Category: Spiritual Warfare

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Positioned for Revelation

I awoke out of sleep hearing these words:

If I speak less, then I will hear more.
If I hear more, then I will see more.
If I see or perceive more, then I will understand more.
If I understand more, then I will be converted and healed.

This came as a result of me meditating on this passage of Scripture before I went to sleep.

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears for they hear – Matthew 13:15-16.

I had encountered these verses along with others in Matthew 13 during my time with the Lord yesterday and the Holy Spirit was impressing on me the need to be correctly positioned so that He can reveal truth to me; truth that will bring change and healing. If I am going to discover and unveil more of who God says I am, who He designed me to be, my ears must be positioned to hear and my eyes to see.

As I lay in bed, the Holy Spirit brought these other verses of Scripture to mind so that I could understand what He was teaching.

And He said to them, To you has been entrusted the mystery of the kingdom of God [that is, the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly]; but for those outside [of our circle] everything becomes a parable, …. [Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known. If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.” – Mark 4: 11, 22-25 (AMPC)

Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving – James 1:19 (AMP)

My dear sisters, my prayer for us is that, on this journey of self-discovery, we will always maintain the position that produces revelation; – a careful and thoughtful listener – and that our revelation will propel us to more effectively fulfill our various assignments in our Father’s kingdom. Go forth this day giving thought and study to what you have heard in your private time with the Lord and may your eyes perceive, your ears hear, and transformation follow.

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Profitable Losses

Have you, like me, had experiences where you prayed to the Lord about a situation, felt like you clearly heard and understood His directive, yet when you followed through on it you experienced loss instead of profit? In this account of the battle between the children of Israel and the children of Benjamin, we are introduced to a concept that I call Profitable Loss.

Judges 21:25 states that “in those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Yet we read of an account in Judges 20 where the children of Israel “arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God” (vs.18). It seemed right in their eyes to know the mind of God concerning the decision that they had made to wage war against the children of Benjamin.

The children of Israel asked God, “Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first” (vs.18). So they obeyed God and went up against the children of Benjamin with 400,000 men. In their obedience, they suffered loss: the death of 22,000 men. The children of Benjamin had defeated them.

We are told in the next verse that “the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day” (vs.22). But first they went up before the Lord and again asked counsel of Him, “Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him” (vs.23). They obeyed God a second time and suffered loss a second time: the death of 18,000 men. The children of Benjamin defeated them again.

“Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.  And the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days….” They asked God, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?”

NOTE: This would now be the third time that they would be launching an attack. They had already lost the battle twice before and lost a total of 40,000 men; this loss occurred after trusting/believing God’s word and encouraging themselves because of it. I can imagine their thoughts: maybe Phinehas the priest had missed God. Maybe he hadn’t heard correctly. Maybe we should “cease” going forward with this warfare. They sat there at the house of God, fasting and waiting. Then the Lord answered, “Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand” (vs. 26-28).

A third time they obeyed God and “the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day 25, 100 (of their 26,700) men” (vs.35). This time around 30 men of the children of Israel lost their lives but, the men of Israel won the battle.

Friends, when we choose to obey and trust God, prepare to experience some loss. Loss is not evidence of ultimate defeat for one who is obeying (1) “Go up”, (2) “Go up again”, and (3) “Go up again.” Encourage yourself with the counsel of God. This time, the 3rd time, after you have wept, sat and waited on God, fasted, given offerings, and inquired of the Lord, you will experience the victory that outweighs your loss. NOTE: Israel lost 40,030/400,000 men….about a fraction over 10% of their army. But Benjamin lost 25,000/26,700 …. about a little over 90% of their army. Israel experienced a profitable loss.

Dear Holy Spirit, please help me to be prepared for the loss that is necessary for me to experience victory i.e. the defeat of the enemy in this battle. Prepare me for the test, the trial, the probation that comes through the loss of the 40 (18 + 22). Prepare me for the 3-day wait in the belly of the whale/earth. Help me to hang in there, encouraged, until my 3rd day when I will rise again.

Holy Spirit, teach me how to weep and help me in my infirmities: for I do not know what I should pray for as I ought to pray (Romans 8:26). Dear Holy Spirit, teach me how to just sit there and wait in Your Presence. Help me to fast the fast that you have chosen (Isaiah 58). Show me what offerings I need to give and, help me not to stop inquiring of You), even if I have to do it through Phinehas – the set man of God for Your house.

As I go this day, Holy Spirit, please keep speaking and revealing more of Your word to me and more of You to me so that I will not do according to what is right in my eyes. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!!

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Infected?

As we prayed this morning, I felt directed to pay attention to the state of the spiritual environment. I have learned that indulging in repeated acts (habits) draw or attract the spirits associated with that act. Additionally, things that appear in the physical realm are usually (1) a manifestation of what is occurring in the spiritual realm OR (2) an illusion that the adversary is propagating to deceive many.

In either case, what I see, hear, smell, feel – what I sense in the physical – is connected to an entity in the spiritual realm. So, although my household has been protected so far from the COVID-19 infection, it does not negate that the infection and all things resulting from its effect on the earth are manifesting and have manifested.

I need to look at this virus and its effects so as to trace the spirits that have been unleashed and are actively working in our world at this time:
– UNEMPLOYMENT = lack, poverty, hopelessness/despair, suicide, loss, homelessness;
– SHUT-DOWN = quarantine, shelter-in-place, isolation, separation, loneliness, fear, anxiety, abandonment;
– SICKNESS & DEATHS = sorrow, loss, grief, lostness, doubt, mistrust
– RACIAL PROTESTS = anger, violence, hatred, malice, murder, injustice

As I stop and look, really look, I see how I have taken the state of the spiritual environment for granted. My lack of attention to it has exposed my family and me to spiritual infection.

Masks are being required more and more as a defense against this virus. Countries are pushing for their people to wear masks as their personal protective equipment (PPE). But what spiritual PPE have we put on as a spiritual defense against those spirits that have accompanied the pandemic?

In my studies and subsequent teachings on “Overcoming Emotions”, I realized that our senses as well as our emotions were given to us as organs of perception that will help us navigate and survive in this world. Moreover, we saw that this perception is not just limited to the physical realm but is also connected to the spiritual realm. With the onslaught of issues arising from the effects of this pandemic, our emotions are functioning as God designed them, attempting to convey to us changes in our spiritual environment. They are doing so in an effort to help us navigate and survive this pandemic; to protect and preserve not just our physical lives but our spiritual lives as well.

With this in mind, I ask myself, “Could it be that what I have been feeling these past weeks was me actually sensing activities or pulses in the spiritual realm? Could it be that the symptoms of feeling mentally, emotionally and spiritually faint or tired/fatigued/exhausted are an indication that I have been spiritually exposed?”

If so, I need to QUARANTINE. I need to stay home and monitor my spiritual health. I need to spiritually distance myself from every evil spirit that is seeking to infect me with Lack, Loneliness, Despair, Anxiety, Fear, Anger, Doubt, and every other spirit that is actively working through this pandemic. I need to go to my place of refuge – God – and find shelter under His wings (Psalms 46:1; Psalms 91:1). I need to take the time that I need to be spiritually recovered and be back to full strength again.

Holy Spirit, You are ever-working, ever-active. You know just how to get our attention and how to lead and guide us into our truth, that is, the truth we need for today. You are my parakletos indeed – the One who walks alongside me as my Help. May I connect with you once more in the place of prayer and find strength for the battle. May Your all-sufficient grace be realized in me as I fight for my survival and that of my family. May I walk with the sight of the Spirit, knowing that my steps are ordered by You. – AMEN!

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Prayer of Warfare for My Family

By the power and authority invested in me, through the blood and name of Jesus, I contend for my family today!

  • Every attack against this family is arrested!
  • I revoke every assignment against us and interrupt every demonic activity in and around our lives; I prohibit their influence; they shall NOT succeed!
  • I violently object to every Satanic claim over our lives, over our progress and prosperity and over our souls!
  • I demolish every Satanic roadblock against this family!
  • I revoke every curse pronounced against this family!
  • I pronounce divine reversal of every demonic conspiracy against the leadership of this family!
  • Every counsel against us will come to nought!
  • I unblock every stopped up well in this family!
  • I declare that this family is blessed with the blessings of the Lord!
  • Doors of opportunity and favor are opened to us now!
  • This family is seeing AND will see the manifestation of the plans and purposes of God, as prophesied over our lives!
  • We will be the head and not the tail; above only and not beneath!
  • We will be known for holiness and righteousness and will be a godly example to nations!
  • This family will walk in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit!
  • Prayer, anointed prayer, effective prayer will be the nature and trademark of this family!
  • This family will bear fruit and experience expansion and growth!
  • Our roots will grow downward and our shoots upward!
  • We will remain planted in God and on fire for God until He returns or calls us home!

“The Breaker, the Messiah, who opens the way, is going up before us [liberating us].
We are breaking out, passing through the gate and going out;
with our King going on before us, and
The Lord at our head.” – Micah 2:13

THANK YOU, O BREAKER & STRONG DELIVERER FOR THE VICTORY….In Jesus’ name, AMEN

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Left Wide Open

Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. – Joshua 8:17 (NIV)

More and more lately, as the Lord speaks to me, He keeps on reminding me about the FIGHT. He cautions me not to forget who I am and whose I am. He admonishes me to be on guard. Today, I was reminded of this once again when I re-read this journal entry from 2 years ago. I pray it is a blessing to you, as you stay positioned in the The Fight.

On Friday morning, I read Joshua 8 as my devotional and, one verse in particular stood out to me – verse 17. It pointed out that all the men of Ai left the city open and pursued after Israel. As I read the full account , two thoughts penetrated my mind: LEFT WIDE OPEN and DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!

As I pondered on both thoughts, I heard that we must constantly be reminded that we are in a war. Although we often forget this fact, our adversary does not. As such, he is always strategizing against us. One such strategy is SETTING AN AMBUSH against our city; against our dwelling space. An ambush is a surprise attack on someone from a concealed position. Let’s read the account to see how this was executed:

Joshua 8: 4- 7 (NIV) –“Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city.

STEPS OUR ADVERSARY TAKES IN AN AMBUSH AGAINST US:
1. He sends something that would lure (draw) us away from our “city”: our place of security, protection, or refuge. Something that seems like an attack but it’s just a distraction.
2. He gives us a false sense of security or victory.
3. He gets our attention fixed on the pursuit.
4. He causes us to be in a hurry to achieve, to rush out without first doing the proper reconnaissance, not realizing that an ambush has been set.

Scripture teaches us that we are to be on guard. 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) states, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” One of the things that ensures that we are not left open or vulnerable is prayer.

When life’s cares, joys, pains, schedules, etc. come in the way of my prayer life, I am as that city, left wide open.

When I stop being vigilant in prayer, stop being cautious in my daily interactions, and become relaxed spiritually, I am left wide open.

Prayerlessness makes me vulnerable to the enemy.

Prayerlessness weakens and eventually removes my cover/protection and exposes me to the deception of the enemy.

Prayerlessness is evidence that I have let down my guard.

Friends, if you and those who are a part of your space are going to remain protected, you need to guard against leaving your “city” wide open. Do not be ignorant of the devices of the adversary. Remember who you are. You have been called to and anointed to fight. You are `ezer – an agent of the kingdom heaven empowered as a military ally to fight on behalf of the citizens of this kingdom. Remember, even when it seems as if nothing is happening, the fight is still on. DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN and DON’T BE FOUND WIDE OPEN!

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Allergens

…to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14 KJV).

I have never been diagnosed with sinusitis nor a sinus infection but, I have had some serious allergy problems during certain seasons. A few years ago, I was out of school for a couple of days because of allergies. My allergic reaction was so bad that my usual dose of Zyrtec could not relieve the symptoms. I had to get a butt shot (OUCH!!) to be able to return to school.

During the spring and summer months, my immune system goes into major battle mode. For at least half of the year, my body wages war against allergens. An allergen is any substance that triggers the immune system, causing an allergic reaction. Some allergens include dust, mold, pollen, and pet dander. Although harmless, they are recognized by my immune system as harmful. Whenever they are present in my environment, my immune system overreacts producing antibodies to attack and destroy them, thus defending the body from this invasion.

The battle is evident by the symptoms manifesting in my body: sneezing, watery eyes, itching eyes, ears, roof of mouth, throat and nose, congestion, runny nose, and sometimes wheezing. The severity of the symptoms are determined by the type and amount of allergens encountered and by how my immune system decides to react to them. So now, I can tell when there is an allergen in my environment. I may not be able to identify its source or what exactly it is, but I know it is present. How do I know? The symptoms.

However, although these allergens are harmless, there are microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi that do pose a real threat to the body. The immune system is given to us to defend the body, by keeping these invaders out or by destroying infections caused by those invaders that successfully gain entrance.

As in the natural so it is in the spiritual. There are things in our spiritual environment that triggers our spiritual immune system to go into battle-mode. I want my spiritual system to be so sensitive that I can detect when the adversary or his agents are in my environment. I want to be acquainted with the symptoms that will inform my understanding that a battle is raging in my spiritual atmosphere. I want to be aware of when there is a need to launch an attack, neutralize the potency of every would-be invader, and stop their advancement, causing them to retreat. This sensitivity will guarantee maintenance of my spiritual health and wellbeing.

One of the ways that I can gain such sensitivity is by growing from being a babe in Christ that can only handle milk into the woman that God had designed and equipped me to be; that perfected woman – one who is of full age – skilful in the word of righteousness. This acquired skill develops by reason of use, that is by having my senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5: 13-14 KJV).

Heavenly Father, please help me to grow up. Help me in this discovery of who I am to find myself in Your word and be transformed. May I become able to handle the strong meat of Your word. Help me to practice living by Your word daily so that by reason of use, I can have my senses exercised to detect the invaders in my atmosphere and be successful as a warrior in Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

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A Prayer to Start My Day

Hello Friends! November is my birth month and, in celebration, I would like to bless you with daily posts this month. Each post will be either a prayer, devotional, or a short study that I have taken from my personal prayer journals, spanning the past 7 years. I pray that they will be a source of blessing and inspiration for you, as they have been for me.

Dear Holy Spirit,
I CONFESS! – I have departed from that first instruction You gave me, “Come here! Spend at least one hour with me daily.”

I CONFESS! – I have not been in agreement with You in my actions.

I CONFESS! – I have not been attending to Your voice so I can hear, know and heed Your instructions.

I CONFESS! – I have been doing what was right in my own eyes and, as such, have reaped the fruits of disorder in my life, and have frustrated the grace of God.

Father, please forgive me. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness that I have allowed into my heart and life. Holy Spirit, please come again and make Your abode within me. Please no longer stand afar and watch my demise.

I thank You for speaking to me again, for getting my attention through that dream. Thank you for guiding me with Your eye.

Now, I commit my day into Your hand and ask for sensitivity to Your voice and leading today.
Let Your kingdom come and let Your will be done in me as it is in heaven.
Cause me to walk into those things that You have prepared for me today.

Thank You that Goodness and Mercy are following me today.
Thank You that Your hand of favor and the glow of Your anointing is evident upon my life today.
Thank You that Blessings are attracted to me today.
Favor is attracted to me today.
Money is attracted to me today.
Health is attracted to me today.
Prosperity is attracted to me today.
Good Success is attracted to me today.

The glory of the Lord is upon me, goes before me, and is my rearguard.
Today, I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Today I go forth in expectancy to see all You have prepared for me.
THANK YOU LORD!!!

You are so good and faithful; my heart has no need to fear!
THANK YOU LORD!!!

Amen!

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SCENT MANAGEMENT

My second daughter turned 14 years old over this past weekend. As I watched her enjoy her birthday celebrations, I was reminded of her as a newborn infant, clutching to only me at first, rooting for my breast. Her actions were that of one who could detect the unique signature odor of her mother and rested in the comfort and trust which that scent represented.

I woke this morning being instructed by the Holy Spirit. As I slowly awoke, I heard the statements:
• “Sin multiplies.”
• “Sin carries a stench.”
• “Unclean spirits are attracted to that scent.”
• “Sin, when it is full blown, leads to death.”

I not only heard the statements but saw scripture references simultaneously: Genesis 6; Genesis 4; Romans 6; James 1. So I hopped out of bed, grabbed my study tools and, with the memory of my daughter as an infant and those 4 statements as my focal points, went to studying. I found out something very important: spirits are attracted by the spiritual odor I exude. My scent attracts and repels. Managing my spiritual scent then is another strategy of spiritual warfare.

In my research, I found out that each person has a distinct odor, a natural scent called their signature odor. For newborn infants, though they can’t recognize their mother by sight, their highly sensitive sense of smell causes them to recognize their mother by her natural scent, by her signature odor. I also discovered that my infant becomes so familiar with my scent that she can even detect the difference, in odor, between my breast milk and that of another mother’s. This is why mothers of newborn infants are often cautioned against wearing strong scents such as perfumes or fragrance skin products. The baby’s sense of smell is so sensitive that strong scents/odors can become overwhelming and interfere with their sense of taste.

Wanting to understand what the Spirit was teaching me, I delved further into my research on body odor. You see, I have learned from the word and from experience that the natural, physical world mirrors the spiritual world in some ways. If we exude scents/odors from our bodies from which others can detect and extract accurate information, then our spirits also exude scents/odors from which other spirits can detect and extract accurate information about our condition or state. Our body odor can inform a sensitive or highly trained individual of various body conditions (like problems with specific organs, hormonal changes, disorders), choices (like diet), emotional state, and life stages.

As I thought on this and its parallel in the spiritual realm, I was reminded of the fact that not only am I an ‘ezer, a watcher, but I am also being watched and being targeted. After all, I am in a war. Just as I am studying warfare, so that I would not be ignorant of my adversary’s devices, even so he is studying me as prey (1 Peter 5:8). The clues I give, through the scents my spirit exude, inform that predator of my state. Then he chooses whether to retreat or attack.

But this doesn’t only apply to me. It applies to everyone, even my children who may not be as skilled in the warfare as I am. I thought of my 14-year old daughter, her current stage in life and her hormonal shifts which will likely affect her emotional state. I thought of what “odor” she may be emitting spiritually that may get the attention and “favor” of unwanted spirits. I pictured them, just like the beast who crouched at Cain’s door, waiting for a foothold to enter in and master/overpower him (Genesis 4:5-7).

I thought, “For the sake of my children, I need to manage my spiritual scent so that my children’s spirit can always locate my unique, signature odor AND find that place of safety, comfort and rest.” I cannot afford for my scent to be masked by the cares and stresses of life, lest they would not be able to find their ezer warrior that God has assigned to them for their “help”. For their sake, I must manage my scent so that I do not attract unwanted attention and cause them to have to fight unnecessary battles.

This Mother’s Day 2020, I want to encourage you, as an ezer warrior for your family, to manage your scent. Don’t let your children or those entrusted in your care smell the stench of anxiety or fear exuding from you. Don’t let the cares of life so overwhelm and overcharge you that your environment becomes a beacon for unclean spirits. Fill your space with the aroma of sacrificial praise and sacrificial worship. Attract the presence and favor of God and repel the crouching and stalking of the adversary. This Mother’s Day reproduce for your children the first gift they got from you, after birth, the gift of your scent.

DIG DEEPER:
Bible Study: What’s that Smell?

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TIME MANAGEMENT: Warfare Against The PRESS

I awoke this morning remembering a vision that I awoke to about a year ago. It was a vision showing the state of spiritual activity on Earth. In the vision, I did not see fixed bodily forms but rather an understanding of concepts and truths revealed to us in scripture. In this “vision”, there were three layers of activity in the Earth.

  1. In the first and uppermost layer, there was Jesus seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, with all things under His feet (Ephesians 1:20-22).
  2. In the second layer, the one far below Jesus Christ’s, there were these principalities, powers, mights, dominions, and all sorts of names actively moving around, influencing the activities of humans on Earth.
  3. The third layer, the lowest of the three, had at its top (just below the bottom of the second layer) the things that consume our daily living: jobs/careers, marriage/relationships, finances, children, desires, emotions, and the list went on and on. They circled and amassed as a crowd at the upper area of that third layer to the point where they became a barrier, a wall. I stood on the floor, at the bottom, of this third layer, with my hands outstretched and my eyes lifted in prayer. Though at my core I am a spirit, my physical body with its dependence on my physical senses to understand and navigate this physical world, kept me grounded, earth-bound, limited in my ability to pierce through the barriers of the second and third layers so as to partner with Jesus Christ in victory, through prayer.

Why did I get this vision? At the time, for about 3 weeks, I had been consistently spending quality time with the Lord, early in the morning, at the beginning of each day. This communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit was so consistent that I would awake in the morning hearing words of advice, counsel, and admonition.

I experienced what the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 50:4 – “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.” I like how the NIV translation states it: The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.However, the week prior to my awakening with this vision, the constancy in my communion with the Holy Spirit was broken. The cause? Busyness. That week I was super busy. The busyness so drained me that I became tired and weary. I was so exhausted from the many obligations that I had to fulfill that I would awake late in the morning and not be able to have that quality time with the Holy Spirit. Getting the children to school on time and my arriving to work also on time became a great effort because of how worn out I felt.

Nonetheless, I awoke that morning with this picture in my mind and realized that the Holy Spirit was being my Help. He had penetrated the barrier of tiredness and exhaustion to reveal to me the attack and strategy of the enemy. I later called this strategy The PRESS. You see, the enemy had filled up my atmosphere with busyness so as to cause excessive exertion and lack of sleep. His purpose was to use the PRESS of my daily activities to block my access to the heavenlies. I learned in my Science classes that the atmosphere is very important to life on Earth and does many things to help protect life and help life to survive. The enemy’s agents in the second layer were influencing the timing of these activities to create a PRESS.

That morning the Holy Spirit taught me the importance of being aware of the condition of my atmosphere; the importance of being intentional in my warfare against the PRESS, which manifests as crowdedness. Crowdedness speaks of filling a space almost completely, leaving little or no room for movement.

The enemy’s desire is to keep us Earth-bound by keeping us crowded. When we are blocked in, our movements in the spiritual realm becomes restricted and we are unable to access our true position where we will experience victory. He works with TIME and uses time to frustrate our purposes so as to keep us locked in. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that the weapon of warfare needed to counteract this attack of the PRESS is the discipline of time management. Learning how to be and becoming disciplined as a manager of the time I am given will defeat CROWDEDNESS in my life.

Now why did I awake to this one-year old memory? Because promotion is fast approaching and I will be faced with some new obligations and new battles for which I lack experience. If I am to make my way prosperous and have good success at that new level, then I need to become more skillful in my warfare against the PRESS.

Could it be that the exhaustion and frustrations that you have been feeling lately are a result of the PRESS? Have you been crying to the Lord because you can’t seem to find TIME for Him as you would like? Join me as I continue to explore principles associated with this warfare gleaned from the lives of Zaccheus and Martha.

DIG DEEPER:

  1. Devotional: Isn’t There Anyone to Help Me?
  2. Bible Study: Surrounded? Run Before!

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New Year, New Training

This week has been a week of new year’s resolutions and goals for many. As I move around, I hear some speaking of this year as a time of newness and a fresh start. Others view it as an opportunity to start over or to attempt some things again. For me, this new year – this start of a new decade – is another opportunity to become more skillful in warfare; the kind of warfare which, at its roots, is about listening to and obeying God’s commands. With this year comes new training for battles for which I lack experience.

On New Year’s Day, on our way back from a 3-night revival service in Florida, I came across a passage of scripture that grabbed my attention. I later returned to the passage and dug deeper into it, so I could understand what the Holy Spirit wanted to disclose to me. The passage reads as follows:

Judges 3: 1-4 (NIV) These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan  (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):  the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.  They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

This passage indicates a few things that called for my consideration:

  1. Warfare is taught.
  2. The teaching of or training in warfare is initiated and facilitated by God.
  3. Battle experience is necessary to develop skill in warfare.
  4. It is imperative that those who have not had previous battle experience be taught warfare.

Upon consideration, I began to ask myself a few questions, in light of the upcoming year:

  1. What battle experience(s) am I lacking?
  2. What has God allowed to remain in my life from the previous year(s) that would give me the necessary training and experience so that I can become more fit for and skilled in warfare?
  3. What “enemy” has been left in my life for testing and proving; to know whether I would listen and obey the commands of the Lord?

I concluded that, although I may have entered a new year, there will still be some old, remaining, or leftover things that I will have to deal with for my betterment. The Holy Spirit was impressing upon me to be careful not to offer wasted prayers, rebuking and cancelling the very things that the Lord has ordained for my growth and development. He cautioned me that, no matter how many people I hear declaring all newness, remember that all things will not be made new just because it is a new year. However, I must be mindful that those things which are not assigned to be made new, are essential for the perfection of my warfare.

Consequently, I look forward in anticipation to the upcoming new training that God has designed for me. I do not fool myself into thinking that it will be a walk in the park. I know that I will have some challenging moments and may even fail some of the lessons and accompanying tests. Nevertheless, I surrender to the training God has chosen for me and expect that, if I tarry, by the end of this year, I will be more skillful and experienced in warfare.  I would have gained more ground for the kingdom.

Therefore, I go forth this year joining with the psalmist David, declaring, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” – Psalms 144:1 (NKJV). Will you join me in God’s School of Warfare?

DIG DEEPER:
Bible Study – The Greatest Teacher of Warfare