your lungs!

From sea to shinning sea, the truth My children shall proclaim.

From sea to shinning sea, my holy children shall tread the grain.


On her knees in repentant prayer, America shall be redeemed from her blemish and shame.

On her knees in repentant prayer, America shall be cleansed from every guilty stain.

Poems

Some poems I have written:


Blissful Forgetting


My spirit eternally

Given over

In the mystic union

Of eternal agape love.

Together we dance

Forming life giving colors

Like the rainbows in skies above.

Let the colors of your love

Burst out of my heart;

That it may cleanse everything in sight.

Let the colors of your love

Bring peace to others

So they may see

Your purest light.


You press the bottle against my lips

As an old friend of a greater time.

I feel your joy deep within

Forgetting old pains

As like a swig of an old tart wine.


In a gentle whisper

You hush all my heartaches and worries

That rattle inside.


You encourage me to make every moment

A conversation with you.


I will place the path of my life

In your hands,

And in your voice

I will confide.


I will make every passing moment

A loving conversation

Between us two.

 

 

Rest

In reflection
I will worship
As with my hands

I caress this chamber of God

In my chest.

No recollection of the mountains of fear,
In a hushed peaceful silence my soul enters rest
The Spirit guides my mind away from self-effort
and struggle
To inhale the aroma of heaven.
My soul floats like a bubble into the bosom of God.
I'm released from religion's leaven.

 

Soaring

Tears that sing out like a canary,
"Jesus you are my best time."
Tears whose maker is the goodness of God.

Tears that glimmer and shine.
Caught up in this angelic ecstasy;
Raptured into stardust;
Soaring High on Eagle's wings;
Soaring past comets on eagle's wings.
Growing in faith; growing in trust

 

Loved

A man's face is soaked with tears of bliss,
From loving and adoring the Lord.
His soul sub-consciously deep in His rest;
His dream of all dream restored.
Tears unpainful for his eyes,
Behold the sunrise of a long awaited day.
Tears that whisper as a lover.
I've always dreamed of finding this way.
Tears that sing out like a canary,
"Jesus you are my best time."
Tears from a roaring laughter,
Among friends drinking an old sweet wine.

 

Caught up in this angelic ecstasy;
Raptured into stardust;
Soaring past commets on eagle's wings.
Growing from faith; destined for trust.

My Life

I just started this blog and am excited to write a lot. 

I believe in Jesus and I enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit.  

 I really embrace the joy of The Lord as much as possible, but there are hard times in life as well.

I think there is a balance to one's walk with God, and I find myself at peace when I embrace the word of God in its entirety as absolute truth.

I personally feel that every part of the body of Christ has something valuable to offer.

I lean more on the spirit filled side of things.

 I've seen The Lord do some amazing things over the years and I hope to see much more.

God is good!  Amen :)