The Daily Struggle

The long awaited (and hopefully anticipated) second part to my commentary on warfare has come. I pray you benefit.




4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

-- I Thes. 1:4-5

Before going forth into warfare for the sake of others make sure of your own status. Remaining in a good status requires two aspects, these being humility and devotion. For the root problem has been and shall always be sin. Without sin there would be no fallen angels, no entropy, and no war either against the flesh within or the world without. When sin is paid for a person is taken out of the darkness, enslavement, and freed from a mindset for the work of the devil. This does not necessarily mean they are scotch free from hard work (it simply means without the grace provided by the gospel, hard work would never pan out...). This is mostly a recap of what I said earlier in a different form.

What needs to be added is the following, sin led to fallen angels and fallen man, sin can attract the fallen or enticement can be produced by the fallen. Yet with resistance to sin the spirits flee. No matter how you look at the issue the main problem is sin and the only solution is the gospel. This is the essence of humility, with confession humility grows and dependence on God becomes increasingly tangible. Doing so will soak in deeper reliance on God and this stunning realization; if we are faithful in "small" things, He is faithful in big things. Of course remaining pure is no small matter but I propose the "big" area is when we try to expand to helping others. James 4:5-7, 1 Peter 5:4-6, Luke 16:9-11.

Humility keeps us dependant and suppresses pride (like the desire to grab our own glory in deliverance). Devotion to God is very specific to fighting one particular struggle, faithlessness. Unbelief is, in essence, thinking God not big enough, the gospel not good enough, nor the Word effective enough to actually deliver from sin. This mindset can either be veiled in a habitual pattern of sin, because if we had the faith repentance would be possible, or in actual doubting of the goodness or power of God. I have found through observation unbelief often is accompanied by oppression. How or when the oppressor comes is speculation but the symptoms are classic and easily identifiable. Hopelessness, depression, brooding, anxiety, and things like these compound the cause, unbelief. Rom. 10:16-18, Gal. 3:1-9, Matt. 17:17-21, 1 Sam. 15:10; 24-25 16:14-15; 23.

Humility and devotion are merely the evidences of something much better, the gospel. These truths are merely fruits from the double beamed tree. Just as no one ever lived without a heart nor did a car ever start without an engine just so do these truths depend on the Mover for their efficacy. Go and do likewise.

Discernment is required. Some are given the gift of discernment of spirits as their spiritual gifting, but many are not. Whether or not you have (or think you have) been given this gift be sure to pray for discernment when you have reason to think an alien will is influencing you. When a temptation seems to never end, to last beyond reason or normal boundaries, and when prayer and recitation of the scriptures seem not avail much then sometimes this may be the influence of an imp. Be careful to remember our warfare is against our own flesh and that sin is always the root cause and root problem, in addressing the root other powers loose most of their leeway.

This warfare is easiest won by prevention, yet there are times when preventative measures fail and we fall. When this time occurs remember the authority, by the power of the Name, given unto us (in various places, one of which is Mark 16:17) and with faith standing against the deceiver. Remember to repent of your sin (repentance being asking forgiveness as well as the grace to turn away and walk in it no more, and then so doing) which brought you to the place of vulnerability in the first place.

Be devoted to God and thereby faith be inculcated into your heart. For faith is the root of our power, just as pride is the root of theirs. Faith protects when pride subverts, faith makes strong where pride makes vulnerable, faith makes effective where pride exposes, and faith give God the glory where pride seeks its own. Devote yourself to God and believe, whereby you shall stand in the day of darkness. Eph. 6:13.

Dt

P.s. For reasons I shall not say the commentary on deliverance of others shall not be posted now and may never be posted in the future. I sincerely hope the commentary has been beneficial to you but I adjure you to be wise and most of all draw near to God.

Forging the Sword

Greetings to you, I the Stranger bid you welcome. The following commentary shall be divided into three parts. The first part shall consist of what I hope you are doing. The second what I expect you shall do. And both parts have this as their topic, spiritual warfare. So I shall begin, and I pray you benefit.


1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:1-6.


This verse gives to us the basic layout of redemption, but I would point out it also shows the manner in which we wage warfare. This is the progression of man, he is sinful, he follows demons (i.e. either by possession or the ideas put forward by demonic influence), he is dead in his sins. But God, who loved us even while we sinned, raised us out of our death with the Resurrection of His Son, and seated us with Him in heaven.

Warfare is not a difficult concept to grasp, and in its makeup it is rather simple. And it is based on one crucial thing, the furtherance, proclamation, and deliverance of the Gospel.


3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

2 Cor. 10:3-5


When the gospel is not our central and major theme warfare is nothing. It has no purpose, no destination, no point, and no goal. It is, in essence, degraded to an experiential subject and not given the seriousness it requires. And when the gospel is overlooked the enemy is either unaffected or not very affected (which can really make your life difficult). In light of this I propose the five things you should be doing right now.

1. Be regenerate. I know this isn't exactly a constant action but if you are not a Christian then spiritual warfare is not for you. See Acts 19:13-16. In fact those not bought by His blood are subject to demonic attack, influence, and possession (John 8:43-45). But if you are indeed a son and joint heir with Christ then the following steps are yours to employ.

2. Study the Word. All the time, breathe it in, memorize it, apply it to wage warfare against your own flesh. In fact if you practice warfare against sin then you shall find warfare against spirits follows the same pattern. If you resist long enough and quote scripture at your sin then it disappears. Thus with spirits.
James 4:6-8

3. Become a prayer warrior. If you are practiced in prayer then almost necessarily you are cultivating humility as well as the mindset of prayer. Or in other words, when there are trials in your life prayer comes as your first attempt to rectify your situation. Then when the enemy descends it is natural to turn first to the Father. And our example of humble prayer is found in our Lord;
Matthew 26:39; Psalm 35:1-3

4. Engage in fellowship. In order to build a network for you to rely on as your covering when in the midst of battle. The prayer of others are bolstering in the thick of battle. And having another to stand with you is comforting. Somehow it eases fear and pain. Also our hearts are deceitful, we would be blinded to sin, which makes us vulnerable to attack, and our fellows keep us humble and grounded in God (Proverbs 27:6).
Hebrews 3:12-13; James 5:16; 2 Timothy 2:3.

5. Grow roots in assurance. Faith is vital. In order for you to stand in the day of darkness you must have faith. Without faith you shall quickly fall, and fail despite whatever else you have done to prepare. And faith comes through God's Word as a matter of course, this wraps around to just how important the study of His Word really is.
Romans 10:14-17; Psalm 27:1-3

This is the preparation for battle and it is important for you to be already partaking of these things. For battle may possibly come at any moment, do not live with this in fear but rather may its truthfulness lead you to take this matter seriously. The next part shall be what you need to do when attacked by sin and its consequence.

Dt