Archive for March, 2009
Paul tells us that part of the defensive armor that God has given us is the shield of faith – but what, exactly, is faith, and how can it be a shield for us? Is it, as so many have taught over the years, I kind of button that we push to get what we want out of God, whenever we want it? Is it simply the adherence to a correct set of doctrinal precepts? Is it something we can get only by summoning every ounce of our will power and focusing it on believing?
One thing that we really need to understand is that faith is spiritual. No amount of intellectual understanding will produce it, nor will any amount of will power. Those things come from the soul, and the soul cannot produce spiritual results. Likewise, a hyped-up meeting that produces a wonderful emotional high cannot produce faith – emotions are also part of the soul realm. Sometimes those things may clear the way for us to move into faith; but at other times they may actually block the way and prevent us from finding true faith. Just as in an inoculation a “mini dose” of the disease, or something that is somewhat like the disease, can keep us from contracting the real disease, so trying to find faith through the soul realm can inoculate us against finding true faith.
Faith has three aspects: truth, relationship and action.
The truth aspect of faith is not something we can find by natural means, even by reading the Word of God. It has to come by revelation. Think about it: how often, before you came to the Lord, did you read the Bible and it made no sense to you at all? Then one day the Lord opened your eyes, and it became real and meaningful.
Truth has to be a revelation, because our minds are so minute compared to the mind of God. Our minds cannot begin to understand Him, just as the mind of an ant couldn’t begin to understand us. The only way we can know Him is by a revelation from His Spirit to our spirit.
That knowing then leads to the second part of the faith equation: relationship. It is not enough to know about God, we need to know Him personally in an intimate relationship. The more we know Him, the more we know that we can trust Him to do the things He has promised. Whilst Paul tells us to take up the shield of faith, Psalms tells us that “His faithfulness will be your shield” (Ps 91:4Ps 91:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
Under his wings you will take refuge.
His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
WP-Bible pluginb). Our shield is not some kind of artificial belief summoned by the force of our will, but our rest in the faithfulness of Him with whom we are related.
This in turn leads to action. We automatically act out of the things we truly believe. We do not have to grit our teeth and say, “I believe thus, therefore I will act so.” It happens naturally. If our actions do not match our beliefs, then we either have serious mental problems or we do not really believe the things we think we believe. Particularly in relation to using faith as our shield, our actions include our words. If on one hand we say that we believe God is able to deal with whatever situations we face, but on the other hand we talk as if those situations are going to destroy us, then maybe we should look again at what we really believe. If our words are not a true expression both of the truth that has been revealed to us, and the relationship that we have with the Lord, then that faith will never be a sufficient shield to protect us against the attack of the enemy.
Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com
Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com/armorofgod
This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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If you have been a Christian for more than five minutes, you have probably experienced times when hearing from God has been difficult. We know it shouldn’t be that way – after all, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice” – but that doesn’t help very much when our prayers just seem to bounce off the ceiling and God seems a million miles away.
There’s also the old guilt-producing line that “if God seems far away, He didn’t move, you did.” Of course, that is sometimes true. We have allowed busyness, problems or pleasures to get between us and the face of God, and we need to repent and get back to the intimacy of our relationship with Him. Other times, though, it is simply not true. We desire Him as much as ever, but try as we may we are simply not receiving the answers to our questions.
Daniel faced this problem, recorded in chapter 10 of his book. When an angel finally arrived with the answer to Daniel’s prayer, he explained that Daniel had been heard as soon as he prayed. However, there was a ruling principality over the area who had a vested interest in keeping Daniel from hearing what God had to say. That spiritual prince had wrestled with the angelic messenger, delaying him in bringing the answer to Daniel.
We may find this hard to understand. How can demonic forces hinder the message that God wants to give to His people? Sometimes we need to suspend our desire to understand: not that God wants us to be mindless Christians, but some things are simply beyond our human understanding. God’s Word clearly tells us that this is what happened, therefore we need to be able to simply accept it.
Unfortunately, many Christians live in blissful ignorance of the spiritual forces that surround us, and the constant battle that is being waged over this world. Just as those forces did not want Daniel to receive his answer from God, they also want to prevent us from receiving ours.
However, there are two things that are very different for us than they were for Daniel. The first is that, if we have been born again, we have the Holy Spirit, who is God, living within us. He has restored our human spirit as the part of our being through which He can communicate with us. As we learn to develop our spirit, we have a means of hearing directly from Him – something with which external forces cannot directly interfere.
There are times, though, when answers have to be dispatched not from the Spirit within us, but from the Throne Room. That’s where our second difference kicks in. Daniel had no authority over the battles in the spirit realm, but we have been given authority over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19Luke 10:19
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.
WP-Bible plugin) Jesus said that what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven. In other words, we have the power to enter the battle and fight on the side of God’s angels.
We need to be pro-active. Simply putting our petitions out there and waiting for the answers to come is not enough, particularly when our prayers relate to issues which will bring damage to the kingdom of darkness. We need to be actively standing against any force which would hinder the answers coming to us; we need to be binding (forbidding) the enemy from hindering or delaying those answers; we need to be declaring an open heaven; and we need to be actively expecting to hear.
Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com
Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com/armorofgod
This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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It’s something we all face from time to time. The things that we’ve planned and worked for just aren’t happening; the people we thought loved or at least accepted us turn against us; the prayers we have been praying so long and so hard don’t seem to even reach the ceiling, much less getting answers.
Discouragement sets in. We wonder whether we got it right in the first place: were we, perhaps, following our own desires rather than the will of God? Was the word from the Lord that we thought we heard so clearly really only the echo of our own hopes and dreams?
Alternatively, we wonder whether we have done something to block the flow of God’s answers to us. Have we sinned? Have we failed to fulfill our part of the contract, to do the things that we can do so that God is free to do the things that only He can do?
As a result we lose heart. We find it harder and harder to keep putting in the effort, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, when all we seem to be achieving is to walk in ever-decreasing circles.
It’s an interesting word, discouragement. Dis-courage-ment. The removal of courage. That’s exactly what it does to us: saps our courage, our boldness, our strength. The more we come under discouragement, the weaker we feel; and the less we are able to deal with the situations which caused the discouragement in the first place. So the process becomes a self-defeating, downward spiral.
Discouragement is one of the greatest weapons in the devil’s arsenal. He has used it to destroy countless individuals and ministries. If we are not going to join the list, then we need to know how to fight it.
Firstly, we need to take a really good look at how we see God. Is He just like a “bigger person” to us? The “Bloke upstairs”? Just a friend? A warm-and-fuzzy grandfather? None of those images is nearly big enough to counter the attack of discouragement. We need to see God as He is: the creator, sustainer and King of the universe. The all-powerful One. Take time in the Word to find God as He really is, not as He has been re-fashioned into the image of man.
Secondly, we need to take time to review the things that God has done in our own lives and the lives of those around us. Whilst it is great to read of His miracles in distant countries and long-past times, those things do not have nearly the power to lift us that our personal experience has. Knowing that God has made it possible for us personally to pay a $50 account when we didn’t have the money will do more to help us overcome discouragement than knowing that He raised someone from the dead on the other side of the world. Keep a “blessing book” and record all the things that God does for you. Then, when things are tough and it is hard to remember, you can go back through it and be reminded of His goodness.
Thirdly, we need to keep the focus on the Lord, not on the problem. Now I know only too well that is easy to say and difficult to do, particularly when the problems insist on attacking you all at the same time, rather than making an orderly queue. At first, especially, you will probably need to keep pulling your focus back to the Lord. That’s ok. If necessary, use some kind of “interrupt” mechanism to help you. For instance, an elastic band around your wrist (not to tight, we don’t want any hands turning blue and dropping off). Every time you find yourself getting focused on the problem, snap the band to remind you to turn your attention to the Lord.
Finally, remember that God has a different agenda to us. Yes, He wants success for His people. But His first interest is character. He can see the big picture, where we see only through the microscopic window of our human mind. It may be that the very things that are frustrating and discouraging you today are the things that, if you will allow Him to use them in your life, will produce the character that will make it possible for Him to open greater doors and give you greater success than you are presently able to even imagine.
Ultimately, discouragement is a choice. We can allow the circumstances of life to rob us of courage and boldness, or we can allow God to use those same circumstances to lift us to a new level in Him.
Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com
Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com/armorofgod
This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
WP-Bible plugin)
Recently, on one of the Christian forums where I share, I received a question about autism and whether it could be caused by demonic influence. Because this is a broad area, relating to all mental/emotional illnesses and not just autism. I thought I would take some time to look at it here as well as on the forum.
First, we need to understand that man is a three-fold being: body, soul and spirit. We are NOT, as some suggest, spirits who have a soul and live in a body. That is occultic/new age thinking, and leads to a belief in transmigration of the soul or reincarnation. Rather, our spirit, soul and body join together to form one complete whole. As a result, whilst the things that happen to us may operate primarily through one of the three, mostly they will be influenced by all three. For instance, when we think, it comes from our mind, which is part of our soul. However, that thought could never be expressed if it were not for our brain, which is part of our body. And the thought will be influenced either by the Holy Spirit working through our human spirit, or by a demonic spirit operating through our soul because our spirit is for some reason not fulfilling its role of directing our life.
How does all that relate to mental illness? Basically, the Bible does not acknowledge mental illness as a separate condition. What it does acknowledge is physical illness, demonic influence and sin (either our own or that of others toward us.) Now please, don’t think for a moment that I am saying that mental or emotional illness is not real. It is very real, and devastating to those who have to live with it, either in their own lives or in the lives of those they love. What I am saying is that, rather than being something separate and mysterious, mental illness has its roots in one of these three areas.
Many mental conditions are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That is a physical condition. In the natural it is addressed by medication, or by other natural means such as diet, exercise, dealing with stress and laughter. (Studies have shown that a good laugh is very effective in raising the levels of “feel good” chemicals in the brain. So if you are suffering from depression, try “medicating” it with large doses of comedy – it may not be a total answer, but it will certainly help.) As Christians, we also have the availability of God’s healing power released through prayer, and certainly any prayer for someone who is suffering mental illness should include prayer for physical healing.
Demonic forces can definitely also play a part in mental illness. The Gadarene man whom Jesus freed from Legion behaved like someone totally insane, and had he been alive in the twenty first century would certainly have been hospitalized and medicated to within an inch of his life, and possibly also subjected to electric shock therapy. All of it would have been totally useless, because his problem was demonic. When the demons were dealt with, the man was no longer insane. Even when demons are not directly the cause of mental illness, they can have an influence that makes it worse.
At this point let me urge caution. If you know someone whom you suspect is under demonic influence, please don’t just wade in and start casting out demons unless you know what you are doing. Yes, you have the authority to do it (assuming that you are a truly born-again Christian). Know what? The devil doesn’t care! He is not the least bit interested in the authority you have, he is only influenced by the authority you know you have! If you plunge into deliverance without knowing what you are doing, the person on whom you are practicing is likely to end up in a worse condition than when you started. (Believe me, I speak from experience. I had it done to me, it was not fun. Only a direct intervention from God saved me from the results.)
What you can do will depend on who the person is, and his/her relationship to you. If it is a child and your direct descendant (child, grandchild, great grandchild) you can invoke your covenant relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. (First make sure you are in that covenant relationship yourself.) A covenant always extends through the generations, so if the child is not yet at an age to make a decision for him/herself, you can extend the protection of your covenant relationship over him/her. You can also claim the Scriptures that say that the promise is to “you and to your household.” That is the promise of salvation, and deliverance from demonic influence is part of the salvation package.
Pray God’s peace over the person, if possible with the laying on of hands. When you can, play soft worship music in their presence – if it is someone living in your home and you are able, put a soft worship CD on continuous repeat and play it while he/she is asleep. Remember how David’s worship was able to suppress the activity of the demonic spirit that had taken hold of King Saul.
If the person is old enough to understand and willing to listen, talk to him about removing possible demonic influences in his life, renouncing them and repenting of any involvement. If he is a Christian, talk about the victory that Jesus won at Calvary, the fact that He has disarmed the powers and principalities, and that His Spirit within us is greater than any demonic force. Encourage him to stand in that victory. Try to find someone in your area you does move confidently in deliverance, and take or direct the sufferer to that person – but please check out his/her ministry first. Sadly, some who operate in “deliverance” are moving in control rather than the power of God, and cause more problems than they solve.
Finally, there is the area of sin. Unrepented sin affects all three areas of our lives. It affects our spirit, because sin cannot stand in the presence of God, therefore if we are continuing in unrepented sin we will effectively close down our spirit so that we do not have to encounter the Holy Spirit. It effects our emotions (part of our soul) because we will be carrying a burden of guilt. That guilt becomes a massive stress in our lives, which will in turn affect both our mind and our body. Since we have cut off the influence of the Holy Spirit, it will also open us up to the influence of demonic spirits.
Sin also includes our reactions to what has been done to us. Consider this: Jesus in His lifetime suffered a huge amount of rejection and abuse, but He never became mentally or emotionally disturbed because of it. Why? Because what hurts us is not what is done to us, but our reaction to it.
There are only two answers to sin. For our own sin, repentance and cleansing through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the sin of others, forgiveness and release.
But what about the wounds inflicted upon us before we were old enough to take responsibility for our reactions to them? What about the child whose emotional problems are rooted in the abuse he has received from adults? This is where the members of the Body of Christ need to step in. First, we need to pray that God would heal and release every wounded area. But our prayers need to have legs. We need to affirm to the sufferer both God’s love and ours, to demonstrate his value to God and to us, to uphold his worth as a person. It may be a slow process, but in time we can soften the scars. Even very young children can be led to the point of forgiving their abuser, and if we are dealing with an adult who has been hurt as a child then we can show him that, as an adult, he can respond in ways that the child couldn’t, and can choose to forgive and release the offender.
Mental/emotional illness is a very complex problem. I certainly would want anyone to think that I am suggesting a simplistic approach. However, by addressing the three areas of our being – body, soul and spirit – we will have a much better chance of finding answers.
Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com
Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com/armorofgod
This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
WP-Bible plugin)