“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.” Ephesians 6:10-13
Christians wake up. Stop walking around defeated. I have been defeated way to long and I’m here to tell you that my defeat is over. You see, I’m in the army of God and I have God’s armor, so why did I walk around with defeat in my spirit. I am on the winning team. We are either Christians or we claim the name but we are really spy’s for Satan. If we are in Christ, we need to act like it. We need to shake off the shackles of bondage and stop walking around with defeat in our Spirit. I’m telling you, if you are in Christ act like it. Shack off that bondage that will not let you move. Shack it off now! Move for Christ. Run to the next trial and be ready to be victorious. Why? Because Revelation tells me that we are on the winning team. David knew he was on the winning team. He knew he had the army of God on his side. He took his stones and he RAN to the great giant warrior and he threw a stone hit in his head and killed the giant. He was victorious before he got there, because he was on God’s team. We need to stop letting Satan inflict intimidation and fear in our hearts so we will coward down to our problems. We need to stop looking up at our problems with defeat in our minds and look down on them with victory. We will win. We are the champions. We are the victorious ones. Break the bondage that stops us from fulfilling our destiny. Break the bondage and be free. Jesus has set us free. We are free. So we need to act like it. We need to believe it. We need to take the chains of bondage out of our minds and replace it with freedom. If we are in Christ then we are in Christ. It’s simple. We are the ones who make it hard. So run and don’t be weary. Run and tell everyone that we are in Christ and we are free from bondage and we are the champions……..
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
thedailylily.com 
Thanks CF! Listen to the footnotes from my Bible for Ephesians 6: 12, ” These who are not ‘flesh-and-blood’ are demons over whom the devil has control. they are not mere fantasies, they are VERY REAL. We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, these beings become our enemies, and they try EVERY device to turn us away from Him and back to sin. Although we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns, because satan is CONSTANTLY battling against all who are on the Lord’s side. We need supernatural power to defeat satan, and God has provided this by giving us his Holy Spirit within us and his armor surrounding us. If you feel discouraged, remember Jesus’ words to Peter: ‘Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16: 18)
Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Just as Needles footnotes said that the enemy is a powerful army, God’s church, the Body of Christ can be a powerful army also as each one knows and uses their gifts in the body, stays steady with them; and stays in accountability to the order that God had placed in His church.
With the weapons of our warfare..that God has provided…the armor of God, Helmet of salvation: that protects our thought life, memory, focus and guards the battlefield of our minds. The shield of Faith: that is faith in God and the the God-kind of faith. Sword of the Spirit which is the Word in our mouths instead of our own babblings. Shoes of walking in peace carrying that Word of Life to those who are confused. Breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness; Blood of Jesus, Cross of Salvation, garment of Praise, Glory of the Lord our rear guard and prayer, speaking with the Lord. And don’t forget the belt of truth in all things Yes!!
Matthew 4:9-11 “9 I will give it all to you, “he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me. 10 Get out of here, Satan, Jesus told him. For the Scriptures say, ‘YOU MUST WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE ONLY HIM.’ 11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.”
If there is anyone or anything in our lives that is demanding that we kneel down and worship them, we must say “Get out of here Satan, For the scriptures say WE MUST WORSHIP THE LORD OUR GOD AND SERVE ONLY HIM.” Resist the devil and he will flee. The angels will come and take care of us. Do not let any one or anything stand in your way to worship God. Do not kneel down to your husband, wife, child, friend, family member, lust, greed, pride, ect…. and worship them. Resist the devil, “IN THE NAME OF JESUS.” Let nothing come between us and God. God will take care of the rest…..
OK Chickenfarmer I’m shaking those heavy bonds hard. Thanks for the encouragement and scriptures to continue to shake those bonds off everytime someone tries to place them there again.
AMEN Rena. Rock on girlfriend!!!!! Rock on !!! You are on the winning side and you are free from any bondage. Christ has set you free. Bow down and worship God alone and shake those shackles. You are free. Run, jump, sing and dance.. You are free, the son of THE LIVING GOD has set you free. PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD IN HEAVEN ABOVE!!!!!!!!!
While we break bonds that keep us in alliance with the devil Ephesians 6;6 tells us to form bonds with Christ by doing His will from the heart. And it tells us we can’t be men-pleasers. If our motive and priority is to please people, then our alliance is with them and not with Christ.
“If our motive and priority is to please people, then our alliance is with them and not with Christ”. Great point, Debi!
Yes Needles, the approval rating of our Heavenly Father should be what matters most to us.
Amen Debi!!! We heard a preacher yesturday and he preached on eternity. He said if today was you last day on earth, where would you go Heaven or Hell. If we are kneeling down to worship people when we leave this earth, we are in trouble. We better stop trying to please people and start trying to please God. As Debi quoted ” the approval rating of our Heavenly Father should be what matters most to us…..” God is the one we have to face to determine our eternity……not people. So as this wise preacher said yesturday, we should live each day as if it was our last. Live each day with eternity in Heaven on our mind.
chickenfarmer, the preacher’s question should put some fear in us to take care of any unsettled business we have with the Lord or with others. Procrastination can mean life or death to ourselves or others….whether it be putting off a decision to follow Christ or to repent and make that change He’s been speaking to us about. As James warns us: “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.”
James 4:13-14 NIV
One of the pastors reminded us that: it’s not God’s choice, it’s not the devil’s choice, our mother’s, our father’s, our kids’, our husbands’, our wives’, but it’s OURS. OUR CHOICE. We cannot blame anyone else when we have the truth, (THE GOSPEL, the WORD, the Blood, the Cross, the Holy Spirit) but this message preached reiterates what God says, ” I set before you this day, life and death. CHOOSE LIFE!”
We will be glad we chose life when the day comes that we stand before the Lord to account to Him for our choices. “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” 2 Cor 5:10 NLT
So better to stand now than to sit down in obstinacy or passivity.
I like to remember this scripture as a promise when we choose and follow Him.
“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” Jude 1:24-25 NLT
in New International Version bible it says in Mathew 10: 36 it says a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
In reading the footnotes for Mathew 10: 34-39 from the Application Bible it says:
Christian commitment may separate friends and loves ones. In saying this, Jesus was not encouraging disobedience to parents or conflict at home. Rather, he was showing this his presence demands a decision. Because some will follow Christ and some won’t, conflict will inevitably arise. As we take up our cross and follow him, our different values, morals, and goals will set us apart from others. Christ calls us to a higher mission than to find comfort and tranquility in this life. Love of family is a law of God, but even this love can be self-serving and used as an excuse not to serve God or do his work. Don’t neglect your family, but remember that your commitment to God is even more important. God should be your first priority.
We find as we walk with God we have to step out with God due to the enemy speaking through family or our own minds. Enough Satan accuser, in the name
of Jesus we move on with Jesus!
So, so very sad when families are separated by their commitment to God. Must be the main reason Paul wrote in II Corinthians, 6:14-15, ” Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?”
The Word of God has some very hard sayings! Or, should I say, questions for one to answer?
Jesus taught in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” I never was quite sure what that Scripture meant other than, in the natural, if you have lost a loved one, or something dear to you has been taken, or sad things in this world affect you and you are feeling grief that you would be comforted by the Lord. But recently we have received new insights and teachings on this Scripture that Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount.
Sara began telling us Sunday that the time was NOW to mourn over our flesh, render dead those things of the flesh that are holding us back; those indulgences and hindrances; bad habits; little idols. Kill them and let them go. Mourn over them and then repent, about face and move on with Jesus, because whether we like it or not, HE is Moving On, with or without us!
Is it a daily soap opera, preoccupation with sports or violent TV shows,or questionable movies OR: as Rena stated above, using the duties of THE FAMILY!! THE FAMILY!!… as an excuse to stay away from the assembling of ourselves together as we see the day of the Lord approaching?? Is it having developed the habit of sleeping-in on Sunday mornings? Is it compromise, lying, cheating?
In Nita Johnson’s Newsletter of THE WORLD FOR JESUS MINISTRIES, she writes, “Mourn over your flesh, beg and plead with God so that whatever must die in you would die, so that YOU MIGHT HAVE ALL OF HIM” (emphasis, mine). She goes on to write, and I will paraphrase….’You mourn over things of the world but when you really look at it, what greatness does the world have to offer? It starves children, it kills people in wars, mothers and fathers, leaving orphans; it tell you you can live a great life WITHOUT GOD.’ It lies to you and tells you that money can make you happy and more money can make you happier. ‘It encourages you to chase after knowledge instead of truth.’ And the more knowledge you acquire the more puffed up you become. Truth gives freedom but knowledge puffs you up and makes you vain.
What do you mourn after? “You mourn after the death that wraps your soul in NATURAL, COMMON state, clinging to our bones, worldly death. Mourn over this living death and we are to weep and pray and cry out that the life of Christ may consume it so that we can walk in true divine life, while still here on this earth. ”
I say, it is a battle and a fight to the death and there will be casualties. The casualties of the world, the flesh and the devil. Mourn them, cry out and ask for the Holy Spirit and the angels to help in the field of battle. The cloud of witnesses is cheering us on and our guardian angels help us war but WE HAVE TO DO IT. It is our choice, again, OUR CHOICE and perseverance.
As the time for Christ to appear gets closer and closer He is scrubbing His church and ironing out the wrinkles. If we do not choose to kill the flesh and its encumbrances to the divine life now, as Debi wrote above, we will stand guilty before the BEMA Seat of Christ, the judgment seat and then we will REALLY and eternally MOURN.
Matt 10:37-39 NLT “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
Debi, I guess you have quoted the first commandment…”Have no other Gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 I think this sure takes a lot of wisdom.
Although it takes faith and diligence and the help of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus to mourn over and slowly and carefully kill the fleshly life, deprive it of existence in your spiritual life, the Lord promises great reward for those who do. In Psalm 30:11 David says, “You have turned my MOURNING into dancing for me. You have put off my sackcloth (of grieving). You have, instead, girded me with gladness so that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me (minus the flesh life) may sing praises unto YOU and not be silent. I will give thanks to You forever.” That means throughout all eternity….that’s forever…we will be grateful and thankful to the Lord because we were able to overcome this proud flesh life and enter into the Spirit It may take a lifetime but it is well worth it.
And in another place in the Scriptures, Isaiah 61: 2-3, Isaiah prophetically writes, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me…..to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, that is the time of His favor, AND the day of vengeance. And to comfort all who MOURN; to give consolation to those who MOURN in ZION, (God’s people) and to give them the oil of joy for MOURNING, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and grief.”
And this is what He wants us to do after we have killed the fleshly life…”to renew and rebuild the ancient ruins, restore desolate places and restore the devastations of many generations so that HE may be glorified.”
NO! We cannot really glorify and worship the Lord in this proud flesh-life. Those who worship God must do it in SPIRIT and in TRUTH. (John 4:23) That is scary, because we really cannot please HIM in this flesh-life charade. So we must stop the charade, start to put the fleshly life to death, cry over it, mourn over it and then taking the oil of joy that He give, move on to greater things of God, in the spirit, What a break-through!!