Dear People Who Keep Company With God,

Back in the 1990’s we were doing ministry in Zimbabwe and one of the most revered spiritual fathers in that nation spoke of the reality of spiritual warfare. He said something I have never forgotten, “You are going to face the same devils that all of us have had to face.”

In my life I have been all over the map concerning spiritual warfare. I have downplayed and tried to ignore it, but that proved to be foolish. Denial never works. I have also tired to defeat the devil, which was equally or maybe even more foolish. I discovered that is a form of self-righteousness since Jesus has already defeated him (Col. 2:15). So the way we approach spiritual warfare is important.

In Ephesians 6:10-18 we are told to wrestle with the demonic world once and to stand in the victory three times. So in general, the way I approach spiritual battles is ¼ is wrestling and ¾ is standing. Apart from being equipped with your spiritual armor, this is some of what the Lord has taught me about how to stand up to the enemy.

Although the enemy has been defeated, he has not fully become the footstool of the Lord (Heb. 10:12-13). The God of peace is going to crush Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20). This is why spiritual battles are a vital part of our life; by standing in Christ’s victory God is using us to make the enemy the footstool of the Lord.

The Bible tells us a threefold cord is not easily broken (Eccles. 4:12). The Lord showed me a practical and powerful threefold cord strategy to stand firm, resist and overcome the enemy’s deception and confusion in every area of my life.

The first strand of the cord is to have a close relationship with the Lord. Get to know the Lord so well that you can easily discern the enemy even when he comes to you through the Christian community (Matt. 16:21-23), disguised as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) or through manipulative use of Scriptures (Matt. 4:1-10).

The second strand of the cord is the spiritual gift of discernment. In the first few months of my Christian life I had many dreams from the Lord. God was literally using dreams to lead me and help me make important life decisions. I also had some dreams that were not from the Lord. These dreams were not evil on the surface, but somehow I would know they were not from the Lord and it would always prove itself out in my life. Looking back I understand I was using the gift of discernment, which I did not even know existed back then.

The gift of discernment (1 Cor. 12:10) is a supernatural ability to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, between holiness and evil. Just as counterfeit money experts can quickly distinguish phony money from the real thing, those with the gift of discernment can distinguish holy and unholy spirits and discern truth from deception. Further, 1 John 4:1 tells us not to trust every spirit but to test the spirits to see if they are from God.  Clearly, this is a call to use spiritual discernment and that tells me all believers have access to this gift.

The third strand of the cord is the Scriptures. Jesus said that the word, logos is truth (John 17:17). And in God’s eyes truth and victory is the same thing. Matthew 12:20 uses the phrase “justice to victory”. Matthew was quoting Isaiah 42:3 and it says “justice for truth”. The more truth you receive and walk in the more victory you will experience (John 8:32 & 2 John 4). God desires to open our minds to understand the Scriptures so we can walk in His victory (Luke 24:45).

We are more than conquerors or literally, super victorious, through Him who loves us (Rom. 8:37). So it is time for all of us to stand up to the enemy and watch the Father make him the footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many Blessings, BW

Pin It on Pinterest