God’s Provision for Spiritual Warfare
In Ephesians 1:3 the Holy Spirit says that God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
1. Who God is.
“Be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power.” He is the only one in the universe capable of enabling us to be victorious.He is revealed as “God our Father,” “God and Father of all, who is over all,” “the glorious Father.”
“His glorious grace, which He has freely given us,” “the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding,” and “His incomparably great power for us who believe.”
His mighty strength,the incomparable riches of His grace, His kindness, His love for us, His manifold wisdom, His glorious riches, and His mighty power.Ephesians 6:10; Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
2. Who we are in Christ
We are described as saints, His sons, God’s possession, His body,God’s workmanship, fellow citizens with God’s people, members of God’s household, a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit, heirs, dearly loved children of God, God’s holy people, light in the Lord, and children of light.
we have redemption through His blood, we were chosen and predestined, included in Christ, marked in him with a seal—the Holy Spirit, called to hope, saved by grace, raised with Christ, seated with him in the heavenly realms, created in Christ to do good works,brought near through His blood, able to approach God with freedom and confidence, and loved by Christ
3. God’s mighty works on our behalf.
2 Chronicles 20:15 says, “the battle is not yours, but God’s.” We go out against the enemy, but it is our mighty God who does battle for us. His battle on our behalf includes much more than direct warfare. It includes all His mighty works on our behalf, which enable us to live effective lives for Him.
He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ. He freely gave us His glorious grace, in fact He lavished it on us with all wisdom and understanding.
He has given us His incomparably great power, the same mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. He raised us with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.
4. Our weapons for spiritual warfare.
The Lord has graciously provided us with ample weapons and armor for being effective in doing battle with evil forces. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Ephesians 16:10-18 and 1 Thessalonians 5:8 describe our armor, provided for us by God.
Our defensive armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace,the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation. In 1
Thessalonians 5:8 faith and love are described as our breastplate. Our offensive weapons include the Word of God and prayer. With these weapons we can “take our stand” and “stand our ground” against the devil.
Strategies for Spiritual Warfare
1. Put on the full armor of God.
Right believing:: Beloved, get rid of any leaven in your believing. Believe and declare that you are healed, not sick; abundantly supplied, not in lack; and forever righteous in Christ. And when you start believing and confessing God’s truths, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will be released for the breakthrough you need!
Beloved, get rid of any leaven in your believing. Believe and declare that you are healed, not sick; abundantly supplied, not in lack; and forever righteous in Christ. And when you start believing and confessing God’s truths, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will be released for the breakthrough you need!
My friend, if the devil is attacking you in any area, tell God, “Father, I will not allow the devil to rob me of my health, marriage, children or finances. These blessings are blood-bought and paid for by Your Son!” Claim your restoration in Christ and heaven will hear you.
EPHESIANS 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation…
Our minds are inclined toward the negative. So to guard our minds against negative thoughts, we are to put on “the helmet of salvation”, which is “the hope of salvation”. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
In the midst of the pain, He wants you to know and believe that He is wholly on your side defending and taking care of you. And if God, the most powerful being in the universe, is for you, can anyone or anything come against you successfully?
If you are going through a trial right now, putting on as a helmet the hope of salvation means that you have a confident expectation of good coming your way. It means that you choose to believe that this trial that you are going through is only temporary because God will see you through it. It means that you believe that this difficult period will end with your salvation—your preservation, wholeness, wellness and health!
You may not know what is going to happen this week. But one thing you can do is to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation and tell yourself that you are going to have a fantastic week!
You are a child of the living God. You have a Savior watching over you. There are more angels given charge over you than there are demons against you. And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4) There is every reason for you to have a confident expectation of good happening to you!
2. Live in Submission to God.
“live a life worthy of the calling” we have received. We are to “be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,” to “find out what pleases the Lord,” not to “be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” We must “be filled with the Spirit,” “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power,” and “pray in the Spirit on all occasions.”
we were made alive, saved, raised up with Christ in the heavenly realms, and that we are His workmanship Since we are “light in the Lord,” we can “live as children of light.” We are to
deal with our anger quickly, and not “give the devil a foothold.” We must put off our old self, be made new in the attitude of our minds,and put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness
All people. We are to “live a life of love,” to be “humble and gentle ... patient,” to avoid stealing, to share with those in need. We must “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,
brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”
we are to “speak truthfully to our neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” We must speak “only what is helpful for building others up,” and to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us.” Let us “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,” “bearing with one another in love.”
3. Resist the Devil.
1 Peter 5:8–9
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith…
we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that you will have to pay for your mistakes or that something bad will happen to your family. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.
But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith”, if it is established in righteousness. God says that once you are established in righteousness, “You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”. (Isaiah 54:14)
So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can boldly declare, “Yes, I may have these problems in my life, but I am not guilty in God’s eyes. I am justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I am righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that is how you resist the devil and become undevourable!
Believe in his Love which Empowers you to “say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and helps you to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12).
Keep the evil one out of our lives by Love Of God. You are his Beloved.
Always keep your focus on God's Love for you which enables you to overcome* Unbelief (Luke 22:31,32).
* Immorality (1Corinthians 5:4,5).
* Resentment—refusing to deal with our anger through forgiveness Deceit—lying to God, self and others (Acts5:1-11).
* Pride (1 Timothy 3:6,7, 1 John 2:16).
* Evil thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5).
* Love of the world (1 John 2:15).
* Lust (1 Peter 2:11, 1 John 2:15).
* Greed—love of money and material things (1 Timothy 6:9,10).
Realize that one of his favorite attacks is to accuse us. In 1 Peter 5:8 the “adversary” means “accuser,” and “devil” actually means “slanderer.” He is the “accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10). When we feel condemned, let us consider if the accuser and slanderer is at work, and claim Romans 8:1:“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
An especially powerful scheme of the devil is to entrap us in legalism ;to convince us that we cannot be in right standing with God unless we follow the rules defined by our Christian subculture. Colossians 2:8-23 portrays this danger very clearly.
Ephesians 4:11-16 describes the essential part each believer must play in building one another up. Scripture emphasizes this over and over. “But encourage one another daily ... so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). Other key passages include Galatians 6:1,2,Ephesians 6:18-20, Luke 22:31,32, Ecc. 4:9-12 and 1 Thessalonians 3:2-5.
overt demonic activity in others we have authority to command them in the name of Jesus to leave,assuming that we are His and are in right relationship to him. See Luke 10:17-20, Acts
16:16-18. Bathe all our activity in prayer. Prayer is our direct communication link with our Battle Commander.In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 God commands us to “Pray continually.”(Ephesians 4:26,27, 2 Corinthians 2:10,11).
God’s Promises Regarding Spiritual Warfare
There are two kinds of promises in the Word on spiritual warfare for the believer:
unconditional promises (based solely on God’s grace), and conditional promises (based not only on God’s grace, but on our doing our part).
1. Unconditional Promises
a. Through God’s mighty power Christ is seated in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. God has placed all things under His feet and appointed him as head over everything for us, the church (Ephesians 1:19-21).
b. He has disarmed the powers and authorities, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).
c. In Christ we have overcome the evil one (1 John 2:13,14, 4:4).
d. The Son of God appeared to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8).
e. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
f. Everyone born of God has overcome the world (1 John 5:4).
g. Even though the whole world is under the control of the evil one, Christ keeps us safe, and the evil one cannot harm us (1 John 5:18,19).
h. The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and protect us from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:3).
i. Demons cannot separate us from God’s love in Christ (Romans 8:38).
j. When we suffer in our struggle against the devil, God himself restores us and makes us strong, firm and steadfast (1 Peter 5:8-10).
2. Conditional Promises.
a. The devil will flee from us if we resist him and submit to God (James 4:7).
b. We can take our stand against the devil’s schemes if we put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11,13).
c. Not one flaming arrow of the evil one can pierce the shield of faith if we take it up against him (Ephesians 6:16).
d. In our struggle against sin we will not grow weary and lose heart if we fix our eyes on Jesus and steadfastly consider Him(Hebrews 12:2-4).
Conclusion:
My friend, God’s grace is bigger, deeper, wider and more powerful than all the world’s sins put together. Receive His grace right now to walk in total victory over that weakness or evil habit in your life!
You are blessed today because all your sins are forgiven in Christ. God does not count your sins against you. Instead, He counts you righteous in Christ. That is why you are the blessed man to whom the Lord does not and will not impute sin!what He does impute to you is righteousness apart from works. (Romans 4:6) And because you are righteous, get ready for His blessings! (Proverbs 10:6)
We have power and authority through Jesus Christ to confidently engage in spiritual warfare, without fear of evil powers.It is a moment-by moment process of living according to God’s Word, in His power, confidently facing an enemy already defeated by the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.