PRAYING ALWAYS...

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPHESIANS 6:18

SHIRAN isn’t with us this week. Going back over our posts together however, I am more than pleased that at some point, we tackled this aspect of this part of the Christian’s armour. Albeit, in a different sort of way!

Before I go on here, I thought it imperative that you all read this piece (again) before we go any further. The LORD is good and ever continually so. Blessed be the name of the LORD. It was always the habit of Jesus to strike right at the heart of the matter. He knew what was essential and He knew what wasn’t. He didn’t tell men they ought to pray. That instinct was born in their hearts: the most ignorant heathen prayed, the prophets of Baal prayed, the hypocritical Pharisees prayed. What Jesus was interested in was showing men the right way to pray, so that they could have miracles in answer to their prayers. “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matt. 6:5-6. The great secret of prayer is to realise and understand that God is also in the very room where you are. It is this realisation that God is actually present that makes prayer vital and powerful. The Psalmist David in Psalms 139:6-10, realised that God was present wherever he was, although he admits he did not fully understand it. God is everywhere –He doesn’t come and He doesn’t go.

But what is it to pray? The disciples said (unto Christ), “Lord, teach us to pray”. See Luke 11:1-4. Our Lord didn’t hesitate to grant their request. He never was one to keep His secrets to Himself. He came into this world to teach others to do what He did. Jesus was willing that His disciples should learn to do even greater works. John 14:12. And reading our Lord’s account of how to pray, we see that true prayer begins and ends in worship. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” and “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” Successful prayer also means daily contact with God. When one’s spiritual life begins to deteriorate, generally the cause can be traced to a lack of consistent daily prayer. It is no wonder that the forces of darkness are able to mobilise against so many people and in some cases completely paralyze their efforts. The things of which a successful life is made are shaped in the crucible of the daily hour of prayer. God must work with the material given Him and if there is a paucity of material made available, He is limited in what He can do. Many people do not realise that there is an actual substance to prayer. In Revelations 8:3, we are shown God’s repository of the prayers of His saints for the use at the proper time. In a vital way, the prayers of God’s people have a part in the execution of His plan on earth. God has ordained that His people should have at their command the resources of heaven. However, this is only available to those who day by day keep in contact with their God. “Give us day by day our daily bread.” Jesus did not ask us to pray for a year’s supply or a month’s, or even a week’s supply of bread. God wants us daily to be in utter dependence of Him. He wants us to daily feel the need of His presence, of His sustaining power. God’s plan involves a daily dependence on Him. Without Him we can do nothing. And if we are to successfully accomplish His will in our lives we must not allow a single day to pass without that vital communion with God.

Once again, “Praying always” covers all seasons and all manner of praying - praying with our natural understanding and also praying in the spirit. I Corinthians 14:2 says, “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” Paul is saying here that God has given the Church a supernatural means of communication with Himself. This call to prayer entails effort, wrestling, and struggling -putting out the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come out, finally, more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. And as I like to say, this call is no primrose path. It’s no rose-scented flirting. From the time we first draw our swords, we are compelled to endure hardness, as a good soldiers of Jesus Christ. See II Tim.2:3. Some prayers are prayed too late; some people seek God earnestly after they get into trouble, not realising that had they prayed sooner, they might have avoided the pitfall. There is such a thing as foreseeing evil and avoiding it. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Prov.27:12. How can one hope to escape the the traps that the forces of darkness continually devise against them? The answer to that is, not in human foresight or wisdom. See Prov.3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Prov. 3:5. Also see Psalms 91. In the latter (Psalms 91), is promised deliverance from Satan’s traps. The expression “snare of the fowler” is a clear allusion to the work of Satan who is busy setting snares for God’s people.

And finally I would like to share with you in relation to what we’re onto here, the story of the Christian Armenian merchant who was carrying merchandise by caravan across the desert to a town in Turkish Armenia. This [true] story illustrates the importance of daily prayer in our lives as pilgrims, soldiers of Christ. A Christian Armenian merchant having had a Christian upbringing from his childhood had formed a life habit of daily committing himself into the hands of God. At the time of this incident, the country was infested with “Kurds”, that is bandits who lived by robbing caravans. Unknown to the merchant, a band of these highwaymen had been following his caravan, intending to rob it at the first camping place on the plains. At the chosen hour, under cover of darkness, they drew near. But all was strangely quiet, and as there seemed to be no guards, no watchers, but as they pressed up, to their astonishment, they found high walls where no walls had been before. They continued to follow and the next night, they found the same impassable walls. The third night the walls stood but there were breaches in them through which they (bandits) then went in. The captain of the robbers, terrified by the mystery, awakened the merchant. “What does this mean?” he asked. “Ever since you left Ezerum, we have followed, intending to rob you. The first night and the second night, we found high walls around the caravan, but tonight, we entered through broken places. If you tell us the secret of this, I will not molest you.” The merchant, himself, was surprised and puzzled. “My friends,” he said, “I have done nothing to have walls raised about us. All I do is pray every evening, committing myself and those with me to God. I fully trust in Him to keep me from all evil; but tonight, being very tired and sleepy, I made a rather half-hearted lip prayer. That must have been why you were allowed to break through!” The “Kurds” were overcome by such testimony as this. There and then, they gave themselves to Jesus Christ, and were saved. From caravan robbers to God-fearing men, the “Kurds” became. The Armenian merchant however, never forgot that breach in the wall of prayer.

Let’s constantly give ourselves to prayer saints of God. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPH. 6:12-18.

And I pray that He might cause your eyes to be opened up to the mystery of praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. And I also pray that the grace of God, and His love, and the power of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Now and always. AMEN.

CAST DOWN, NOT DESTROYED!

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” –Paul, to the church at Corinth, in II COR. 4:8, 9

Dear Readers and Guests here at “Fear Not the Sons of Anak”,

Those words of the Apostle Paul still reverberate in my mind since an event that happened here towards the beginning of last weekend. We (Shiran & I) have been away from attending to this blog for the most part of a couple of months now and on behalf of the both of us until last weekend, I am sorry to both God and man for allowing complacency on our part to get to us so much so we did not keep our promise to further the good news of the kingdom of God here every week or so for the past month or so, through our sharing of knowledge on the word of God in our hitherto long conversational posts. One thing I know about God is that if men and women fail to “cease the moment” and be used of HIM, the Lord will always raise up ‘soldiers in the sidelines’ (credit phrase to her sister). There always is a ‘remnant’. Question is, are you gonna let this knowledge elude you by pretending to be an ‘only one’ or are you gonna let HIM continue to count you, a part of that ‘remnant’. I’m posting here to ask for as many of you as read here to pray for 1) the cause of this blog to continue to be furthered here, and 2) for the blessing and guidance of HIS Holy Spirit on the part of the author/authors. 3) for our spiritual eyes to opened up so we may see that which we are up against, and 4) to bind all powers of evil as may be against the advancement of this blog in bringing more soldiers to Christ and in strengthening battle-beaten warriors. On my part, I will sure appreciate all prayer and God bless you in advance for this. In spite of what happened here, God speaks to us again through Paul in his letter to the Romans that: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to HIS purpose…Moroever whom HE did predestinate, them HE also called: and whom HE called, them HE also justified: and whom HE justified, them also HE glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM that loved us.” Romans 8:28-37. In our final series this weekend before we begin on something new, we shall be tackling the final bit of Paul’s instructions to the church of Ephesus in putting on the whole armour of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

In the meantime, I request you to bear with any and all template changes at this blog over the next week or so as we try to get one that is more representative of this blog and what it is intended for. God bless and be with you today and always.

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace(Eph 6:15)

ZACK: I’m gonna plainly ask you to take the lead on this one Shiran. Why shoes? And why the Gospel of Peace? Incidentally, isn’t ‘gospel’ also paraphrased ‘the Good News’? And that would incidentally become ‘…the good news of peace’, would it?

SHIRAN: First of all, it’s been quite a while, soldiers! We apologize for the huge gap between the last post and this one. Please pray with us, so that we are able to co-ordinate our time and prayer in order to blog weekly as we should.

We wear different kinds of footwear for different activities. For a soldier going out into the heat of battle, footwear must have multiple purposes: to provide resistance against any treacherous ground encountered; to provide comfort in case of heat and to keep the feet warm in case of snowy mountains; and they must be able to support the soldier in case of slippery ground.

ZACK: “in case of slippery ground”. Now I love that one.

SHIRAN: “Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” Paul tells us. Preparation is a key word when it comes to the gospel. We must each be shod with footwear with which we will be able to run at any moment to share the good news of Jesus Christ. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season,” Paul said to his beloved Timothy (2 Tim 4:2). We should be ready always to preach the gospel.

ZACK: When I read that verse again Shiran, I’m reminded of that Middle Eastern custom of greeting, where one wishes the other party peace first. In the Arab speaking world, it’s always, "As-salaam Alaik’um!", which translates ‘Peace be with you!’. I love the Jewish one even better, “Shalom Shalom!” which I learned means “Perfect Peace with you!” So it’s peace, peace, peace, do you think we (as 21st century Christians) miss out on something in that verse with the peace?

SHIRAN: I believe Christians have greatly underestimated the power of peace, Zack. We must put on the armour of God every single day; by faith; whether it feels good or not, regardless of our circumstances. The gospel of peace is for our own use, too. Sometimes we struggle in life and need some comfort, and it is in such moments that we are able to remember words from the Bible to keep us going. If we put on our shoes during the good times, they will keep us walking during the tough times. And while we are on the topic of walking and sharing the gospel I would like to add something I learnt recently: no one who is truly born again will keep the gospel to themselves.

ZACK: True there Shiran, and Jesus couldn’t even be clearer when He issued the great commission unto us all to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom unto every creature. It would literally be a great defiance of the King’s order for one not to share.

SHIRAN: It would. And the love of Christ in us produces a joy that we cannot keep to ourselves. For example, Andrew immediately went and told his brother, Peter, that he had met Jesus (John 1:40-41).

ZACK: Isn’t it so interesting how this plays out even before the Great Commission is issued? It’s almost as though there were a chain reaction of events set into action by the issue out of the Good News when Jesus spoke to Andrew. I’m even reminded of how DNA forms in our bodies. Just one code lays the blueprint for the other and so on. See, Shiran, God’s spiritual laws were long in motion even before we even thought of it. So awesome!!

SHIRAN: Amen! None of the people that Jesus healed were able to keep it to themselves. They immediately went and shared it in the streets – wherever they could, they announced that they had met a Man who healed them of their affliction and loved them regardless of their past.

ZACK: At this juncture Shiran, I’m reminded of that blind man in John 9 who was castigated for being born a sinner and for whom Jesus was also criticized for having healed on a Sabbath day. The man’s words, almost as though I could hear him speak in that Pharisee kangaroo court, play out so clearly in my mind, “Whether the man (in reference to Christ) is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know though. I was blind but now I see”.

SHIRAN: Amen! Soldiers, shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace today. Say it out loud and thank Jesus for the shoes He gives you which you can wear despite the spiritual weather conditions. His word commands us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” (Ephesians 4:1.) How would we walk worthy, if we had no shoes?

ZACK: I guess we wouldn’t last at all, especially in light of the respective vocations to which we all are called. Thanks for this Shiran, I’m gonna shoe my feet this now.

SHIRAN: Thank you, Zack, and God bless you!

The Sword of the Spirit IV: Praying Always...

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand… Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPHESIANS 6:12-18

ZACK: There’s such a misconception that many people have of the Christian life, Shiran! You know, the moment we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour, we have also declared outright our war upon the enemy, Satan. In effect, Satan places out a personal vendetta against you too. In spite of all the good things that God’s Word says are ours when we come to Him, we are still very much in conflict for as long as we tread this earth as believers on His Name.

Oft times we seem to lead our lives as Christians in denial of the character of the conflict and its demands on us! We seem to be ignorant of the enemies that we must encounter if we are to serve God faithfully, succeed in getting to heaven, and receive the crown of life! And in this ignorance, we are blinded to realize that the world, the flesh, and the devil will oppose our onward march. That trio shall defeat any Christian utterly, unless they give themselves to constant and unceasing prayer.

SHIRAN: The world does have many misconceptions about Christianity – but the saddening fact is that many Christians, as you have pointed out, have misconceptions about themselves. They think that once they give their lives to Christ, it’s all over; they can relax as they await eternity. Another sad thing is, as new Christians, or Christians who have just learnt about spiritual warfare, soldiers are alert and aware of God’s Presence, but then after a while, many become lax and complacent and think that nothing can attack them. The Christians who have been born again longer seem to allow pride to come in and make them feel like they are invincible. After a while, that pride usually leads to a decline in prayer life and the soldier begins to think he can depend on himself. The result of that, well, Solomon said Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov 16:18)

ZACK: I’m sure you know Shiran that the life of a Christian is one of warfare, an intense conflict, a lifelong contest. It is a battle fought against invisible foes that are ever alert and seeking to entrap, deceive, and ruin the souls of men.

SHIRAN: I do know that. Anyone who gives his or her life to Christ immediately becomes a dart-board for the devil’s fiery darts. The devil is defeated, and he knows it, and he will never defeat God, so he tries to harm the ones God loves.

ZACK: The Bible calls us to life, not a picnic or holiday event. It is no pastime or pleasure excursion.

SHIRAN: You’re right – not a cruise ship, but a battleship. It’s a war. Prayer requires discipline. It is work. It requires that one set time aside. And in this day and age, with the way time is idolized, people feel too lazy to take up this command, yet Jesus said, Luke 11:2, When ye pray, not “If ye pray.” Our call as soldiers is not easy, but it is rewarding. It is special. God’s commandments are not grievous, 1 John 5:3.

ZACK: This call entails effort, wrestling, and struggling. It demands putting out the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come out, at last, more than a conqueror. It is no primrose path, no rose-scented flirting. From start to finish, it is war, war and war. The Christian warrior is compelled from the hour he first draws his sword (II Tim. 2:3) to, Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

“Praying always” covers all seasons and all manner of praying - praying with our natural understanding and also praying in the spirit.

Supplication in the Spirit: I Cor.14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. I Cor. 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. That there means while you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit, and you are talking to Him in a direct supernatural language. Also see Romans 8:26.

Now I know Shiran that there are folk that might be reading this and know not what it is to pray in the spirit or speak in tongues. This does not make them any less of a warrior and is certainly not an excuse for them to not even pray at all. We are told to be patient. See James 5:7 - Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. And in Hosea 6:3 - Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain and the former rain unto the earth. The latter rain and former rain are the Holy Spirit. The “former rain” fell at Pentecost and we have been enjoying the “latter rain” ever since.

Watching with all perseverance: While we read God’s Word Shiran, we should keep in mind that every minute detail is as important as every major detail! Whenever I read that extension in the verse atop this post that says about watching with all perseverance, I’m reminded of the time in the early church when Peter miraculously escaped from Herod’s prison. (Acts 12.) As the Christians prayed (verse 12), they forgot to have someone on the lookout for the answer to their prayer! And as the answer to their prayer (Peter) kept on knocking at their door, only but one person (Rhoda, the servant girl) came out to find out who and even when she did, she was so excited she forgot to receive him inside!

Supplication for all the saints: This could never be so clearer. In our last post Shiran, you remember I shared with you about the old-farmer-John-type prayers that many of us seem to pray whenever we get on our knees. After I got to confess Christ in December 2003, I too prayed the ‘farmer John’ prayers! That was and is selfish. After this realisation, we cannot afford to stay this way. As much as we can, let’s pray for all the saints; we shall pray in the natural and also in the spirit.

SHIRAN: Zack, there is no better way to put all that you have said. We must pray for all saints. We must pray always. We must pray in the Spirit. The disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” A pastor said that it seems that to this day, that is the subconscious cry of the saints – teach us to pray – yet Christ sent the Comforter, who teaches us all things, prayer included.

ZACK: Shiran, our entire life as Christian soldiers –its being, intention, implication, and action are all dependent on its being a life of prayer. If even Jesus Christ prayed while he walked this earth, who are we not to? Or who are we to be so lazy and slack not to? Without prayer no matter what else we might have; our lives will be feeble and ineffective. Without prayer, we are an easy prey for all our spiritual enemies.

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit III: Know Thine Enemy!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, and… stand. (Eph. 6:12-13)

ZACK: It isn’t by chance that we chose to talk about the Christian's warfare Shiran. We are facing greater spiritual battles today than ever before. There has been a release of demonic activity on earth during the past twelve months that is unseen in world history. And we are going to see an even greater release of demonic activity during coming months. I’m sorry if that comes off as a little scary but that is the grim truth and I’m only putting it lightly that way. We must be ever prepared for the onslaught and not just wallow in our defensive comfort zones Shiran.

SHIRAN: I agree! I was talking about this with my sister last night. For me that’s a sign that it’s no coincidence. I also did mention to her, however, that this demonic activity is a reaction to the greater release of Divine blessing and power that God is pouring out to His children in this day.

ZACK: Paul in his letter to the Ephesians more than avidly describes the enemy. One of the cardinal rules of warfare Shiran, is know thine enemy. To not follow that rule is to lose the war even before fighting it. Our enemy (see scripture atop post first):

1. Spirits or demons: the Word of God says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”
2. Principalities: from the Greek word arche; chief rulers of the highest rank.
3. Powers: from the Greek word exousia; authorities. These authorities preside over the chief rulers, executing their will.
4. Rulers of the darkness of this world: world rulers of darkness; natural men possessed demonic powers. This world (our cosmos) binds them to the natural and refers to governments or individuals in high authority in this world who are demon led or directed.
5. Spiritual wickedness in high places: wicked spirits in the heavens; fallen angels.

Preparation for spiritual warfare requires the application of spiritual principles revealed in God’s Word. We must never underestimate the capabilities of our adversary or the deceptiveness that he will use in his attempt to try to defeat us. Did you know Shiran that in the spiritual war in which we all are engaged (some without even knowing it), one of the most effective weapons that our enemy has aimed and is using against us is today's entertainment? Entertainment supplies the devil’s ammunition in this spiritual war. It's very tempting to dismiss it as simple amusement. But while Christians are entertaining themselves, they are often learning to conform to the immoral values of this world and as such the Christian community is spiritually entertaining itself with the rest of the world to DEATH!

SHIRAN: I did know, Zack, and it pains me to see that Christians nowadays have reached a level of such complacency and compromise that they refuse to see what is wrong as just that – wrong. God said, Ye shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:1) He did not say, “Try to be holy.” He does not command us to do things for the fun of it, or to cause us grief. One way in which we live holy lives is by refusing to be drawn into a net of sin. You are right – the Christian community is blindly entertaining itself to death and it must stop.

ZACK: God's Word clearly warns us to avoid such dangers. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8). This Scripture warns us that if we continue to entertain ourselves with philosophies that are against biblical values, it will undermine our faith and joy in Jesus Christ. And what is the vast majority of today's entertainment except that some man or woman's philosophy is expressed through music, movies, or TV programs?

SHIRAN: True! Philosophies also include all the things people come up with about God and life that directly oppose what the Bible says. Doctrines of demons, so Paul called them, 1 Tim 4. He warned that in these last days, men would give in to seducing spirits and have their consciences seared with iron. You are right about the music, movies, or TV being used to spread vain theories and deceive many. People say that it does not affect them but it does. "You are what you eat," so goes a well-known saying. This is true in the spirit as well. What we feed ourselves is what we become. If we study the word and remain in God, then we are victorious. To love the world and follow in doctrines of demons is to open the floodgates for much misery, and, eventually, hell.

ZACK: Shiran, Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to teach our families about the laws of God whether we're at home or on a journey, from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. Instead of teaching His values in this manner, too often we let the enemy teach his values to our children (and to us) through the world of entertainment. And because immorality is presented in such an entertaining manner, we believe it doesn't affect us. In the long run we lose our children, ourselves in this spiritual war without even realizing it and then we ask why things go wrong?

SHIRAN: We are doing ourselves and others a disservice if we refuse to take a stand for Christ. The verse above, Eph 6:13, says stand. David said, "Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the LORD. He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water (Psalm 1)." Jeremiah said, "Blessed is the man whose hope the LORD is; He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her root by the river (Jer 17:7-8)." Both say that such people bear fruit. We need to return to our First Love, and stand in Him.

ZACK: I picked the following up from a text entitled ‘Overheard from the enemy’s camp’ and reading through it I thought how very apt and true! And I thought I could share here too… (side note: The text in parentheses is scripture we’ve inserted countering the enemy’s plans!)

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the Truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.
"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time and focus, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."
"This is what I want you to do," said the devil, "Distract them from focusing on things above and get them to focus on life from our point of view" {Colossians 3:1-2: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth}.
"But how shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "If they are Christians, why would they want to know our thoughts and ideas?"
"Don't let them know they are our thoughts. Tell them it's just entertainment. Then we can inspire others to put our words and thoughts on video and call it a TV program, or on celluloid and call it a motion picture, or on CD and call it music, or in a little black box and call it a video game. Most importantly, entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive. And convince them they need to keep their TV, VCR, CDs, and PCs going constantly. They won't even realize they are missing time with their Savior.
"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. We've got to keep their minds occupied with our thoughts so they won't have time for His."
"But I heard that Christians are strong and we have to leave if they tell us to go," countered some of his dominion {James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee}.
"They do have immeasurable strength, but they don't realize it. That's why we have to keep their minds occupied so they won't hear His still small voice. I don't know why He speaks in a small voice, but I don't want to take any chances. Don't leave them any time to think about Him. And the best part is while we are occupying their minds with our "noise," we are destroying their strength. Do you remember how Nehemiah defeated us? He reminded the people that the 'joy of the Lord' was his strength and he wouldn't pay attention to our ideas {Nehemiah 8:10 “…For the joy of the Lord is your strength”}. That would be disaster for us! "So if we are going to make them weak, we have to undermine their joy. And the best way to do that is to feed them our philosophies {Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ"}. If we can get them to entertain themselves with our values, they're ours. I know we don't get 'em back on our team, but they won't be an effective member for the other team, either." It was quite an ambitious plan! The demons went eagerly to accomplish their assignment. It was easier than they thought possible.

SHIRAN: Wow!

ZACK: Shiran, how much clearer can this scripture be? Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

But we thank our Lord that in Him is our strength for this battle found! We prepare for battle and deliverance, not only by identifying the enemy, but also by defining our strength. It’s important to know that strength needed to subdue and defeat the enemy of our souls is not found in the natural; it is found in the Lord. Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

SHIRAN: I agree. King David tells us that it is God who arms us with strength (Psalm 18:32), and teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight (Psalm 144:1). I feel a need to add that we should know our enemy, but we should not focus on him so much that it takes our focus away from Christ because only God deserves our minds and hearts. And only in Him can true strength be found.

ZACK: Ephesians 1:19, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. Strength in the Lord is obtained as we recognize who we are in Christ and acknowledge that He is the real source of our strength. We mustn’t attempt to fight demonic forces of hell alone, for the power to subdue and defeat the enemy does not rest in our strength; it comes from the Lord. Jesus declared in Luke 10:19, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

SHIRAN: Amen. The power is given to us, but it is only in Jesus that we can accept it and use it to His glory, and defeat the enemy as we do so.

ZACK: Shiran, I know, there are a lot of folk out there who might glorify the might and power of our enemy and by so doing have had even saints of God cowering at the enemy’s mention. But whenever I hear of such talk, I cannot the contain the joy in my being of knowing that my God is even a billion-fold, mightier! And we are more than (I love the combination of those two words in that scripture!) conquerors in Christ Jesus.

SHIRAN: Hallelujah! To God be the glory, great, great things He hath done! And the blessing of being able to see and know a fraction of those great things is wonderful. More than conquerors in Christ Jesus, that is what we are. He is good!

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit II: On the Holy Spirit; Who Is He?

And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Eph 6:17)

SHIRAN: To whom does that Voice belong, that stops you in your tracks when you are about to sin? Who is responsible for what the world calls “coincidence”, when, for example, you get the urge to go and visit someone, and then they say that they have been praying for company all day long? How come that scripture that you read last night popped into your mind at a difficult point in your day, reminding you to be strong and go on? Who gives you the answers that silence unbelievers in a random argument that ensues during a lunch break? Whence do you get the sudden urge to stop what you are doing and pray for someone you haven’t thought of in a long time?

ZACK: You know Shiran, coincidence and luck are words that I am working out of my vocabulary since the profundity of this scripture hit home with me; And we know that in all things, God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28.) And to answer your questions there, the Spirit of God, I believe He rouses the saints then!

SHIRAN: Zack, most people refer to and think about the Holy Spirit as “It”! I was once like that. It took me a while to realize that the Holy Spirit is a Person, i.e. He has a personality, and is as much God as Jesus Christ and God the Father are.

ZACK: Worse than you there Shiran, before I received the Holy Spirit, I feared even the mention of Him. My perception of Him was of a ‘force’ that would make people shake and utter unintelligible words and basically not be themselves for a good amount of time. I dreaded that.

SHIRAN: Hahaha! I thought that, too, to an extent. That's funny... thank you for sharing; I am sure many soldiers will be consoled in realizing we all go through these moments - and grow from them! Go on...

ZACK: It was only until I began to study this subject further that I actually found out He (the Holy Spirit) actually has a personality and is really as Jesus said He is, the Comforter. Then I saw how enormously wrong I had been the whole while; I received Him almost immediately.

SHIRAN: Bless God for that revelation. The Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is not a “force” that people get when they are born again. The Holy Spirit thinks, feels, knows, IS. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? Quick story for those who don’t: Grab your Bibles (or click on the Bible in the sidebar if you can’t… tangible Bible is always better!) and check out Acts chapter 5.

(Zoom in:)

Ananias and Sapphira were married Christians. Their story is set just after Jesus ascended into heaven. The number of believers was growing steadily in Jerusalem. The believers were “of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32), just like we should be today! They shared their possessions, and those who had land and houses sold them and gave the money to the apostles. The money was shared “as everyone had need” (Acts 4:35).

So Zack, as you know, these guys decided to sell a possession so that they could also lay the money at the apostles’ feet. At some point, they must have conspired to give out just a part of the money they earned, instead of the entire amount. For some reason, this story right now reminds me of Adam and Eve and how they both hid from God after eating the fruit of the garden.

Ananias took the money to Peter, Jesus’ disciple. But Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and knew immediately that it was not the entire amount. He said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and keep back part of the price of the land?... Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

(Zoom out)

So, lying to the Holy Ghost is the same as lying to God.

ZACK: Definitely Shiran.

SHIRAN: Another piece of evidence? Paul tells us in Romans 8:26-27 that since we are men and do not know what to pray for as we ought to, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

ZACK: If we may, I’d like us to look again at that piece of scripture very carefully Shiran. Romans 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth out infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Because I know how to pray doesn’t mean I know what to pray for. You know too often our prayers can be like the old farmer John’s: ‘Oh God, bless me and my wife and my son John junior and his wife, us four and no more’ [we might not all say the exact words but this is what it amounts to]. But this scripture here tells us the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech. This agrees with what Paul said in I Cor. 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Shiran, when people pray in tongues, it is the Holy Spirit within them who gives them utterance to speak out of their spirit. In other words, when a person is praying in tongues, it is his spirit praying by the Holy Spirit who is within him. By this, the Holy Spirit is helping them to pray according to the will of God for things that should be prayed for. Which brings me to another point of the spiritual battle that we’re onto discussing through these series now; too often we think (erroneously) that we can fight a spiritual battle from only a mental or carnal perspective. This is wrong. Our physical bodies could not even last that long in such a battle, this is the reason why the Lord’s Holy Spirit comes to the rescue here (bails us out if you like) when He helps us to pray in the spirit. It is also important Shiran, that we know the Holy Spirit is not going to do the praying for us. He does not groan or speak in tongues apart from you. The Holy Spirit is sent to dwell in you. He is a helper, an intercessor –but He does not intercede apart from you. The way He helps us pray is by these groanings that escape our lips. They come out of our spirit, born of the Holy Spirit. Thus we can boldly say, ‘speaking in tongues’ is Holy Spirit-directed prayer. It eliminates the possibility of selfish prayer or inadequate prayer.

SHIRAN: I am learning, Zack. I could not have put that any better.

The Holy Spirit, Paul says, gives us gifts as He wills. Different people have different gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who gives them. God is loving… and constantly giving to us, His children. Remember John 3:16? He loved us so much that He gave!

ZACK: Interesting there that you should talk about giving and gifts Shiran. But we’ll come back to that. Well, yes Shiran, the Holy Spirit gives different people different gifts, each as He wills. If I recall correctly there are nine different gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians. Some are given one, others more; Jesus in his life ministry on earth had all. But it’s important we note that phrase, ‘as the Spirit wills’. Well getting back to giving and gifts there… you know Shiran, there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit: some people say you have to do certain things, or somehow clean up your life before receiving the Holy Spirit. If this was the case then Christ would have shed his blood in vain. But a lot of people get the notion that they must do something to receive the GIFT (mark that word) of the Holy Spirit. I’m of the view that something ceases to be a gift if you have to work for it. What do you think there Shiran?

SHIRAN: I agree. For example, salvation is a gift - not of works, lest any man should boast.

ZACK: When you are born again, there’s a change that occurs on your inside. Your spirit is recreated. And if you’re saved, you’re ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit; you don’t have to do anything but ask to receive! When Jesus promised us the comforter before He ascended to heaven, all the waiting was done between the time of Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was sent into the world as our Comforter on the day of Pentecost and it’s been upon believers to receive Him since then. See Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

SHIRAN: I like that word - "endued" - it does not have anything to do with forcing God to give us something. To endue someone with something means to put it on them. I am checking dictionary.com and one of the definitions is "to clothe"! Go on, Zack.

ZACK: After the day of Pentecost, there is no other instance in the Bible where people had to tarry (wait) for the Holy Spirit! Evidences: Acts 8 (Eight years after Pentecost, Phillip went down to Samaria and as a result of his preaching, people were saved and baptised in water. Then Peter and John went down from Jerusalem, laid hands on the Samaritans), verse 17: and they received the Holy Ghost. Without agonizing, without tarrying, without disappointment, without exception, they all were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, Cornelius and his household were filled with the Holy Spirit without praying, without waiting, without exception. Also see Acts 19. God does not have any trial-and-error methods, He doesn’t have any method of coming, seeking and not finding, and then going away empty.

SHIRAN: That is very true, Zack. I had never really thought about it like that. My mind seemed to stress the fact that the apostles were commanded to wait, but you point out something very important there.

Paul warns us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. God destroys those who defile His temple. (Remember those strange fires?) We are bought with a price, and as such, we cannot carry ourselves like the world does (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19-20).

ZACK: Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. I like the way the KJV puts that, “…which is your reasonable sacrifice”. Put in other words… a small price to pay for something as precious as God’s Holy Spirit indwelling our bodies.

SHIRAN: Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless, or orphans. He promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would remind them of all things, and reprove the world, and show them things to come. (John ch. 13-ch.16.)That promise is available to us as well, for we are disciples of Christ. We will get into that a little later.

ZACK: Shiran, I’m sure we’ll be covering more on this when we get to tackling the other aspect of the Christian warrior’s armour - praying always in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication…looking forward!

SHIRAN: Me, too! I have realized that I am learning a lot more than I thought I would! But to answer the question, Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is God. Plain and simple. We daren’t joke around with Him. He is to be respected and revered. The Holy Spirit is God.

ZACK: Also He is our Helper, He is our Comforter and He is our Friend.

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit (I)

“And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” EPH 6:17

ZACK: You know Shiran there’s that line in the Bible just before the piece of scripture that we are onto in Ephesians that blesses me abundantly whenever I read or hear it said. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. (Eph. 6:10). I wonder whether folk have heard this scripture to where it has power in their lives, to where they can spiritually take hold of it, activate it in their lives. You know a car is no good to one unless they put in the ignition and turn the engine on, put it into gear and drive it away. That also means a car is no good to one if they can’t drive it. That is what God’s Word should be for us. Power in operation.

Perhaps you’ll find it a little odd Shiran that I started out this way but I meant to lay the plinth for verse 11 that says, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. God warns us to put on the whole armour meaning that we have an enemy. One that doesn’t rest, doesn’t need sleep and never quits. He looks for every crinkle and crook in our armour. If he’s shooting bullets, he’s not going to shoot just to warn you. He’s going to try to kill you. Do you realise what that means Shiran? Let’s say you sloppily wear God’s armament today, say you decide to put on oddly the Helmet (of salvation) because it messes up your hair or perhaps because you don’t ‘look cool’ in it and as you get out, arrows are shot (by the enemy obviously) to your head. So as the arrow hits at your oddly-worn helmet, you get lucky and it ricochets off. It doesn’t kill you but it knocks you down. Do you realise how fatal that can be? I’m sure this is what God is warning us about. That we don’t just put on bits and pieces of this armour but rather, the whole armour. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12.)

SHIRAN: That's some serious food for thought! And yet so many take it for granted. Thank you for the reminder. It does get me thinking!

ZACK: Onto the Sword of the Spirit now Shiran…

SHIRAN: Alright! Like everyone knows, a sword is a weapon, used to inflict injury during war by cutting the enemy. It is like a long knife, sometimes with one edge, sometimes with two (double-edged). According to Wikipedia, swords were developed from daggers during the Bronze Age, when the construction of longer blades became possible.

A sword is

- a defensive weapon, used to protect oneself when attacked. In old movies (why does Zorro come to mind?) the first thing a man did when he met a stranger was to reach for his sword, which was probably kept in a sheath on his side,

and

- an offensive weapon, used to attack and catch the enemy by surprise, also used to “finish off” the enemy. for example, after David killed Goliath, he cut off his head with a sword. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. (1 Samuel 17:50-51)

ZACK: You know, it’s interesting you should whip out such a description. Also I thought I’d add that ‘a sword is only good once out of its sheath’.

SHIRAN: Like the car! Only makes sense when it’s driven!

ZACK: That said, I find it most amusing that the concept of the sword is still maintained even in our modern-day world. Have you ever noticed the remarkable resemblance of the bayonet on the AK-47 (the commonest gun in the world) to the sword? I’m told it’s used as a sword in close combat when all other options run out, to fight until the end. I guess as they say when the chickens come home to roost, there’s not a thing you can do about it. So the Sword will still be arguably the most prolific battling tool in any war. God in His infinite wisdom must have known this aspect of the armour would survive generations of extinction to maintain its use even in this our generation.

SHIRAN: Wow! I know nothing about guns but that right there is very interesting! Most people are right-handed, and so that means that they use their right hands to operate their swords, and their left hands to hold on to the shields that protect their bodies. There has to be significance to the fact that God inspired Paul to refer to the Word of God as “the Sword of the Spirit.”

ZACK: As I’m sure you already know Shiran, we are not to take any word of God’s words to us lightly. Everything, however big or small has such great significance.

SHIRAN: It just hit me, Zack, that Paul did not say, “the stone of the Spirit,” or “the Cannon of the Spirit” or “the Sling of the Spirit” or “the Arrow of the Spirit” or even “the Spear of the Spirit.”

Notice, all the above weapons are used from a distance. You throw stones… arrows… spears… cannon-balls. Slings, too, are used from a distance. To use a sword in combat, you must approach the enemy and attack from a short range. David “ran” – he was far away when he slew Goliath with the stone from his sling – “and stood upon the Philistine” Goliath. And then he “cut off the head therewith.” That, to me, sounds like David making sure that Goliath was 'completely dead' and not just injured by the stone from David's sling.

ZACK: I guess it’s called ‘hand-to-hand’ combat. Personally, when I think of swords, the word 'slice' comes to mind… I’d imagine ‘to slay’ and ‘slew’ are not very far from that. So with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, I reckon we are to slay our enemy too!

SHIRAN: We, too, as soldiers, should use the Sword to “cut off the head” of the enemy; of sin; of anything that tries to steal God’s glory. We should not just wound, we should extinguish completely, snuff out the life from these things. The reason that some sins come back to haunt people is because they have not cut off the heads, they have only used their slings to throw a stone, and then left the “injured” sin, or devil, or situation, lying down, able to get back up after a while.

ZACK: ‘cut off the heads’ = ‘slain’. There, again! Spot on Shiran.

SHIRAN: Reader, please don’t tire. Notice, Zack, that Paul did not say “the Knife of the Spirit” or “the Dagger of the Spirit.” Not even “the Panga/Jambia (slasher) of the Spirit”! Swords are superior to these two cutting instruments. Note that, soldiers!

ZACK: I’m thinking we should take another good look at that picture of the sword atop this post.

SHIRAN: We should! Now, the Bible emphasizes repeatedly the spiritual nature of God. Jesus told the woman at the well, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

ZACK: It’s important for us to get this picture right Shiran. The Sword of the Spirit is the (spoken) Word of God. I just collected these pieces of scripture that I’m sure once we’ve read again further clarify this issue:

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Isaiah 59:19 - So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

Rev 2:16 - Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

2Thess 2:8 - And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Hos 6:5 - Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

ZACK: Then the bigger question becomes, How do we take up this Sword? When we read further through verse 18 of the same (i.e. 6th) chapter of Ephesians, we see that we are told it’s by means of praying in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. This is mostly so because sometimes, in fact most times we do not know what and how we ought to pray as fallible humans. God Himself tells us this in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Rom. 8:26. So as the Spirit makes intercessions for us, He knows whatever prayer and supplication there needs to be offered, so we are assured as we pray in the Spirit of this.

I’m sure Shiran, some people might be all questions about this new aspect of prayer in the Spirit that we just hit on. Perhaps we should further elaborate on this (praying in the Spirit) in our subsequent conversations. But one thing we must all know, that this Sword of the Spirit, we use to wrestle with our spiritual enemies as well as to keep our flesh under and keep on glorifying God. It’s little wonder that in all victory monuments and pictures that I have ever seen, the soldier has always gotten their sword raised far high above their heads.

SHIRAN: As we wait on Part II of this series, think and pray on the above, soldiers! It seemed simple in the beginning, didn’t it? A sword… not just another weapon, now, is it?

ZACK: Ask me and I’ll tell you.