For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 2

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory in

Spiritual Warfare

Tony Evans

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

®

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 3

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Unless otherwise indicated, al Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible®,

© 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked (niv) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. Al rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked esv are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. Al rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (tniv) are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version®. TNIV®. Copyright© 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. Al rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked nkjv are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Used by permission. Al rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible Al emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author.

Cover by Koechel Peterson & As ociates, Inc.

Backcover photo by Iam Second/Trey Hil

ial

ter

VICTORY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Copyright © 2011 by Tony Evans

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ted ma

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evans, Tony, 1949-igh

Victory in spiritual warfare / Tony Evans.

yr

p.

cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-3999-7 (pbk.)

op

1. Spiritual warfare. 2. Christian life. 3. Success—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

C

BV4509.5.E833 2011

235’.4—dc22

2010050022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / ##-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 4

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

[Dedication to come]

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 5

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

[Acknowledgements to come]

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 6

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Contents

Part 1: The Battle

1. The Nature of the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 2. The Opposition in the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 3. The Strategy for the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Part 2: The Armor

4. The Belt of Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 5. The Breastplate of Righteousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 6. The Shoes of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 7. The Shield of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 8. The Helmet of Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 9. The Sword of the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Part 3: The Victory

10. The Power of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x ial

11. The Sufficiency of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x ter

Part 4: Victory over Strongholds

12. Victory over Marital Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x ted ma

13. Victory over Chemical Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 14. Victory over Sexual Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x ighyr

15. Victory over Gambling Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 16. Victory over Food Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x opC

17. Victory over Emotional Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 18. Victory over Debt Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 7

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 8

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Part 1

The Battle

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 9

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 10

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

1

The Nature of the Battle

In an art galery in Europe hangs a painting titled Checkmate. On one side of a chessboard sits the devil, ful of laughter. His hand is poised, ready to make his next move. On the other side of the chessboard sits a shaking, frightened young man. Sweat covers his forehead, dripping down and mixing with a solitary tear on his cheek. The game is obviously drawing to a close, and the winner appears to have already been decided.

ial

One day, a chess champion from a far off country visited the gal ery.

ter

Natural y, the painting caught his attention, inviting him to examine it for a very long time. In fact, while others had moved on throughout the gal ery, the chess champion remained fixated on the game and espe-ted ma

cial y on the devil, who sat eagerly waiting for his next turn, in which he planned to steal this man’s soul.

igh

Minutes turned into hours as the chess champion studied the board yr

from every possible angle. The sweat on the young man’s forehead op

urged him to continue. Final y, as the gal ery was about to close, the C

chess champion found the proprietor of the gal ery and asked him, “Sir, would you happen to have a chessboard here?”

After looking around in several of the offices, he located a chessboard and brought it to the man. The chess champion laid the board out at the base of the painting precisely as it was in the painting. He made a move and then countered that move in the only way that the 11

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 11

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

12

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

devil could to avoid checkmate. He then made another move, and countered it again knowing that the devil would have to defend himself in his next move as wel . The chess champion did this several more times, putting the devil on the defensive each and every time. Eventual y, a loud yel was heard throughout the gal ery as the chess champion cried out in relief, “I did it! I did it! I did it!”

Turning to the painting, the chess champion lowered his voice and said, “Young man, your enemy miscalculated a very important move.

I uncovered it, and as a result, you don’t have to lose! You win!”

This chess champion had discovered a way not only for the young man to escape but also to checkmate the devil himself.

Friend, if you have picked up this book, the chances are that you may have felt like the man in the painting. Fear or anxiety has crept up on you as you imagine the devil preparing to make the final move in your personal life, marriage, home, health, career, finances, or any number of other arenas. Satan’s confident laughter and swift moves have tricked you into believing that he is running the show and cal -

ing the shots. He has been toying with your emotions as if you were a puppet on a string.

But as we journey through this study together, I encourage you ial

to wipe the sweat from your forehead and dry the tears from your ter

eyes. You can do this because you have a Champion who knows how to guide your every move. In fact, this Champion has already made the final move on the devil, securing your victory forever. If you wil ted ma

simply play out the remainder of the game according to His directions and underneath the overarching rule of His kingdom agenda, you wil igh

claim your victory. That is guaranteed.

yr

The great thing is that you don’t have to earn your victory, nor do op

you have to figure it out for yourself. God has already given you every-C

thing you need in order to make your next move on your path to triumph. As we begin, I want you to realize this key principle: You are not fighting for victory—you are fighting from victory. This battle has already been won!

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 12

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

13

The History of the Battle

To grasp the truth behind this principle, you first need to understand the history of the battle. It all began when God made the first move by creating the angels. Lucifer, the anointed angel, responded negatively to that move by rebel ing against God and taking one-third of the angels with him in that rebel ion. God countered that move by creating man, in His own image, a little lower than the angels. Satan rebel ed against that move by enticing Adam and Eve to sin, thus turning earth over to his control.

God then countered Satan’s move by providing a redemptive covering for Adam and Eve so they could return back to fel owship with God. Satan made his next move by inciting Cain to kil Abel in order to cut off the godly line.

But God responded to Satan’s move through the birth of Seth, making a way for men to begin cal ing on the name of the Lord again. Satan countered that move by luring Nimrod at the Tower of Babel into thinking he could make himself and his people as high as the heavens.

For God’s next move, He turned His gaze onto a man named Abraham, cal ing out a nation through him to be holy and set apart. Satan, ial

however, countered that move by trapping this nation in Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule. But then God grabbed Moses in Midian and placed ter

him in position to knock Pharaoh out of the equation altogether.

Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, the game went on like this—move, countermove, move, countermove. By the end of the ted ma

Old Testament, we have reached a time of four hundred years where no move is recorded by either side as both sit staring at the board in silence.

igh

But when the New Testament opens up, we see God reach for a yr

special piece—His own son, Jesus Christ—and move Him into a new op

location, from heaven to earth. Satan attempts to counter God’s move C

by tempting Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus overcomes his move through using the Word of God. So Satan then tries what he thinks is going to be his final move of checkmate by orchestrating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But Satan miscalculated something very important because he didn’t realize that death on the cross was not a checkmate move. In fact, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 13

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

14

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

it was just a set-up for the final move that God would make to checkmate Satan by raising Jesus from the dead.

The accomplishment of the cross, through the resurrection of Christ, was God’s final move and offered each one of us victory over an enemy who is seeking to intimidate, deceive, and destroy us. The ultimate winner of this game has been decided. Victory has been secured.

While you and I are on earth and stil in play, we need to live in light of the truth of the victory gained through that final move—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of that decisive move by God, Satan no longer has authority over you to defeat you. His only means to overcome you is to deceive you—to make you believe that the winner of the battle is yet undecided.

How the Spiritual Impacts the Physical

By il ustrating spiritual warfare though a simple game of chess, I don’t mean to minimize the severity of the battle nor the enormous depth of pain and number of casualties that have resulted from it. It is a battle. We are in a war. In fact, the war we are in is like no other war that any of us have ever known or heard about or could even conceive.

If I were to ask you to think of the absolute worst war in human history, ial

it would pale in comparison to the spiritual battle waging al around us.

ter

This war is different from al other wars not only because of its sheer magnitude and scope but also because this war is fought in a place we have never seen. Spiritual warfare is the cosmic conflict waged ted ma

in the invisible, spiritual realm but simultaneously fleshed out in the visible, physical realm. To put it another way, the root of the war is some-igh

thing you cannot see, but the effects of the war are clearly seen and felt.

yr

This is because everything physical is either influenced or caused by op

something spiritual.

C

Behind every physical disturbance, setback, ailment, or issue we face lies a spiritual root. Unless we first identify and deal with the root spiritual cause, our attempts to fix the physical problem wil provide only temporary relief at best. In other words, everything that your five senses experience physical y is first generated by something that your five senses cannot detect.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 14

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

15

In light of this truth, you and I need to engage a sixth sense—a spiritual sense—when doing battle in this war. We must employ that which goes beyond physiology and address the spiritual root before we can truly fix the physical fruit. Here is the key to experiencing and living out on earth the victory that God has already secured in heaven: to learn how to intentional y and effectively do battle in the spiritual realm.

Satan often tries to prevent you from taking the spiritual realm seriously. If he can divert your attention away from the spiritual realm, he can keep you away from the only place where your victory is found. If he can distract you with people or things you can see, taste, touch, hear, or smel , he can keep you from living a life of victory.

The Location of the Battle

This battle is so important and its spoils so costly, it is essential that we start at the beginning and lay a solid foundation for our strategy.

The first thing you need to know is where this battle takes place. Paul gives us the answer in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, which is the passage we wil be using as the basis for our study throughout this book.

ial

Final y, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His ter

might. Put on the ful armor of God, so that you wil be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this ted ma

darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12).

ighyr

Paul tel s us that our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our battle op

is not against our neighbor, spouse, coworker, child, or even our own C

propensities or weaknesses in our flesh. People are simply conduits of the spiritual battle taking place in another realm. Our battle, according to the Word of God, is against the rulers, powers, and world forces of wickedness located in heavenly places. “Heavenly places” simply means in the spiritual realm.

Here’s a second principle I want you to take hold of: Whatever has Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 15

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

16

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

gone on, is going on, or wil go on in your visible, physical world is rooted in the invisible, spiritual realm. If you do not know how to nav-igate in the spiritual realm, you cannot hope to truly overcome in the physical realm.

This highlights a problem we often run into. We usual y try to fix things in the physical realm by using methods of this world even though this world is not where our problems originate. We are like a police officer in his living room shooting his TV because he sees a crim-inal on a reality show pul ing a gun. If the officer shoots at the television, he wil have merely added the mess that’s going on. He might feel better for a moment because he did something, but in the end, nothing has been solved. In fact, things have only gotten worse.

Our battles originate in the spiritual realm—the heavenly places—

so the only way to fight them is with weapons that work in that realm.

Heavenly Places

Paul uses the phrase “heavenly places” a number of times in the book of Ephesians, letting us know both the scope and occupants of the location. His first reference to this realm comes in chapter 1, verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has ial

blessed us with every spiritual bles ing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

ter

We learn from this verse that everything God is ever going to do for us, He has already done. Every spiritual blessing is already located in this unseen realm. Every promise God has ever made and plans to ted ma

fulfil on your behalf, every gift you wil ever receive, and every hope that wil ever be satisfied has already been deposited in your account in igh

the spiritual realm. God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in yr

the heavenly places in Christ.” Your blessings and victory are already op

located there with your name written on them, waiting for you to grab C

them, use them, and walk in them.

Many believers live defeated lives simply because they are unaware of this truth. Yet Paul makes it clear in this passage that we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the spiritual realm.

In spiritual warfare, Satan tries to deceive you into believing that God is holding out on you and that it is up to you to get God to give Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 16

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

17

you both blessings and victory. Satan wants you to think that if you pray more, give more, serve more, sin less, do better, or worship more, maybe God wil give you more. This shifts the focus off of God and what He has already done in the spiritual realm and puts the focus on you and what you need to do in the physical realm. Doing those things in the physical realm is good and beneficial for spiritual growth and cultivating intimacy with God and others, but those things are not the keys to accessing what God already has for you in the spiritual realm.

The way to access the power of your blessings is through a biblical understanding and application of grace through faith. In grace, God has made every believer complete in Jesus Christ. Religious “works”

that we do in an effort to get something from God actual y nul ify grace (Galatians 5:1-4) because grace and works can never be mixed (Romans 11:6). Grace is the point of access to God.

The way we enter this point of access is through faith. Faith is acting as if God is tel ing the truth. It is acting as if something is true even when it doesn’t appear to be true in order that it might be shown to be true simply because God said it’s true. The job of faith is to discover what the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places already are, ask God for them, and make life choices in light of that reality. We wil look ial

more deeply at grace and faith a little later.

ter

The Occupants

So far we have seen that you are not fighting for victory—you are ted ma

fighting from a position of victory. We have also seen that whatever has gone on, is going on, or wil go on in your physical world is rooted in igh

the spiritual realm. And every spiritual blessing is located in this spiri-yr

tual realm. Paul tel s us more about the spiritual realm when he writes, op

“These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might C

which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19-20).

Paul has already told us that our blessings are waiting for us to access them in heavenly places, and he now tel s us that the One who is in charge, Jesus Christ, is seated in these same heavenly places. That Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 17

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

18

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

means that if you want to get to the One who is in charge—Jesus—you wil need to approach Him where He is—in the spiritual realm, the heavenly places. In the next chapter of Ephesians, Paul gives us more details about this.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6).

We’ve seen that our blessings are located in heavenly places and that Jesus Christ is seated in heavenly places. Now we learn that we ourselves are seated with Jesus in these same heavenly places. Right this very minute, you and I are spiritual y seated with Christ in the spiritual realm.

This is an important truth to remember. If you are focusing only on where you are sitting right now physical y, you are not viewing your location as being in the same place as where the solutions to your problems actual y exist. Where you are physical y is not the only place you are located. You are equal y located in another realm. Paul tel s us ial

that at the moment you trusted in Christ for your salvation, you were ter

transported to another realm. Even though your physical body is here on earth, your spirit—the part of you that has been designed with the capacity to control your physical body—is operating in another ted ma

location.

Paul tel s us more about this other location in the next chapter of igh

Ephesians.

yr

op

To me, the very least of al saints, this grace was given, to C

preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created al things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:8-10).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 18

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

19

Not only are your spiritual blessings, Jesus Christ, and you yourself located in the spiritual realm at this point in time, the angels (rulers and authorities) are also operating in the spiritual realm. Why is this important to know? Because it is better to have an angel battling a demon than to battle a demon yourself in your flesh. If you are facing a demonic problem, you need an angelic solution.

The Bible cal s God “the Lord of hosts.” That name refers to His military charge over an angelic corps whose job is to go up against any demonic actions that are attacking you. You may be physical y strong, you may lift weights, and you might be powerful in your body, but trust me—you are no competition for a demon. In order to cal on angelic help, you need to have a heavenly mind-set because angels do battle in heavenly places.

What is critical to note in our look at angels is that every Christian has at least one angel who has been assigned to operate on his or her behalf in the spiritual realm. We read in Hebrews 1:14 (niv), “Are not al angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who wil inherit salvation?” You have someone who knows and understands the spiritual realm better than you and whose job is to function in that realm in a way that benefits you. That is a potent truth.

ial

Yet while every Christian has an angel whose task is to minister to ter

him or her from heavenly places, every Christian also has demonic opposition whose goal is to make al hel break loose in his or her life.

We saw in our previous look at Ephesians 6:12 that “the spiritual forces ted ma

of wickedness” (demons) are also located “in the heavenly places.”

So Paul tel s the church at Ephesus that our blessings are in the igh

heavenly places, Jesus is in the heavenly places, we are in the heavenly yr

places, angels are in the heavenly places, and the demonic realm is in op

the heavenly places. With so much going on in the heavenly places, it C

only makes sense that we should learn and apply as much as we can on how to function and operate effectively in heavenly places. After al , we are in a war where ground zero is located in the heavenly places.

The physical world simply manifests what is already happening in the spiritual realm. If you are unaware of the reality of the spiritual realm, you wil be unaware of how that realm operates, causing you to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 19

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

20

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

be unprepared and il equipped to live out your victory in your physical life.

I recently had the chance to see the blockbuster film Inception, which il ustrated a similar truth cinematical y. In the film, the main characters had discovered a way to enter into another realm—the realm of dreams. The dreams appeared to be as vivid and as authentic as the real world they were currently sleeping in, but the dream realm was not real.

Because the dream appeared to be real to al of their five senses, each character had to choose an item that would let them know whether they were in a dream or in reality. Without the item, the person in the dream might begin to believe that the dream was reality, and he or she might stay there—operating by the laws of reality within the realm of a dream.

The main character’s item was a spinning top. If his top kept spinning endlessly, that meant he was in a dream. The knowledge that he was in a dream then affected the way he functioned within the dream.

Essential y, he could take more risks and live differently in the dream because he knew that at any time, he could simply wake back up in reality.

ial

I’m not suggesting that the physical world we live in is a dream or ter

that physical realities do not carry with them both physical and spiritual consequences. But I want us to realize that our ultimate reality is taking place in the heavenly places—in the spiritual realm. Conversated ma

tions, decisions, battles, and the like that occur in the spiritual realm unilateral y impact what takes place in our physical lives. Unless we igh

realize that truth, we wil continue to look for physical solutions to yr

solve spiritual problems manifesting themselves in our physical lives.

op

Thankful y, God has given us an item to use—a guide—that we C

are to look at in order to remind us of our true spiritual location, and that is His Word. When we read God’s Word, we are reminded that al spiritual warfare as wel as our solutions for that warfare are located in the spiritual realm. This world is not our home. As believers we are citizens of and seated in the heavenly realm.

Physical solutions cannot fix physical problems that originate in the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 20

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

21

spiritual realm. So rather than spending al of our time, money, effort, strength, mental energy, conversations, and anything else we can come up with to help us fare better in the physical world, we ought to first be learning and applying spiritual warfare practices and techniques so we can defeat our enemy and access our blessings in the spiritual realm.

The demonic realm doesn’t want you to know that. The demonic realm wants you to continue to live and do battle in the world of your five senses so that you wil try to fix your situation with the limited weapons associated with your five senses. What ends up happening, though, is that a lot of time, money, and energy gets wasted trying to do away with bad fruit while not addressing the spiritual root. But remember this principle: If al you see is what you see, you wil never see al that there is to be seen.

Since the invisible realm affects the visible realm, if you want to fix something in the physical realm, you must first address the invisible and spiritual root behind it. A failure to address the invisible, spiritual cause simply leads to a failure to experience a long-term and complete visible, physical cure.

Studying Satan’s Game

ial

Paul tel s us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against ter

the powers and rulers in the spiritual realm. These powers seek to rob you of al that God has stored up for you in the heavenly places. But Paul encourages each of us to wrestle in a unique way—by standing ted ma

firm against the enemy’s schemes and strategies.

One way to stand firm is to learn what those strategies are. Beings igh

in the demonic realm don’t want you to know their methodology. They yr

don’t want you to figure out their approach. They want you to continue op

to picture them with horns and a pitchfork and wearing a red jump-C

suit. If you continue to think of demonic beings in that way, you wil not take them seriously. Nor wil you battle them effectively.

Everyone who knows me knows I love footbal . When I was young, I played footbal every week. A knee injury sidelined me early on from pursuing the sport, but my passion for the game has never diminished.

Footbal is the consummate male sport. Wel -trained athletes battle Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 21

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

22

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

it out with precision moves and power-packed plays fil ing every second of 60 minutes with elevated levels of testosterone similar to those of the gladiators in previous centuries.

One of the highlights of my ministry has been getting to serve on the frontlines of these battles as a chaplain not only in footbal but also in basketbal . I’ve been the chaplain for the NBA’s Dal as Mavericks for nearly 30 years. I also served as chaplain for the NFL’s Dal as Cowboys during the height of Coach Tom Landry’s era, and I currently speak at the Dal as Cowboys’ chapel services as wel as provide personal counseling for any of the players who need it.

Footbal is a great life coach. It teaches us the value of self-discipline, determination, and hard work. It also teaches us how to not only out-play our opponents but also outsmart them.

Before an upcoming game, players watch what is cal ed game film. Watching game film includes viewing clips from the upcoming opponent’s previous games. The purpose of watching the film is to identify the opponent’s weaknesses. Once those weaknesses are identified, a plan is put together on how to best go about exploiting those weaknesses.

If you are a footbal player, watching film is a good thing to do prior ial

to a game because it gives you an edge you would not normal y have ter

over your opponent. The only problem is that your opponent has also has film of your games and is studying it to exploit your weaknesses.

In the spiritual war, our opponent, the devil—along with his team ted ma

of demons—has had thousands of years watching humanity’s film.

He’s an expert on exploiting personality weaknesses, traumas, racial igh

and gender divisions, our flesh and its desires, and many other areas of yr

our human nature. And the demonic realm has been watching your op

own game film and mine since our conception.

C

Satan and his demons know what happened to you when you were a child that messed up your thinking, lowered your self-esteem, or led to sin patterns that now seem unbreakable in your life. They know about the issues and abuse (either to you or from you) that operate within your physical world. They know what frustrates you or wears you down, thus giving them an opportunity to move in on you. And they have Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 22

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Nature of the Battle

23

one purpose for watching your film and gathering this knowledge: to exploit your weaknesses to their advantage in order to defeat you.

This may sound bleak, but the good news is that we also have access to game film. Not only that, but we have a Coach who knows the our opponent’s weaknesses, and He has told us what those weaknesses are in His Word. He has given us a step-by-step summary of the game film—the Bible. In it, we discover everything we need to know in order to experience victory in this spiritual battle.

Any NFL team that takes to the field on any given Sunday that has not done its homework by first studying its opponent is setting itself up for defeat. In fact, any player who would run out into the game unprepared like that would not find himself being a player for much longer.

The same is true in the Christian life. God has given each of us everything we need to defeat our enemy, but it is up to us to watch the film and to play according to His rules and strategies. Our enemy is a crafty opponent, and unless we do battle against him correctly, he wil outwit us. After al , he has our game film. He knows just what button to push to get you to go somewhere you never thought you would go—

both in your emotions and your actions. Satan has your game film. It’s time for you to study his.

ial

The story is told about a farmer who was perpetual y having his mel-ter

ons stolen by thieves. He had to come up with something to do about this theft, or he was going to end up losing a large amount of his profits.

So the farmer came up with a bril iant idea. He decided to post a sign ted ma

on his farm that read, “One of these melons is poisonous.”

The next day, the farmer went out to view his melons, and he dis-igh

covered what he thought would be the case al along—none of his mel-yr

ons had been stolen. Satisfied that he had outsmarted the thieves, the op

farmer went about the rest of his day smugly fil ed with gratification.

C

However, the fol owing day, when the farmer went back to work in his field, he saw that the word “One” had been scratched out on his sign.

Scribbled next to it was the word “Two.” The sign now read, “Two of these melons are poisonous.” The farmer lost his entire crop because he didn’t know which other melon had been poisoned.

That story is a lot like dealing with the devil. No matter what you Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 23

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

24

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

or I come up with, Satan is going to try to come up with something better. No matter what New Year’s resolution or positive-thinking ten-step plan you or I make, Satan is going to try to knock us off course by the time we take step number one. The only way to live in the victory that has been secured for us in spiritual warfare is to study Satan’s game film, learn his strategies and weaknesses, and stand firm in God’s strength and according to God’s prescribed plays in the heavenly realm.

We cannot outwit or outsmart the father of lies and master of deception. To try to do so on our own would be foolish. If winning this spiritual chess game were left up to us, we would be sweating and crying like the young man in the painting I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. In fact, many of us take it upon ourselves to battle this war in our own strength and with our own wisdom, so we are sweating and crying more than we ought.

However, we have a Champion who has already studied every move on the game board. He knows what we need to do to finish this game wel . It’s time to put God’s strategies for victory in spiritual warfare into practice and make the devil and his demons the ones who sweat and cry instead.

What do you say? Are you ready to view some game film? Let’s take ial

a look and advance in victory.

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 24

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

2

The Opposition in the Battle

T he apostle Paul shows us a clip of Satan’s game plan when he writes in a passage we referenced in chapter 1: “Final y, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the ful armor of God, so that you wil be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11). The word “schemes” simply means

“deceptive strategies.” Satan’s overarching strategy, which he carries out in many ways, is to deceive. He is the ultimate magician, operating not ial

only with smoke and mirrors but also by sleight of hand.

ter

In fact, we read in Genesis chapter 3 that when Adam and Eve were in the garden, Satan came to them in the form of a snake. The snake was the most deceptive of al the animals that God had created (verse 1).

ted ma

The reason Satan took on the form of a snake is because he and his demons operate best when there is a physical presence through which igh

to work. Remember this principle: While spiritual warfare is being yr

waged in heavenly places, our enemy is very skil ed at locating avail-op

able vehicles in the physical realm through which to influence, manip-C

ulate, and deceive.

Satan even comes to you in a form that you would not suspect.

Paul tel s us in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” This adds another dimension to the problems we face and fight in the spiritual realm because our problems do not exist only in the invisible spiritual realm; they also exist in the often unsuspecting 25

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 25

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

26

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

vehicle Satan uses to get to you in the physical realm, which includes you—your mind, wil , emotions, and body.

Satan’s Agenda

Just as God has a kingdom agenda that involves His comprehensive rule over every area of life, Satan has an agenda as wel .* Satan uses deception in order to accomplish his agenda of bringing the world under his influence and control. He also seeks to make Christians ineffective in the spiritual battles waging al around us, thus reducing the glory believers give to God. Satan pursues his agenda by intentional y penetrating the same four realms that God works through to manifest His glory: the individual, family, church, and society.

The Individual

Scripture makes it clear whom Satan is targeting in his schemes.

First Peter 5:8 tel s us, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” To put it another way: Satan is after you. No matter who you are, what your status is, what your income is, how successful you are, or how wel known you happen to be, Satan seeks to overpower you.

ial

What’s worse is that he has become very successful at carrying out his ter

schemes in an effort to do just that.

In fact, if we look closely enough in Christian circles today, we wil find many brothers and sisters who are POWs in camps run by ted ma

demons. Satan has overpowered them in the areas of drugs, alcohol, relationships, sex, bitterness, hopelessness, discouragement, low self-igh

esteem, depression, arrogance, and codependency. Psychologists have yr

fancy names for al of these and more, but essential y what Satan has op

done is turned an overcoming, blood-bought child of the King into C

a POW held hostage to mental instabilities and inaccuracies. If Satan can cripple or destroy an individual, he is that much further along in crippling families, churches, and societies.

* See my book

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 26

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Opposition in Battle

27

The Family

The second realm that Satan seeks to penetrate is the family. We saw this initial y when Satan tempted Eve and Eve then tempted Adam, thus bringing the entire family under the authority of hel . We also saw it when demonized men had relationships with the women on earth, producing a generation of rebels (see Genesis 6). There have been countless ways that Satan attacked the family in the Bible and over the course of history.

Why is the family so important to Satan? Because in Genesis 3:15

we learn that God wil use the seed of mankind to bruise Satan in battle. The spiritual battle wil be waged by the offspring. This is one reason God has issued the command in Genesis 1:28 to Christians to “be fruitful and multiply, and fil the earth, and subdue it.”

Satan wants to destroy you as an individual, but he wants to destroy your family even more. If he can destroy your family, he can do more damage than simply destroying the present generation. By destroying your family, he increases the potential to destroy future generations. This is because if he can get to your children before you have a chance to mold, shape, direct, and guide them correctly, he not only ial

has influence over your home but also has influence over their future homes. If they are given over to strongholds in their lives, they wil be ter

less equipped to raise their children in such a way that wil teach them to live in obedience to Christ. If their children cannot raise their own children according to God’s principles, then those children wil also be ted ma

il -equipped to raise their children wel . A cycle wil repeat itself down through several generations.

igh

The tragedy today is that many Christians think they are fighting yr

flesh and blood in their marital and parenting issues, rather than real-op

izing that Satan has an agenda to destroy their home. Whoever conC

trols the family controls the future.

The Church

The third realm Satan attacks is the church. He does this by manipulating and exploiting personality weaknesses and preferences in order to promote division, denominationalism, legalism, and other things.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 27

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

28

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Satan wants to split the family of God because he understands something that many Christians do not: God’s work and involvement is greatly reduced in a context of disunity. There must be harmony brought about through a genuine and authentic humility and a biblical y defined love in order to witness the ful est manifestation of God’s presence and power.

If Satan can divide the body of Christ along class, racial, gender, and personality lines, he can deceive entire churches into making governmental and functioning decisions based on personal partiality rather than on God’s viewpoint.

Fel owship in the body of Christ is based on our al egiance to Christ. He is our standard. We may have different preferences of music, worship, or teaching, or we may even have idiosyncratic differences between various branches of the faith, but our one unifying factor is Jesus Christ—His death, burial, and resurrection. This is why God tel s us in Ephesians 4:3 that we are to “preserve the unity” within the body of Christ. Satan seeks to divide us because in doing so he lessens our effect in advancing the kingdom of God.*

The Society

ial

The fourth realm Satan targets is the society. In Daniel chapter 10, ter

we see how Satan is behind the rulers of nations. He is behind the Hitlers, Mussolinis, Idi Amins, and countless other rulers who have wrought havoc on innocent people around them. Satan frequently ted ma

strives to provoke, empower, and enable them to destroy entire nations and groups of people.

igh

When sin entered the world, it corrupted not only individuals but yr

also human institutions that comprise societies as wel . Satan seeks to op

capitalize on this corruption to such a degree as to make societies into C

entities that oppress personal freedom and opportunity rather than serve as instruments, as they have been designed by God, to promote biblical justice. The Bible is clear that God has made distinct arrangements, or covenants, through which He works. He works with the

* For more in-depth teaching on the issue of unity and the kingdom, see my book Onenes Embraced Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 28

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Opposition in Battle

29

individual, family, church, and the government. Al have been created by God and are to be influenced by God.

When you understand Satan’s agenda to overpower individuals, families, churches, and ultimately societies as a whole, you can understand the complex nature of the spiritual battle we’re in. Until we trace the origin of personal POW status, family POW status, church POW

status, and societal POW status, Satan has us defeated in the body of Christ because he has us wrestling against flesh and blood rather than against principalities, powers, and world forces located in the heavenly places.

Satan’s Strategy

Just like any excel ent military commander or athletic coach, Satan has a strategy—a game plan—for accomplishing his agenda. His strategy has many parts, and before we dig deeper into what we need to do to suit up for battle, I want to look at Satan’s strategic approach.

One of the devil’s main tricks is to cause you to miss the goodness of God. As he did with Eve in the garden, Satan wants to get you to question the value of al of the trees that God has provided by getting you to focus on the one tree He has said to avoid. Satan wants you to comial

plain about what you don’t have so you wil lose sight of what God has ter

given you. However, God instructs us how to counteract this scheme in Philippians 4:6-8.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and ted ma

supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made igh

known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses al yr

comprehension, wil guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

opC

Final y, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excel ence and if anything worthy of praise, dwel on these things.

God tel s us to start by praising and thanking Him for al the things Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 29

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

30

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

He has provided. He wants us to begin by giving thanks for al He has done and by thinking about His goodness—not only in our own lives but also in the world around us.

Satan tries to pul our focus away from the goodness of God because he knows that the only way he can defeat us is through deception. Truth exists within the goodness of God, and wherever the truth of God is present, Satan’s ability to deceive is diminished.

Keep in mind as you face Satan’s tricks of deception that you cannot fight him on your own, with your own methods, or even with your own thoughts. God’s Word—His truth—trumps Satan. You don’t. Satan has constitutional superiority over every man and woman because he is a spirit being. He is not bound by the limitations of flesh and blood. Therefore, you cannot compete with him on the level of his deception. He is the master chameleon.

In fact, Satan is such a masterful chameleon that rarely wil you find him strutting his stuff in a red jumpsuit carrying a pitchfork. That’s too obvious. His scheme is to trick you. He doesn’t want you to see him for who he truly is. He’s not merely hanging out at the First Church of Satan. Rather, he’s also concerned with finding a way to infiltrate First Baptist, First Methodist, or First Bible Church of Anytown, USA.

ial

Not long ago, I sat down after a long day to spend some time relax-ter

ing in front of the television. A popular old show cal ed The Outer Limits was playing on one of the stations. I had seen this show before, but this time something stood out. There was a clear similarity between ted ma

what was playing on the television and what Satan often does in our own lives.

igh

The Tony Evans’ CliffsNotes version of this show is that a ship had yr

crashed in an alien environment. One of the human prisoners was op

taken captive and fiercely interrogated. When he wouldn’t give up any C

information, the aliens tried another approach. They sent a beautiful young woman into the room with him to be incarcerated as a prisoner as wel . As the two prisoners talked and as days drifted into weeks, they shared secrets with each other.

Over a period of time, scales began to appear on the woman after she would be taken away for questioning and then returned to the cel .

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 30

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Opposition in Battle

31

The man was concerned for her and asked her what they were doing to her when they took her. She told him that they were injecting her with something that was turning her into them.

Eventual y, she became completely scaled and looked like the alien creatures questioning her every day. It was at this point that they came to take her away for good. But this was only after she had successful y retrieved al of the information that there was to get out of the man. As she was leaving, the man said, “You have completely changed.”

She stopped, turned around to face him, and replied, “No, I have completely changed back. I was always this way. I was just made to look like you so I could get your information. Now that I’ve got it, I can go back to being who I real y am.”

The devil is no different. He comes to us as an angel of light in forms we rarely recognize because he wants to steal from each of us what God has in store for us. However, once he achieves his goal, we end up seeing him for who he truly is.

Four Stages in the Strategy

Desire

ial

There are four stages in Satan’s strategy of spiritual warfare. The first stage begins with desire. A common term we often associate with desire ter

is the word “lust.” Lust is not necessarily a bad word, nor is desire a negative thing to have. Legitimate desire motivates us in our lives and provides an avenue for obtaining satisfaction and delight. However, when ted ma

desire or lust manifests itself through il egitimate means, it turns into temptation, giving the potential for sin.

ighyr

Desire for food is good; gluttony is a sin. Desire for sex is good; immorality is a sin. Desire for sleep is good; laziness is a sin. Satan’s opC

initial strategic point in our lives is to play on a legitimate God-given desire within us and twist it into something il egitimate. He knows the desire cannot be avoided or ignored—God has planted it within us.

So Satan tries to warp that desire by influencing how it is directed and used. Essential y, he wants the desire to be the master over you rather than you being the master over your desire.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 31

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

32

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Deception

The second stage in Satan’s strategy is the use of deception. A great il ustration of this is how a fisherman sets out to catch a fish. If a fisherman were to put a hook into the water al by itself, he would be waiting a long time before anything ever took a bite. In fact, it’s doubtful that anything would ever bite his hook. Instead, what the fisherman does is put a worm on the hook to deceive the fish into thinking it’s getting a tasty meal.

Satan doesn’t simply throw unbaited hooks out to us either. He doesn’t advertise the local tavern by saying, “Come here and get drunk, become addicted to drugs or alcohol, lose your family, lead your kids into alcoholism, and throw away your future.” No, what Satan does can be cal ed the “foot in the door” technique. This was a common technique for traveling salesmen. They understood that if they could get potential customers to al ow them to put their foot inside the door and talk about something unrelated to the sale, they would more than likely also have the sale. To do this, they diverted the potential customer’s attention to something else.

Satan tries to get believers to let him into their lives little by little ial

just like that. First, it’s just a foot in the door—maybe a movie you shouldn’t have watched, a conversation you shouldn’t have had, or a ter

relationship that shouldn’t have been redefined in such a way. At first, it seemed harmless. But as Satan makes his way in, it becomes easier to graduate to the next level and buy what he is sel ing.

ted ma

The primary way Satan does this is by planting an il egitimate or sinful idea in our minds, just as he did with David: “Then Satan stood igh

up against Israel and moved David to number Israel” (1 Chronicles 21:1).

yr

David got the idea that he didn’t need God at that point and that he op

was able to take care of his army himself. As a result, he disobeyed God’s C

instructions, and 70,000 people ended up losing their lives. Whatever controls our minds controls our actions.

Disobedience

The third stage in Satan’s strategy is disobedience. Desire leads to deception, which then leads to disobedience. The first half of James Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 32

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Opposition in Battle

33

1:15 tel s us, “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin.” Desire is not sin. Sin is the il egitimate application and placement of desire. For example, when a young child makes a decision, it’s often based on feelings and desires. The child feels like playing, watching TV, eating, running, or anything of that sort. The child says, “I want that” or “I don’t want that.” If the desire is not managed, it can end up dominating the child’s actions in forms of disobedience. However, as the child matures into adulthood, the process of maturity leads him or her to begin to operate based on the wil . He or she may not feel like getting up and going to work, but because it is a responsibility, he or she gets up and goes to work.

Victorious Christian living occurs when the Holy Spirit’s presence is free to manage—through our spirit—our feelings, emotions, and desires. That’s not to say we need to negate our feelings. We are human beings, and emotions are very real. But the placement of their expression must be brought underneath the Spirit’s control, or we run the risk of letting our volatile emotions be used by Satan to lead us straight into sin.

Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who is at work in you, both to wil and to work for His good pleasure.” Victory in spiritual warfare ial

involves intimacy and identification with Jesus Christ to such a degree ter

that His wil reveals itself as the dominant force in our own wil . That is the difference between victory and defeat. Only when God’s wil directs our lives wil we then also be equipped with the power to do ted ma

what He wil s us to do. God promises to give us this power if and when our wil aligns with His. But to do this requires faith that God knows igh

what He is talking about. The opposite of faith is not doubt. The oppo-yr

site of faith is disobedience.

opC

Death

Satan’s intention in spiritual warfare is to cause us to miss out on the goodness of God, leading us onto a path of destruction. We learned from James 1:15 that lust gives birth to sin. Here’s the second half of that verse: “And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” Sin produces death in a variety of ways, al of which diminish our ability Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 33

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

34

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

to experience God’s promise of the abundant life. This death can show up as the death of a dream, relationship, career, virtue, or any number of other things. Primarily, sin produces a death within the ful ness of our spirits as our fel owship is broken with God.

Breaking fel owship with God makes us ineffective as believers who have been designed to experience God and to glorify Him in al we do.

As we saw earlier, Satan’s goal is to make us ineffective. He does this through a strategy of taking a legitimate desire and guiding it down a path toward sin. Oftentimes, the death in our relationships, hopes, careers, families, or in other areas wil lead to depressing thoughts and discouragement. Depression and discouragement are Satan’s aim because he seeks to make our lives void of the abundance Jesus has promised us. As a result, we often question God and His promises.

Not only that, but when our lives feel miserable, we are frequently too dejected to give God any glory or to tel others about Him. In fact, many of us even end up blaming God for the misery we’re experiencing.

In time, Satan tries to work himself out of a job by training the deceived to become deceivers themselves (see 2 Timothy 3:13). He turns people into “evangelists of deception” who quickly and effectively spread his lies among us.

ial

Because Satan does not have the power of creation, he has to max-ter

imize the potential of deception. He has turned deception into an art form. In fact, his skil at deceiving mankind wil one day be so powerful that his antichrist wil sit in the temple as god, and people wil truly ted ma

believe that he is god.

igh

Yielding to Hell

yr

Satan’s agenda and his strategy are al -encompassing, but there’s op

something you and I need to know about both: They have already been C

defeated. In fact, Satan and his minions have already lost this battle.

Any advancement they make in your life or on this earth is because they have been given permission to do so. The only power they have is the power that is granted to them. Satan was able to get access to ruling planet earth only because Adam and Eve gave him permission to do it. Essential y, demons need permission from us to bring hel to us.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 34

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Opposition in Battle

35

If hel is happening in your life, it is because hel has been given permission to do so. Hel was told—either through sin or circumstance—

that you were wil ing to yield. You communicated something like this:

• “Hel , it’s okay for you to rule my mind. It’s okay for you to rule my emotions. It’s okay for you to rule my wil or my body.”

• “I give you permission to tel me that I’m not real y a man even though I was born a male.”

• “I give you permission to tel me I’m not real y a woman even though I was born a female.”

• “I give you permission to tel me that I want drugs, I need drugs, and I can’t stop using drugs.”

• “I give you permission to tel me I need a drink, can’t live without a drink, and can’t go to sleep without a drink.”

• “I give you permission to tel me that I should wake up depressed, stay depressed, and go to bed depressed.”

• “I give you permission to tel me that I can’t control my ial

anger, my spending, or my desires; that I am not loved or that I wil never amount to anything of significance.”

ter

The list of things we al ow Satan to tel us can go on forever. Some of it may certainly be related to chemicals or biological malfunctions, ted ma

but much of what we even cal “mental il ness” today is actual y caused by demons who have been given permission to make someone men-igh

tal y unstable.

yr

After 30 years of working with individuals through struggles in op

their lives as a pastor and counselor, I’m convinced that much of what C

we label or try to drug away is simply a result of Satan having his way.

I’m not saying that the physical components aren’t real, but they are often incited and encouraged by demons who have been al owed to roam free.

Satan operates by consent and cooperation. He operates by subtly changing the worldview, beliefs, and thought patterns of the individual, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 35

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

36

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

family, church, or society that he’s targeting. Once those schemes are adopted, he is given greater permission to make himself at home. Much like roaches that have been al owed to stay in a filthy kitchen, demons that have set up camp are difficult to drive off.

I’ve often heard it said that some people are just too demon conscious. Maybe you feel that way. Perhaps this is the first book you’ve picked up on spiritual warfare because you think people sometimes make too big a deal about demons and the spiritual realm. But that’s exactly what Satan would like you to believe. As long as he can keep your focus on the physical manifestations instead of the spiritual root, you wil forever be fighting the wrong battle. It’s hard to win a war when you don’t even know where to show up to do battle.

The foundational principle for a life of total victory is this: We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. When we think people are our problem, we wil continual y be addressing people and miss the root of the problem altogether. However, if people were to set their minds more on the spiritual world and less on other people, more people might stil be in their right minds. But when people’s minds are divided—fighting this person, that chal enge, or some other issue—

they don’t seem to have much of a mind left at al .

ial

The people are real. The problems are real. The health issues are real.

ter

The chal enges are real. The conflicts are real. The strongholds are real.

They are just not the root of the problem.

The job of Satan and his demons is to keep you and me from expe-ted ma

riencing the abundant life God has in store for us, and they do that by distracting us from focusing on the root. Doing that is their ful -time igh

occupation. And we are not their first job assignment. They have had yr

plenty of years to study, practice, and perfect what they do.

op

But God, who is not bound by time or space, has already won this C

battle. Learning His strategy is our key to overcoming Satan and his demons and living a life of victory.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 36

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

3

The Strategy for the Battle

A father and his son were traveling across the Wild West in a wagon one day when a prairie fire broke out. The father and his son tried to outrun the wildfire in their wagon, but they quickly realized that it wasn’t going to work. The fire was coming too fast, and unless they tried something else, it would catch up to them and consume them.

Much to the confusion of the son, the father turned the horse and ial

wagon around and rushed directly back toward the fire. He took them ter

to a spot that had already been burned and yel ed to his son, “Jump out and stand here. Don’t move!”

They both jumped out, but the boy became afraid as he saw the ted ma

fire raging and moving toward them. He wanted to run, but his father grabbed his hand and said, “Don’t move, son. Stand firm!”

igh

“But the fire is almost here,” the son cried, his voice shaking with yr

fear. “I don’t understand!”

op

“This spot has already been burned,” his dad replied. “There is noth-C

ing left for the fire to grab. The fire wil come near, but it cannot burn again what has already been burned once before.” The boy was safe because he stayed with his father in a place that the fire could not reach.

As Satan battles you in spiritual warfare, he wants you to step away from the ground that has already been burned in the spiritual realm, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus has already been crucified, and His 37

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 37

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

38

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

resurrection has already secured the victory. Satan can’t touch you when you stay close to Christ. If you stand firm in the center of the safest location—the cross, where the victory has been accomplished—you wil stand victoriously because Satan can’t reach you there.

But that raises a question. How do you stand firm? As Paul said in Ephesians 6:10, we are to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” You stand firm by appropriating God’s strength, not your own determination, positive thinking, or even self-discipline. Those things are good, but they are not good enough to overcome an enemy battling you from another realm. Instead, you are to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His might.

In order to know how to be strong in Jesus Christ, we need to understand a few things about His power and His authority to exercise that power. For us to ful y experience the power of Christ, we need to look at how things began.

When God created man, He made a very significant decision. He created Adam out of the dust of the ground, and then He said, “Let them rule (Genesis 1:26).” By letting mankind rule on earth, God wil -

ingly imposed a limitation on His own involvement in human affairs.

He erected precise boundaries where He would respond, either for ial

good or for bad, based on the decisions of men.

ter

It was up to Adam, therefore, to use his God-given capacity to cul-tivate and rule his world. But in order to do that, Adam had to withstand the attacks of a sly serpent in the garden.

ted ma

The problem was that Adam did not withstand the deceptive attack of the serpent. In fact, he al owed that serpent a strong presence in the igh

garden, and he was forced out. As a result, Adam al owed the serpent yr

to rule in his place. In footbal language, we would say Adam fumbled op

the bal in the devil’s red zone, and the serpent recovered it.

C

What caused the fumble? Eve had gotten out of alignment under Adam, and Adam had gotten out of alignment under God. This stripped the bal cal ed “rule” from Adam’s hands and gave it to Satan.

He took possession of the garden from that point on.

So cataclysmic was Adam’s fumble that Satan and his team sprinted down the field al of the way to mankind’s red zone. Now they have the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 38

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Strategy for the Battle

39

bal , they cal the plays, and they are running out the clock. Because of the fumble, the Adamites—the human race—have been scrambling ever since.

And that’s what we’re doing, even to this day. I hear it al of the time.

Maybe you hear it too. People talk about trying to stop the devil. If you are trying to stop the devil, he’s obviously coming after you. He has the bal . He’s cal ing the shots. He’s running the show. He’s setting the agenda. And the reason you’re trying to stop him is that you are now in a defensive mode.

Jesus recognized this change of position by referring to Satan three times as the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Because of Adam’s fumble, Satan is the one who now cal s the plays in this world.

Of course Satan can only govern the world within the sovereign boundaries set up by God, the ultimate Governor, but he stil rules through deception, intimidation, and a myriad of other means.

Not only that, but when Satan took over the rule of this world, a curse came with it. This curse affected Adam’s career, family, finances, children, security, and even his life. And unless you and I understand the theology of authority, we wil never overcome the curse handed off to us by Adam, and we wil never be completely victorious in spirial

itual warfare.

ter

The bad news is that Satan recovered Adam’s fumble. The good news is that you can get the bal back. You can live in both hope and victory when you stand firm in the strength of Christ. You can force ted ma

another fumble—this time, by Satan—and in so doing recover the authority that has already been secured for you.

igh

If you have come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and yr

for the gift of eternal life that He freely offers, you have already forced op

that fumble. Now al you need to do is pick up the bal and run with it.

C

Through Christ’s sacrificial atonement, you have already been repositioned for victory in your life. Remember, you are not fighting for victory—you are fighting from victory. Let’s find out how.

Headship and Authority

When God pronounced the curse to Adam for moving out from Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 39

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

40

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

underneath his designated alignment, He coupled it with a prophecy: “

I wil put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shal bruise you on the head, and you shal bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15)

In these words, God said, “Adam, you have fumbled the bal . You have turned over the rule of your life, and others’ lives, to the evil one by moving out from underneath my alignment. Adam, you blew it—

big-time. But I’ve got some good news for you because a woman is going to have a child. And that child wil have his heel hurt by the serpent, but that same child—the seed of the woman—wil crush the serpent’s head.”

He wil crush the serpent’s head. Don’t read that too quickly. God said that the seed of the woman wil crush the serpent’s head. Let me help you grasp the significance of that statement by adding something onto the end of a word. Look at it this way: The seed of the woman wil crush the serpent’s head ship.

“Headship” means rule and authority. With the coming of the seed of the woman—Jesus Christ—the headship (the rule and authority of Satan) has been crushed. Eliminated. Gone! The heel of the seed was wounded in the process, along with His humanity on the cross, but ial

when al was said and done, Satan’s headship was crushed, and Jesus ter

Christ negated the devil’s authoritative rule.

That truth alone is enough for you to know that you can get back on the offense in this life. On the cross and through the resurrection, Jesus ted ma

Christ has already crushed Satan’s authority. It’s a done deal. The whistle has blown. The play is dead. The bal is now yours once again. In igh

fact, when Jesus spoke about His future death on the cross, He declared yr

Satan’s ultimate removal of authority: “Now judgment is upon this op

world; now the ruler of this world wil be cast out. And I, if I am lifted C

up from the earth, wil draw al men to Myself” (John 12:31-32).

This is so vital y important that I want to put it another way just to make sure we’re on the same page. When you come to Jesus Christ and accept His sacrifice for your life, you are putting yourself under the new Head of State. The head of state is the one who has final authority for the matters in that land. In America, the head of state is our president.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 40

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Strategy for the Battle

41

Our president, by virtue of his office, holds the final and ultimate say on what goes on in our nation. It is what we cal “veto power.”

When the opposition to the president passes law that he does not approve of, he doesn’t have to accept it. He can disarm it with his veto power. With one stroke of his pen, he can literal y undo what took hours, days, and even months for Congress to enact.

Jesus Christ, through the power of the cross and resurrection, has the ultimate veto power in our world. Satan no longer holds final authority over your life. Sure, he may spend hours, days, months, years, and even decades persuading you to believe his lies and pressuring you into feeling that he has the final authority over you, but once you realize that Jesus Christ has already defeated him, you wil be set free to live your life in victory. Satan got pummeled at Calvary. He dropped the bal . He knows that. God knows that too.

The problems come, though, when we don’t know that truth and stand firm in it.

Knowledge—what you know and what you believe about a matter—is vital. It’s one thing for someone to point a gun at you that has bul ets in it. But it’s entirely something else for someone to point a gun at you that is empty. Both people do not have the same power over you.

ial

One of them has been disarmed. His firepower has been removed.

ter

It’s just that we don’t always know that. We don’t always have adequate knowledge for a situation like that. If a gun were pointed at us, we wouldn’t have any way of knowing whether it was loaded. To be safe, ted ma

most likely would walk, talk, and act as if the gun is loaded.

But let me ask you something. What would you do if somebody let igh

you know that the gun was empty? Or what if you saw the gun fired yr

six times, and al six times, nothing came out? What then? Would you op

stil be making your decisions based on that gun? Probably not. And C

neither would I because that empty gun no longer holds any authority.

We have no need to fear an empty gun.

Of course, the devil doesn’t want us to know that his gun has been emptied at the cross of Jesus Christ. So he keeps pointing it at us and putting it in our face as if it were loaded. And we don’t realize it’s empty, so we keep bowing under its presence. We don’t realize that at the cross, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 41

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

42

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Jesus Christ took the bul ets out of Satan’s gun. We don’t realize that the most the devil can do is pretend that his gun is stil loaded.

If you don’t know that Satan’s guns are not loaded, you’re going to act as if you’re defeated because you wil erroneously believe he power over you.

And that’s how many of us live our lives. We forget that at the cross, Jesus Christ deactivated, dismantled, and disarmed Satan’s headship.

Satan has lost his authority. Or, to make it more personal: Satan no longer has any authority over you.

Authority Versus Power

“Hey that’s nice, Tony,” you say. “It sounds very heavenly minded and ethereal, and it even looks good on paper. But what about me living down here in the real world with real battles—financial wars, career wars, family wars, and emotional wars? What about those? I don’t seem to be living in victory in my wars. Rather, my enemies are being victorious over me. Yet you’re tel ing me that Jesus Christ is the head. You’re tel ing me that Jesus Christ is cal ing the plays now and that I’m underneath His authority. So what gives? That’s not what’s going on in my life.”

ial

Those are good questions that we al face. To answer them, we need ter

to keep in mind this essential truth: Satan lost his authority, but he didn’t lose his power. Satan stil dominates our world in many ways because he has retained his power. Satan is as powerful now as he has ever been.

ted ma

The things he does are real, damaging, and destructive. He is and wil always be a liar, thief, and murderer with intentions to kil , steal, and igh

destroy. It only takes a glance around our globe, around our commu-yr

nities and homes, or even in our own souls to see that Satan stil oper-op

ates with power.

C

The truth we need to realize, and the truth that wil set us free, is that Satan no longer has authority. That is the key.

Authority is the right to use the power that you pos es .

In order for Satan to use his power in your life, he now has to keep you from functioning underneath your authority because his power is effective only when he has the right to use it. Satan does not have the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 42

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Strategy for the Battle

43

authority to use his power when you are living underneath your legitimate authority as a Christian. Therefore, he seeks to lure you out from underneath God’s authority and rule in your life because he knows that you are secure underneath Him. Colossians 1:13 tel s us that God has “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” God rescued us out of the wrong kingdom and brought us into the right one. By rescuing us, He brought us under the rule of a new King. You used to be under Satan’s rule before you met Christ, but now you are part of a new kingdom of which Jesus Christ is the King. Satan, in order to rule your world, must entice you to leave your kingdom and come back over to his.

The reason we don’t experience more victory in spiritual warfare is that we’ve been duped into believing that attending church on Sunday and simply getting more information about the real kingdom is enough. Or maybe we think that adding a Wednesday night Bible study wil be sufficient to affirm our al egiance to our King. Or maybe we’l toss in some serving and some praise songs and think we’ve got it covered.

But then we go back to work on Monday, or back to our routine at home with our mate or with our children, and we flip back over into ial

our old way of thinking. We slide back into the other kingdom and ter

operate under its authority. We align our thoughts with the wisdom Satan has set up in this world. We base our decisions on how we feel or what our friends are telling us or even what our fears are tel ing us. We ted ma

transfer our al egiance from the conclusive and authoritative Word of God through Jesus Christ back to Satan’s worldly schemes.

igh

We wind up not being victorious in spiritual warfare because we yr

keep flipping sides. We come to church under one kingdom, but we op

operate on the job in another kingdom. We have our devotions in one C

kingdom, but we operate among our friends in another kingdom. We keep flip-flopping kingdoms and wonder why the victory is not there.

We wonder why we can’t get over the hump. We wonder why the enemy keeps cal ing the plays. We wonder why our prayers go unan-swered, our battles end in defeat, and our power over our own lives Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 43

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

44

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

runs out. The opposition keeps intercepting the bal and returning it for a touchdown.

But the answer is simple: The enemy is victorious in our lives because we are yielding the power to him by not standing firm in our identity in Jesus Christ. We are failing to firmly remain in the union we were designed to have with Christ, under His headship.

Our Union with Christ

Our union with Christ is essential to our victory over Satan’s rule in our lives. The book of Colossians goes into great detail about this.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hol ow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ al the ful ness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given ful nes in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in ial

the power of God, who raised him from the dead (Colos-ter

sians 2:8-12 niv).

Everything that makes up God—His essence and totality—is in Christ, ful y. The only difference is that it’s in a human body. “For in ted ma

Christ al the ful ness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

igh

Al of the ful ness of God is in Jesus Christ. Not some, not a bit, yr

but al .

op

That’s why Jesus is the Son of Man and the Son of God. That’s why C

He can get thirsty one minute, and the next minute He can go out and walk on water. That’s why He can get hungry one day, and the next day He turns sardines and crackers into a Moby Dick sandwich to feed more than 5000 people. That’s why Jesus can die—and then get up! He can do al of these things because He is the God-man; ful y Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 44

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Strategy for the Battle

45

God and ful y man in one person. “For in Christ al the ful ness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

In fact, if we were to backtrack a few paragraphs, we discover even more.

He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over al creation. For by him al things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; al things were created by him and for him. He is before al things, and in him al things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17 niv).

Jesus Christ holds al things together. Therefore, if you find yourself fal ing apart, it is a result of you not having stood firm with Jesus in union with Him. We are told that in Him, al things hold together and maintain their equilibrium. Take a look at these very important phrases in Colossians 2:

“in Him” (verse 9)

“in Him” (verse 10)

ial

“in Him” (verse 11)

ter

“with Him…with Him” (verse 12)

“with Him” (verse 13)

Do you see the pattern? Our victory in spiritual warfare is inti-ted ma

mately connected to Jesus Christ. In Him. With Him. If we miss this igh

truth, we miss the key to our victory: our union with Jesus Christ. Let yr

me il ustrate a little bit about that union.

Our church in Oak Cliff becomes a vibrant place of worship, fel-opC

lowship, outreach, and teaching each and every Sunday morning for thousands of people. If you ever find yourself in the Dal as area on a Sunday, I invite you to come. I would love to meet you personal y and let you experience the unique atmosphere in the sanctuary we cal Oak Cliff Bible Fel owship. Sundays are a highlight of my week. I enjoy gathering with the saints.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 45

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

46

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

But by Sunday afternoon, I admit, after having sung, sat, and preached through two two-hour-long services, I’m tired.

Knowing this is going to happen, I usual y start my Sunday morning with a cup of coffee. Now, some people like their coffee black, and that’s fine if that’s how you like your coffee. But I always like to have some cream in my coffee.

So every Sunday, before I drink my coffee, I get the white cream and pour it into my black coffee. Then I take the stick and stir it so that a union occurs between my black coffee and my white cream. When that happens, there is no longer any black coffee or white cream. Instead, I now have brown coffee. It is brown because a union has occurred.

If I want to take my formerly black coffee with me into my office before the service, the cream must come along as wel . If I want to take my cream into the greeting room, my once-black coffee wil be coming with it as wel . Once they are mixed, wherever one goes, the other must go as wel simply by virtue of the union that has occurred.

This is how our relationship with Christ has been designed, as we saw earlier in Ephesians: “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavial

enly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6).

ter

When Christ died, we died with him. When Christ arose, we arose with him. When Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father, we were seated with him. In other words, we were made to function in ted ma

union with Christ.

Jesus Christ is over al things; He is sovereign over everything. He igh

has recovered the fumbled bal and has legal authority and victory in yr

the spiritual realm. For us to access that victory, we must stand firm op

under His headship in our thoughts, in our actions, in our hearts, in C

our decisions, on our job, in our homes, and throughout our lives.

Only when we stand firm under His Word and authority wil we be able to live victoriously in spiritual warfare. Friend, you can go to al of the meetings you want. You can read al of the self-help books and mag-azines you want. You can name and claim whatever you want. But until you stand firm under the comprehensive rule of God in your life and in Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 46

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Strategy for the Battle

47

union with your identity in Jesus Christ, you wil only find a temporary reprieve. Only in Christ wil you find the authority to live in victory.

I often hear people quoting the Scripture, “If the Son makes you free, you wil be free indeed.” But when I look around me, I see very few people who are free indeed. And the reason is that we have settled for the temporary rather than aligning ourselves with eternity. Satan has already been beaten. He has already been disarmed. The bul ets have already been removed. The fumble has already been recovered.

Jesus has already defeated Satan. He is already victorious. And you are in union with Him.

Stand firm in His authority by the rules of His kingdom, and you wil see His victory manifested in your own life. He has already given you everything you need to do so each and every day—through putting on the armor of God. And just as God wouldn’t have you get partial y dressed when you woke up this morning before you headed out the door, He doesn’t want you to get partial y dressed when it comes to war.

The six pieces of armor that we wil study in the next several chapters are divided into two categories. The first category includes the first three pieces of the armor and begins with the word “having,” taken from the verb “to be.” This means that the first three pieces of the ial

armor are pieces you should wear al the time. You put them on every ter

day. They are like a uniform that a basebal player wears when he goes out to play bal .

The last three pieces of the armor are given to you to pick up as the ted ma

situation demands. We are told to “take” them up. This is like that same basebal player grabbing either his glove or his bat, depending on what igh

is going on in the game.

yr

With this armor, God has supplied everything you and I need to op

live a life of complete victory in spiritual warfare. It is our job, through C

faith, to use each piece of the armor He has given us. God is not going to dress us, but He has given us what we need to be armed for victory.

It’s time to suit up. Game on.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 47

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 48

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Part 2

The Armor

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 49

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 50

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

4

The Belt of Truth

My wife, Lois, and I recently celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary. Forty years of sharing a life together through both good and chal enging times is worth honoring in a special way. I wanted to take Lois to just the right place, where we could spend some quality time together and where she would feel the depth of how much she means to me.

Knowing my wife, I sought to pick someplace peaceful where we ial

could relax and enjoy each other’s company away from the demands ter

of everyday life and ministry. So I took Lois to a resort getaway with a view of the ocean. We had a wonderful time remembering what God has done in and through our marriage.

ted ma

But before we went on our trip, we had to do something—we had to pack. We couldn’t just show up at the airport with what we had on igh

and expect it to last us the several days we had planned to be there.

yr

Instead, we fil ed suitcases with clothes and belongings to take with us.

op

Looking at the weather forecast, we knew that we would be expeC

riencing pleasant weather, so we packed comfortable clothes. Some were dressy (for an intimate night of dining), and some were casual (for when we wanted to relax outside together during the day). We didn’t pack our coats, boots, mittens, and scarves. Neither did I pack any long-sleeve shirts or thick, wool socks.

In other words, what we packed in our suitcases to spend a few days 51

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 51

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

52

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

at an beachside resort in the summer was entirely different from what we would have packed if we were going to my parents’ home for a family vacation in Baltimore at Christmas. Where you are going should determine what you pack for the trip.

Prior to going anywhere, for example, you assess the occasion to determine what attire is appropriate for your destination. If you’re going to a formal event, you’l put on a formal outfit. Ladies wil probably spend extra time choosing just the right pair of shoes. Men may even reach for their cuff links. But if you are going to spend an evening at a bal park, you wil probably leave your formal clothes hanging in the closet. Most people wouldn’t wear shorts to a wedding or suits to an outdoor barbeque because the attire does not fit the occasion.

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and to Christians everywhere about what we are to wear when we’re engaged in spiritual warfare.

Therefore, take up the ful armor of God, so that you wil be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteous-ial

ness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to al , taking up the shield of ter

faith with which you wil be able to extinguish al of the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of ted ma

God (Ephesians 6:13-17).

igh

Within these verses, Paul has given clear instructions about a spe-yr

cific wardrobe that is necessary for us, not only to wear but also to have op

packed and ready to put on if we are going to have victory in spiri-C

tual warfare. This list of armor can be compared to a travel guide that’s given to you when you’re going somewhere you’ve never been before.

For example, before people go on a safari in some remote region of the world, they usual y go online and find a travel guide that recom-mends al of the articles of clothing and items to bring with them. In the same way, in Ephesians 6, Paul has given us our travel guide so we Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 52

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

53

wil know what to suit up in and take with us as we conduct ourselves in spiritual warfare.

Let’s take a brief refresher before we begin our look at the various pieces of our armor. Why is Paul so concerned that we know what we need to wear? He realizes something we often don’t: We are in a battle.

Not only that, but this battle is fundamental y not against flesh and blood. People are not your ultimate problem. People are merely conduits for something else that’s operating in the invisible realm. People, and even your own flesh, are merely hosts for the invisible conflict to manifest itself in the physical, visible realm.

Everything visible and physical is preceded by something invisible and spiritual. Therefore, if your goal is to address some form of a stronghold, conflict, or trial in your visible, physical world, you wil first need to address its invisible, spiritual antecedent. You must inves-tigate that which has come before it as its root cause. What we see, hear, taste, touch, and smel is simply the fruit and not the root behind our battle. We cannot ignore the fruit, but our problem is that we too often focus so heavily on managing or attempting to overcome problems with the fruit, we ignore the root altogether.

Many of the issues we must deal with in our lives come to us as ial

flesh-and-blood situations, so we use up a considerable amount of our ter

energy trying to overcome them through flesh-and-blood solutions.

We spend a large amount of our time attempting to use physical means to fix physical problems because we have forgotten or have never real-ted ma

ized that a spiritual cause is behind the circumstances we’re facing. The primary focal point of our battle is not down here—it’s up there, in the igh

spiritual realm. When we fail to realize this, the spiritual realm does yr

not get the same attention we give to the physical realm. As a result, we op

often end up frustrated, hopeless, and defeated.

C

As Christians, our major problem is that we are in a wrestling match against principalities and world forces in the spiritual realm, but far too often we do not take that into consideration. Until we discover that our journey on this earth is right in the heart of spiritual warfare, which originates in another realm, we wil never learn to pack or dress accordingly. And we wil remain defeated.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 53

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

54

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Trust me, sitting outside in a wool outfit with a knitted scarf near the ocean recently with my wife would not have been the best way to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary together. Similarly, going through this life as a believer wrongly dressed for spiritual warfare wil inhibit us from walking in the purpose and God-appointed destiny that He has designed for us.

Only when we shift our attention to the invisible realm and start addressing our issues from the root first wil we walk in a more potent, powerful, and permanent victory. Jesus has already accomplished this victory for us. Paul admonishes us to “stand firm” in the truths God has given us in order to actualize this victory in our own lives.

Have you ever been to an amusement park or a public place where there are a lot of children? Occasional y when I go to one of these places, I wil see a mother or a father with a leash around his or her wrist. Natural y my mind thinks that the leash is going to be attached to a dog.

But then I look and notice that the leash is actual y attached to a child.

Apparently some children today need more than their parents’ words to keep them nearby.

Unfortunately, the same is true for many Christians as wel . God has already told us in His Word how to find our greatest source of ial

strength and victory—by recognizing how very close to Him we actu-ter

al y are. “[God] raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ ted ma

Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6-7).

It is in this location where we receive the “surpassing riches of His igh

grace in kindness.” It is in the authority attached to this location that yr

we are to “stand firm.” It is here where we are to remain, not wander-op

ing away like the child at the amusement park.

C

God longs for us to believe and live in obedience to His words because we choose to, not because He has to put us on a leash to abide with Him “in the heavenly places,” where the spiritual war is taking place. If you run away from your location near Jesus Christ, you wil be running away from your victory. But when you stand firm in your Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 54

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

55

heavenly location, you wil then be able to utilize the ful armor down here in order to live out the complete revelation of your victory.

Putting on the Belt

The first piece of the wardrobe God has given us to wear as we wage victorious spiritual warfare is a belt. We read in Ephesians 6:14, “…having girded your loins with truth.” In biblical times, Roman soldiers

“girded their loins” by fastening a belt around their midsection.

Now I, probably like you, have a number of belts hanging in my closet. When I’m getting dressed, I choose which belt I wear based on its color. If you are a lady, you probably also consider a belt’s design.

However, when Paul instructed us to gird our loins with truth, he was not talking about ordinary belts, colors, or designs.

A Roman soldier’s belt was a useful tool—a place where some of his other armor could hang. He might hang his sword on his belt. He might also hang a dagger there or any number of needed items. When the soldier was ready to head into battle, he could reach down and pick up the part of his tunic that was draping near his feet and tuck it in this belt. If you’ve ever seen a movie that takes place in the Roman era, you’ve seen that the men frequently dressed in long robes. You’ve prob-ial

ably also noticed when it got time to get serious with work or move into ter

battle, the Roman soldier would lift his robe and tuck it underneath his belt. By doing this, he was given greater freedom to move his feet.

The belt not only held additional pieces of armor and provided ted ma

soldiers with increased mobility, it also produced stability by holding things in place. When you or I wear a belt today, we put it on to ful-igh

fil a few fundamental purposes. The first purpose is that we want it yr

to hold up our pants. The second purpose is that it needs to keep our op

shirts tucked in. Maybe a third purpose is that it offers some decora-C

tive appeal, but most importantly, belts stabilize whatever else we are wearing.

What Paul is tel ing us in Ephesians is that the belt of truth is designed to stabilize things by keeping them in their proper order.

Satan is the ultimate truth twister. Like a magician at a stage show, Satan distorts reality, altering it into any number of shapes and forms.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 55

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

56

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

John 8:44 reveals what we are up against when we face him. “[Satan]

was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Everything about Satan is a lie, and he uses his lies to create chaos and disorder—moving things out of alignment in our lives. However, everything about God is true.

• “[God] interposed with an oath, so that by two unchange-able things in which it is impos ible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us ” (Hebrews 6:17-18).

• “…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago…” (Titus 1:2).

• “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent: Has He said, and wil He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and wil He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).

• “Also the Glory of Israel wil not lie or change His mind; for ial

He is not a man that He should change His mind” (1 Sam-ter

uel 15:29).

When a believer understands the objective nature of God’s truth—

and operates in that understanding—al other areas in that believer’s ted ma

life are automatical y stabilized. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You wil know the truth, and the truth wil make you free.” I often hear Christians igh

quoting this verse, frequently emphasizing that the “truth wil make yr

you free.” However, the factual reality of truth doesn’t free anyone. If it op

did, we would al be free because truth exists whether we want it to or C

not. Truth is truth whether we recognize it or not.

Rather, it is the truth that you “know” that wil make you free. “You wil know the truth…” is the part of the verse that should be emphasized because the truth that you know is the truth that frees you. And since God is the only one who cannot lie, He is the only one who lives Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 56

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

57

and exists in a state of absolute truth. He is the Source of our freedom, our stability, and our victory.

Feelings cannot be the standard by which we measure reality. Feelings are important, but they aren’t always true. Our feelings must always be brought in line with God’s truth, or they can guide us down an unstable path. In fact, Christ goes so far as to say we are to be sanctified in the truth. To be sanctified means to be set apart and holy. We are to be unique in our responses, thoughts, decisions, relationships…

and also in the way we do battle in spiritual warfare.

What Is Truth?

“What is truth?” Pilate asked 2000 years ago. People everywhere today are stil asking the same question. We live in an age where relativ-ism permeates our culture, with the result being that my truth may not be your truth, and your truth may not be your neighbor’s truth. This leaves us in a state of constant flux because there is no overarching and guiding truth to which we al subscribe. It’s similar to the situation we read about in Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Yet doing what was right in their own eyes got the Israelites into ial

a world of hurt and defeat as their culture entered into a number of ter

destructive behaviors, including rape, violence, and bloodshed. Truth cannot be defined by the individuals who have been created because individuals are finite beings with limited knowledge and deceitful ted ma

hearts (see Jeremiah 17:9). Only the Creator of truth Himself can define truth because He is the only one who knows and understands igh

al truth. Truth is fundamental y God-based knowledge.

yr

Truth, at its core, is God’s view of a matter. Truth is powerful op

enough to stabilize lives both in history and for eternity. The presence C

of truth brings clarity and victory, but the absence of truth leads to confusion and defeat.

Truth Includes God’s Original Intent

The first principle of truth is that though it is comprised of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 57

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

58

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

information and facts, it also includes God’s original intent, making it the absolute, objective standard by which reality is measured.

This reminds me of a story about a man who went fishing and brought home 20 catfish for his wife. He said, “Honey, I caught twenty catfish today.” That was a fact. He had actual y done what he said—he had brought home the 20 catfish he had caught.

His wife, however, knew that he wasn’t a very good fisherman, so she asked him, “How did you catch twenty catfish?”

He answered, “Wel , I went to the fish market and asked the guy to toss me twenty catfish. And I caught them al .”

Original y this man had given the facts, but it wasn’t the truth. He had cast the facts in such a way so as to hide the truth. Truth always involves more than just facts; it also includes the intention behind the facts. That’s why Scripture tel s us that God desires truth within us and not just outwardly in what we do. We read in Psalm 51:6, “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You wil make me know wisdom.” God wants truth to resonate in our “innermost being” because that’s the core out of which our intentions flow into our actions.

ial

Truth Is Predetermined by God

ter

The second principle of truth is that truth has already been predetermined by God. Truth is not on trial.

An accountant, a psychologist, and a lawyer got together one day ted ma

to discuss the nature of truth. The psychologist said, “Working with people, I’ve learned that truth is what you feel it to be.” The accountant igh

said, “Working with accounts, I’ve learned that truth is what you need yr

it to be.” And of course, the lawyer offered, “Working in the justice sys-op

tem, I’ve learned that truth is what you want it to be.”

C

Our world today is in a constant shifting of its analysis of truth.

Truth is comprised of opinions, perceptions, and ideas. What was true yesterday is rarely true today. One week we are told that coffee is bad for us. The next week a new study comes out that says coffee might save our lives. One year we’re told we should avoid eating eggs. The next year a new study comes out tel ing us we should eat two eggs every day.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 58

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

59

New studies offering supposed truth pop up al around us al the time.

But truth is objective, predetermined, and fixed. It cannot change with the latest fad or find. Truth is the standard to which al other things must conform because truth is reality in its original form.

One plus one equals two. One plus one has always equaled two.

One plus one wil always equal two. Even when I don’t feel like one plus one should equal two, and I real y feel like I want it to equal three, one plus one wil stil equal two. Even if I hope, believe, and name and claim that one plus one should equal three, one plus one wil never equal three because the laws of mathematics are not adjustable. I must adjust to the laws of mathematics rather than suppose that mathematics wil adjust to me. When I pay the bil s each month, I use an objective standard in counting the numbers I wil be subtracting. If I didn’t, I would have confusion and chaos in my finances.

Truth cannot change simply because we want it to. Truth never adjusts itself to our feelings, hopes, or desires. God is the originator of al things true, and He does not lie, so He and His Word comprise the point of reference by which al else must comply.

Lois and I were recently walking in London near Westminster Pal-ace when I noticed a number of people looking down at their watches ial

and then looking back up again. This pattern continued for some time.

ter

They would look down at their watch, make a smal adjustment, and then look back up.

They were setting their timepieces according to England’s timepiece, ted ma

Big Ben. While I was there, I never saw anyone approach a guard and tel him he needed to get whoever was in charge of Big Ben to change igh

its time because it was five minutes off. To do that would have been yr

ridiculous because everyone in England knows that al timepieces must op

be adjusted to match the true time as declared by Big Ben.

C

Big Ben doesn’t care about anyone else’s watch. Big Ben doesn’t care how anyone else feels about his or her watch. Big Ben doesn’t even care if a lot of people prefer a certain kind of watch or have the same time that’s on each other’s watches. Big Ben is not impressed by how much money someone spent buying his watch. Big Ben doesn’t take pol s to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 59

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

60

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

find out what everyone’s watch has to say. Big Ben simply tel s the time, and everyone else is supposed to adjust to Big Ben.

Or suppose you go to a doctor for chest pain, but instead of examining you, he tel s you he wants to put you on some great new pil s he had just read about. He tel s you he isn’t exactly sure what they’re for, but he says a fancy flier described how good they tasted. Would you take the pil s? No. Instead, you’d probably get yourself out of that office immediately and never go back.

When it comes to things like time and health, we want to function by a standard of truth. How much more important is it to function by a standard of truth when it comes to facing and battling the enemy, whose mission it is to destroy you with his lies? The devil doesn’t want you to know the truth because the truth is the one thing that can set you free. Truth is a powerful reality predetermined by God. It sets the standard under which our thoughts and decisions must align.

Truth Is an Internal Reality

A third principle of truth is that it must resonate internal y in order to have any validity external y. What is true outside of us in our actions, decisions, conversations, and choices ought to be true inside our spirit ial

because it is within our spirit that God relates to us. When Jesus is ter

speaking to the Samaritan woman about knowing God, He says, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”

(John 4:24). Cultivating internal truth—being honest with who we are ted ma

and our motives, sins, mistakes, beliefs, desires, longings, and issues—

is one of the essential steps to strapping on the belt of truth. God is not igh

a God of pretense, but He is a God of great mercy.

yr

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul tel s us, “But we al , with unveiled face, op

beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed C

into the same image from glory to glory.”

One of the primary places Satan seeks to distort truth is within our relationship with God. His goal is to keep us veiled before God. He wants our relationship with God to be a charade rather than a spiritual reality. But let me tel you a secret—God already knows everything about you. He even knows the things you think you are hiding from Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 60

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

61

Him. You can’t shock God. You can’t surprise God. He already knows it al . This is the God who says of Himself, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is stil to come” (Isaiah 46:10 niv). God knows the past, present, and future of al things—your thoughts, your actions, and even what you want to do that you don’t do. He knows al of it. You’re not hiding anything from Him by praying in superfluous, spiritual-sounding holy words. Wearing the belt of truth means being real with God, being raw and unveiled before Him.

When you get real with God, you wil find it much easier to get real with yourself.

People can look fine on the outside. They can even do good and moral actions. But God views more than the outside. He views us holistical y. He views us intimately, internal y. What’s more, He knows what we’re up against within us, let alone what we have to face with others.

“He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 niv).

He knows that we’re struggling, hurting, desiring, and failing, and He knows that at times we doubt Him. Since He already knows al this, why should we go to Him camouflaged and veiled? Why should we simply look the way religion says a Christian ought to look or pray the ial

way religion says a Christian ought to pray. If a person cannot be truth-ter

ful with God, who already knows the truth, then Satan has stripped that person of the foundational piece of armor before the battle even begins.

ted ma

The Battle Between Our Ears

igh

Here is the question I want you to ask yourself regarding truth: yr

What wil you use to determine what you believe to be true? Wil it be op

your emotions? Emotions fluctuate, respond, and change. If I tel you C

I’m going to give you $1 mil ion, your emotions might fly high. But then if I tel you that the $1 mil ion is in play money, your emotions would undoubtedly sink back down. We need to acknowledge our emotions because they are real, but they should never be the final arbi-ter for determining truth.

Wil you use your intel igence? Yes, I hear you—you’re smart. You Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 61

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

62

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

have your degrees, experience, and your common sense. I admire you for that. But are you infinite in your bril iance? No, of course not.

None of us are. How many times have you learned something, only to later find out new information and have to change your opinion? There is always new information and new data to influence what you believe.

God is the only one who has al of the information. The rest of us are stil gathering information as we go through life.

Wil you use your moral instincts to determine what you believe to be true? Everyone has some form of a moral compass within them, but even that can change with emotions, new information, outside influences, or maturity.

What wil your standard be? Wil it be feelings (which are constantly changing) or intel igence (which is finite) or moral instincts (which differ)? Or wil it be divine revelation? Only God is the author and originator of truth. Knowing Him and His Word is the only way to know how to function with the belt of truth because only God can define what is entirely true.

Much of our battle takes place right between our ears. The things you are struggling with, the things that make you feel defeated, the things you think you cannot face for yet another day…none of these ial

is the real problem. The real problem is waged in your mind—what ter

do you believe to be true? Your problems may show up in your feet, hands, eyes, heart, mouth, bedroom, bar, workplace, hospital, computer, and anyplace else, but the root of the problem is in what you ted ma

believe to be true.

I’m sorry to have to tel you this, but it is important to know: You igh

can’t trust yourself. I’m sorry to have to admit it, but I can’t trust myself yr

either. Why? Because our souls—our mind, wil , and emotions—have op

been distorted. They have been contorted since birth. Have you ever C

been to an amusement park and seen the mirrors that make you look fat, tal , short, or skinny? Our souls have become distorted like these mirrors. The penetrating effects of sin have reached into our souls and twisted them so that they are no longer recognizable as what they were created to be.

A person looking into a carnival mirror could not accurately describe Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 62

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

63

the true person who is being reflected in the mirror. Neither can you accurately define truth when looking through the distorted mirror of your soul. The soul within you, your viewpoint on a matter, needs to be restored. You need to exchange your thoughts with God’s truth.

How does this process take place? It happens through the help of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10, “The Spirit searches al things, even the depths of God.” The Greek word Paul uses for “searches” ( ereuna) means to “continual y examine” something. In this case, the Holy Spirit is continual y examining everything—even the depths of God.

Paul goes on to explain, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (verse 12). It is through the work of the Spirit that we gain the ability to know God and the truth that can give us the capacity to walk in victory in our day-to-day lives. Please note that we gain the ability to know God. The Holy Spirit never forces us to know God or be restored by His truth. But it is through the work of the Spirit that we are given the opportunity to exchange our viewpoint on a matter with God’s.

This exchange is a key aspect of wearing the belt of truth. We read ial

in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 how critical it is.

ter

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

ted ma

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised igh

up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every yr

thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

op

In this passage, God reveals one of Satan’s key strategies. Satan seeks C

to set up speculations (wrong thoughts) that contradict God’s truth.

In fact, anything that inhibits, distorts, or alters God’s viewpoint on a matter is used by the enemy in his bid to defeat you. It could be something that seems as harmless as your mother’s or father’s opinion about what you should do or think. It could be what your friends Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 63

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

64

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

or the media are persuading you to do or believe. It could even be the thoughts generated in your own distorted soul.

Satan doesn’t care if you mix some of God’s truth with the rest of the “truth” you’re gathering from al of your other sources because he knows if he can just twist what you believe to be true, that wil be enough for him to set up speculations and raise lofty things against the knowledge of God. It can be compared to a woman who decides to prepare a pan of lasagna. She slices up the tomatoes, boils the noodles, fries the meat, adds some chopped onions and garlic along with some cheese and sauce. Then, just as she’s about to put the pan in the oven, she sprinkles arsenic al over the top.

Would you eat the lasagna? Neither would I. But that’s what Satan seeks to do in order to strip us of the belt of truth. He says, “Go to church. Read your Bible. Memorize your verses. As a matter of fact, even I quote those verses— out of their contextual truth. But at the end of the day, sprinkle in a little bit about what the world says, what your parents say, how your friends think, what the television portrays, or whatever else you feel, desire, or want to believe.” Satan knows that when you have done that, you have taken off your own belt of truth.

He didn’t even have to take it off for you.

ial

Wearing the belt of truth involves realizing that truth is fundamenter

tal y God-based knowledge—His viewpoint on a matter, containing three principles:

• Truth is comprised of information and facts, but it also ted ma

includes God’s original intent, making it the absolute, igh

objective standard by which reality is measured.

yr

• Truth has already been predetermined by God.

opC

• Truth must resonate internal y in order to have any validity external y.

When you wear the belt of truth and operate with it by aligning your mind, wil , and emotions underneath God’s view on a matter—

His truth—He wil then empower you to fight your spiritual battles with the freedom of greater mobility and increased stability. By Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 64

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Belt of Truth

65

knowing and functioning according to the truth of God, you wil be on your way to experiencing victory over anything or anyone seeking to overcome or defeat you.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 65

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 66

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

5

The Breastplate

of Righteousness

Satan cannot take away your salvation, but he can ruin your life.

He attempts to do just that by waging war in a way that keeps you from experiencing al that God has planned for you. His aim is to prevent you from realizing the ful potential of your life and salvation.

As we have seen earlier, one way Satan does this is by trying to shift your gaze off of the spiritual realm and onto the physical realm. That way he keeps you focused on what you can see, taste, touch, smel , or ial

hear rather than on him and the demons he has working with him.

ter

This keeps you from dealing with the root behind the fruit manifesting itself as a negative reality in your life.

Satan’s scheme reminds me of something that happened on a recent ted ma

trip Lois and I took for our annual vacation. Once a year, Lois and I take some time away from our busy schedules to refresh ourselves, plan igh

the next year, and enjoy each other. For this particular getaway, we had yr

decided to spend some time on a Mediterranean cruise. The thing I op

enjoy most about cruises is visiting a number of places without hav-C

ing to pack and unpack our bags or change where we are staying. They also give me a significant amount of “away” time to recoup from a busy preaching and traveling schedule, and they also al ow me the luxury of throwing myself into the Word and study books that I use in preparation for my sermons when I return.

A few days after Lois and I boarded the ship; however, the upper left 67

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 67

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

68

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

side of my mouth began to hurt. At first it was just a slight, irritating pain that I tried my best to ignore. But every hour the pain continued to get worse. Not too long into the pain, I took some aspirin to see if that would help, but it didn’t. So then I tried some ibuprofen to see if that would do the trick, but it didn’t do much to al eviate it either. In fact, the pain just seemed to be getting worse.

After four or five days of using different over-the-counter remedies, I found myself in such excruciating pain that I couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone enjoy the different sites we were supposed to be visiting. Now, anyone who knows me at al knows that it takes an awful lot to keep me down, but that’s exactly the kind of knockout punch this pain had turned into.

Eventual y I drug my joyless self down to the ship doctor’s office and told him, “This is kil ing me. My mouth is kil ing me. I can’t move.

I can’t think. I can’t eat. I can’t read. I can’t do anything but focus on this agonizing pain!”

The doctor, knowing that not being able to eat on a cruise was nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment, quickly came to my aid and gave me some codeine to address the pain. He then sent me on my way, assuring me that I should be fine for the remainder of the ial

trip. What he had said sounded good. The only problem was that the ter

codeine didn’t work either. In fact, even when I increased the amount the doctor had instructed me to take, I felt no relief.

So making my way to an onboard telephone, I final y cal ed my ted ma

dentist halfway around the world in Dal as. I explained to him what I was feeling and that nothing was taking away the pain, and I even told igh

him that I would fly back to Texas if he would just do something—any-yr

thing!—to make it stop. My dentist calmly told me that flying back op

to Texas wouldn’t be necessary. He said, “Tony, you’ve been treating C

the wrong problem. You’ve been addressing the pain, but your pain is simply symptomatic of a much deeper problem. From what you’ve described to me, it sounds like you have an abscess. Al of the aspirin or codeine in the world won’t solve the problem of an abscess. Only an antibiotic wil get to the root of what you are experiencing.”

My attempts to fix what I could see and feel had only masked what Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 68

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Breastplate of Righteousness

69

real y needed to be addressed al along. In fact, had the aspirin, ibuprofen, or codeine worked, it would have only led to a larger problem because I would have thought that my issue had been solved. This would have enabled the infection to deepen and eventual y spread into other parts of my body.

Sure enough, after only a day on antibiotics, I no longer needed to turn to anything else to reduce my pain. This is because the prescribed antibiotics dealt with the root behind the fruit that I was feeling.

We often do a similar thing when addressing the results of spiritual warfare waging in our lives. We miss the source behind what we’re facing when we direct our efforts and attention solely toward managing the mess. Oftentimes we wil wait, as I did on the ship, until we have exhausted al of our human efforts before we wil turn to the Expert.

But when we delay like that, we waste valuable days, weeks, months, years, and sometimes even decades living within the limitations of a life dictated to us by circumstances or emotions rather than living the abundant life that God has promised every believer. Had I taken the antibiotic sooner, I would have enjoyed several more days of my vacation that were instead wasted as I dealt with the fruit and not the root of my problem.

ial

It’s common to think that a “carnal” Christian is an individual who ter

is steeped heavily in a life of obvious sin. While this can be the case, what we sometimes fail to realize is that to operate carnal y does not always mean engaging in specific, recognizable sins. The word “carnal”

ted ma

simply refers to “relating to physical needs.” A carnal Christian can also be someone who is living a life fixated in the physical realm. A carnal igh

Christian makes his or her decisions based entirely on what can be seen, yr

touched, tasted, smelled, or heard.

op

When Christians choose to depend on the five senses as the decid-C

ing factors for addressing life’s choices, they set themselves up as easy targets of the enemy. Satan knows if he can just get you to believe that your battle is being waged in your flesh, or within the fleshy world around you, he has you beat. He wil keep you down as you try human remedy after human remedy to deal with what can only be cured with a spiritual solution.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 69

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

70

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Imputed Righteousness

So far we’ve looked at the first piece in the armor of God—the belt of truth. After the belt of truth, Paul gives us the next item in our wardrobe. He says in Ephesians 6:14, “Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Righteousness simply means being or doing what is right. The belt of truth comes before righteousness because there can’t be righteousness apart from truth. Truth is the standard. Righteousness reveals how to work that standard out.

There are two sides to righteousness—the being side and the doing side. Righteousness has been imputed to everyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. When we talk about salvation, we often think of this idea of the forgiveness of sins. While this is one thing that happens at the moment of salvation, it is not the only thing. In fact, forgiveness on its own is not enough to get a person into heaven.

God did more than forgive our sins through Jesus Christ. He also imputed, or credited to our account, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

We read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousnes of God ial

in Him.”

God not only removed the stain of your sin when you trusted in ter

Jesus Christ but also replaced that stain with the righteous standard of Christ. So now when God looks at you, He sees you as equal to His son. He doesn’t just see someone who has been forgiven of his or her ted ma

sins; He sees someone who has kept the ful standard of righteousness.

Imputing righteousness can be compared to God crediting your igh

account, or putting money in your bank. The money now belongs yr

to you. No one can take that money away from you. Even Satan can-op

not take that money away. Once you are saved, Satan can do nothing C

to change your righteous standing—your justification—before God.

However, because Satan cannot take away your imputed righteousness, what he tries to do is restrict your personal practice of righteousness. He knows he can’t take away your standing before God, so he looks for a way to break your fel owship with God by causing Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 70

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Breastplate of Righteousness

71

a breach between your position of righteousness and your practice of righteousness.

Coming Clean

Now, granted—none of us are without sin. There isn’t a person on this planet who can live his or her life absent of sin. Sin manifests itself in many different varieties. There are overt sins, which are done outwardly through our actions. But then there are also covert sins, which take place in our minds, hearts, and emotions. Beyond that, there are also sins of commission (doing things the Bible says we should not do) and sins of omission (not doing things the Bible says we ought to do).

We read in James 4:17, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

One of the major problems in identifying and addressing sin is the standard we measure it against. Like truth—which includes not only information and facts but also the intention behind the information and facts—righteousness includes more than right behavior. Righteousness includes the motivation behind doing right behavior or not doing wrong behavior. In fact, a person can literal y do the right thing and yet contaminate it with wrong motivation. Maybe the motivation ial

is pride, a form of self-righteousness. Or maybe the motivation is fear, ter

knowing that doing the wrong thing wil lead to severe consequences.

It’s like the young boy who was told by his teacher to sit down. He didn’t want to sit down, but he knew what he would suffer if he didn’t.

ted ma

So he sat down. Yet in his heart he said, “I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside.” Unlike the teacher, who can-igh

not see the boy’s heart, God sees deep within us and measures the yr

motivation of al that we do or don’t do.

op

A lot of us would be surprised if we learned to view sin the way God C

views sin. For example, we read in 1 John 3:15 that God equates hatred with murder: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” Apparently, we have a lot of convicted felons coming to church every week—

many not even aware of the gravity of their sin. Keeping us unaware of our own sin is one of Satan’s strategies in spiritual warfare because he knows we wil not confess that which we do not recognize.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 71

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

72

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

However, when we do confess the sin in our lives, God removes that stain and stench of sin from us. We read in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from al unrighteousness.” Because of your positional righteousness in Jesus Christ, you are able to maintain relational righteousness before God at al times by confessing your sin to God.

In Zechariah 3, we read about a similar thing taking place. A preacher named Joshua came before the Lord with dirty clothes on.

He came before God in unrighteousness. He didn’t do like many of us do and try to hide his dirty clothes from God, or try to persuade God to believe that his clothes real y weren’t as dirty as they appeared. He simply stood before God in his unrighteousness.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who ial

were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken ter

your iniquity away from you and wil clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed ted ma

him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by (Zechariah 3:1-5).

ighyr

God responded to Joshua’s dirty clothes and Satan’s accusation op

by removing Joshua’s iniquity and covering him instead with clothes C

designed for a unique and special purpose—with festal robes. Joshua hadn’t done anything to deserve the festal robes. God gave him these robes out of His mercy.

In like manner, Satan accuses each of us when we stand before God.

The book of Revelation tel s us that Satan accuses us day and night.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 72

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Breastplate of Righteousness

73

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10).

Satan’s number one hobby is to accuse you and me of al of the wrong things we have ever done or thought. Yet confessing our sin to God and receiving His forgiveness wil restore our practice of righteousness back into alignment with our position of righteousness. We underestimate the power of coming clean with God. Too often our prayers focus on how God can bless us, take care of us, protect us, and deliver us, but God has given us the key to victory through one critical move—confession.

Doing wrong is wrong—sin is sin. However, unconfessed sin breeds an even greater environment for it to continue. Not only that, but it breeds an environment that demons wil want to hang out in.

Let me explain it this way: Having trash in your house is a bad thing when it’s not kept in a container and then taken out and emptied regularly. Trash or food left out on the counters or on the floor wil breed ial

an environment for roaches to come and live in. It’s almost like putting down a welcome mat for your new guests. The roaches wil invite their ter

cousins and make themselves at home in your trash. Similarly, demons make themselves at home in sin—whether that sin is being committed or just remains around residual y having not been addressed through ted ma

confession and repentance.

igh

Unrighteousness and disobedience unlock a door that al ows Satan yr

and his demons to enter in and influence the environment or even take control of it. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Paul cal s this “access principle”

opC

the mystery of lawlessness. This hidden principle further underscores the truth that we wrestle with the invisible realm even though our battle may be manifested in the visible realm.

Instead of confessing and removing the sin or unrighteousness from our lives, we often end up settling for trash management. This can also be cal ed soul management.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 73

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

74

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

We want to manage things—move stuff here, adjust things here, and hide stuff here—so we don’t appear to have much trash. This is like getting an unexpected guest when you don’t have the time to clean up your house al of the way. So you stuff things in a closet or in an empty room and maybe push a few things under the bed. The house looks clean to your guest, but the mess is stil there to attract the roaches because you haven’t removed the root attraction that brings them there in the first place.

Or you might do what I sometimes do in our home. Since I’m responsible for taking out the trash in our home, I purchased a machine cal ed a trash masher. Maybe you have one too. I love my trash masher.

My trash masher wil give me at least one extra day before I have to empty the kitchen trash. Depending on how many people are in the house, it might even give me two days.

The problem with my trash masher is that it’s no match for my wife’s standards. Lois can smel day-old trash even before it’s a day old. She doesn’t want any of that smel permeating the home that she spends so much time making comfortable for al of us, so she’l ask me, “Tony, did you forget about the trash?” Lois knows that even smashed trash is smel y trash. Similarly, hidden sin leaves its stench in and through-ial

out our lives, giving Satan and his demons a warm welcome to make ter

themselves at home in it.

Two things happen in spiritual warfare when the breastplate of righteousness is not worn. First, an invitation is sent out to al ow demons to ted ma

hang out in your life. Second, the movement of God is hindered within and through you because there is a break in your fel owship with God.

igh

God does not abide with darkness.

yr

op

Feeding Your Spirit

C

An important point to note about the breastplate of righteousness is what it is designed to protect—the heart. Why should we want to protect our hearts? Because the only reason the rest of us works is due to the heart. Once the heart stops, everything else stops. This is true not only in the physical realm but also in the spiritual realm. The book Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 74

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Breastplate of Righteousness

75

of Proverbs tel s us, “Above al else, guard your heart, for it is the wel -

spring of life” (Proverbs 4:23 niv).

As the heart is the physical pump control ing the flow of blood throughout our body, so the heart, our essence and our core, is the spiritual pump that God uses to infuse life into us. As I mentioned earlier, once you trust Christ for your salvation, you are made new with His righteousness. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Keep in mind that you’re made up of three distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit. Sometimes we talk as if our soul is the part of us that is made new at salvation. We say things like “Jesus saved my soul.”

However, the thing that was immediately made new when you became a Christian was your spirit. Your soul is in the process of being sanctified and made new over time. That’s why you can be a Christian but stil have an addiction, or be angry al of the time, or be depressed.

Your soul (your mind, wil , and emotions) is stil distorted, and it is tel -

ing your body what to do.

Satan wants you to think that your soul is what was made new so that you’l believe that in order to gain victory in the spiritual realm, ial

you just need to focus on managing your mind, wil , and emotions so ter

you can then get your body in line. He wants you to think that way because he knows you’l never be able to fix what your body does on your own. Your real problem is an unsanctified soul.

ted ma

The work of the new spirit within you is to pump life into the soul so that eventual y your new spirit becomes the dominant influencer in igh

what you feel, think, and do. What religion often does is try to change yr

a person from the outside. Religion tel s us we wil be victorious if we op

go to church more, be better people, give more, serve more, worship C

more, deny ourselves more, sing louder, or try harder. But those things simply produce more and more weary and defeated Christians.

Authentic victory happens on the inside when the new spirit within us pumps God’s truth into the different areas of our life. Just as our hearts pump blood to the different parts of our bodies, our spirits pump the truth of God into our souls—our mind, wil , and emotions.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 75

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

76

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Then our souls tel our bodies to adjust to God’s standard instead of their own.

Don’t misunderstand me, soul management—managing our sin and propensity toward sin—is not a bad thing. I wouldn’t want a murderer walking around doing whatever he wanted to do. I think we would al want him to manage his impulses. But soul management alone won’t bring about the freedom and abundant life that God promises. For that, we need soul restoration. We need God to restore our mind, wil , and emotions so they function the way He intended them to when He first created mankind in the garden. Soul management may stop you from doing something you shouldn’t be doing, but it hasn’t dealt with your tendency to do it or the effect it has had on you.

And so the battle continues even though it has already been won. Far too many of us have settled for behavior modification, which can lead to hypocrisy. We look spiritual y “wel -done” on the outside, but we are “raw” on the inside.

Because our souls are distorted, we need to access the perfect righteousness placed within us in our new spirit. We have to receive the truth of God’s Word deep within us, or we wil continue to live defeated lives and focus on outward attempts at transformation. Our soul can-ial

not fix our soul. It cannot be righteous on its own. As we al ow the new ter

life of the spirit to dominate and permeate our soul, we wil find true and lasting victory.

The book of James refers to this process. “Therefore, putting aside ted ma

al filthiness and al that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The igh

first point we need to recognize from this passage is that James is writ-yr

ing to believers. A few verses earlier he has cal ed them “beloved breth-op

ren.” Yet even though they are already “saved,” James says their souls C

need to be saved. This is because he is referring to the saving process cal ed sanctification.

Yet in order for the soul to be sanctified in righteousness, it needs to receive the word implanted. The New International Version says,

“Humbly accept the word planted in you.” This occurs through the enablement of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 76

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Breastplate of Righteousness

77

One of the reasons we are not experiencing victory in spiritual warfare is that we are trying to force on ourselves a man-made breastplate of righteousness rather than submitting to, accepting, or receiving God’s truth as the standard of righteousness He wants us to wear.

Receiving this implanted word within our spirit is best il ustrated by a fertilized egg in a woman’s womb. The fertilized egg has been planted inside the uterus of this woman. It receives nourishment from the woman. As the woman nourishes this egg, the egg receives the necessary nutrients it needs to produce growth. The more nourishment the egg receives, the more dominant of a presence this baby makes in the mother’s womb. This continues until eventual y, during delivery, the baby dictates the mother’s mind, wil , emotions, and even her physical body.

Likewise, the righteousness of God made known through His Word must reach from His Spirit into our spirit, feeding it as it grows to dominate our soul. The Bible is to the spirit what food is to the body.

As the Word of God feeds your spirit and begins to influence your soul, your actions wil begin to natural y reflect God’s viewpoint on a matter. They won’t just be reactions that you do for a time based on a good sermon, book, or encouragement you read or heard. Your desires and ial

your propensities wil organical y change as they become influenced ter

by the Spirit’s presence of truth and righteousness within you. As Paul tel s us in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you wil not carry out the desire of the flesh.” True righteousness is released, not ted ma

manufactured.

Feeding the righteousness planted within you wil take more than a igh

minute. It means meditating on, rehearsing, and considering over and yr

over again the truths found in God’s Word. Fantasize about God’s truth.

op

You read that right—fantasize about what God says in His Word. Let it C

become as real to you in your thoughts as whatever you see al around you. Worrying about something can actual y make it seem worse over time, but fantasizing about the righteous truth and promises of God revealed in His Word wil make them more real to you. Memorize and then meditate on God’s Word. Al ow it to resonate in your heart to such a degree that it becomes your breastplate of righteousness.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 77

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

78

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

This principle is so important that I’ve taken the time to compile specific promises and truths from God’s Word for you in the part 4 of this book so you don’t even have to look them up yourself. I want you to live in the victory that has been bought for you, but living in that victory requires replacing the deceptions of Satan and the distortions in your soul with the truth and righteousness of God found in His Word.

When truth flows freely from your spirit because it has been received, accepted, and submitted to, it releases righteousness into your soul, thereby restoring it. As the soul breathes in the righteousness being released into it, it then tel s the body, “You have to walk differently. You have to think differently. You have to talk differently. You have to dress differently. You have to choose your friends differently.

You have to spend your money differently. You have to live differently.

Because you are different.”

Using the Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate of righteousness has been deposited within us. It’s our job to feed it and nourish it with the truth of God so that it expands to surround us with the protection in warfare that we desperately need.

If I told you that I had buried $10 mil ion in your backyard, you ial

would put this book down right now and make every effort to get a ter

shovel and get to your backyard. You would leave wherever you are and quickly go tear up your yard. You would dig as deep as you needed to dig because the thing you were digging for would have life-impacting ted ma

value. That $10 mil ion would be worth al the effort required to find it.

When you got saved, God deposited deep down within you al igh

of the righteousness that belongs to Jesus Christ. But you can’t ben-yr

efit from its restoring abilities unless you’re wil ing to dig down deep op

with the shovel of truth so that God wil release a brand-new you sur-C

rounded by the secure protection of a breastplate of His righteousness.

Wearing the breastplate of righteousness involves walking securely in your imputed righteousness by virtue of the cross, coming clean with God in your practice of righteousness, and feeding your spirit with the Word of God so that the Spirit will produce the natural outgrowth of right living from within you.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 78

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

6

The Shoes of Peace

Y ou have probably either seen or heard about the 1994 Academy Award–winning mega-blockbuster Forrest Gump. The film captivated audiences with its ability to capture the nuances of a unique character named Forrest. Several times during the film, we see Forrest sitting on a bench next to a local nurse.

Forrest begins a conversation with the nurse, and after admiring her comfortable shoes for a while, he says, “My momma always said ial

you can tel a lot about a person by their shoes. Where they’re going.

ter

Where they’ve been.”

Shoes play an important role in our lives whether they are simply the latest trend, the most scientifical y proven athletic shoe, or an ted ma

expensive name brand. They can be symbols of something more than what they actual y are, as we’ve seen with Dorothy’s ruby slippers or igh

Cinderel a’s glass shoe. Many women (and a few men) have obsessions yr

with shoes, as in the notable cases of Imelda Marcos, Eva Peron, or for-op

mer Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu. When God addressed C

Moses in the desert and Joshua at the border of the promised land, He told them to remove their sandals.

Not surprisingly, then, the next piece of armor necessary for experiencing victory in spiritual warfare involves shoes. After al , you can tel a lot about a person by their shoes.

In Ephesians 6:15, Paul reveals that taking up the ful armor of God 79

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 79

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

80

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

includes “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” The term “shod” used in this statement refers to what you have on your feet. Paul says that not only do you need to wear the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness, but you also need to put on the right shoes.

A Roman soldier’s shoes were cal ed caliga—sandals studded heavily with nails. These nails, known as hobnails, were firmly placed directly through the sole of the shoe for increased durability and stability. Similar to cleats worn on footbal and soccer fields today, hobnails provided traction when needed. This traction kept the soldier from slipping and sliding, much like cleats help a footbal or soccer player today. It gave him sure footing, making mobility in battle easier while also making it more difficult to be knocked down.

So when Paul instructs you to have your feet shod, he is talking about placing yourself in a stationary position to stand firm. This creates traction so that when Satan comes, he can’t knock you off your feet. In fact, you are able to “stand firm” because the nails coming out of your “peace shoes” have dug deep into the solid ground beneath you.

You know what it means to be knocked over from time to time.

You know what it’s like when your circumstances, situations, friends, ial

finances, career, or any number of other things have removed you from ter

your position of stability. Things happen that make you feel unstable, shaky, and defeated. In fact, the economic downturn in our nation has no doubt led to a large degree of instability in many people’s lives.

ted ma

What Paul is tel ing us in this passage is that it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to slide or move with every hit or trial. Hav-igh

ing your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace creates a yr

stability that even Satan cannot undo.

op

As I mentioned earlier, the goal of Satan and his demons in spir-C

itual warfare is to keep you defeated. It is to keep you on the defense.

That is how Satan keeps you from experiencing God’s purpose, provision, forward movement, and blessings in your life. Satan knows he can’t take away your salvation, so he attempts to make you a miserable Christian. He can’t keep you out of heaven, so he tries to make you experience hel on earth.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 80

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shoes of Peace

81

However, one way to move from defense to offense in spiritual warfare and bring a little bit of heaven right down to earth is to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

The Greek word for “preparation” in this verse is hetoimasia, which means readiness, promptness, and speediness. It’s similar to the instruction given us in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”

(niv). Putting on your peace shoes involves making yourself ready to deal with whatever comes your way.

But what is this “gospel of peace” that we are to wear on our feet?

The Gospel of Peace

It seems like today we see the word “peace” thrown around al over the place. The popular peace symbol can be found on jewelry, bumper stickers, clothing, notebooks, tattoos, and television advertisements.

Peace means different things to different people. In the Middle East, it can mean the absence of war. To a stay-at-home mother of three smal children, it can mean nap time. The concept of peace is popular in our culture, but in order for you to put on this third piece of the armor and experience victory in spiritual warfare, you need to understand ial

and wear God’s peace.

ter

The Greek word translated “peace” in the Scripture is eirene. This word is equivalent to the Hebrew word shalom. Essential y, eirene embodies completeness, wholeness, and an inner resting of the soul ted ma

that does not fluctuate based on outside influences. A person who is at peace is someone who is stable, calm, orderly, and at rest within. The igh

opposite of peace, of course, is inner chaos, anxiety, and worry.

yr

This reminds me of a story about two painters who were asked one op

day to paint a picture of peace. Whichever painter could paint the best C

picture of peace was going to win $250,000. As you can imagine, both painters were highly motivated to paint the absolute best picture of peace that had ever been painted.

The first painter set to work on his painting and began by creating a serene portrait of a lake with the sun glistening off of it at just the right angle so that it sparkled across the top of the water. A shepherd walked Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 81

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

82

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

near the lake with sheep fol owing him at a distance. Trees stood off to one side of the lake with birds gathered in their tal est branches.

After finishing his painting, the painter leaned back and took a deep breath of satisfaction. In his mind, he had portrayed peace.

The second painter had a different idea in mind when he painted his portrait. In his painting, the sky was pitch black. Lightning shot through the air in zigzagged movements. This painter also had water, but the waves in his painting thrashed as if they were somehow awakened from a terrible dream. Trees bent and bowed down in the wind.

The painting looked like a portrait of chaos.

But when you looked closely at the second artist’s painting, al the way down to the bottom on the left-hand side, just near the very edge of this horrific scene, you could see a little bird standing on a rock. The little bird had its mouth open, as if singing a beautiful song. One faint light shone down from the darkness of the clouds onto the bird as it sung in spite of the situation al around it.

The second painter won the competition. The judges chose him as the winner because he showed the truest manifestation of peace—

a peace that resonates from within despite what’s going on al around.

Peace doesn’t refer to an inner calm when al around you is calm. When ial

you are surrounded by tranquility, you are supposed to be calm. When ter

you experience godly peace, you are at rest even when everything else is al wrong.

Thunder and lightning might be chasing each other al around you.

ted ma

The wind could be blowing unexpected and unpleasant circumstances into your life. Nothing looks right. Nothing looks promising. Al is igh

dark. But it’s exactly in those moments when true peace wins the bat-yr

tle. This is because even when you are experiencing chaos on the out-op

side, the tranquility on the inside eases your mind.

C

In fact, the Bible says that the peace of God is so opposite to the natural way of responding to life’s trials that we often cannot even understand it. This peace then goes to work for you in spiritual warfare by guarding you from the enemy’s tactics. We read about this in Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses al comprehension, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 82

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shoes of Peace

83

wil guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peace protects you.God offers us a peace that reaches beyond what we can comprehend. When we receive and walk in that peace, it settles in as a guard over our hearts and our minds. This is the peace that cradles people who lost their jobs so that they don’t also lose their minds. This is the peace that produces praise when there is no paper in the bank. This is the peace that restores hope in the face of failing health. This peace is so powerful that we’re instructed to let it control us. We are taught to let it cal the shots, make the decisions, and dictate our emotions.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” The Greek word used for “rule” in this verse essential y means

“to umpire.” Peace is to be our umpire. What is the main job of a basebal umpire? The umpire ultimately declares the way things are. If he cal s a pitch a bal , it is a bal . If he cal s a runner out, the runner is out.

The game is centered around what the umpire cal s. Likewise, the peace of Christ is to make the cal in your life. The reason this is so important is that life serves up so many choices and opportunities for decisions.

We wonder which job to take, which conversation to have, and which person to marry. Do I go on this trip, should I spend this money, what ial

church do I attend, where should I live…?

ter

However, God says that when you al ow peace to be the umpire in your life, He wil cal the shots. If you align your thoughts and your desires underneath His comprehensive rule over every area of your life, ted ma

you wil walk in peace. He wil calm your heart and your mind by giving you peace.

igh

Have you ever been in a situation where al of the facts seemed to yr

line up one way, but inside you’re thinking, “I just don’t feel right about op

this—there just isn’t any peace attached to this decision.” Oftentimes, C

in a situation like that, a person should wait to make a decision because the confirmation of peace is not there. If the peace of Christ is ruling, that automatical y means the peace of Christ is present. When it is not present, something else is in charge. That something else could be worry, or it could be anxiety. Whatever it is, if there is no inner peace Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 83

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

84

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

ruling your heart and your mind, you have taken off the peace-shoes God made especial y for you.

Jesus provided a powerful example of peace in the midst of chaos the night He was about to be crucified. Jesus was about to go into a very non-peaceful situation. Yet in the middle of the storm, He said,

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fear-ful” (John 14:27). Jesus was saying that His peace is different from the world’s peace. The world might offer you peace in a pil , peace in a song, peace in a drink, peace in entertainment, peace in an injection, peace in a relationship, peace in a Louis Vuitton bag…The world serves up peace in a variety of ways. The problem with the world’s peace is that it only lasts as long as the thing that it comes in. The effects of the pil or alcohol wear off. The entertainment ends, and so does the peace.

But the peace that God gives produces rest on the inside. It remains.

No matter what’s going on around you—even if it’s a cross—you can stil have peace. You can handle it. You may not like it, but you can handle it. Jesus says that is the kind of peace He wants you to have. In fact, He told the disciples they were to have that kind of peace later when He said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may ial

have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have ter

overcome the world” (John 16:33).

In order to overcome something, you have to have something to overcome. Peace is always tied to overcoming something. You won’t ted ma

truly know that you have peace until something goes wrong because everyone can feel peaceful when everything is right. But in the midst igh

of a struggle, battle, war, addiction, conflict, or any number of things—

yr

that’s when you discover the need to cover your feet with peace.

op

So how do you cover your feet with peace? The secret is in the gos-C

pel. We have been instructed to put on “the preparation of the gospel of peace.” The Greek word for “gospel” is euangelion, which simply translated means “good news.”

The word euangelion was frequently used in the New Testament but rarely used in either Classical or Koine Greek. The reason it wasn’t used in either formal or informal Greek is that it referred to news that Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 84

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shoes of Peace

85

was so good, it was too good to be true. It was a word reserved for special usage. That’s why its importance is felt so heavily when it’s used in the Bible. To the natural eye, what comes packaged in the gospel is so good, it’s too good to be true.

At the heart of the gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the substitute for our sins, but there is more to it than that.

Most people apply the gospel only to what it takes to get to heaven; however, the gospel also has an awful lot to do with earth. We read about this in Romans 5:6-10.

For while we were stil helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one wil hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shal be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shal be saved by His life.

ial

In other words, we are saved for heaven through Christ’s death, ter

but Jesus is also delivering our lives in the here and now through His life. In Christian circles today, we are familiar with the gospel of Jesus’

death. What we have often missed is the gospel of Jesus’ life. When you accepted Jesus, you were justified. However, the rest of your time on ted ma

earth, you are being sanctified. And God is the One who wil do this.

igh

This is revealed in greater depth in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may yr

the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit op

and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the com-C

ing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Paul writes, “the God of peace Himself,” the word “Himself” is a reflective pronoun, indicating that God wil sanctify you apart from anyone else’s help.

Also notice the order that God sanctifies…from spirit to soul to body. God does not start with the body and then go to the soul, only to wind up at the spirit. As we saw in the last chapter, God starts at the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 85

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

86

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

spirit to nourish and grow its influence over the soul, which then brings about a change in the body.

This is an important truth because it lets us know why so many of us are unable to find true and lasting peace. We’re marching to the tune of “Backward Christian Soldiers.” We’re trying to whip our bodies into shape without the help of the only One who can sanctify and restore us from within. That is the wrong direction.

Peace in the Fire

Daniel 3:16-18).

Psalm 37:252 Thessalonians 3:10

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 86

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

7

The Shield of Faith

Have you ever taken a spoon, fork, or knife and put it in a glass of water? If you set the glass just right on the counter with the light from the window shining through it, the silverware wil look like it’s bent. Even though nothing has happened to the silverware—it is as solid and straight as it was designed to be—the light hitting the water has created a distortion.

This distortion is caused by refraction. The object appears bent ial

simply because of its environment.

ter

We live in a world where refractions occur in almost every area of life. What we see, touch, hear, smel , or taste is often distorted by the atmosphere around it. Things that are straight appear to be crooked.

ted ma

Things that are crooked appear to be straight. An upside-down world leads to an increase in upside-down people. After a while, people can igh

lose the ability to discern which way is up and which way is down. They yr

may think they know the right way to go about something, but they op

end up choosing the wrong way because their reality has been distorted C

by an environment fil ed with sin and its effects.

As we’ve seen in the previous chapters, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 niv). The physical world gives us the fruit—the distorted manifestations of the battles in our everyday 87

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 87

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

88

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

lives—but the spiritual world is the root—the source of the battles causing those manifestations.

When we address the fruit of our battles without thoroughly addressing their root in the spiritual world, we merely perform patch-work in the physical realm. It’s like trying to straighten a fork that only appears to be crooked—you wil end up making the straight fork crooked.

Don’t misunderstand me, the five senses are real, relevant, and important—they are just not the starting point in our battle of spiritual warfare. If we make them the starting point, our perspective is refracted because we’re not seeing things as they truly are. We’re only seeing things as they appear to be.

So far we have looked at three pieces of the armor of God that you need to wear in order to be wel -dressed for warfare. The first three pieces are what you wear al of the time. The “to be” verb—translated

“having”—indicates “at al times.” We are to have the belt of truth, have the breastplate of righteousness, and have the shoes of the gospel of peace.

The next three are what you are to have at hand, ready to pick up and use when you need them. Paul switches verbs for the next three ial

pieces of the armor, tel ing us to “take up” the shield of faith, the hel-ter

met of salvation, and the sword of the spirit.

As I mentioned earlier, this can be compared to a basebal player who suits up in his basebal uniform during a bal game. He never ted ma

removes his uniform, but he picks up his bat or his glove as needed. The bat and the glove are provided by the team and made available to him igh

at al times, but it’s the bal player’s responsibility to grab them and use yr

them at the appropriate time. No one forces him to do that, just as God op

doesn’t force the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, or sword of the C

spirit into our hands when we need them the most. God makes them available to us, instructing us to use them when the situation cal s for it.

The Shield of Faith

The first of these next three pieces of armor is the shield of faith.

We read in Ephesians 6:16, “In addition to al , taking up the shield of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 88

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

89

faith with which you wil be able to extinguish al the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

A Roman soldier’s shield typical y measured two and a half feet wide and four feet long. In the battle, the soldier could crouch down and hide behind it when being targeted by arrows.

The best visual example I’ve ever seen of the importance of a shield in battle came in the film 300. In this movie, 300 brave Spartan war-riors went into battle against a mil ion soldiers fighting on behalf of the Persian Empire. In one scene, a Persian leader says, “A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon you. Our arrows wil blot out the sun!”

To this, Stelios—a young Spartan foot soldier—replies, “Then we wil fight in the shade.”

A few scenes later, thousands of arrows darken the sky with their al -encompassing presence. The command is given to raise the shields.

Al of the Spartans raise their shields simultaneously, giving them complete safety against the attack of arrows fal ing like a torrent. Hidden underneath the shade of the shields, one of the soldiers begins laughing hysterical y. Stelios asks him what he is laughing about.

He replies, “Wel , you had to say it!”

ial

“Say what?” Stelios asks.

ter

“Fight in the shade!”

When positioned correctly underneath the protection of a shield, the soldiers were completely covered. In fact, they were so wel covered ted ma

that they were even able to laugh and make light of their dark situation.

At times like these, soldiers would link their shields together so that the igh

entire army could hide behind whatever was thrown at them—arrows, yr

javelins, or anything else meant to annihilate them.

op

So when does a Christian need to take up his shield? We’ve been C

given this answer before: “Therefore, take up the ful armor of God, so that you wil be able to resist in the evil day” (Ephesians 6:13). But when exactly is the evil day?

The evil day is the day that al hel breaks loose in your life—when you are under attack. It’s when the finances are so low, you don’t know how you are going to make it through the end of the week. It’s when Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 89

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

90

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

you’ve lost your job, and there is no new job in sight. It’s when you are breaking down emotional y and have lost your passion for life. It’s when your marriage seems hopeless, your kids have turned away, your health deteriorates, or your future looks bleak. It’s when your friend has betrayed you, you’re overcome by an addiction or impulse, or life seems to deliver any other piercing stab.

It is on this day—what Scripture cal s “the evil day”—that you especial y need to be covered. You need a shield. You need protection because on this day you are most vulnerable to the targeted attacks of the evil one.

To understand the importance of the protective powers of the shield of faith, consider a space capsule reentering earth’s atmosphere. When a space capsule returns to the earth after having accomplished its mission, it would not be able to reach the earth if it were not surrounded by a shield. The heat generated upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere would burn up the capsule and everyone inside it in just a matter of seconds if it were not completely protected. With the shield, flames and smoke can engulf the entire capsule, but nothing inside is damaged at al . Similarly, taking up the shield of faith enables a believer to live a life of victory in an atmosphere that has the potential to bring harm.

ial

ter

The Shield That Is Faith

The shield of faith can also be cal ed the shield that is faith because the shield is actual y faith itself. So in order to know what we are to ted ma

shield ourselves behind, we need to ful y understand both the content and scope of faith. Faith is critical to achieving victory in spiritual warfare.

igh

Hebrews 12:2 tel s us that Jesus is both the “author and perfecter of yr

faith.” We read in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; op

and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which C

I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” First John 5:4 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

From these verses we learn some very important truths. First, Jesus Christ embodies al the ingredients of faith, from its creation to its Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 90

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

91

perfection. Second, we learn that we who are saved by trusting in Christ are positioned for victory because He lives in us. And last, the key to victory in overcoming—strongholds, addictions, battles in spiritual warfare, and more—is faith.

So what is faith? The simple, most direct definition I can give you for faith is that faith is acting as if God is tel ing the truth. Another way of saying it is that faith is acting as if something is so even when it appears not to be so in order that it might be shown to be so simply because God said so. Faith is directly tied to an action done in response to a revealed truth.

This brings us back to truth again. It’s no surprise that the belt of truth was the first piece of armor listed because many of the other pieces are interconnected with truth in some way. If you don’t know the truth, or if you don’t act on the truth, the shield of faith is impotent.

In order to have faith, you have to know and respond to truth. And as we saw earlier, truth is fundamental y God’s viewpoint on a matter.

Over the years, I have heard a number of people talk about faith who showed no outward connection to God’s truth, and yet they stil wondered why faith didn’t seem to be working for them. Maybe you know people like that. They go through life thinking, “Wel , if I can ial

just get a little bit more faith, then what I am trying to do or get wil ter

happen.” But even a large amount of faith—if it is not tied to the truth—wil not be able to accomplish anything. Faith is only as valuable as the thing to which it is tied.

ted ma

For example, if faith is tied to your feelings—that is, if you have only as much faith as you feel—that faith wil be empty faith. You igh

might feel entirely ful of faith but take no actions in response to that yr

faith because you real y don’t believe in what you say you feel. A person op

can actual y feel very faith-fil ed but have absolutely no faith. Likewise, C

a person can actual y feel faith-less but be very ful of faith. That person may be wil ing to take a step of faith—or do an action in faith—

simply because he or she believes that what God says is true. Faith is never based on how much faith you feel. Faith is always based on your feet—what you do in response to what you believe.

Faith is acting on the truth whether I feel the truth or not. It’s acting Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 91

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

92

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

on the truth whether I like the truth or not. It’s also acting on the truth whether I agree with the truth or not. Simply put, faith is a function of the mind that shows up in the feet.

Let me give you an example of how our feelings cannot be trusted in connection with truth. Say you went to the movies and you saw the most recent slasher horror film. Now, you know that those monsters roaming around on the screen aren’t real. You know that the zombies coming out of the graves aren’t real. You know that the chainsaws are actual y harmless. But even so, you sit through the movie and squirm, cover your eyes, and maybe even scream.

When you final y get home at night and try to go to sleep, you end up tossing and turning. Your mind is racing with the scenes from the horror film. You know it’s not real. In fact, when you bought your ticket before it even began, you knew it wasn’t real. When you drove home after it was al over, you knew it wasn’t real. Yet your feelings are stil responding as if you thought it might be real. This is because the film-makers made you feel as if it were real. They manipulated the lighting, sound, and effects to make the story seem real so they could manipulate your feelings.

You wil never overcome the movie’s effect on your emotions until ial

your mind overcomes your emotions because your emotions are conter

tinuing to perpetuate the lie you have experienced. As long as that lie remains lodged within you, that movie can keep you up at night—even though you know it isn’t true.

ted ma

When we al ow our faith to be defined by our feelings, we wil be confused. Faith must have an objective standard by which it is igh

defined—truth. In fact, when faith operates by an objective standard yr

of truth, it wil eventual y dictate our emotions rather than the reverse.

op

Oftentimes, what is required on our part is taking a step, making the C

move, doing the thing that God has asked us to do without the accom-panying emotions to go along with it. However, as you continue to walk by faith in the direction God has cal ed you, your emotions are soon to fol ow.

For example, the Bible tel s us we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If you choose by faith to do a kind action Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 92

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

93

to someone you perceive to be your enemy, the emotion of kindness toward that person wil one day override the emotions of hate, anger, or bitterness that you feel. Your emotions wil eventual y catch up with your action if you continue doing it by faith.

One of my favorite biblical il ustrations of faith carried out regardless of emotions is found in the book of Luke. Jesus was teaching a group that had gathered to listen to Him near the lake of Gennesaret.

Because the crowd started pressing in closer to Him, he cal ed out to the owners of a couple of nearby boats. Borrowing their boats, Jesus continued to teach the crowd a short distance away from the shore.

“When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard al night and caught nothing’ ” (Luke 5:4-5).

I can hear the sigh in Peter’s words as he careful y tries to answer while also letting Jesus know that this is not His area of expertise. In my Tony Evans translation, he’s saying, “Master, no offense, but maybe You should stick with preaching. You’re good at it. I’ve been fishing al of my life—as far back as I can remember. In fact, these boats are part of the Zebedee Corporation—we’ve even got a fancy logo. And ial

beyond that, just so You’re clear, we’ve been fishing al night—twelve ter

hours straight. The fish aren’t biting. And if they’re not biting at night, they’re definitely not going to be biting during the day. Throwing our nets down for a catch at this time of day is not only ridiculous, it’s a ted ma

waste of time and energy. It’s an inefficient use of our equipment, okay?”

“Oh, by the way,” Peter continues, “we’re also in shal ow water right igh

now—which, if You knew anything about fishing, You would realize yr

is not the place to catch fish.”

op

To which Jesus responds, “Just cast the net on the other side. Do C

what I say, Simon.”

Simon doesn’t feel as if Jesus’ command makes any sense. Simon’s expertise in fishing—his perspective—fuels his feeling that this doesn’t make sense. But, maybe even with a sigh or a huff, Peter does what Jesus says. He puts down his nets just because Jesus said to.

If you’re familiar with this story, you know what happened next.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 93

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

94

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Peter and the other fishermen got the biggest catch of their lives.

“When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and fil ed both of the boats, so that they began to sink” (verses 6-7).

What Peter and the other fishermen discovered on that day, and what you and I can discover through their experience, is the principle of faith. Faith means acting on what God says in spite of what you know, your background, your experience, or even your education. Faith is a recognition of your own finiteness in relation to God’s infiniteness.

One of the greatest hindrances to living a life of faith is that many of us simply know too much. We have our masters degrees in our various subjects, but we fail to know what the Master of al subjects has to say. If we were half as educated in the Word as we are in the world, we would be further along in living a life of victory. Faith begins by knowing the truth and then acting on the truth so we can see God move.

The Point of Access

Before we go further into our look at this powerful shield, I want to point out that faith does not make God move. Al faith does is access ial

what God has already done. If you think that faith makes God move, ter

you are going to be searching for a way to get more faith. However, as a Christian, you already have al of the faith you’re ever going to need to access anything God is going to do for you. Jesus said that faith the size ted ma

of a mustard seed could move a tree or a mountain (Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6). In other words, as the saying goes, “A little dab’l do ya.”

igh

You don’t need more faith. You need to know more truth. This is yr

because faith is the point of acces , not the source of power. The power is op

in what God has already declared and done in grace when He depos-C

ited the seed of His divine life within you. As the knowledge and presence of God nourishes that seed, it expands and grows, offering you access to al God has in store for you. Al faith is doing is drawing on the grace that God has already put on deposit.

So I want to encourage you to stop looking for more faith. You’ve got it al upside down and contorted like the fork in a cup of water if you Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 94

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

95

think victory is going to come by somehow getting more faith. Faith accesses the grace that God has already deposited for you. Faith is only as valuable as the object of that faith. When the object of that faith is God’s revealed truth, even the tiniest amount can move mountains.

Oftentimes, we believe we need to do good works to access what God has in store for us in His grace. But our works actual y just exhibit our faith. They prove the existence of faith. Faith accesses grace. Works don’t access grace because once you attach works to grace, it’s no longer grace. Paul reminds of this in Romans 11:6: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Works exhibit faith, and faith accesses grace (see Romans 5:1-2).

Hebrews 11 is frequently referred to as the Hal of Faith. In this chapter we read about men and women who were approved by God because of their faith. The list includes David, Samson, Rahab, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others. The principle that’s il ustrated through their lives is that in each and every situation, their faith showed up in their feet. None of these individuals simply said that they believed in God or that they believed God would do what He promised. Instead, we read that their actions revealed their responded of faith.

ial

“By faith Abel offered…”

ter

“By faith Noah…prepared…”

“By faith Abraham…obeyed…”

“By faith Isaac blessed…”

ted ma

“By faith Rahab…welcomed…”

ighyr

By faith, each one reached down and picked up the shield instead of letting it sit leaning up against a wal . What would happen to a Roman opC

soldier if he said that he believed his shield would protect him, but he never grabbed it? He would soon be dead.

Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shal live by his faith.” To live by faith means that faith becomes our regular way of thinking, doing, and being. Faith becomes more than merely acknowledging that the shield is there and that it’s an effective form of protection. Faith means Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 95

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

96

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

grabbing it and using it to its ful est potential. This is the kind of faith that shows up in the way you walk, move, talk, and make decisions.

Living by faith means that faith becomes your groove—your zone. It’s what Paul is referring to when he says, “Walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7).Have you ever seen someone who has a distinct way of walking?

When she walks toward you, you recognize her walk before you even see her face. The same should be true about believers. We should have a “faith walk” that sets us apart from everyone else. It ought to be so distinct that others wil recognize it before we even get close enough for them to see who we are.

The only way we can have that kind of faith is to recognize that faith is not a feeling or a discussion. Faith is an action taken based on the authorization of Somebody who knows what He’s talking about.

Likewise, faith is only as valuable as the object in which it is placed.

You can have al of the faith in the world that your car can fly, but unless God—who not only wrote the laws of physics but can overcome them—makes your car fly, it wil never get off the ground. Faith has to be tied to truth, and truth is tied to God.

Faith needs an object worthy of it. For example, my wife Lois won’t ial

fly on smal airplanes. Her faith is smal because the plane is smal . Lois’

ter

faith grows when the size of the plane grows. Your view of God—how big you think He is—wil determine the size of your faith.

Not only that, but an authentic, genuine expression of faith cannot ted ma

be limited to your five senses. This is true because faith accesses what is already true in the invisible, spiritual realm, where the spiritual bat-igh

tle is taking place. Faith is a conviction about the reality of what you yr

cannot see. There is no empirical evidence. It’s your positive response op

to God’s Word. The writer of Hebrews tel s us, “Now faith is the assur-C

ance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). In other words, if you can see it, you’re not exercising faith. If it is a tangible reality in the physical realm, you’re not practicing the faith that God is describing. Everyone can believe in something they can see.

God is talking about a faith that spots and grabs something out of the unseen realm and brings it down into the physical realm.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 96

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

97

Faith and Fiery Darts

Faith that’s rooted in the reality of God can extinguish al of the fiery darts of the evil one. When a Roman soldier went into battle, he wrapped his shield in leather or in some kind of animal skin. Then he dipped it in water so that if a fiery arrow came at him, it would be instantly snuffed out.

In Western films, cowboys circled their wagon trains so they could hide behind them and shoot at the Indians. In the early days, it wasn’t a very fair fight because the cowboys were the only ones who had the guns and the cover. The Indians’ arrows were no match for the cowboys’ bul ets…until the Indians lit the tips of their arrows and aimed them at the wagons. The fiery arrows burned the canvas off the wagons, exposing the cowboys behind them. The cowboys had no place to hide.

Fiery darts are meant to dismantle things in your life so that you become open for any other form of attack Satan wants to send your way. However, the shield of faith is there to protect you from the attack and put out the fire.

As we saw earlier, 1 John 5:4 tel s us the effectiveness of this faith.

“This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Faith is ial

so powerful that this passage declares it to be the secret to victory in whatever we are facing in this natural world. This secret is hidden in ter

the cross because on the cross, Jesus Christ accomplished the ultimate victory. On the cross, al of the sin (past, present, and future) of the entire world, and its consequences, were nailed to Jesus Christ. If Jesus ted ma

was able to overcome those sins and rise up in victory over them, He can surely overcome any destructive force you’re facing right now in igh

spiritual warfare.

yr

If a weight lifter can lift 500 pounds, wil he have a problem car-op

rying 25 pounds of groceries home for you? No, if he can handle the C

500 pounds, he can handle your groceries. If Jesus Christ was able to overcome al the sin of the entire world on the cross, He can certainly take care of any situation you are in right now. Your part is to believe that Jesus can enable you to overcome, and to act on that belief. You already have enough power to do battle in your circumstance. You Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 97

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

98

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

already have enough strength to fight. Your victory over the trial you’re facing is already at hand. The only thing that’s missing is the kind of faith that God defines.

The shield of faith has been given to us to protect us from the deceptive strategies of the enemy. When you use it properly, this shield wil enable you to advance against the enemy because you wil be confident that what God has said about your situation—in His Word and through His promises—is true.

Listen to the Coach

I enjoy watching the Olympics because they bring out the best in athletes. In the Olympics, athletes push harder, go farther, and aim higher than they ever have before.

One scene in particular from the 1996 Olympics is forever etched in my mind. It occurred on the final night of the women’s gymnastics team event. The United States was in second place behind the Russians and needed a decent score on the vault in order to pass them.

Kerri Strug stood on the mat as the final gymnast in the lineup to vault for the Americans. The gymnast who had gone before Kerri had fal en on both of her vaults, so the Americans had to throw out her ial

score. Being al owed to only throw out one score per round meant that ter

Kerri’s score would have to count. Whether the Americans went home with gold, silver, or bronze was now up to Kerri. The weight of a nation rested on her 88-pound frame.

ted ma

Kerri didn’t have a reputation for being al that tough in the clutch.

In fact, she was known for buckling under the pressure. She had earned igh

the term “baby” of the seven-member group over the years because the yr

coaches often had to handle her with kid gloves. But the vault was her op

specialty, and the Americans had not anticipated the race being so close C

at this point, so she had been slated as the last girl to run.

Kerri needed to score higher than a 9.4 on her final vault in order to secure the gold, and she had two chances to do this. On Keri’s first vault, she held true to her reputation of crumbling under the pressure. She fel . Kerri’s fal sprained her ankle and tore ligaments as wel .

A hush came over the crowd, as the spectators began to doubt that Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 98

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Shield of Faith

99

America could get the gold. How could Kerri vault again? She could barely walk.

Kerri felt the urgings of her teammates to try again as she limped back to the starting point. Tears fil ed her eyes as she did her best to fight them back. She knew that al of her teammates’ hopes and dreams were in her last vault. But, as she would say later on, she didn’t even know if she could run, let alone vault. She considered walking away.

But the voice of her coach, Bela Karolyi, sealed her decision to stay.

He yel ed, “You can do it, Kerri. You can do it!” She looked at him, and she believed. We know this because her feet demonstrated that belief.

After saluting the judges, Kerri ran toward the vault—propel ing herself one last time into the air. Hardly able to hold her foot down long enough through the pain to secure the score, she managed to do so for a moment, having nailed her landing. Then Kerri immediately col apsed on the mat in tears and agony. As she was carried down the stairs, Kerri’s score went up. It was more than enough. The Americans had won. Kerri had grabbed the gold.

Later on, Kerri revealed what pushed her to try one last time. She said, “When Bela looks at you and says you can do it, you know you can.”

ial

Faith. Kerri got the gold because her faith showed up in her feet.

ter

Perhaps Satan and his demons have knocked you down. Maybe you’re limping from disappointment, pain, broken dreams, and other losses in your life. You might be questioning whether you wil ever run ted ma

again, and you might wonder if you should stop trying altogether.

But God reminds you that He has never asked you to do anything igh

that He is not absolutely certain you can do through Him. If you’l lis-yr

ten closely, you might be able to hear His voice. He is saying, “You can op

do it. You can do it!”

C

Trust Him.

Pick up the shield of faith, and with it, grab the victory that has already been gained.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 99

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 100

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

8

The Helmet of Salvation

A man who operated a tattoo parlor was asked, “Why do you think so many people come in here to get tattoos?”

The man replied without any hesitation, “Because before there is ever a tattoo on the body, there is a tattoo on the mind.”

In other words, he was saying that people display on their bodies what they have already pictured in their minds. What we think often shows up in our five senses as something we can see, touch, taste, hear, ial

or smel . That’s why the next piece of armor we need to strap on in this ter

spiritual battle is a helmet. We read in Ephesians 6:17, “Take the helmet of salvation.” This is because a helmet not only covers the head but also protects the mind.

ted ma

The main purpose of a helmet—in battle, sports, or work situations like construction sites—is to protect the brain from injury. A foot-igh

bal player’s helmet is padded on the inside to help it absorb the shock yr

when he gets pounded to the ground. The brain must be fiercely pro-op

tected because once the brain becomes damaged, body function also C

becomes damaged. A footbal player suffering from too many concus-sions can no longer play at the level he once could. In fact, he may not even be able to play at al .

With the helmet, Paul has once again used a physical example to il ustrate a spiritual truth. He demonstrates that just as the brain is the control center for the rest of the body, the mind is the control center 101

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 101

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

102

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

for the wil and emotions. The mind must be protected with a helmet that’s able to absorb the shocks of being hit by the enemy and even knocked to the ground in the spiritual realm.

The Influence of the Mind

You may have a relative who has suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

If you do, you are acutely aware that Alzheimer’s is one of the leading debilitating diseases of our day. Notable people who have suffered from the effects of this disease include former president Ronald Rea-gan, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and actor Charlton Heston.

With Alzheimer’s, the brain is no longer able to function as it should, so it deteriorates over time. As Alzheimer’s sets in, patients become less able to control or care for themselves. The worse Alzheimer’s becomes, the less control the person has over his or her life.

Likewise, when spiritual Alzheimer’s sets in, we gradual y lose control of our own lives. When our mind no longer functions as it was designed to, it impedes our wil and emotions from doing what they should. This, then, influences the body as it responds to the wil and emotions. So it’s no surprise that one of Satan’s primary strategies is to attack our mind. In fact, this is such a critical area that each of the difial

ferent pieces of spiritual armor relates to our mind.

ter

Satan doesn’t care how he accomplishes his goal. He wil use a fiery arrow of spiritual Alzheimer’s, a conflict leading to a concussion, a poison dart of paranoia, or a battery of mental disorders and strongholds.

ted ma

Any damage to the mind that keeps us from knowing and operating the way God intends can lead to defeat. Satan wil use any of these igh

weapons to attack our minds.

yr

But God has told us to put on the helmet of salvation as protection.

op

In fact, He has even provided an il ustration of the essential nature of C

putting on this helmet—the game of footbal . (Sometimes I think God created footbal just so preachers like me would have plenty of il ustrations.) You see, in footbal , the quarterback is the leader on the field. He cal s the plays so the rest of the team can hear them and then respond.

Because the quarterback runs the plays, he is constantly under attack from the opposing team. The defense is constantly trying to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 102

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

103

sack him, knock him down, block him, move him out of the pocket, intercept his pass, or strip the bal from his hands. The defense wants to make the quarterback eat dirt on each and every play. That is their objective. If they can do that, none of the plays wil be effective. The quarterback’s team wil be unable to score, and they wil eventual y lose the game.

However, sitting in a booth high above the quarterback is a man who holds the title of offensive coordinator. The offensive coordinator’s job, among other things, is to communicate with the quarterback during the game, warning him about what might be coming at him.

The offensive coordinator has already spent hours studying the strategy of the opposition, and his job is to accurately predict and relay their moves to the quarterback.

Talking directly into the quarterback’s helmet through the use of sophisticated technology, the offensive coordinator tel s the quarterback how he is to move, what play he is to cal , how he is to function, what he is to avoid, where he is to put up his guard, and where the weak points in the defense are that he is to try to exploit. One reason the offensive coordinator can do that so wel , besides having studied the game film, is that he is sitting high enough to view the entire ial

scenario below him. He is seated up above—in footbal ’s “heavenly ter

places”—with a perfect view of what the enemy is doing down below.

He analyzes every movement of the opposition in order to inform his quarterback which strategy to employ to overcome their attack.

ted ma

Have you ever seen a quarterback in the middle of a very important game start waving his arms up and down to the crowd? He is signal-igh

ing to his fans that they are being too loud and that he can no longer yr

hear what is being spoken to him through his helmet. The quarterback op

wants the crowd to quiet down.

C

Similarly, people’s voices—their opinions, thoughts, accusations, or even attempts at being helpful—wil often drown out what God is trying to speak to a believer in his or her helmet of salvation. People may have excel ent intentions, and they might even be trying to cheer you on, but in the middle of the battle, you must hear God’s voice. If a Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 103

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

104

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

believer cannot hear God clearly, just like if a quarterback cannot hear the offensive coordinator clearly, the result wil be defeat.

One reason God wants us to wear a helmet is that the enemy is trying to stop us from accomplishing the things God has for us to do. God wants to speak truth into our minds. He sits up high—in the heavenly places—and views the scene below. He can see the field of life much better than we ever could. He can examine the opposition’s strategy much better than we can. He has studied the game film much longer than we have. And because of this, God has a few secrets He wants us to hear. They are secrets because often what God has to say to you is meant only for you.

Have you ever seen a footbal coach during a game speak something into his headset microphone that he doesn’t want the television cam-eras to pick up and broadcast to anyone else who might see it—especial y the opposition? What does that coach do? He covers his mouth.

He places his hand or a clipboard in front of his mouth. By doing this, he keeps the information—the truth that he wants to apply to this specific situation—a secret.

It isn’t that the truth itself is a secret—every footbal coaching staff and player has access to game film and plays, and they al understand ial

the rules and fundamentals of footbal . The secret is the implementa-ter

tion of that truth. We’l talk more about this in the next chapter, but that is what theologians cal the rhema—the spoken word of God.

The deciding factor in victory or defeat is the mind. If the mind, the ted ma

spiritual expression of the brain, operates on a false grid of reality and truth, then the body wil also function according to that false reality.

igh

In other words, if a person’s perspective is errant and his or her mind-yr

set is flawed, that person’s function wil also be flawed.

op

If a person says, “My name is Alec, and I’m an alcoholic,” he is idenC

tifying himself wrongly. He runs a higher risk of giving in to another drink because what he is thinking tel s him that he is inclined to give in anyway. The truth for a believer would be stated differently. It would be,

“My name is Alec, and I am an overcomer. I have struggled with alcohol, but I am a blood-bought child of the King who can do al things Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 104

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

105

through Christ who strengthens me.” Those are two very different ways of summing up the same situation.

Proverbs 23:7 strongly warns us to guard our minds: “As he thinks within himself, so he is.” In our footbal il ustration, that would be translated to say, “As he hears from the coaching staff, so he executes the play.”

Essential y, we do what we think. The Emancipation Proclamation is a perfect example of this. We al know from history that the Emancipation Proclamation was a document issued by President Lincoln proclaiming the freedom of slaves. But we also know from history that being legal y free might be an entirely different thing from being func-tional y free.

News of the slaves’ freedom didn’t reach Florida until several months after the Proclamation was drafted. News didn’t reach Texas until Union soldiers marched into Galveston a ful two years after the document proclaimed their freedom. For years, legal y freed slaves remained in bondage simply because of what they thought was true.

Even though they were technical y free, they had remained virtual slaves—trapped in a false reality because they did not possess knowledge of the truth by which they could escape their bondage.

ial

Have you seen any of the newest virtual reality games? They are ter

nothing short of astounding in their depiction of reality. In these games, you can be sitting as stil as a rock in the comfort of your own living room and think you’re on a rol er coaster because that’s what you’re see-ted ma

ing through your headset. Your stomach starts to feel ready to come up through your mouth just as if you were on a real rol er coaster.

igh

You’re not actual y on the ride, but the game makes you think you’re yr

on it. And because of that, you start moving, shifting, screaming, and op

responding just as if you were real y on the ride.

C

What Satan wants to do is to keep us from wearing the helmet of salvation so that what he shows us through his own headset becomes the reality through which we interpret and respond to life.

Salvation: The Valuable Weapon

Jed Clampett was a hil bil y who lived in Tennessee. One day, as Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 105

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

106

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

he was out hunting for some food, he saw something black bubbling up from underneath the ground. “Oil, that is—black gold, Texas tea.”

Sel ing his land, Jed moved with his family out to Beverly Hil s, where they lived the life of mil ionaires.

The question is, when did Jed become a mil ionaire? Was it when he discovered the oil? Or was it when he acquired the land?

Jed became a mil ionaire when he acquired the land. However, because he didn’t know the value of what he had in his possession, he lived for years as a hil bil y, struggling to simply find his next meal. In fact, Jed had gotten so used to the life of a hil bil y that even when he moved to Beverly Hil s, he didn’t know how to live up to what he had acquired.

Many of us are living today without the ful knowledge of what we have been given in salvation. We are living hil bil y lives—struggling to get by—when al that we could ever use or need has been made available to us through the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. One reason we have failed to recognize the magnitude and relevancy of this gift is that we too frequently limit our understanding of salvation to going to heaven. Salvation does include eternity, but it also includes much more.

ial

Salvation

ter

When a soldier goes into battle, any old helmet won’t do. Paul knew that when he wrote about the weapons of warfare. That is why he specifical y said to take up the “helmet of salvation. ” But what’s interest-ted ma

ing about Paul’s use of the word “salvation” is that he was writing to people who were already saved. The book of Ephesians is written to igh

people whom Paul refers to as “saints,” “faithful in Christ Jesus,” and yr

to those who have already been blessed with “every spiritual blessing in op

the heavenly places in Christ” (1:1,3). Paul is implying that a person can C

be an “unsaved-saved” person. Thus in chapter 6 we find him tel ing the Ephesian believers to pick up and put on the helmet of salvation.

Pay close attention to the remainder of this chapter because at the core of most of our problems—and we al have them to varying degrees—is our lack of understanding of salvation. Many people think that salvation simply means to be born again. And it does mean being Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 106

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

107

born again. When people trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, an instantaneous change occurs. This change is cal ed justification. Justification is the removal of the penalty of sin along with a declaration of legal righteousness.

However, the important truth to note is that while salvation refers to justification and the implanting of the new life in the form of an imperishable seed within our spirit, it does not refer to that alone. “Salvation” is an al -inclusive word that summarizes al that Christ has provided for us: past, present and future.

Justification is what occurred at the point of salvation—it is salvation in the past tense for any believer. The present tense of the word

“salvation” signifies the ongoing renewal of a person through the work of the indwel ing Holy Spirit. This removes the power of sin over a believer and is cal ed s anctification. Glorification is the future sense of salvation—the removal of the presence of sin. Thus, when the Bible speaks about salvation, it can be referring to justification, sanctification, or glorification.

Sanctification is our focus as we look at the helmet of salvation. We briefly touched on this earlier where we read, “In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). James, ial

like Paul, was writing to fel ow believers who were already saved in the ter

sense of justification. Salvation, in this passage, is sanctification—the process of a person becoming more like Christ.

Paul uses the same meaning of salvation when he writes in Romans ted ma

1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the igh

Greek.” The word “salvation” in this verse means “to be delivered.” It is yr

the power of God to deliver from hel in the future and also from hel op

in the present.

C

There are a number of things that God may need to deliver you from in your daily life—an addiction, a wrong relationship, an unhealthy mind-set, a stronghold, emotional bondage, or any number of other things. If something is ruling you, if the enemy knows that al he has to do is push this or that button to get you to do or think something that you shouldn’t, don’t despair—the gospel has the power to deliver you.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 107

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

108

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

A great verse that illustrates the multidimensional nature of salvation is one that we often quote.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Paul tel s us in this passage that salvation is by grace, through faith, and for good works. Al of these components are included in the package we cal salvation. Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae emphasizes this truth when he writes, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6). Paul is tel ing the believers in Colossae that the way they were saved—by grace, through faith, and for good works—is the same way they are to function. Recognizing this critical truth is essential to living a life of victory because it emphasizes the holistic nature of the gospel. Unless we truly comprehend the multifaceted nature of salvation the way that God has defined it— by grace, through faith, and for good works—we wil be grabbing any old ial

hat and trying it on for size, attempting to pass it off as a helmet. I don’t ter

know about you, but when I’m in battle, I want more than a bal cap covering my head. I want something strong and hard. I want a helmet.

God’s Provision Through Grace

ted ma

The first concept we need to dig deeper into while we examine our igh

salvation is grace. For starters, I want to remind you that grace has abso-yr

lutely nothing to do with you. Grace is al about what God has done op

for you, independent of you. You have no part to play in grace. Grace C

includes al that God has already supplied for you. There is nothing God can do for you that He hasn’t already done. In fact, there is nothing God can provide for you that He hasn’t already provided.

Everything God is ever going to do for you has already been done.

Every healing He wil ever give you in your physical body has already been provided. Every opportunity He is ever going to open up for you Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 108

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

109

has already been opened. Every stronghold God is ever going to break in you has already been broken. Every victory you are ever going to experience has already been won. The joy you’re desperately seeking already exists. The peace that you stay up at night praying and wishing that you could enjoy is already present. Even the power you need to live the life God has created you to live, you already have. This is because God has already deposited in the heavenly realm “every spiritual blessing” you wil ever need.

Even so, I can hear your question from miles away. You are saying,

“Tony, Tony, Tony—that al sounds good, spiritual, and even encouraging. But if you’re saying that I already have it, how come I don’t have it? If I’ve already got it, why can’t I seem to get it?”

The problem is not that you are lacking in grace or the things that grace supplies. The problem has to do with the way you access grace—

through faith. There is only one way to access what has already been given to you, and most of our problems arise out of a misunderstand-ing about faith. You don’t access grace by doing good things or being a good person. The only access point to the grace that salvation supplies is faith.

Missing this fundamental distinction concerning grace is what has ial

most of us wearing a soft cap with our own initials stitched into it ter

instead of the helmet of salvation. That cap may have your name on it, it might be your color, and it might look good on you, but it wil provide you with no protection. You cannot access grace through works.

ted ma

In fact, the very moment you try to access grace by works, you actual y nul ify grace. Grace, by its very definition, has nothing to do with igh

you or what you do. It is what God does for you because of His unmer-yr

ited favor.

op

What religion often tries to teach us and get us to do is to access C

grace—God’s favor and blessings—by works. Religion says if you come to church more often, God wil bless you more. If you give more money, you wil get more money. If you treat your neighbor nice, God wil be nice to you. Lists are made about “seven ways you can get al that you want from God” or “ten things you can do to make God like you more.” The truth is, there is no such list.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 109

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

110

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The problem is not those good things we do in themselves. The problem is in the motivation behind doing them. If you are doing good works to try to earn God’s favor so you can access His grace, you have disqualified yourself from grace simply because your actions have shown that you don’t believe in what grace truly is. Religion wil defeat you because it keeps you in a posture of trying to earn what has already been freely given.

Some of us are working so hard to do better. We go to church more, read more, and do more, only to discover that we’re stil not delivered.

That is because we’re turning to religion to try to be better rather than letting grace do the work both in and through us.

When I was in seminary, I was determined to get A’s in al my classes.

In one particular class, I remember spending an inordinate amount of time on a certain paper. Confident that I was going to get an A on my paper, I was shocked when I got it back only to discover that written on top of it was a big zero. Scribbled underneath the zero were these words: “Great work. Wrong assignment.”

A lot of saints are trying to be delivered on earth by working hard, serving hard, and giving more…al the while not realizing they’re working on the wrong assignment. We’re saved by grace, through faith, and ial

for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk ter

in them. Our good works must flow out of God’s work of grace in our lives rather than out of a heart that’s trying to earn His favor or reduce His wrath. It’s a subtle difference in the physical realm, but it makes al ted ma

the difference in the spiritual realm. God knows our hearts.

It’s like a child trying to earn her parent’s love. In a healthy home igh

that functions the way God designed it, the parent loves that child yr

already unconditional y. There is nothing the child can do to make her op

parent love her. She is already loved simply by virtue of her relation-C

ship to the one whose love she is trying to gain.

Friend, I want to let you in on a secret that in al of my years of ministry and counseling I have discovered that few people real y know: God loves you. In fact, He demonstrated it. God cannot love you any more than He already does—He showed that by sending His own son, Jesus Christ, to die for you. When God sacrificed His own son and turned Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 110

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

111

His back on Him at the point of His death, He gave you al the love He could ever give you. You don’t need to try to make God love you more.

You can’t do it. What you can do, though, is access His love through faith. Faith is your positive response to what God has already done. The good works you do express your faith; they don’t earn God’s grace. So when you give your tithe—and yes, the Bible teaches that believers are to give to the Lord—you do it not so you can earn God’s favor, but as an expression of your faith in Him as your Source and a demonstra-tion of your trust in Him.

Here’s an il ustration. Your home is connected to a local power company. This power company supplies your home with everything you need to run everything you have that requires electricity. Let’s say you turned off al the lights in your home and were sitting in the dark.

It would be foolish of you to cal the electric company and ask them to give you more power. Al the power you need has already been made available to you.

Instead, what you need to do is access that power. You need to flip on the switch, which opens up the flow of the power. Now, what would happen if you cal ed the electric company and told them that al of your lights were off and that you needed them to come over to your house ial

and turn them on for you? Do you think they would come? Most likely ter

they would not come because their job is to supply the power, not to turn your lights on and off. It’s your responsibility to access the power.

In the spiritual realm, it’s the act of faith that accesses al that’s sup-ted ma

plied to us by grace. It’s faith that flips the switch, releasing the flow of grace into our lives. In fact, there’s only one way to access grace, and igh

that’s through faith so that no one can boast—not only about how we yr

got into heaven but also about how we got delivered on earth.

op

Faith must always begin with a God-based understanding of truth.

C

It cannot simply begin with facts because facts don’t always reveal truth.

If a person has a headache, the fact is that the person has a headache.

However, the truth may be that the person has a tumor. Yet if al we looked at was the fact of a headache, that person may settle for some aspirin when he or she real y needed surgery.

The key to accessing grace is faith—faith that’s grounded in truth.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 111

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

112

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

A New You

God gives grace only in response to faith. Your good works merely reflect the fact that you believe what God says about grace. You do them in response to grace, not to try to get grace.

When you ful y embrace the truth that there’s nothing you can do to get God to love you more, you’l discover the power for living a life of victory. When that truth takes root deep within you, you will have more confidence to overcome strongholds or resist temptations than you have ever known. In fact, you wil become a whole new you!

The United States government has what is cal ed a Federal Witness Protection Program. It is for individuals who are at high risk because they have testified against someone who wants to see them kil ed. What the government does for these individuals is literal y change their identities. It changes their names, looks, social security numbers, and loca-tions. If the people in the program don’t accept these changes, the government wil not guarantee their protection. But when they do accept the changes, the government protects them.

Let me let you in on a secret—Satan is very upset that when you trusted in Christ, you testified against him. In fact, your life is a testi-ial

mony against him every day that you operate under the authority of Christ. Because of this, Satan is after you to destroy you. But God has ter

put you in His own protection program. He can change the way you look at yourself by showing you how He looks at you. When you see yourself the way God sees you, you wil begin to walk differently, talk ted ma

differently, act differently, and live differently. You wil live in the victory that He has already given you. And one way He wants to change igh

you is by getting you to understand that grace comes through faith and yr

not in response to anything you could do.

op

The apostle Paul spent years of his life sacrificing, laboring, and serv-C

ing God, even to the detriment of his own health and comfort. He said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” In fact, Paul’s response to that grace is what produced the good works in his life.

He continues the same statement by saying, “And His grace toward me Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 112

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Helmet of Salvation

113

did not prove vain; but I labored even more than al of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

In other words, Paul said that when he understood grace, he didn’t get lazy. He didn’t adopt a lifestyle of sin. No, when Paul understood al that grace had done for him in spite of him, he wanted to work al the more in gratitude for it.

Grace never makes a person lazy. A true embrace of grace makes us more committed, obedient, generous, and enthusiastic because when we see al that God has already done for us, we want to say thank you.

Not only is grace the channel for God extending His favor and blessings into your life, but it’s also the means of delivering us from what we often deserve.

For while we were stil helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one wil hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shal be saved from the wrath of God ial

through Him (Romans 5:6-9).

ter

What I want you to notice in this passage are the words “much more then.” The reason why those words are so important is that they indicate that what is coming after them is even greater than what came ted ma

before them. Before “much more then,” we read that when we were at our worst, God sacrificed His Son Jesus Christ for us so that whoever igh

believed on His name would be saved (justified before Him). That in yr

itself is more grace than anyone could comprehend. But Paul says we op

can have “much more” confidence that “we shal be saved from the C

wrath of God through Him.”

We are often confused about this passage, thinking it means we’re being saved from hel . But Paul has already told us that we have been justified and therefore not going to be sent to hel . Rather, Paul is saying that we “shal be saved” from God’s wrath. But what is God’s wrath if it doesn’t mean that we are being saved from hel ? Romans 1:18-19 tel s us.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 113

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

114

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against al ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Oftentimes, we think that the wrath of God wil be revealed in hel , and it wil —but there is another wrath that is already revealed. Many of us don’t have to go to hel to be in hel . This is because we’re living in our own personal hel with fires burning al around us. These flames come as a result of God’s wrath against sin. Sin comes complete with God’s wrath built right in it.

Another way of saying this is that sin comes with consequences.

We’ve al experienced consequences from our sinful decisions. In fact, many of us have probably lived with some of those consequences for years. This is because the very sin that we committed had the consequence for that sin built right into it. It’s not that God in heaven is throwing down lightning bolts of wrath upon you. Rather, God’s wrath is an outgrowth of the sin itself.

Some people started out with only one drink, but now the drink is ial

tel ing them they need to have more. Some people started out by popping a pil , but now the feeling they got when they popped the pil is ter

tel ing them that they need to inject something stronger into their arms.

The only way to get rid of the wrath showing up in your life is by having the power to deal with the sin—to be saved, or sanctified.

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 114

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

9

The Sword of the Spirit

T his final piece of armor stands out from al of the others. It’s unique because this is the only offensive weapon in the arsenal. Everything else is designed to hold us steady from what the enemy is seeking to bring against us “in the evil day.” But after God outfits you for battle in order to stand firm, He gives you an additional weapon with which you can attack and advance.

Roman soldiers had two very different types of swords for battle.

ial

The first sword was cal ed a spatha. The spatha was general y three feet ter

long. A shorter sword, cal ed the gladius, was typical y about 18 inches, or a foot and a half. When Paul instructs us to “take…the sword of the Spirit,” the Greek term he uses is macaira, which refers to the shorter ted ma

sword, the gladius.

So the first image I want you to remove from your mind when you igh

consider the “sword of the Spirit” is that of Zorro or the swashbuck-yr

ling pirates you’ve seen on television or in the movies. The gladius was op

more similar to a dagger and was used for up-close, in-your-face, hand-C

to-hand combat, most often with a solitary opponent. The Roman soldier could also use the gladius to deliver an unexpected yet deadly blow to his enemy because the enemy would not see it coming, as in the case of targeted assassinations or combat.

Gladi blades were double-edged and needle sharp at the point, al owing for a greater amount of damage at a quicker rate. Oftentimes, 115

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 115

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

116

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

a longer sword simply created a wound that enabled the opponent to continue fighting. But the gladius delivered a deathblow straight to the opponent’s heart or midsection. A two-inch deep gouge from a dagger often proved fatal more quickly than any length of a swipe from a longer sword.

When Paul instructs us to take up the sword of the Spirit, he’s letting us know that in this battle, we wil have times when the enemy is so close that it seems like he’s right in our face. In fact, it can be compared to an opponent trying to block a shot in a basketbal game. The opposing player wil often stick his body, face, or hands in the offensive player’s face so that the offensive player wil become disoriented and unable to advance. Satan doesn’t want you or me to send the bal through the net for two points, so to discourage this, he brings his battle—your particular stronghold—as close to you as possible. Oftentimes, that means your battle is being waged within you—in your mind, wil , emotions, and body.

Another thing Paul tel s us is that this is the sword of the Spirit. It’s not your sword. It’s not the church’s sword. It’s not the sword of good works or even religion. It’s not the preacher’s sword. This is the sword of the Spirit, and in fact, is the only weapon we’re told that the Spirit ial

uses in the spiritual realm.

ter

Because it’s the Spirit who uses this sword in the heavenly places to deliver a deathblow to our enemy, a very important thing to remember is that you cannot deliver that deathblow yourself. If you try, you ted ma

wil soon discover that God gave the instruction to use the sword of the Spirit for a very good reason. You’l learn what Moses learned when he igh

attempted to deliver Israel in his own strength, or what Peter learned yr

when he tried to deliver Jesus by cutting off the ear of one of the sol-op

diers who had come to arrest him: Our authority for victory in the spir-C

itual realm is rooted and grounded in God. God reminded Moses and Peter that their human approach was not needed for this battle.

The same holds true for you and me.

One of the reasons so many of us are losing our battles is that we have turned to human resources, methods, and philosophies to try to do battle against someone who is not human. Paul didn’t say “take up Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 116

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sword of the Spirit

117

your sword;” he said, “take…the sword of the Spirit” and do battle with it. Even with your best intentions, you cannot compete with an enemy who is fighting in a capacity you or I could never function in. The only way to defeat this enemy and walk in a life of victory is according to God’s prescribed means.

When you choose a man-made method to go up against a spiritual battle, you nul ify God’s power in your fight. Scripture says in James 1:20 that “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” God says it a different way in Deuteronomy 32:35: “Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot wil slip.” Knowing this, Paul warns Christians everywhere, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19).

“Leaving room” means letting go of your approach to spiritual battles and letting go of your need to respond in your emotions. God doesn’t sanction our approach, and our emotions are unreliable. Rather, we are to take God’s approach by aligning our emotions underneath His overarching rule and putting on His ful armor—the last of which is the sword of the Spirit.

It is simply because we have not believed in the power of the dagger that we don’t see the enemy sliced and diced as he ought to be. There ial

is so much power in the sword of the Spirit that God gave it to us as ter

the only piece of offensive weaponry in the entire armor. Maybe this sword is the only offensive piece in the col ection because it is the only offensive piece necessary.

ted ma

The Word of God

igh

Scripture tel s us another critical aspect of the sword of the spirit—

yr

this sword is the word of God. We are told to “take…the sword of the op

Spirit, which is the word of God.” In order to ful y comprehend what’s C

being referred to as the word of God, we need to consider the different Greek terms used for God’s word.

Graphe

When Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20) uses the Greek word graphe to refer to the Word of God, what it’s defining are the “writings”

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 117

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

118

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

of God. Another way to put that is that it is referring to the actual book of God—the Bible. For example, when you attend church and the preacher says to turn in your Bible to a certain passage and you turn there, what you are holding in your hands and what you are turning the pages in is the graphe. You are holding 66 books which compose the canon of Scripture.

Whether you have the graphe on your shelf, on your coffee table, beside your bed, in your kitchen, on the dashboard of your car, at work, or tucked under your arm when you walk into church, what you have is a book. It is the Word of God in written form: graphe. But when Paul tel s you to “take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

the term he uses for “word of God” is not graphe.

Unfortunately, many people today think that Paul is referring to the word graphe. This is made evident by the choices they make. They look to their Bible like others look to a rabbit’s foot, assuming that it alone brings about the power needed to live a life of victory in a fal en world. But placing your Bible in your car, thinking it wil somehow stop an accident from happening, is just an expression of superstition.

Buying an oversized Bible and putting it on your coffee table, thinking it wil somehow ward off everything negative and evil from enterial

ing your family’s life, is just hocus-pocus.

ter

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying the Bible isn’t powerful or essential for al people—it is. But in order for it to accomplish its purpose, it needs to be used, and not simply in a way that al ows you to ted ma

cross it off your checklist for the day.

The graphe is the graphe regardless of whether you open it, read it, or igh

use it. For example, when people go to court and are told to put their yr

hand on the Bible and swear that they are tel ing the truth, the whole op

truth, and nothing but the truth, they are putting their hand on the C

graphe. The judge, jury, defendant, and plaintiff are not indicating an interest in the message of the Bible; they are just using the book for a specific purpose.

Other people wil use the Bible in a similar manner when they try to back up what they’re saying by tel ing you, “I swear on the Bible it’s true.” They’re not showing an interest in what anything in the Bible Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 118

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sword of the Spirit

119

says, they are just concerned about the written documentation and existence of the Bible because people have associated truth tel ing with the graphe.

Logos

Another Greek term for the Word of God found in Scripture is the word Logos. Logos refers to the message of the book, or graphe; it’s the meaning of the words. When you read your Bible, attend a Bible study, or hear a sermon that explains the meaning of the text being referenced, you are experiencing and interacting with the Logos. You started with the graphe and have progressed into the Logos.

Logos is a very powerful word. We read about it in the first chapter of the book of John, where in the very first verse we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is cal ed the Logos in this passage because He was sent as God’s messenger to present God to human beings and to embody His message to us. The graphe is the message written, and the Logos is the message given. Logos is the understanding of the written record of stories, events, and letters that we come into contact with in God’s written Word.

ial

In Hebrews 4:12, God reveals to us the nature and function of the ter

Logos: “For the word [Logos] of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts ted ma

and intentions of the heart.”

The Logos is more than just words on paper. According to this pas-igh

sage, the Logos is alive and active. The Logos is a force with energy yr

behind it given to accomplish a specific goal. In order to accomplish op

this goal, the writer of Hebrews likens it to a sword that’s “sharper than C

any two-edged sword,” meaning that it can go deeper and further than anything made in the physical realm. This sword goes as deep so as to pierce between soul and spirit in the invisible realm.

When it reaches deep within you, the Logos goes about the job of dividing what makes up your soul (mind, wil , and emotions) and what makes up the new spirit God has placed within you. This is necessary Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 119

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

120

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

for living a life of victory because more often than not, your soul gets in the way of your spirit. Your personality, the way you were raised, your orientation, your thoughts, your feelings, and your desires often keep God’s presence, truth, and power from functioning freely in you. We often point to outside forces behind our struggles, but real y, most of the time our solution is right inside us if we wil simply al ow the spirit to dominate our souls.

Doing that isn’t as easy as simply reading the words in this book or tel ing yourself to al ow your spirit to dominate your soul. In fact, God says that He has provided the Logos—sharper than any two-edged sword—to do the job of dividing the soul from the spirit and clarify-ing truth within you. God uses the understanding of the message to cut through your thoughts, your habits, and your strongholds in order to remove their influence over you so the spirit can have free rein over you.

In fact, the Logos is not only able to penetrate the invisible realm and divide between soul and spirit, it is also able to discern and judge both the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. It doesn’t simply address the action, but attends to the heart and mind, which propel the action. It doesn’t just say, “Put that drink down,” “Forgive that person,” or “Turn off what you shouldn’t be watching.” It goes deeper and ial

focuses on the why behind the what. If you can get the why rightly ter

aligned underneath the truth and message of God, you won’t have to tel yourself to put down that drink, forgive that person, or turn off what you shouldn’t be watching because you’l be motivated to stop ted ma

doing those things.

Even more than that, Hebrews 4:13 goes on to tel us, “And there igh

is no creature hidden from His sight, but al things are open and laid yr

bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Basical y, whatever op

the Logos sees, God sees. The Word of God opens you up to reveal al C

things within you. It exposes you like a spiritual MRI or X-ray machine, showing the inner truth that outward actions don’t always reveal. A person can have great actions but also have a bad heart, simply doing those actions out of fear of getting punished or looking bad. Another person can have bad actions but have a right heart, being ful y aware of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 120

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sword of the Spirit

121

his or her need for mercy and dependence on God. Jesus told a story about this in Luke 18:9-14.

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax col ector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax col ector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of al that I get.’ But the tax col ector, standing some distance away, was even unwil ing to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tel you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself wil be humbled, but he who humbles himself wil be exalted.”

Jesus, the Logos, looked past what could be seen focused deep into the heart of both the Pharisee and the tax col ector in order to judge and discern correctly. Likewise, as we meditate on ful y understandial

ing God’s truth and al ow the Logos of God to penetrate and take root ter

deep within us, it reveals our hearts to such a degree that we’re able to discern right from wrong and truth from lie. It penetrates us deeply, creating a powerful impact.

ted ma

Rhema

igh

There’s yet a third term in the Bible for the word of God—and it’s yr

a very important word. When Paul tel s us to “take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” he’s not tel ing us to take up the opC

graphe or the Logos. Instead, he uses the Greek term rhema.

Rhema simply means utterance, spoken word, or what has been declared. Graphe is the written word, Logos is the message of the written word, and rhema is the specific declaration concerning the message of the written word.

A person could have a Bible factory and publish thousands of Bibles Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 121

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

122

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

every day but never have the power of the sword of the Spirit. A person could have great understanding of the message in the Scripture but stil not utilize the power of the sword against the enemy. The sword of the Spirit specifical y refers to the rhema of God. The rhema of God is our one offensive weapon, which is able to plunge quickly into the enemy and draw blood.

The reason so many Christians are living defeated lives is that they haven’t graduated from graphe to Logos to rhema. Some Christians haven’t moved past graphe. Bringing your Bible to church isn’t the same thing as using the sword of the Spirit. It’s just a book to you until you open it, read it, and hear God’s Spirit teach you and speak to you through it.

Other Christians live defeated lives because they have gotten stuck in Logos-land. They seek to understand the sermon, they attend the Bible studies, and they take notes on the knowledge, but haven’t used what they’ve learned in spiritual warfare against the enemy. Coming to church and hearing a good sermon, even though the message may penetrate within you, is not enough when you’re in close-up battle with the enemy and al hel has broken loose in your life. At times like that, you need the rhema. You need the specific utterance of God for your ial

situation. You need to hear God speaking to you and to take that truth ter

straight into the heart of Satan and his demons.

Most of us have had a rhema experience with the Word of God but didn’t realize what it was. Have you ever read some passages in the Bible ted ma

so many times over the years that you feel as if you know al there is to know about them? And then one day, as you turn to one of these famil-igh

iar passages, it’s like God has marked it with a yel ow highlighter. One yr

verse, word, principle, or truth leaps off of the page and speaks directly op

to the situation you’re facing. That is what is cal ed a rhema—a word C

God speaks to you out of His written Word.

God’s spoken word was powerful enough to completely change things in the beginning, bringing things into existence out of nothing. We read in Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” On and on in the beginning of Genesis, we read that God said that something was so, and it came to be so. Al God had to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 122

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sword of the Spirit

123

do was speak the word, and whatever He spoke came about. In other words, the spoken word ( rhema) had the power within it to accomplish God’s desire. The rhema was the Spirit’s dagger that God used to bring things into being.

How do we know that the Holy Spirit had something to do with God speaking things into existence? Because we read in Genesis 1:2 that when God got ready to create something, the Holy Spirit was hovering over it. It says, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” The Spirit was positioned and ready to move just as soon as God said to move—just waiting for the word.

That’s why it’s so important to study God’s Word, learn it, and engage it as you abide with it. Since it’s so powerful, Satan knows that al he has to do is twist God’s Word and it wil become a dul sword, unable to carry out its purpose both as an internal sword (Logos) and as an offensive weapon ( rhema).

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, that’s exactly what Satan did to them. Satan twisted God’s word by questioning Eve: “Did God real y say…?” (Genesis 3:1 niv). He did this because he knew that if he could mix up the word, he would reduce its power to defeat him.

ial

In fact, Satan loves it when you say things like, “Wel , I think…”

ter

or “Wel , my opinion is…” He relishes every time you say, “Wel , my dad said…” or “My mom said…” or “My friends say…” Satan loves to hear these words because he knows there is no power in what you ted ma

think or feel or in what your family or friends say. He’l leave you alone and let you col ect that type of information through popular television igh

talk shows, the radio, or phone cal s and e-mails to your friends. He’s yr

not afraid of that at al .

op

But as soon as you start saying, “Wel , God says…” and jabbing C

that directly into his midsection, that’s when he starts running. Satan is unable to stand against the powerful force of the utterance of God.

A perfect example of this is found in Matthew 4:1. “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” What’s interesting to note about this verse is that it tel s us that God Himself led Jesus straight into the face of the devil. That’s a critical point to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 123

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

124

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

recognize because later on we discover that Jesus used the rhema (the utterance of God) to defeat the devil. God had gone on the advance against Satan by leading Jesus to him, and Jesus responded by using the offensive tool, the sword of the Spirit, to overcome him.

In verse 3 of this passage we read that Satan tempted Christ at His weakest point. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days, so by the time this encounter occurred, he was hungry. In Luke 4:13 we read that Satan looks for “opportune” times to work his deception. He tried to capitalize on Christ’s legitimate need for food by saying, “Command that these stones become bread.’ ”

Jesus; however, responded by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shal not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

What Jesus didn’t do in this situation is just as important as what He did do. By saying, “It is written,” and then using the ful force of the Word of God, Jesus didn’t enter into a long debate, meeting, conversation, or dialogue with Satan about the subject. He simply said, “It is written,” fol owed up with what God had said.

Satan came at Jesus two more times, tempting Him in a moment of physical weakness, but each time Jesus responded in the same way—“It ial

is written”—fol owed by what the Word said about the matter. Now, if ter

the Living Word, Jesus, needed to use the rhema to deal with the enemy, how much more must we rely on the rhema of God? Jesus embodied perfection in His thoughts and reasoning, but even He didn’t approach ted ma

Satan based on His thoughts. He overcame Satan with the Word of God.

igh

The issue Jesus faced was a legitimate one. He was hungry. He had yr

a legitimate physical need. Satan didn’t twist Christ’s need. Instead, he op

tried to twist the way Jesus went about meeting that need, tempting C

Jesus to find fulfil ment apart from God. However, when he did that, Jesus responded in a way we might describe today as Googling God’s feeding program. He accessed Deuteronomy 8 and then told Satan what God says about bread and hunger.

After only three times of “It is written,” Satan left. He couldn’t handle more than three strikes, so he was out of there as quickly as he had Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 124

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sword of the Spirit

125

come. So if you are asking, “Tony, why won’t the devil leave me alone?

Why is he always up in my face?” my answer to you is a question as wel : Are you using the Word of God to make him leave you alone?

Satan can hang out with you al day and al night long if he knows you wil never read the graphe, which wil help you understand the Logos, which in turn wil help you hear and use the rhema God has given to you for your specific situation. The sword of the Spirit is your offensive weapon to advance against the enemy in the trials and battles he has brought upon you. It’s time to take back the ground and restore what has been lost to the deceptive strategies of Satan. After having put on the ful armor of God, use the sword of the Spirit to move forward against the enemy and tel him he has to get out of your way. As Paul writes in Romans 8:37, “In al these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

Go on the Offensive

One day, an elderly man walked into a local lumber mil and told the owner of the company that he wanted to come and work for him chopping down trees. The owner took one look at the wrinkled, old man and laughed. “You’re as old as dirt,” he said. “What makes you ial

think you have what it takes to work for me?”

ter

“Just give me a chance,” the old man replied, “I know I can do this job.”The owner was in a pleasant mood, so he decided to humor the old ted ma

man by taking him out to the forest where a number of younger men were chopping down trees. In a matter of hours—and to everyone’s igh

surprise, the old man had chopped down more trees than al of the yr

younger men. The owner’s mouth fel open in amazement.

op

He asked him, “Sir, where did you learn to chop down trees like C

that?”

The old man replied, “Have you ever heard of the Sahara Forest?”

“You mean the Sahara Desert?” asked the owner.

“No,” the old man said, “I mean the Sahara Forest. That’s what they cal ed it before I got there.”

When you learn how to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 125

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

126

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

word of God, as you go on the offensive against the enemy seeking to destroy you, it doesn’t matter how old you are or how weak you seem.

Al you need to know is that the sword in your hand is capable of doing more than you wil ever need. As we saw with Jesus in the wilderness, that sword wil make the devil flee. I guarantee it. Better yet, God guarantees it. So grab it and use it on your path to living in ultimate spiritual victory.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 126

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Part 3

The Victory

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 127

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 128

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

10

The Power of Prayer

A world champion body builder went to Africa on a tour to promote good health and physical fitness. He visited some large metropolitan cities as wel as some nearby vil ages, where the people did not have access to electricity, television, or running water.

One day as this body builder was holding a fitness awareness seminar in a smal , remote vil age, he had an interesting interruption. He had just finished demonstrating al of the different ways he could cause ial

his muscles to bulge and contract al over his body when the local ter

tribal chief stopped him. Slowly making his way up to where the body builder was standing, the tribal chief spoke to him through a translator.

“What you have shown us is impressive. I have never seen that many ted ma

muscles on one man before.”

The body builder, used to hearing such flattering remarks, smiled igh

smugly and gave the crowd another look at his physique. But the tribal yr

chief continued talking. He said, “I only have one question. What do op

you use those muscles for?”

C

The body builder answered, “Body building is my profession. This is my job.”

“You don’t use those muscles for anything else?”

“No,” replied the body builder.

“What a waste,” said the chief, shaking his head slowly. “What a waste to have al of those muscles and not use them.”

129

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 129

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

130

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The same could be said for any Christian who has access to the ful armor of God but doesn’t use it to walk in victory. If you read this book but fail to apply the truth of God’s Word to your life as an intentional, active approach to spiritual warfare, you wil be no closer to living a life of victory than before you began the first chapter.

These next two chapters are critical not only for bringing to frui-tion al that we have talked about so far but also for setting the stage to launch you into the final portion of this book. Parts 3 and 4 are designed to offer you what you need to experience true victory. In these parts, I’ve chosen some specific biblical truths that you need not only to know but also to own, apply, and use in spiritual warfare. They are laid out in an easily accessible manner so there wil literal y be no excuse for a life of defeat. If you wil simply use the armor on a daily basis, you wil walk in victory.

But before we go any further, I want to remind you of the first principle of spiritual warfare one more time: Whatever is plaguing you today in the physical realm is emanating from the spiritual realm. If we do not address the cause, we wil never get to the cure. The enemy wants you to forget that. He wants you to continue to believe that your spouse, your boss, your friend, that drink, that drug, that emotion, or even ial

you yourself are the problem. Al of these (and more) can be manifester

tations of the problem, but none are the root cause. The battle begins in the spiritual realm. And because you are a believer, you are already victorious in that realm even when everything around you in the visited ma

ble, physical realm is tel ing you you’re defeated.

If you want to access and walk in the victory that is already yours, igh

you must address the physical spiritual y. If you do not address the phys-yr

ical spiritual y, you wil continue to experience the effects of the phys-op

ical realm’s domination.

C

Paul gives us the secret for how we can do this. After instructing us to put on the ful armor of God, he goes to the next step in the process of battling in spiritual warfare when he says in Ephesians 6:18, “With al prayer and petition pray at al times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with al perseverance and petition for al the saints.”

Notice how many times the word “pray” or a synonym for prayer Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 130

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

131

is used in that short statement. We see it as “al prayer,” “petition,” and

“pray.” Paul has purposeful y chosen to emphasize prayer immediately fol owing his instructions on taking up the armor of God.

The topic of prayer has been studied, written about, talked about, and preached on by mil ions of people for thousands of years. But in my interactions with believers in nearly four decades of ful -time ministry, I’ve discovered that very few of us actual y understand prayer.

When people truly understands prayer, that understanding changes how they live, what they pray, whether they pray, and the expectations they have from prayer.

For many people, even some Christians, prayer is like the national anthem before a sporting event. It gets the game started but has absolutely no relevance to what’s happening on the field. Prayer is merely a habit. For example, when most of us pray before we eat, we don’t real y utilize our minds as we’re praying; we just say the same general thing each time. Or when many of us pray before we go to bed at night, we simply recite a cal for blessing and protection with a little bit of gratitude thrown in for good measure. Prayer has become a routine.

Another way to look at it is that prayer has become like a spare tire—we want it there in case we real y need it, but if we don’t feel as if we need it, ial

we want it out of the way where we don’t have to deal with it or see it.

ter

Simply defined, prayer is earthly permis ion for heavenly interference.

It’s earth giving heaven permission to intervene in the situation down here with the manifestation of the spiritual reality up there. Now, I ted ma

know you might be asking, “Tony, why does heaven need permission?

Why do I have to give heaven permission to do anything down here?”

igh

The nature and the topic of this book won’t al ow us to go into al yr

of the theology behind the answer to that question, but it can be sum-op

marized by looking at how God designed the world to function. When C

God created the heavens and the earth and placed mankind on it, He said, “Let them rule.” For whatever reason, God chose to give mankind rulership over the earth. In doing so, He has done two things. First, He has given mankind the option of leaving Him out. The first chapter of Romans summarizes the results of what happens when God is left out.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 131

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

132

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The second thing He’s done is given mankind the option of cal ing on Him to join in on the rulership He has wil ingly given us.

There are many things God can do but doesn’t do simply because He has not been requested to do them. But when you go to God and ask for His divine intervention based on His Word, His truth, His promises, and His character, He intervenes in response to your faith, your desire for Him, your submission to Him, and your acknowledgment of your need for Him.

You can leave God out. He’s given you that option. You can act independently of God al day long. But you can also bring Him into your situation and watch Him show up in ways you’ve never even imagined. That’s done through prayer.

Now, keep in mind, prayer can never force God to do anything.

You can never make God do something He didn’t intend to do or plan to do. Even if you prayed al day long, every day, God is not a puppet on your prayer-string. But what prayer does is cal on God to intervene in ways that He has already declared that He wants to intervene. He’s just waiting for you to ask Him.

This biblical truth is il ustrated in James 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ial

healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

ter

James begins by giving a condition for healing to occur, and that condition is prayer. Fol owing that condition, James makes a general statement that much wil be accomplished through the fervent prayer ted ma

of a righteous person. He doesn’t say that only a little wil be accomplished. He doesn’t even say that some things wil be accomplished.

igh

James clearly says that much wil be accomplished through the effec-yr

tive prayer of a righteous person.

op

You say, “But Tony, I’m dealing with strongholds in my life. I’m C

struggling. I’m not what most people would consider a righteous person.” I hear you. None of us can claim to be perfect. But I want to remind you that when we discussed the breastplate of righteousness, we said that Jesus Christ is the righteousness that God sees in you when you, by faith, access, receive, and walk in His grace. Beyond that, we also read further in this same passage in James that “Elijah was a man Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 132

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

133

with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.”

In other words, I don’t want you to throw in the towel and believe that God only worked with the holy prophets back in the Old Testament. James is tel ing us that Elijah was just like you and me. He had a human nature just like any man, but Elijah earnestly prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then, after three years and six months, “he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit” (verse 18).

In this passage we clearly see that an ordinary man with a nature just like yours and mine had the power to both stop the rain and start it again simply through prayer. Elijah got heaven to move on earth by cal ing the wil of God in heaven down to earth. He saw a problem on earth and cal ed on heaven to solve it. Heaven heard and responded.

Look at this scenario a little more closely before we move on. In 1 Kings 18:1, we read, “Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, ‘Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I wil send rain on the face of the earth.’ ” Elijah had a rhema word from God. God told Elijah that He would send the rain.

The end of chapter 18 gives us greater insight into this.

ial

ter

Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Car-mel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face ted ma

between his knees. He said to his servant, “Go up now, igh

look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, yr

“There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times. It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a opC

cloud as smal as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.”

And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.’ ”

In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower (verses 41-45).

Once again, there is so much theology packed into this one passage Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 133

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

134

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

that for the purposes of this book, I’m going to need to give you the CliffsNotes version. Here it is: God said it would rain. Elijah prayed about what God had already said. Elijah didn’t make stuff up and attribute it to God. But what God had said—that it would rain—did not come to pass until after Elijah had prayed. Even though God had already declared it in the heavenly realm, not a single raindrop hit the earth until it got cal ed down by Elijah on the earth. In other words, prayer cal ed down what God had already intended to do; what God had already intended to do did not happen until prayer drew it down.

Elijah’s prayer didn’t make God do something He hadn’t intended to do, but it did reach into heaven and grab and draw down what God had already told Elijah He would do.

Another thing to notice about Elijah’s prayer is the form in which he prayed. We read that he “crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees.” That may not mean much to you or me reading it in the twenty-first century, but it meant something very powerful in the time period and the culture in which Elijah lived. When a woman gave birth in Elijah’s day, she didn’t have the luxury of modern hospital beds. What she would often do is position herself by crouch-ing down and placing her face between her knees. This put her in a ial

position of travail. In doing so, she wasn’t creating the life of the child ter

within her. She was simply providing the best possible avenue for the life that already existed to be brought into its new realm.

Elijah didn’t merely bow his head, close his eyes, hum a hymn, and ted ma

ask for rain. Scripture tel s us that Elijah positioned himself in a posture of travail. Prayer is the work done in faith that accesses al that God igh

has already planned to do. It’s earthly participation in a heavenly deliv-yr

ery, and as we see from Elijah, who has been given to us in the book of op

James as an example of effective prayer, prayer can involve travailing.

C

God’s Secrets

As we see from Elijah, prayer should be predicated on what God has already declared He wil do. In order to do this effectively, we need to study His Word ( graphe), understand His message (Logos), and become intimate with His utterance ( rhema) so that when we pray, we Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 134

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

135

wil know what we are to pray for in line with His wil . The Bible tel s us that God has secrets that He’s wil ing to share with you and me. Secrets are special things you tel only those people who are closest to you. God wants you to be so close to Him that He can lean over and whisper His secrets in your ear. We read in Psalm 25:14, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He wil make them know His covenant.”

When God reveals to you His secrets—His promises in His Word—

that is when you are able to take God’s Word and send it right back to Him. That is when you can say, “God, You said in your Word…”

Prayer is holding God accountable to what He has already said He wil do.

So we see that prayer is not simply seeing something you want and claiming it. If God didn’t tel you He’s going to give you that nice new job with a corner office, then you can pray until you’re blue in the face and that nice new job wil stil belong to someone else. The foundation of prayer is knowing what God has already said. God has given us literal y thousands of promises in His Word. I encourage you to start there.

We do ourselves a disservice when we don’t take the time to learn and know God’s Word. Our prayers become vague and empty, or they become ful of things God never intended to do. Either way, we end ial

up tossing our armor into the back of the closet and saying, “It didn’t ter

work for me.” Then we often cal someone or meet up with our friends and try to find a human solution or at least someone who can give us sympathy for what we’re battling.

ted ma

Friend, you need answers much more than you need sympathy.

You need heaven to invade earth, and the only way to access heaven’s igh

authority on earth is through prayer. It’s like the television you have yr

at your home. There are television signals floating around in the air al op

the time. But you won’t be able to use those signals until you turn your C

television on. When you do, what was invisible becomes visible. You can see the image on your television because you have received the signal that’s being broadcast.

God has provided us—His children—with everything we need to broadcast His glory not only within our own lives but also to a world in need of seeing Him. What’s available to us in the invisible realm is Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 135

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

136

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

accessed through prayer. God is present al around us. His angels are moving al around in the physical realm, surrounding us. In fact, there are demons surrounding us as wel . We just can’t see the spiritual realm until we draw it down into the physical reality.

The Opportune Time

Paul’s instruction in Ephesians 6:18 includes a very important term.

He directs us to “pray at al times in the Spirit.” The English word

“times” in this passage is often misattributed to the Greek word kronos, which simply refers to time in general—seconds, minutes, hours, and so on. So you’l often hear a believer saying this passage means that we’re to be praying al of the time. That’s something we do see in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, where we’re told to “pray without ceasing.” But that’s different from what Paul is tel ing us to do in this particular passage.

When Paul wrote, “pray at al times,” he specifical y chose the much more distinctly defined Greek word kairos. Kairos has to do with a specific time. If I were to say to you that I wil meet you for lunch at 12:15, you know that I’m going to meet you at 12:15. That’s different from saying, “Let’s do lunch sometime ( kronos)” and leaving it at that.

This specific time ( kairos) of 12:15 has been chosen as an opportune, ial

appointed time.

ter

So when Paul tel s us in Ephesians 6:18 to “pray at al times,” he’s specifical y pointing out that we’re to pray at opportune, appointed times in relation to the “evil day” that he’s just written about. Remem-ted ma

ber, the evil day is the day when spiritual warfare is in your face and al hel is breaking loose. At those times, Paul says, pray. It’s at those times igh

that the day demands the power of the armor connected with concen-yr

trated, specific prayer.

op

In Romans 8:22-23 we read about those times. “For we know that C

the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves.”

Does that sound familiar? Has the battle ever made you so weary that you actual y groan? Has life hurt you so badly that you find yourself unable to do much more than wait eagerly for the redemption of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 136

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

137

the body? It’s especial y at times like these that you must suit up and pray.What happens when you pray at this time—not according to the flesh, with random, vague prayers out of habit, but rather according to the Spirit, by connecting with and focusing on what God has to say on the matter? Continuing in Romans 8, we read that in those times, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the wil of God.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the wil of God (verses 26-27).

It’s then that the Spirit groans with you—travails with you—

because He knows how deep the problem, hurt, need, or attack real y is. He comes alongside of you in those kairos moments, when you don’t think you can make it one more day. It’s then that He ushers you into the very presence of God while He cal s on God to do His wil in your situation.

ial

Realizing al that’s actual y going on during prayer ought to invig-ter

orate your prayer life. For many people, prayer can seem boring, but that’s only because they don’t understand what’s happening in the invisible realm as the result of their prayers. If we could truly grasp al ted ma

that happens in the invisible realm in response to our prayers, prayer would be the top priority in al of our lives, and we would do what Paul igh

urges—“pray at al times in the Spirit.”

yr

op

Battle in the Heavenlies

C

In the book of Daniel, we find one of the greatest il ustrations of prayer. We begin by seeing that Daniel is studying God’s Word and then responding to God in prayer based on what He has discovered.

In the first year of [Darius’] reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 137

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

138

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the comple-tion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:2-3).

First, Daniel discovered what God had said. Then he talked to God about it. Anytime you take God’s Word and talk to Him about it, you are praying in the Spirit. Let’s see what happens next.

Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was stil speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding” (Daniel 9:20-22).

Notice that while Daniel was praying, God sent an angel to help ial

him understand even more than he previously had known. However, God did not send the angel to give Daniel understanding until Danter

iel prayed in response to what God had already said. We see this in the next verse: “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tel you, for you are highly esteemed; so give ted ma

heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision” (verse 23).

As soon as Daniel began praying, God gave the directive to Gabriel to igh

go to Daniel to give him more understanding.

yr

Daniel 10 gives us greater insight into this occasion.

opC

Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tel you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.”

And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 138

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

139

from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what wil happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”

When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless (Daniel 10:10-15).

When Daniel prayed to God in response to God’s words revealed through Jeremiah, God sent a messenger to help him. Twice we read in these two chapters that God sent the angel on the day that Daniel prayed to God in accordance with God’s already revealed word. When you or I are praying according to God’s own word, He hears us and responds. The delay in receiving that response was caused by spiritual ial

warfare in the heavenly realm. Gabriel had been dispatched to go to Daniel with a message of understanding from God, but the prince of ter

Persia—a demon—blocked Gabriel from reaching his destination for three weeks.

When we fail to realize that our battles are being waged in the ted ma

spiritual realm, we may make the false assumption that God hasn’t igh

heard us or that He doesn’t care about our situation. But as we have yr

seen in Daniel’s case, God not only heard Daniel’s prayer when he first offered it but also responded immediately to Daniel’s prayer. Yet opC

because there is a battle taking place in the invisible, spiritual realm, there was a delay in God’s response reaching its intended destination.

In fact, another angel—Michael—was needed in order to eventual y remove the demon from acting as an obstacle for Gabriel. Ultimately, the prince of Persia got double-teamed in order for God to deliver His message to Daniel.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 139

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

140

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

No battle or war has ever lasted for only a minute. Yet sometimes it seems that’s what we must believe when we say our prayer and then go our way, disappointed when God doesn’t respond immediately. But there are more reasons to keep praying than simply to ask again for the thing you’re seeking. If what you’re praying is in line with God’s Word, you don’t need to continue to ask God over and over again. After you ask Him, the remainder of your prayers should be focused on thanking God for His promised response. And since there are demons attempting to block the delivery of that answer in your life, your prayers should also focus on asking God to intervene in the situation to remove Satan from causing a delay in your answer.

Paul urges us to pray in a like manner in the passage we looked at in the opening of this chapter. After detailing the different pieces of the armor, Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:18 that we are to pray at al times in the Spirit, “and with this in view, be on the alert with al perseverance and petition for al the saints.” Being on the alert means that we are to pray with our eyes wide open. Peter tel s us in 1 Peter 5:8 the reason we are to be on the alert with our spiritual eyes open: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

We must be on the alert as we pray because prayers prayed in ial

response to God’s Word summon the wil of God down from heaven to ter

earth and are a dangerous threat to Satan. Hel wants to block heaven from reaching earth, and it wil do anything it can to stop us from praying. Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you pray, a number ted ma

of distractions show up? Or maybe you get sleepy even though you weren’t sleepy before you began. Satan and his demons wil try every-igh

thing they can to stop you from praying because prayer is the tool yr

through which the armor of God manifests its greatest potential for op

victory.

C

There’s a story told about two hunters who had heard that a bounty of $5000 had been put up for every wolf they could kil . So these two hunters decided that they would go wolf hunting and strike it rich. It was a dangerous job that took them deep into the heart of the forest.

One night, one of the men was awakened to the sound of growling.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 140

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Power of Prayer

141

Looking outside his smal window, he saw more than 50 snarling wolves surrounding them with their teeth glittering in the moonlight.

The man turned to his friend and woke him up saying, “John, we’re rich!”

Perspective is everything. If the enemy is trying to distract you from praying, that’s a good sign. That means your prayers are causing him to be concerned. But don’t let Satan intimidate you or keep you from praying fervently in the Spirit. When you have suited up for battle in the heavenlies, prayer is your ticket to take you straight into the heart of it.Many of the things you have asked God for in prayer, He has already answered. He has already approved them. It is only that Satan is now attempting to block your answer from reaching you. So don’t give up, and don’t spend your time focusing on what has already been done.

Instead, thank God for what He has promised and persevere in prayer until the kairos moment arrives when you wil receive your victory.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 141

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 142

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

11

The Sufficiency of Christ

Not long ago I was walking in New York City when it began to rain. I had seen the weather report, so I had my umbrel a ready. Several other people must have seen the report as wel because they had their umbrel as too. But a good number of people didn’t have umbrel as, causing them to rush around, looking for someplace to find cover. Needless to say, they became miserable as the cold rain drenched them.

ial

Being underneath an umbrel a doesn’t stop the rain—it simply ter

stops the rain from stopping you. The umbrel a doesn’t stil the storm.

What the umbrel a does is change the way in which the storm affects you.

ted ma

Standing firm in the armor of God doesn’t stop the spiritual warfare from raging. It stops it from defeating you. That’s why one scheme of igh

the devil is to get you to step out from underneath the protective cov-yr

ering God has given you in the six pieces of armor. Once you step out op

from underneath God’s protection, you expose yourself to everything C

Satan brings your way.

One of Satan’s tactics is to get you to believe that God’s covering isn’t adequate for the tsunami-sized disaster he’s going to throw at you. He tries to get you to run. He wants you to drop your umbrel a—

your armor—and run someplace where you think you might be more safe. But as we’ve seen, the key to victory in spiritual warfare comes 143

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 143

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

144

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

in recognizing the truth that Jesus Christ has already secured the victory we seek, and our proper response is to stand firm in that victory.

There is no safer place you or I could ever be than ful y armed in our identity with Christ.

The Victory of Christ

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He made it possible for us to be complete in Him and in His rule, which extends over everything—

every event, every enemy, every threat—literal y everything. As we read in Colossians 2:10, “In Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over al rule and authority.” In Him, we discover our victory—

there is nothing lacking in His headship and rulership over al else.

When you trusted in Christ for your salvation, you were transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light. As we saw in chapter 3, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). When you and I believed in Jesus Christ, God changed our location. We have been transferred to a new kingdom with its own kingdom agenda, which is the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life.

ial

The book of Hebrews tel s us that Jesus’ death rendered Satan ter

powerless.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through ted ma

death He might render powerless him who had the power igh

of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who yr

through fear of death were subject to slavery al their lives (Hebrews 2:14-15).

opC

In Jesus Christ, you have been set free. You no longer have to cower in fear of anything. Your victory is rooted in the reality that everything is under the rule of the One who has made us complete in Him. “And He put al things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over al things to the church, which is His body, the ful ness of Him who fil s al in al ” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 144

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

145

These are just a few defining truths regarding the victory of Christ we are to live in. Knowing and living by these realities ought to change the way we walk, talk, think, and respond. Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan once and for al . Satan can no longer overcome us with his power. If Satan defeats us at al , he must do so with permission that has been given to him. This is a truth that Satan does not want us to know or own because once we walk in this truth, we wil treat him differently, look at him differently, and respond to him differently.

If you were to come to my house during footbal season, you would see that NFL Network is perpetual y on my television. Anyone who knows me at al knows that I love footbal . The great thing about NFL

Network is that it shows you the scores of every game of al 32 teams in the NFL each week. This is so you can know how everything ended.

But there is something else that NFL Network does. It also replays the games. So if you didn’t happen to see the score, you wouldn’t know how the game ended. But if you did see the score, even though you would already know how the game ended, you wouldn’t know how it got to that point.

And NFL Network not only shows games from this season but also replays games from previous seasons. They wil show games from the ial

past even though the viewer already knows how the game wil turn out.

ter

When I’m watching a footbal game and I already know the out-come, it changes the entire experience. There’s something about knowing how the game ends that alters the way I view it. I might see my team ted ma

fumble, but I don’t get upset because I know where the game is going.

I might see my quarterback throw an interception, but I don’t get ner-igh

vous because I know how the game has ended. I might see my team go yr

four and out, but it doesn’t matter because I know where the game is op

headed. At halftime, my team might even be losing, but it doesn’t matC

ter. Sure, I may get a little frustrated, but I don’t lose my composure. I don’t stress. And the reason I don’t is that I have already seen the final score. Discovering ahead of time where the victory lies changes everything. Now I’m viewing the game from the vantage point of victory, not in order to determine victory.

Friend, Jesus Christ has already secured your victory over anything Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 145

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

146

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

that Satan brings at you. When you view your life through that lens, it takes the pressure off and frees you to walk confidently in the strength of the One who has already won. It even changes the way you talk.

Instead of speaking in uncertainties, you can now talk with authority and hope. You can speak words of life.

Words are powerful, after al . Proverbs 18:21 tel s us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Every time you repeat a negative, defeating statement or speak a hopeless thought, you are hand-ing Satan a stick with which to beat you down. Every time you say, “If things get better,” or “If God comes through,” or “I just don’t know if I’m going to make it,” you are giving Satan permission to defeat you.

You are loading the bul ets into his empty gun.

God tells us to use His Word and the strength found in it to speak life into our situation. Uncover and discover God’s perspective on whatever it is you’re facing, and speak these truths to God, yourself, others, and Satan and his demons. Speaking something has great significance. Christ said in Luke 4:18 that God sent Him to “proclaim release to the captives.” Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that when we receive communion, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

To proclaim something is to speak it, whether in words or in actions.

ial

For example, at the church I pastor in Dal as, we offer communion ter

every Sunday. We do it every week because communion is a foundational part of the Christian life. It brings us back to the cross before we ever get into worship or the sermon by reminding us of the mercy, ted ma

power, and authority in the new covenant we are now under.

However, more than that is taking place during communion. Even igh

if no words are spoken by anyone, a loud message is proclaimed each yr

and every Sunday to the demonic forces in the spiritual realm. The op

act of communion sends a shout-out to Satan that Jesus Christ has C

already secured the victory. By proclaiming Christ’s death, we serve notice to hel that heaven has already won this battle. We affirm to Satan that even though we may stil have problems, fears, and frustrations, through Christ these things no longer rule over us. They no longer have the final say.

But if, as Paul clearly teaches in 1 Corinthians 11:26, the act of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 146

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

147

taking communion is also the act of proclaiming a critical truth, we are left with a question: Proclaiming it to whom? And for what reason?

To proclaim something is similar to preaching it. So Paul is tel ing us that when we participate in communion, we are preaching a sermon to Satan and his demons about the totality of Christ’s death. It’s the time in the service when we get to preach to the spiritual realm that victory has been secured. Part of what we’re preaching is found in Colossians 2:13-15.

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us al our transgressions, having can-celed out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Communion reminds us that on the cross, Jesus defeated and disarmed the devil. Satan may stil have more power than you and I do in our humanity, but the key to understanding spiritual victory in any ial

arena—your marriage, your career, your health, or elsewhere—is to ter

recognize that Satan’s power means nothing when you understand he has no authority. On the cross, the devil lost his authority. Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities.”

ted ma

Not only that, but this passage tel s us that Jesus put them on “display.” He held a victory parade. Satan and his demons were put on pub-igh

lic exhibition in the spiritual realm as having been defeated. When we yr

operate in our position in Christ in the spiritual realm, we are to look op

at Satan the same way Jesus sees him. We are to look at him as the loser C

he truly is, displayed for al to see.

Communion offers stil more than a proclamation of Satan’s defeat, though. It not only separates us from demonic involvement and influence (see 1 Corinthians 10:20-21) but also draws down covenantal blessings from the heavenly realm. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?”

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 147

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

148

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Communion is the act of reaching into heaven and grabbing the blessings attached to Christ’s covenantal death and resurrection while also reaching into hel to let the enemy know he no longer holds authority over us. Victory in spiritual warfare isn’t solely about defeating Satan; it’s also about drawing down from heaven al the good things God has in store for us on earth.

Remember Jesus

We’re not in the same room together right now, but I can imagine what you may be saying. “Tony, this is a lot to remember, especial y when I’m under attack. I can’t remember al six pieces of the armor, prayer, and communion—I’m having enough trouble as it is. Give me something simple.”

I hear you, so let me break it down from the overview we just studied. If you’re in a crunch—the “evil day” is upon you, and Satan and his demons are al up in your face—and you need help immediately, remember this one thing: remember Christ. Jesus Christ Himself is the fulfil ment of each piece of the armor. He is the embodiment of abiding through prayer. He is the manifestation of the bread and blood in communion. Remember Jesus.

ial

ter

The belt of truth

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Remember Jesus

ted ma

The breastplate of righteousness

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our igh

behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of yr

God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

opC

Remember Jesus

The shoes of the gospel of peace

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”

(Romans 5:1).

Remember Jesus.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 148

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

149

The shield of faith

“…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Remember Jesus.

The helmet of salvation

“There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Remember Jesus.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, ful of grace and truth…No one has seen God at any time; the only ial

begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:1-2,14,18).

ter

Remember Jesus.

In other words, if you can’t remember anything else about the ted ma

armor, remember Jesus.

In Jesus, you have truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and igh

the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That’s why Paul tel s yr

us in Romans 13:14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Suit up with Jesus op

because when you arm yourself by putting on Him, you’l discover C

that you have al the armor you need to live in victory. Jesus secured everything you need when He died on the cross. He took on the penalty so that He could love the sinner, pay for the sin, satisfy God’s just wrath against sin, and express God’s love without compromising divine justice.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 149

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

150

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The book of Revelation emphasizes the totality and sufficiency of Christ.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (Revelation 12:10-11).

We have already seen that hel is after you day and night. Satan and his demons have made it their mission to accuse you twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. But three principles in this passage from Revelation remind us how we’re to respond while armed in the ful armor of God. Before we look at them, we need to remember that what you and I need to overcome is often not what we think it is.

The circumstances, the problems, the health issues, or the addictions are not defeating you. Instead, this passage makes it clear that “they ial

overcame him.” “Him” is a pronoun for Satan. We wrestle not against circumstances, problems, health issues, or addictions, but against printer

cipalities, powers, and world forces in the heavenly realm. In order to overcome anything in our physical world, we need to first overcome Satan because he is the one who is causing the chaos in our life.

ted ma

The Blood of Christ

igh

The devil is overcome by three things. First, he is overcome by the yr

blood of the Lamb. The Lamb referred to in this passage is Christ, who opC

was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Unfortunately, a number of Christians don’t understand the blood. We sing that there is power in the blood or that the blood wil never lose its power, but the power of the blood has nothing to do with its molecular construction. In other words, Jesus was a man who had human blood Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 150

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

151

running through His veins. There was nothing about His blood that made it different from the blood of any other person.

What carries the power is that He is the Lamb. God told Israel in the Old Testament that they were to kil a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts of their houses. He said, “The blood shal be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I wil pass over you, and no plague wil befal you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). When God saw the blood on a doorpost, He passed over the home, not because the lamb’s blood had anything special in it, but rather because the blood represented something greater.

In the sacrificial system of the old covenant, the shedding of blood represented atonement for sin. Back then, it was atonement on the lay-away plan. Under the new covenant with Jesus Christ, the atonement is immediate. So by referring to the blood of the Lamb, we’re not talking about the substance, but rather about the One who died, why He died, and what His death accomplished by bringing us into a right relationship with God.

Al of this came to a head on what we now cal Easter weekend. On Friday, Jesus Christ hung between heaven and earth—bleeding pro-ial

fusely from His head, hands, side, feet, and everywhere He had been ter

beaten and scourged. Near the end, He looked up to heaven and cried,

“Tetelestai,” meaning “it is finished” or “paid in ful ” (John 19:30). At the cross, Jesus completely satisfied the demands of God against you and ted ma

me. Every accusation that can be made against us, even if it’s legitimate, was paid in ful by the blood of the Lamb. However, to this day, Satan igh

continues to bring up to God our deficiencies and sins even though yr

the bil was settled long ago.

op

But the cross didn’t end on Friday. You might not have heard a ser-C

mon preached about Easter Saturday, but a lot happened on that day.

Jesus wasn’t just laying stil and cold in the tomb doing nothing on Saturday. According to the Scripture, between the time He died and the time He rose again, He went down to hel and delivered two sermons Himself right there in hel . Jesus was preaching on Easter Saturday (see 1 Peter 3:19; 2 Peter 2:4).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 151

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

152

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The first of these two sermons was directed at Satan and his demons.

It was a short sermon. Essential y He said, “You lose; go to hel .” But Jesus’ second sermon was directed at al the saints who were on the other side of Sheol in Abraham’s bosom. In this sermon, He told them that because of His payment on the cross, they no longer needed to stay there. Paul tel s us in the book of Ephesians, “ ‘When He ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’

(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?)” (Ephesians 4:8-9). Jesus gathered the Old Testament saints and delivered them up into glory so they could be in the presence of God. Jesus was busy on Saturday.

Then on Sunday, Jesus accomplished the final third in a three-part plan—He rose again.

So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so ial

Simon Peter also came, fol owing him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the ter

face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rol ed up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also ted ma

entered, and he saw and believed (John 20:3-8).

igh

The grave was and is empty, positioning Jesus Christ at the right yr

hand of the Father, not only having died to save you and me but also liv-op

ing to do the same (see Romans 5:10). As Satan goes about his business C

of accusing you day and night, Jesus goes about his business of setting the record straight by the power of His death, burial and resurrection.

Who wil bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 152

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

153

He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us (Romans 8:33-34).

Satan stands there to accuse you in the heavenly realm, but Jesus stands there delivering you, setting you free, releasing you, defending you, and empowering you with His strength. Christ’s atonement is a saving work not only for eternity, but for every day.

The Testimony of Christ

The second way Satan is overcome, according to Revelation 12:11, is by “the word of their testimony.” Tucked away in the word “testimony”

is a key element to having one: Test. You don’t real y have a testimony until you have come through a test. A testimony testifies as to what God has done to bring you through something that no one else could have brought you through. So if God has never brought you through something, your testimony is going to be vague and general—something like “God is good al the time, and al the time God is good.”

Sayings like that are nice, and they sound very Christian, but you gain a much more powerful testimony when you know that if God doesn’t do something, you are going to lose everything—including ial

your mind. This is when you don’t know how you’re going to pay your ter

rent, buy your food, get a job, find a spouse, mend your relationship with your spouse, stop the habit, or even believe again. This is when al hope seems to be gone, but then you see Jesus Christ tel your particular manifestation of hel to back off. It’s at these times, when God ted ma

wants us to know that He is the only one who can rescue us, that we igh

get a testimony. But a testimony should never stop at simply receiv-yr

ing a testimony. The Scripture says Satan was overcome by the word of their testimony. They spoke, proclaimed, confessed, and declared their opC

victory by tel ing their testimony.

Jesus is not interested in delivering secret-agent Christians. He is not interested in setting free the Christian equivalent of CIA agents—

those who serve only in Christian covert operations. When Christ gives you a testimony, it is to be a tool in your hand to overcome the enemy yet again. In fact, Jesus tel s us that when we proclaim Him and the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 153

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

154

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

things He has done in our lives—the word of our testimony—He speaks about us al the more. He says, “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I wil also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies Me before men, I wil also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). This denial or confession shows up in is His rejection or endorsement of our requests before the throne of God.

A number of years ago I was asked to pray before the City Council in Dal as. The only stipulation they gave me was that they wanted me to be general and pray to God while not mentioning Jesus. I couldn’t do that. Rather, I prayed, “Lord, I first want to thank You for the members of the city council because according to Colossians chapter one, everything that You made, You made through Jesus Christ. Lord, I also want to thank You for creating the government because Paul tel s us that the government is to be a ministry of God—this is the same apostle Paul who met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And Lord, I want to ask You to help the city council in their decision making today so that their decisions wil reflect Jesus in al that they do. And if there are any city council members who do not know Jesus, I pray that today they wil come to know Him as their Lord and Savior because Your ial

Word tel s us that no one can come to You but through Jesus. In Jesus’

ter

name. Amen.”

You cannot ask me to pray and have me keep quiet about Jesus Christ, who died for my sins, rose from the dead, gave me eternal ted ma

life, makes intercession for me at the right hand of the Father, and is my righteousness. Without Jesus Christ, I am nothing. Without Jesus igh

Christ, I have no power to overcome Satan and his influence in my own yr

life. The “word of their testimony” that overcomes Satan is the testi-op

mony concerning Jesus Christ—who He is, what He has done in the C

past, and what He is doing in the present.

When you put on the armor of God in order to walk in the victory He has secured for you, your advancement in this victory wil be specifical y tied to the word of your testimony. And that doesn’t just mean the word of your testimony given at your church. It’s easy to tel people at church what Christ has done. In addition to that, you can overcome Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 154

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

155

Satan in your workplace, in your home, and anywhere else you can proclaim the testimony of His name and your identification with Him.

Loving Christ

The third way Satan is overcome is found at the end of Revelation 12:11, where we read, “And they did not love their life even when faced with death.” This love was so strong, it even trumped their own lives.

This committed love is so essential that Jesus rebuked the church at Ephesus for having left their first love (Revelation 2:4). They had their programs, policies, procedures, and even their Bible studies al in place, but they didn’t have a love relationship. Without a love relationship, you end up with religion. You end up with something that has no power or authority in the heavenly realm. You end up with a performance, trying to gain God’s acceptance or favor while negating the truth that you are already accepted in the Beloved because of your saving faith in Jesus Christ. You don’t do good works to gain God’s acceptance. You do good works to thank Him for having already accepted you. The works we do should always be responses to God’s grace; otherwise, they are expres-sions of religion. Religion wil tire you out, make you dread coming to church on Sunday, and even leave you physical y weary.

ial

But when you think about the cross, about al that Jesus has done ter

for you, and about al that He has promised He wil do for you, anything He asks you, you can do out of a spirit of gratitude. Your attitude of gratitude wil often determine your altitude. And remember, we’re ted ma

fighting this battle up high in the heavenly realm. Our gratitude should stem from the truth that God did not judge us the way our sin said He igh

should. That He showed us mercy when He didn’t have to. That there yr

is nothing anyone can do—in the spiritual realm or in the physical—

op

to separate us from Him and His love.

C

When you operate in these truths, nothing can intimidate you.

When Paul was told that he was going to be put to death, he said (in effect), “No problem—to die is gain. I’l be better off that way.” When he was told that he would be al owed to live, he said (in so many words),

“No problem—to live is Christ. I’l just get to serve Christ more before I die” (see Philippians 1:21). And when Paul was told that he would Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 155

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

156

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

suffer, he said something like this: “No problem—the suffering of this present time is not worth even comparing to the glory that wil be revealed in the future” (Romans 8:18).

In other words, “If you kil me, I’m going to be with Christ. If you let me live, I’m going to stay here and serve Christ. If you make me suffer, I’m going to get more reward from Christ. So bring it on, because it’s al about Christ!”

When you proclaim these things before Satan—the blood of Christ, your testimony of Christ, and your relationship with Christ—there is nothing he can do to defeat you. He is the defeated one, not you. The only thing Satan can do is deceive you into thinking you’re on your own. But when you know that Jesus is your advocate and defender, al you need to say is this: “Step aside, Satan, because it is time for Jesus Christ. He has me covered. He has my back.”

So even if you can’t remember every piece of the armor, remember Christ. Without Him, the armor won’t do you any good anyhow.

But with Him, you are victorious. When you live in the truth of His atoning blood, proclaim the word of your testimony, and abide in an authentic relationship with Him, even the demons wil flee.

But as we see in this next example, Jesus’ name is not a magic word.

ial

The authority comes through the relationship.

ter

Some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus ted ma

whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish igh

chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered yr

and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil opC

spirit, leaped on them and subdued al of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded (Acts 19:13-16).

Without a relationship with Jesus Christ through the atoning work on the cross, you wil be overpowered by the demons even if you cry

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” al day long. The authority comes in the relationship.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 156

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

157

When that’s in place, you can cross over into the heavenly places and watch God do exceeding, abundantly above al that you can ask or think, for His glory. The blood of Jesus Christ is a passport that gives believers legal access and authority in the spiritual realm.

Putting on Christ

If you’re tired of being overcome in the physical realm, your solution lies in the spiritual realm. Your point of reference must be in knowing, standing firm in, and utilizing what God has provided for your victory. If Satan is running your life, passions, and emotions, and if he’s influencing your decisions, you have taken off your armor. It’s time to put it on again. With the armor of God firmly in place, you wil be able to handle in the physical realm whatever Satan throws at you in the spiritual.

Remember, though, that God does not dress you in the armor. In grace, He has simply given you everything you need to put on in faith.

Faith is reaching into grace and grabbing what God has graciously supplied through Christ. It’s reaching into the spiritual in order that it can be made manifest in the physical. If you do not put on grace by way of faith, you wil not benefit from the things God has provided you in ial

grace. For example, if I bought you something nice to wear but you ter

didn’t wear it, it wouldn’t do you any good, even though it was completely supplied.

The armor of God has been completely supplied. Your victory has ted ma

been completely provided. But until you grab them in faith, they do you no good. The good news is that when you do grab them in faith, igh

you wil know that it was God who secured these things for you because yr

your life wil change in such a way that only God can get the credit.

op

Strongholds and problems that you’ve struggled with for years and C

even decades can be changed overnight when things are done God’s way. Such was the case when Jesus healed the woman who had been bent over for almost two decades. Doctors had undoubtedly tried to heal her during that time, most likely thinking that what she was suffering from was a bad spine. But when Jesus showed up, what couldn’t get fixed for eighteen years was fixed immediately.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 157

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

158

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the syna-gogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at al . When Jesus saw her, he cal ed her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:10-13 niv).

You know God has intervened when something you have been struggling with for years immediately changes. You know it’s the power of God when immediately your taste buds change, or you can turn off that computer, or you can deal with that sin, temptation, or temper.

When God shows up, you discover that you only needed two of the twelve steps of that self-help program because by step two you have already been delivered through a supernatural invasion of God in the spiritual realm.

This reminds me of the character Thomas Anderson in the movie Matrix. Thomas was a part-time computer programmer and part-time computer hacker living an ordinary life. One day Thomas discovered another realm cal ed the Matrix. Thomas was told that behind the ial

physical realm in which he lived was another realm that actual y dictated what went on in his. When Thomas was taken to this other realm, ter

he learned he had powers he had never even dreamed of having in the physical realm. He discovered his mind could think at a level it never could have done in the physical realm. He found out he had ted ma

capacities he never even knew he possessed. Beyond that, he got a new name (Neo) in the new realm because his old name from the physical ighyr

realm did not define who he was in the new. He also fel in love in the new realm (with a woman named Trinity) in a way that he had never opC

experienced in the physical realm. He discovered that he had a purpose—something much more than simply punching the keyboards on computers al day long, something with significance and the potential to make a substantial impact on the physical realm.

While Neo was in the new realm, he also got a new set of clothes.

Neo’s old clothes from the physical realm weren’t going to work for his Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 158

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Sufficiency of Christ

159

new placement and assignment. He had to dress for the location in order to defeat the enemies who attacked him in the new realm. And he did defeat them, dressed in the clothes given to him for the new realm.

My friend, you can defeat your enemy as wel . You can live in the victory Christ has secured for you because when you trusted in Him, he crossed you over into a whole new realm. You have a new name—

son or daughter of the living God. You have a new love—the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You have a purpose and a destiny—to glorify God in al that you do while significantly impacting others and the world around you. And you have new clothes—a belt, a breastplate, shoes, a shield, a helmet, and a sword.

Wear them and win. Satan is coming at you in this new realm. But when you operate according to the authority given you in the heavenly realm, you overcome him because “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Hel no longer has the final say in your life. In fact, hel has no say at al when you are armed for victory God’s way.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 159

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 160

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Part 4

Victory over

Strongholds

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 161

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 162

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

W e overcome strongholds in our lives as a result of Christ’s power within us as we apply His truths to our situations and use the different pieces of spiritual armor. A stronghold can be defined as a pattern of unrighteousness that holds you hostage outside of the wil of God. Strongholds result from something invisible in the spiritual realm cooperating with something visible in the physical realm, keeping a person trapped in an addiction or negative life pattern.

ial

Overcoming a stronghold always involves a spiritual solution because ter

the stronghold is rooted in a spiritual cause.

In this final part of the book, we’l address seven prominent strongholds that frequently keep people in bondage today, but the principles ted ma

for victory can be applied to any stronghold you may be facing. In each chapter, I’ve offered an overview of the stronghold, God’s viewpoint on igh

the stronghold, as wel as the biblical solution to the stronghold. I also yr

included a five-day meditation and prayer guide to help you replace op

the lies that have kept you bound for so long with God’s truths for vic-C

tory. The daily guides include four sections:

• Wear it. This introduces the spiritual truth behind the victory through a specific verse related to the piece of armor chosen for that day, as wel as a verse reflecting Christ’s sufficiency to overcome this stronghold.

163

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 163

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

164

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

• Stand in it. This positions the truth into language that wil enable you to personal y apply these principles to your life.

• Use it. Here we communicate the truth to Satan and his demonic realm.

• Draw it down. In this part, we reach into heaven with the truth to access God’s response to this particular situation.

We have been instructed in Romans 13:14 to do more than wear the armor of God. We are also to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” That’s why I’ve cal ed these daily meditations “Putting on the Armor of Christ.”

I encourage you to think on these truths, memorize them, repeat them, speak them to yourself, speak them to Satan, pray them to God, copy them, and place them in areas where you wil be reminded of them al day long. Let them become the dominant thought patterns governing your life. As you operate with the ful armor of God, you wil discover both the freedom and the victory that are rightful y yours as a child of the King.

Here’s to your victory!

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 164

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

12

Victory over

Marital Strongholds

The Stronghold

Many couples have a marriage that looks as if it was performed not by a justice of the peace, but by the secretary of war. Their relationship isn’t a mutual admiration society; it’s become a mutual extermination society. As a result, divorce rates soar, not only in the secular society but also in the body of Christ. Our nation is caught in a divorce epidemic ial

as more and more couples decide to cal it quits.

We know that marriage strongholds exist when married couples ter

return home every day to miserable homes. It’s a stronghold when you argue from the time you wake up until the time you fal back to sleep at night. It’s a stronghold when after so many years or decades have ted ma

passed, you look at your spouse and see a stranger looking back at you.

igh

It’s a stronghold when two people who have committed their lives to yr

one another cannot even stand each other. This goes much deeper than personality differences. Differences existed when the two first met.

opC

They didn’t simply appear after the wedding. These differences were just addressed and overcome beforehand because the goal—marriage—

made it important enough to do so.

Divorces frequently occur as a result of a stronghold in the way marriage is viewed. Most people look at marriage as a way of finding love, happiness, and companionship. Those things are good, but they 165

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 165

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

166

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

are actual y secondary to the primary purpose of marriage. We begin to overcome marriage strongholds when we understand the purpose of marriage. God didn’t simply institute marriage because He was looking for another thing to do. God created marriage as one of the primary tools through which He fulfills His destiny for you and also advances His kingdom.

Satan was the cause of the first marital conflict in history when he enticed Adam and Eve to rebel against God’s word, as we see in Genesis 3:1-6. This led to blame, pain, the battle between the sexes, and sibling rivalry between the children. Marital conflict is indeed a spiritual issue.

God’s Viewpoint

Marriage is a covenantal union designed to enhance and strengthen the capacity of both partners to carry out God’s plan in their lives. We read about this covenant in the book of Malachi.

This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because ial

the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, ter

though she is your companion and your wife by covenant (Malachi 2:13-14).

ted ma

Strongholds show up in our marriages when we no longer realize that marriage is a covenant or don’t even understand what a covenant is.

igh

In order to break marital strongholds, we need to realign our thoughts yr

in keeping with God’s viewpoint of a covenantal marriage.

opC

God’s Solution

Biblical covenants are spiritual y binding legal arrangements that God makes between Himself and His people. Each covenant involves three facets: transcendence (the rulership of God), hierarchy (the alignment established by God), and ethics (the rules, sanctions and continuity set in place by God.)

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 166

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

167

This being so, covenants can never function as they were intended without the overarching governance of God. When God’s viewpoint and authority is dismissed from the marital covenantal relationship, the door is open for Satan to bring destruction into the home. Marriage is a sacred covenant, not just a social contract.

One of the rules for understanding the Bible is cal ed “the law of first mention.” This means that if you want to know what God says about something, study the first time He brings it up. Everything else wil build on or expand this original mention. So to go deeper into God’s viewpoint on marriage as wel as His solution for overcoming martial strongholds, we need to look at the book of Genesis, where God initiated the idea of marriage.

First, God created mankind in His image, and then He said, “Let them rule.” In that declaration, God released the exercise of dominion and authority to humanity on earth so that mankind could manage His creation. That doesn’t mean that God has relinquished His sovereignty. He has maintained a base of sovereign boundaries across which humanity cannot tread, but He has likewise opened up an arena where you and I get to cal the plays and then live by the consequences of either the wisdom or foolishness of those plays.

ial

You can have a satisfying or an unsatisfying marriage based on ter

whether your rule reflects the image of God that you were made in. The health of the home is determined by whether the husband is reflecting God and His character accurately in His role, or whether the wife ted ma

is reflecting God and His character accurately in her role. Every time there is a marital breakdown, one or both partners are no longer living igh

a life that reflects the rulership of God through them.

yr

What Satan attempts to get us to do is turn our rule over to him op

or to rule poorly based on our own viewpoints. One reason he does C

this is that the breakdown of the home leads to the breakdown of society. Most of the negative realities present in our society today can be directly tied to the failure of marriages and families to authentical y reflect God’s rule. The rebel ion that was first introduced in the garden has led to chaos replacing calm, death replacing life, and pressure replacing peace—not only in our homes but also in our communities.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 167

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

168

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

The purpose of marriage extends much further than simply a relationship between two people.

In a covenantal marriage, the first truth to recognize is that there are more than just two individuals entering the covenant. A husband and a wife enter into a covenant when they get married, but they enter into it along with God. The key to overcoming marital strongholds is recognizing the presence of God in the union and functioning in light of His presence. It’s the connection of spirit to spirit through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that enables couples to gain victory in their marriage.

As we have seen, we are made up of body, soul, and spirit. The physical attraction—our bodies—may have been the initial element in drawing two people together, but it wil fade. Our souls, due to their distortion from sin and circumstance, often lead to conflict or attempts to manage the relationship, not to unity. Victory over marital strongholds is thus located in the spirit first. As the Holy Spirit unites with our spirits and we individual y draw closer to God, He brings us together as one. You cannot leave God at the altar and expect to have a healthy marriage.

Many people are married today in the body (attraction), or they are ial

married in the soul (companionship), but few are married in the spirit ter

(oneness). When you live in your marriage as spirit mates, you wil be able to tackle any problem that comes at you in the body or the soul.

One reason so many strongholds show up in marriages today and ted ma

so many people want to divorce is that they never got married correctly—in spiritual oneness—to begin with. They have failed to under-igh

stand a foundational truth found in Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a yr

man shal leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; op

and they shal become one flesh.” The problem arises when two people C

do not want to become one flesh. Instead, they want to remain as two flesh in one home.

In fact, when asked about the issue of divorce, Jesus referenced this

“one flesh” principle in His response. The interesting point is that His answer didn’t directly connect with the question on the surface. This is because the question had been whether or not it was okay to get a Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 168

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

169

divorce. We read in Mark 10:2, “Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, test-ing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.” In other words, if people think they have reason enough to divorce, Jesus, do they then have a reason? If they want to cal it quits, can they?

Jesus didn’t give a yes-or-no answer. Rather, He simply said that they were asking the wrong question. If you understand the nature, purpose, and covenant of marriage—and if you function accordingly—

that question wil have no need for discussion. In becoming “one flesh,”

the two are to complement each other so deeply and intimately that they become one without losing their personal identities.

I want to give you one word that can restore life to your marriage if you both take it to heart. When you simply live out this one word, I guarantee you by the authority of God’s Word that you wil overcome your marital strongholds. That word is grace. Most marriages today operate by law—you are supposed to do this, or you are supposed to do that. But the law kil s. For a marriage to flourish, it must live by grace.

Ephesians 5 gives us this truth:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the ial

church and gave Himself up for her…So husbands ought ter

also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body…

ted ma

Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that igh

she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:25,28,33).

yr

op

This truth wil change everything. Are you a husband? You are to C

die for your wife in a spirit of grace. Are you a wife? You are to live for your husband in the same spirit. When this principle is carried out, there wil be a dynamic experience in your marriage. It won’t be a perfect, problem-free experience, but it wil be an authentic, progressive, and complete union.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 169

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

170

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

To the Husband

So what does it mean to die for your wife as Christ gave Himself up for the church? It means al owing your dreams, wil , desires, and choices to come second to a true love for your wife. Biblical love can be defined as seeking the wel -being of another, even at your own expense.

This kind of love places the wel -being of your wife above your own wel -being. It means viewing her through the same lens of love that God views her.

If you see your wife only as someone to raise your kids, wash your clothes, organize your life, and cook your meals, then what you’re seeing is a maid. God has uniquely designed a woman with skil s and abilities that are to be utilized to complete and enhance your own mas-culine skil s and abilities. When she trusts and experiences that you value her, she wil respond to your needs without the necessity of a law or requirement to do so. Women have been fashioned to respond—it is up to the man to set the tone of the home through leadership that demonstrates sacrificial love in order for her to do so.

Now, I know that you know how to do this, because you did it when you were dating. The problem is that most men date to marry ial

rather than marry to date. That’s cal ed “Backward, Christian Soldiers.”

When was the last time you took your wife in your arms and simply ter

told her, “The best thing I did in life was marry you”? When was the last time you cupped her face in your hands and said, “You are my life”?

When was the last time you sent a Valentine’s card and it wasn’t Valented ma

tine’s Day? Or you watched the kids, listened when she talked, took on her pain, or validated her skil s, her dreams, her hurts, and her life?

igh

When was the last time you truly sacrificed something for her? A yr

man once told me, “Tony, my wife is kil ing me.” I replied, “Wel , op

you said you wanted to be more like Jesus, didn’t you?” Loving your C

wife as Christ loved the church is a man’s key to overcoming marital strongholds.

To the Wife

Your part as a wife is just as powerful. Keep in mind that nowhere in the Bible is a woman commanded to love her husband. God expects Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 170

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

171

you to love your husband, but it’s never commanded the way a man is commanded to love his wife. Why? Because that’s not what your husband needs the most. What your husband needs the most is respect.

Your husband ought to feel like a king around you, on top of the world.

He should hear you cal him your strong tower. He is your head, and your role is to submit to him as your head. That doesn’t mean that you are to be walked on or that you have to agree with everything he does.

Submission means that even if you disagree with his point, you wil respect his position.

And of course, you are never to submit to something that contradicts God’s revealed wil in His Word, but that’s seldom the case.

Regardless of differences in education, abilities, and preferences, when your husband seeks to align himself under God and His rulership, he is your head and should be the recipient of your highest respect.

Love and respect, offered in grace. When both parties abide by these principles, the marriage wil no longer be under the influence of a stronghold because the two wil hold up each other in mutual strength.

ial

Putting on the Armor of Christ

ter

Day One

Wear It

ted ma

The belt of truth. “Therefore a man shal leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shal become igh

one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 esv).

yr

Putting on Christ. “For where two or three have gathered opC

together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).

Stand in It

The Word of God says that now that I am married, I no longer should consider myself as solely on my own. Instead, I have now joined with my mate, and the two of us have Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 171

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

172

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

become one flesh together. As a result, Jesus Christ is present in the midst of us when we operate and function out of one flesh together in His name.

Use It

Satan, I have left my father and my mother, and I hold fast to my spouse. I am no longer functioning as an individual; instead, am one flesh with my spouse. We are together in Christ’s name. When you attack us, you are attacking Him because He is in the midst of us. He has already defeated you, so we stand secure in His victory over you.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You say that when we became married, we were no longer two individuals, but are now one flesh.

Let the power of our one flesh abiding together in the name of Jesus Christ manifest itself in how we think, behave, and treat each other so that You may be glorified in this union.

Day Two

ial

Wear It

ter

The breastplate of righteousnes . “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conted ma

duct of their wives—when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Peter 3:1-2 esv). “Husbands, love your igh

wives, as Christ loved the church…In the same way hus-yr

bands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who op

loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own C

flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body” (Ephesians 5:25,28-30 esv).

Putting on Christ. “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 172

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

173

He might present to Himself the church in al her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Stand in It

As a wife, I am to be subject to my own husband, so that even if he does not obey the Word, he may be won without a word by my conduct, when he sees my respectful and pure conduct.

As a husband, I am to love my wife as Christ loved the church and even as I love my own body. I am to nourish and cherish her, just as Christ does the church so that she might be sanctified, having been cleansed by the washing of water with the word, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

Use It

Satan, you do not have the authority to influence my decisions because as a wife, I am to be subject to my own husband, so that even if he does not obey the Word, he may ial

be won without a word by my conduct, when he sees my ter

respectful and pure conduct.

Satan, you do not have the authority to distract me from my role as a husband to love my wife as Christ loved the ted ma

church and even as I love my own body. In God’s strength, I wil nourish and cherish her, just as Christ does the church igh

so that she might be sanctified, having been cleansed by yr

the washing of water with the word, having no spot or op

wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and C

blameless.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, help me as a wife to be subject to my own husband, so that even if he does not obey the Word, he may Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 173

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

174

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

be won without a word by my conduct, when he sees my respectful and pure conduct.

And Father, help me as a husband to love my wife as Christ loved the church and even as I love my own body. Help me to nourish and cherish her, just as Christ does the church so that she might be sanctified, having been cleansed by the washing of water with the word, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

Day Three

Wear It

The shoes of peace. “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, al the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:9 esv).

Putting on Christ. “Let your gentleness be evident to al .

The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5 niv).

ial

Stand in It

ter

I wil enjoy life with my spouse, whom I love, al the days of my life under the sun because that is my portion in life.

And I wil let my gentleness be evident to al because the ted ma

Lord is near.

igh

Use It

yr

Satan, you have no authority to distract me from enjoying op

life with my spouse, whom I love, al the days of my life C

under the sun because that is my portion in life. I rebuke any attempts you make to do so in Jesus’ name. My gentleness wil be evident to al because the Lord is near.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, give me wisdom on how I can enjoy Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 174

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

175

life with my spouse, whom I love, to the ful est potential because You say that this is my portion in life. Show us how to maximize that enjoyment in ways we have not yet even considered. Let gentleness be the standard by which we relate to each other because You are near to us.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, cal ing him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

“You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fel ow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers wil not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:5-7).

ial

Putting on Christ. “He has brought me to his banquet hal , ter

and his banner over me is love” (Song of Solomon 2:4).

Stand in It

ted ma

As a wife, I wil hope in God and adorn myself by being submissive to my husband, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, igh

cal ing him lord. I have become her child when I do what yr

is right without being afraid.

op

As a husband, I wil make every effort to live with my wife C

in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, because she is a woman. I wil show her honor as a fel ow heir of the grace of life, and in this way my prayers wil not be hindered. Jesus Christ has brought us to His banquet hal , and His banner over our marriage is one of love.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 175

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

176

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Use It

Satan, in Jesus Christ we have a banner of love over us. In this love, I choose as a wife to hope in God rather than listen to you, and I choose to submit to my husband without fear, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, cal ing him lord.

Satan, I choose as a husband to show my wife patience and understanding because she is weaker as a woman. Your attempts to get me to dishonor my wife in my thoughts or actions wil not work because in Christ, I wil honor my wife as a fel ow heir of the grace of life. And because of that, my prayers wil not be hindered.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, as a couple we ask that You wil reveal to us the abundance of Your love, which you have given us in Your banquet hal . Let the love found in Your banner over us flow from one to the other.

As a wife, I ask that You wil remove any fear that I have in submitting to my husband so that I wil be like Sarah, who ial

obeyed Abraham without fear, cal ing him lord.

ter

And as a husband, I thank You for giving me the wisdom to live with my wife in an understanding way. Help me to see her as You see her, that I might show her honor in Your name.

ted ma

igh

Day Five

yr

Wear It

opC

The helmet of salvation. “An excel ent wife is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4). “Al of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were cal ed for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 176

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Marital Strongholds

177

Putting on Christ. [Need verse]

Stand in It

[Need text]

Use It

[Need text]

Draw It Down

[Need text]

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fil the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’ ” (Genesis 1:28).

Putting on Christ. “But their minds were made dul , for to ial

this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is ter

read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14).

Stand in It

ted ma

God has blessed our marriage, instructing us to be fruit-igh

ful and multiply and fil the earth and subdue it and have yr

dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

opC

Through whatever means He wil provide, we trust that He wil supply an increase to our family, giving us wisdom on how to exercise the dominion He has given to us in this realm—not with minds that have been made dul , but with minds that have been made alive in Christ.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 177

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

178

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Use It

Satan, we resist any attempts you make to bring broken-ness into our marriage, because God has declared that He has blessed our marriage, instructing us to be fruitful and multiply and fil the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Jesus Christ has removed the dominion from your hands and wil now give us wisdom on how to exercise the dominion He has given to us to use in this realm—not with minds that have been made dul , but with minds that have been made alive in Him.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for blessing our marriage.

Thank You for the assurance that because You have given the command to be fruitful and multiply and fil the earth and subdue it and have dominion over it, You wil supply the wisdom and capacity to do that. We praise You that You have not al owed our minds to remain dul , but have ial

renewed and restored them in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 178

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

13

Victory over

Chemical Strongholds

The Stronghold

Like me, you probably came into contact with the story of Popeye—

either on television or in a comic book—as you were growing up. If so, you remember that Popeye was constantly being brutalized by an over-grown bul y (sometimes cal ed Bluto, sometimes cal ed Brutus) who regularly sought to wreak havoc on Popeye.

ial

But every time it looked as if Popeye couldn’t last a minute longer, he reached for a can of spinach. After popping open the can and downter

ing its contents, a new Popeye emerged, strong and victorious.

Sadly, today many of us have developed a Popeye syndrome. When circumstances or the people around us bring us pain and anguish, caus-ted ma

ing us to feel beaten down, burdened, lonely, or stressed, we reach for igh

a can. We reach for a quick fix to provide relief to a long-term prob-yr

lem. Unlike Popeye and his spinach, though, a bottle of Jack, a cigarette, a pil , or any other chemical infused into our body during a time opC

of need doesn’t provide the strength or victory we so desperately seek.

Rather than defeating whatever difficulty we are facing, it masks or even compounds it.

A chemical stronghold can be defined as a dependency on chemicals to address, escape, cope with, or find relief from the struggles and stresses of life. People with chemical strongholds often reveal themselves 179

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 179

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

180

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

easily. They wil say things like, “I just need a drink to unwind,” or “I just need a smoke to reduce the stress,” or even “I’m ugly until I get my first cup of coffee.” Al three have said the same thing: I cannot be what I was meant to be without ingesting these chemicals. Sure, coffee is not similar to cocaine in terms of their effects, but they stem from the same root—looking to chemicals to address a spiritual need.

The problem comes in the attempt to get the physical world to provide the fix for the spiritual pain, lack, or emptiness. It would be like a guy who wrapped himself in Band-aids across his chest because his girlfriend had broken his heart. Or someone who drank a lot of milk because she desired to grow spiritual y. Neither would do any good at al . A spiritual problem can only be addressed spiritual y.

God’s Viewpoint

Our bodies are temples of the living God, and anything that controls us makes us slaves to something other than God.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; ial

but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

ter

For sin shal not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:12-14).

ted ma

That drink, cigarette, pil , cup of coffee, drug—whatever it is you struggle with—is not to be the master over you. Because of God’s grace, igh

you have been made alive in Him, and that life now has the ability to yr

dominate your responses—if you wil align yourself with the truth of op

God’s solution to your stronghold. The key to overcoming chemical C

strongholds is in knowing who you real y are in Christ.

God’s Solution

Tad Walgreen died of a drug overdose in 1996 in the midst of a bitter custody battle for his two smal children. His widow, Loren Walgreen, died three years later of a drug overdose as wel . Both were in Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 180

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

181

their thirties and died while high on cheap stimulants in seedy loca-tions. And yet these two were from the family of Charles Walgreen, the founder and owner of the giant Walgreens pharmacy chain. They al owed the temporary relief of a cheap fix to cause them to forget who their father was and what he could do for them. The same holds true for anyone suffering from a chemical stronghold. When believers in Christ lose sight of who their Father is and that He holds in His hands al of the power they wil ever need, they turn to cheap substitutes.

Now, I can hear what you are saying. “Tony, it’s not as simple as that. You don’t know how deep my problem is. My people [or my boss, my situation, my past, my regrets…] drive me to do what I do in order to cope.” Friend, I do understand. I understand that your addiction is what drives you. But what I’m saying is that it’s driving you in the wrong direction. Where it ought to drive you is found in Ephesians.

We read, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be fil ed with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). When life crashes in on you, don’t turn to the bottle because that wil be dissipation—a waste. Be fil ed instead with the Spirit and let Him satisfy your need.

To be fil ed with something involves having more than a desire for it. It’s an ongoing action. People who depend on alcohol to get them ial

through the day wil have a bottle at home, a bottle at work, a bottle in ter

the car…and even with al of that, they may be walking around with something in their hand as wel . They know that in order to sustain the feeling that the alcohol brings, they have to keep putting more and ted ma

more alcohol into their body.

A similar thing happens when you drive your car. As you do, you’re igh

continual y in the process of depleting your gas tank. You don’t have to yr

do anything wrong to deplete your tank. It’s simply a result of using the op

gas you need to get where you want to go. However, if you wish to keep C

driving, you wil have to go to the gas station and fil your tank back up.

Blaming your car for not taking you where you need to go when you have not taken it where it needs to go for refueling is much like blaming the Holy Spirit for not giving you victory when you haven’t done what He has said in order to be fil ed with Him.

The next two verses expand on how this fil ing remains in us: Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 181

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

182

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

“[Speak] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for al things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:19-20).

Simply stated, the Holy Spirit’s presence involves worship. But if the only time you worship and experience God is on Sunday, you’re going to run on empty throughout the rest of the week. Worship—being in God’s presence—includes several things:

speaking His truth (“speaking to one another in psalms”) singing (“hymns and spiritual songs”)

meditation (“making melody with your heart”) gratitude (“always giving thanks”)

Being fil ed with the Holy Spirit means making worship a lifestyle.

When the Holy Spirit’s presence fil s you, you wil discover that even your cravings change. This is because it is Him working in you both “to wil and to work for” (Philippians 2:13) the things God has designed for you. You don’t have to live as a slave to what you crave; the Holy Spirit wil set you free to be al that you were created to be and to ial

enjoy. We read this in the book of Romans:

ter

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For ted ma

what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the igh

flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sin-yr

ful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirements of the Law might be opC

fulfil ed in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4).

What Paul is saying is that the law pul s you down into sin and death, just as the law of gravity pul s you down to the ground. If you make a habit of jumping off tal buildings, the law of gravity wil win every single time. It doesn’t matter if you like the law or even believe Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 182

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

183

in the reality of the law; either way, it wil pul you straight down to the ground. The same is true with sin’s hold on your life. It leads to death. But through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has set you free from the power of sin.

For example, if you were to jump off a tal building but were strapped into a hang glider, you would not be pul ed down. In fact, depending on the air currents, you may soar two or three times higher than the top of the building. This isn’t because the law of gravity no longer exists. Rather, it is because another law—a higher law, the law of aerodynamics—has the trumped the law of gravity.

The Greek word used for “Spirit” in the New Testament is pneuma and can be translated “breath” or “wind.” It’s the Spirit’s job to set you free from the law of sin by lifting you higher whenever Satan attempts to drag you down. The Spirit can make you soar because He is the wind that carries you during tough times. But in order for Him to do that, you need to hang out with Him. You need to abide in His presence, meditate on His Word, speak His thoughts, sing His songs, and show gratitude in faith for al that God has done and wil do for you.

Whenever I’m counseling people with a drug addiction, I try to find a way to get them to a Christian rehab center in New Jersey. The reason ial

is that I appreciate the philosophy at this center. When people arrive ter

there, they’re told that they’re not drug addicts; they are blood-bought children of the living God, and they have already been given victory over drugs. That’s who they are. When they introduce themselves, they ted ma

say, “Hi, my name is so-and-so, and I am a blood-bought child of the living God, and I have already been given victory over drugs.”

igh

Not only that, but their primary form of breaking the addiction is yr

through memorizing, meditating on, repeating, rehearsing, and shar-op

ing Scripture verses. That’s what they do al day long, al week long, and C

al month long. It’s a simple solution, real y, and it works. The success rate for those who stay at the center for six months is higher than 75

percent, no matter how long they have been addicted to drugs. This happens because the action of taking drugs is not the problem. The action is simply a manifestation of the problem. The problem is in the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 183

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

184

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

mind. And when we al ow God’s thoughts—His Spirit—to be the dominating force in our lives, He changes everything.

I was physical y trapped once—in an elevator. Being trapped is an uncomfortable feeling, especial y in a high-rise with the elevator stuck between two floors. When it happened, the immediate reaction of those around me was to panic. Some cried, some yel ed out for help, and some started banging hard on the door.

I stood there for a minute, watching the reactions of the others around me, until the elevator phone caught my eye. When I saw it, I simply made my way to the other side of the elevator, picked up the telephone, and waited. A voice on the other end said, “Is there a problem?”

I answered, “Yes, sir, we are trapped. Can we get some help?”

“We’l be right there, sir,” the man replied.

It was as simple as that.

When you feel trapped in an addiction or by a habit, it’s easy to forget that God has put a lifeline in each of our lives. He’s just waiting for us to pick up the phone and give Him a cal . Yet because we forget about it, we go about trying to free ourselves through our own human efforts—we cry, scream, bang on doors, grunt, groan, and try to force ial

our bodies to overcome a stronghold that’s rooted in the spiritual realm.

ter

But God says that instead of trying to do al of that on your own, you simply need to pick up the phone. He is there. In fact, you don’t even have to yel . He can hear you—a whisper wil do. Once you connect ted ma

with the Spirit and remain connected to Him— fil ed with Him—He wil deliver you.

ighyr

op

Putting on the Armor of Christ

C

Day One

Wear It

The belt of truth. “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 184

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

185

Putting on Christ. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2).

Stand in It

I have been bought with a very high price. I am valuable and have been set free. I no longer need to be a slave to anyone or anything. Likewise, I am not condemned for anything I have done or that has control ed me, because I am forgiven in Christ Jesus. His law of the Spirit of life has given me total freedom from the law of sin and death.

Use It

Satan, you do not own me. I have been bought with a very high price, higher than you could ever pay. I am valuable and have been set free from your influence over my life. I am not your slave. Neither am I a slave to any substance or chemical addiction you might try to bring my way. I am a blood-bought child of the King. And I am not con-ial

demned for anything I have ever done, no matter how terrible it may have been, or anything that has ever control ed ter

me in the past, because I am completely forgiven in Christ Jesus. His law of the Spirit of life has given me total freedom from you.

ted ma

Draw It Down

igh

Father in heaven, thank You for the price You paid to buy yr

me, redeem me, and set me free from the law of sin and op

death to a life of victory in the Spirit. I praise You because C

when You look at me, You do not see my sin or condemn me, because I have been completely forgiven in Jesus Christ.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 185

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

186

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Day Two

Wear It

The breastplate of righteousness. “Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the wil of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

Putting on Christ. “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10).

Stand in It

I wil present my body a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is my spiritual service of worship. I wil not be conformed to this world, but I wil be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I may prove what the wil of God is, that which is good and acceptable and ial

perfect. Christ is in me, so even though my body is dead because of sin, my spirit is alive because of righteousness.

ter

Use It

Satan, my body is not yours. You cannot tel me what to ted ma

do. I have presented my body as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, as a spiritual service of worship. I igh

wil not be conformed to what you have to say or what this yr

world dictates; instead, I am transformed by the renew-op

ing of my mind and proving what the wil of God is, that C

which is good and acceptable and perfect. Christ is in me, and He has defeated you, so even though my body is dead because of sin, my spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I present my body to You as a living Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 186

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

187

and holy sacrifice, which is my spiritual service of worship. Through Your power in me, I wil not be conformed to this world, but I wil be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I may prove what Your wil for me is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Because of You, though my body is dead because of sin, my spirit is alive because of righteousness. I am in Christ, so I ask You to manifest in me al the ful ness of His righteous life.

Day Three

Wear It

The shoes of peace. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you wil know what is the hope of His cal ing, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).

Putting on Christ. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1 niv).

ial

Stand in It

ter

God has cal ed me to a hope that includes al the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people. Because I have been justified through faith, I can enjoy that inheritance ted ma

and have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have gained access by faith into this grace ighyr

in which I now stand.

op

Use It

C

Satan, I have hope. The hope I have is rooted in the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in His holy people. Not only that, but I have been justified through faith so that I have total peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have gained access by faith into this grace Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 187

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

188

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

in which I now stand. You cannot remove or diminish this peace because it has been given to me through Jesus Christ.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I can ful y know the hope to which You have cal ed me and the riches of Your glorious inheritance in Your holy people. Show me everything that I can see about this hope and these riches, God. I am justified before You through faith in Jesus Christ, and it is in this truth that I access the peace and grace I need to stand today and every day.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5 esv).

Putting on Christ. “You see, at just the right time, when we ial

were stil powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely ter

wil anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were stil sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8 tniv).

ted ma

Stand in It

ighyr

Hope wil not put me to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit, opC

who has been given to me. This is because when I was stil powerless, Christ died for me. God demonstrated His own love for me in this: While I was stil a sinner, Christ died for me.

Use It

Satan, I am fil ed with hope because when I was stil Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 188

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

189

powerless, Christ died for me. God demonstrated His own love for me in this: While I was stil a sinner, Christ died for me. If you accuse me of my sin, I wil point you to Jesus Christ because my hope in Him wil not put me to shame.

God’s love has been poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to me.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for the hope that comes in knowing that when I was stil powerless, Christ died for me. You demonstrated Your own love for me in this: While I was stil a sinner, Christ died for me. Let me realize Your ful love, which has been poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to me, so my hope wil be rooted in Your reality. In that truth, I wil not suffer shame.

Day Five

Wear It

ial

The helmet of salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is ter

the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”

ted ma

(Ephesians 2:8-10 tniv).

Putting on Christ. “But because of his great love for us, God, ighyr

who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have op

been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5 niv).

C

Stand in It

I have been saved by grace through faith—and this is not from myself, it is the gift of God, not by anything that I have done. I cannot boast. I am God’s handiwork, His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 189

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

190

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

God prepared in advance for me to do. He already knows my destiny. He already has it mapped out for me. Because of His great love and mercy for me, He made me alive with Christ even when I was dead in my transgressions. By grace I have been saved.

Use It

Satan, I have been saved by grace through faith. This isn’t from myself; it is the gift of God, not based on anything I have done. I cannot boast. I did not earn it. I am God’s handiwork, His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for me to do.

He already knows my destiny. He has a plan for me that is both good and ful of hope. Because of His great love and mercy for me, He made me alive with Christ even when I was dead in my transgressions. By grace I have been saved.

Your accusations carry no authority over me.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You have saved me in Your grace through ial

faith. This is a gift from You. God, I know that it is not a result of anything I have done. I take no credit for it in ter

any way. I am one of Your “good works”—Your handiwork, Your masterpiece—created in Christ Jesus to do the things You want me to do. You have already prepared these ted ma

things for me, so al I need to do in fol owing You is to follow where You lead and walk into the purpose that You igh

have for me. Because of Your great love and mercy for me, yr

You have made me alive with Christ even when I was dead op

in my transgressions. By grace I have been saved, and I ask C

for the ful ness of that grace to be made so real to me today that I actual y see Your hand in my life.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 190

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Chemical Strongholds

191

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “Those who sow to please their sinful nature wil reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit wil reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8 tniv).

Putting on Christ. “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13 niv).

Stand in It

When I sow to please my flesh, I wil reap destruction.

When I sow to please the Spirit, I wil reap productivity and eternal life. In Christ Jesus, I have been brought near so that I can have hope that God wil produce a return on whatever I do in His name.

ial

Use It

ter

Satan, you tel me that pleasing my flesh wil satisfy me, but the Word of God says that sowing to please my flesh wil reap destruction. Sowing to please the Spirit is what wil ted ma

reap productivity and eternal life. You tried to separate me from God, but in Christ Jesus, I have been brought near.

igh

I know that He wil produce a return on whatever I do in yr

His name.

opC

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You say that sowing to please my flesh wil reap destruction, but sowing to please the Spirit wil reap productivity and eternal life. Lord, give me wisdom on how to sow to please the Spirit. Reveal to me anything and everything I can do to sow to the Spirit, and convict Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 191

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

192

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

me anytime I am sowing to please my flesh. In Christ Jesus, I have been brought near, so I am confident You wil produce a return on whatever I do in Your name. I am trusting You for this return and asking that You wil make it known to me as it happens, to encourage me in You.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 192

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

14

Victory over

Sexual Strongholds

The Stronghold

The Puritans may have lived as though there was no such thing as sex, but many Americans live as though there is nothing but sex! We have al been affected in some form or another by the increase in sexual awareness in our culture. Things that would have shocked mov-iegoers 15 or 20 years ago now regularly show up on our televisions.

ial

Magazines routinely display images of scantily clad models or celeb-ter

rities posed in sexual y al uring positions. The Internet has delivered every conceivable form of pornography, not only to home computers but often to phones as wel .

What makes a sexual stronghold more difficult to overcome than ted ma

many other strongholds is that a sexual stronghold doesn’t always show igh

up in the physical world. For instance, people can have a sexual strong-yr

hold and never actual y engage in sex. Instead, their sexual stronghold may manifest itself through an addiction to pornography, fantasizing, opC

or achieving personal gratification through il egitimate means contrary to God’s plan for sex. If people think about alcohol, it won’t get them drunk. Or if people think about cocaine, it won’t make them high.

But thinking about sex is often its own fulfil ment. People who would never do anything wrong sexual y often find as much satisfaction in the thought as they would in the action. Jesus says, “But I tel you that 193

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 193

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

194

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

anyone who looks at a woman lustful y has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28 niv). When God views a sexual stronghold, He doesn’t just view the physical.

Scripture talks about sexual strongholds in the book of Romans.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error (Romans 1:24-27).

Paul tel s us in this passage that the devolution of man in the area of sexuality is directly tied to idolatry. The stronghold of il egitimate sex on any level is not first and foremost a problem with sex itself. After ial

al , God designed each of us with a natural and healthy desire for sex ter

within the confines of the covenant of marriage, which gives us one of the greatest pleasures we’re able to experience on earth. However, sexual activity outside of the confines of the covenant of marriage—fantated ma

sizing, pornography, or the act itself—produces within the person “the due penalty” of the action.

igh

People often think that when God gets ready to hand down His yr

wrath, He’s sitting up in heaven about to send a lightning bolt or some op

other overt form of destruction. But Romans reveals that the wrath C

of God can come infused within the sin. Commit the sin, and the wrath comes with it. In the verses leading up to Paul’s discussion on sex, he writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against al ungodliness and unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).

Essential y, God’s wrath came when He “gave them over in the Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 194

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

195

lusts of their hearts to impurity.” He did so because at the core of sexual strongholds is the sin of idolatry, and God wil not tolerate idolatry.

To exchange “the truth of God for a lie” is to place something or someone above God’s rightful position in your life.

The Bible tel s us that everything God created was good. God created sex. So the issue is not whether sex is good or bad. Sex is good. This is the real issue: Is sex being enjoyed according to God’s intentions and within His boundaries (which keeps it right), or is it being misused outside of God’s purposes (which makes it wrong)?

The purpose of sex as God designed it was both to inaugurate a covenant and to renew it. So critical was the act of sex in terms of God’s covenantal purposes that He attached blood to it. When a man marries a virgin, there is blood on their honeymoon night as the hymen has been designed to break and produce the shedding of blood.

God often attached blood to covenantal or sacrificial actions that He ordained in Scripture to signify the seriousness of the covenant.

For example, the men of Israel were circumcised in order to differen-tiate them from al of the other people of the world as God’s covenant people. Jesus shed His blood on the cross to initiate the new covenant.

So the blood as confirming a covenant agreement is something we see ial

repeatedly in Scripture and also in the covenant between a man and a ter

woman in marriage.

However, Satan twists sex to fit his purposes, and in so doing, he seeks to diminish its power both in inaugurating and in renewing ted ma

the covenantal purposes of the marital union. As we see in Genesis 6, where demonical y possessed men had sexual relations with the women igh

of earth producing a group of people cal ed the Nephilim, il egitimate yr

sexual relations led to total depravity. “The Lord saw that the wick-op

edness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the C

thoughts of his heart was only evil continual y. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart”

(Genesis 6:5-6). Satan’s purpose in twisting our sexuality is to produce an anti-God covenant where people’s thoughts are bent toward evil.

This evil way of thinking then produces an evil way of living that can Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 195

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

196

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

be transferred generational y to our children, destroying not only our homes but also our communities.

There is nothing wrong with having sexual desires. In fact, if you don’t have sexual desires, that may be an indication that something is wrong. God designed us to enjoy sexual passion. Your prayer should never be for God to remove your passion. Rather, it should be for you to manage your legitimate passion and to satisfy it within the context He has provided.*

God’s Viewpoint

God’s wil regarding sexual strongholds is unmistakably clear. We read this in Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica: For this is the wil of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

In this passage, Paul directly ties sexual morality with sanctification and knowing God. Not only that, but he writes elsewhere, “Do ial

you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in ter

you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body”

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This passage takes it a step further than simply ted ma

abstaining from sexual immorality. God tel s us that since we have been purchased through the death of His Son, we are to use our bodies in igh

such a way as to bring Him glory.

yr

op

God’s Solution

C

Easier said than done, right? To be victorious over this stronghold, it’s going to take more than taking a cold shower, turning off the television or Internet, or keeping yourself away from any tempting situation, person, or location. This is because the key to victory over this

* Tony Evans Speaks Out on Being Single and Satisfied (Moody Publishers, 2002).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 196

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

197

stronghold is found in how you view yourself. Paul tel s us that the first step to overcoming a sexual stronghold is to recognize your identity in Christ.

Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, wil inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The natural reaction when people read this passage is to think, “Oh no. I’m in big-time trouble. Because with God—just thinking the wrong thought about sex is the same as adultery.” But what you need to keep in mind is what Paul actual y wrote: “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

Paul is writing this to the membership of the church at Corinth. The Corinthians were mixed up in al kinds of messes. This church had every manner of scandal and sexual activity going on right within it.

ial

They were sleeping around on Saturday and singing in the choir on ter

Sunday. But Paul tel s them, “Such were some of you.”

He is saying to the homosexual offender, “As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are no longer a homosexual. As a believer in Jesus Christ, ted ma

you are no longer an adulterer. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are no longer a fornicator. Rather, you are a saint exhibiting homosexual igh

behavior. You are a saint who views pornography. You are a saint com-yr

mitting fornication.”

op

The first step in the process of overcoming sexual strongholds as a C

believer in Jesus Christ is to recognize who you are. You are a saint—

washed, sanctified, and justified. You have a new identity now. When you keep that truth at the forefront of your mind, eventual y the craving for whatever behavior you were doing wil begin to have less and less control over you because it does not line up with who you are. You wil be functioning first and foremost out of your identity in Christ.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 197

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

198

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Along with recognizing and living in your position in Christ, Paul wants you to remember your perspective.

Al things are lawful for me, but not al things are profit-able. Al things are lawful for me, but I wil not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God wil do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body (1 Corinthians 6:12-13).

What Paul wants us to remember is that while parts of our physical bodies were made for physical things—such as the stomach and food—

God did not design the body in its entirety for a physical reason. Our bodies were made for Him and not for immorality. When we view our bodies through God’s perspective—that He made them for Him and that He is also there for us—then whatever we do sexual y needs to reflect His wil and design. We are not our own.

Because of the often strong influences and desires of the body, though, the power to carry this off comes only in the presence of the Holy Spirit through an abiding fel owship with Jesus Christ.

ial

Now God has not only raised the Lord, but wil also raise us ter

up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shal I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins him-ted ma

self to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shal become one flesh.” But the one who joins him-igh

self to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality.

yr

Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but op

the immoral man sins against his own body (1 Corinthians C

6:14-18).

If God has enough power to raise Jesus Christ from the dead, friend, He has enough power to give you the strength to resist and flee from sexual temptation. The solution is found by turning to Him, replacing your own thoughts on who you in Christ with His thoughts, and Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 198

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

199

trusting Him to deliver you. When you live and operate under the truth of being “one spirit with Him,” the craving within you for an il egitimate expression of your sexuality wil diminish, and you wil find His strength to redirect your passions and desires toward the manifestation of a pure pleasure and satisfaction.

Putting on the Armor of Christ

Day One

Wear It

The belt of truth. “Flee from sexual immorality. Al other sins people commit are outside their bodies, but those who sin sexual y, sin against their own bodies. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20 tniv).

Putting on Christ. “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, ial

but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).

ter

Stand in It

When I sin sexual y, I sin against my own body, which God ted ma

has bought with a price. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and just as the Holy Spirit would not hang around igh

sexual immorality, I am to flee from anything related to yr

sexual sins so I can honor God with my body. I do this in op

Christ’s strength because in Him I am now dead to sin and C

alive to God.

Use It

Satan, God has already paid the high price of the blood of Jesus Christ for my body. I resist your attempts to lure me into sexual immorality, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 199

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

200

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

who has made my body His temple, I flee from sexual sins.

In Christ, I wil honor God with my body because I am dead to sin and your temptations. I am alive to God and His righteousness in Christ Jesus.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for the Holy Spirit, who has made my body His temple. Give me wisdom on how to flee from sexual immorality so that I wil not sin against the body You have purchased with a great price. Because I am not my own and I belong to You, I ask You to show me how to honor You each and every day with my body.

By faith, I believe that You have made me dead to sin and alive to righteousness in You, and it is in that truth that I seek to please You.

Day Two

Wear It

The breastplate of righteousnes . “For this is the wil of God, ial

your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own ter

vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

ted ma

Putting on Christ. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteous-ighyr

ness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

op

Stand in It

C

God’s wil is that I abstain from sexual immorality and that I live a life that is sanctified and set apart to Him. I am to know how to manage and possess myself in a way that honors who I am in Christ, and not in lustful passion that dishonors God. It is in Jesus Christ, who became sin on my Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 200

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

201

behalf, that I have become the righteousness of God, and I am ful y accepted in His love.

Use It

Satan, I renounce my past sexual immorality by the power of Jesus’ name. Jesus has taken on my sin even though He had never sinned, and it is by His sacrifice that I now walk in righteousness before God. Because of this, God says I am to abstain from sexual immorality and live a life of honor. I resist any attempt by you to lure me into anything that wil dishonor God through lustful passion.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I thank You that as I have confessed any past sexual immorality I have participated in, You have completely forgiven me by the power of Jesus’ name. Jesus has taken on my sin even though He never sinned Himself, and it is by His sacrifice that I now walk in righteousness before You. Father, give me wisdom on how to abstain from sexual immorality and live a life that honors You and ial

others with my body.

ter

Day Three

Wear It

ted ma

The shoes of peace. “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1).

igh

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it yr

according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9).

opC

Putting on Christ. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in al things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 201

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

202

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Stand in It

When I walk according to God’s Word and let His law be my guide, I wil be pure and blameless. I have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. I do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with my weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in al things as I am, yet without sin. Because of this, I draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that I may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Use It

Satan, God’s Word and His law is the truth and the standard by which I wil live my life. I renounce any attempt by you to twist His commandments in my mind. When His Word is my guide, I am pure and blameless. I have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. I do not have a high priest who cannot sympa-ial

thize with my weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in al things as I am, yet without sin. Jesus Christ resisted ter

you in the desert, and by His strength in me, I resist your attempts to keep me bound by sexual sin. Because of what Jesus Christ has secured for me, I draw near with confi-ted ma

dence to the throne of grace, and it is there that I have found mercy and grace to defeat you.

ighyr

Draw It Down

op

Father in heaven, Your Word is perfect. It guides, protects, C

and instructs me. Help me to know Your Word and meditate on Your truths as my guide so that I wil be pure and blameless. In Jesus, You have given me a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus can sympathize with my weaknesses because He has been tempted in al things as I am, yet without sin. Lord, in Christ, I ask You Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 202

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

203

to give me al the grace and mercy that You say is mine to use to live a life of victory this day and each day.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who wil not al ow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation wil provide the way of escape also, so that you wil be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Putting on Christ. “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also wil be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4).

Stand in It

No temptation has overtaken me that He hasn’t already empowered other people to overcome. And God is faith-ial

ful—He wil not al ow me to be tempted beyond what I ter

am able, but with the temptation wil provide a way for me to escape so that I wil be able to endure it. He has instructed me to set my mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For I have died, and my life is ted ma

hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is my life, is revealed, then I also wil be revealed with Him in glory.

ighyr

Use It

opC

Satan, no temptation you can use against me can overtake me because God is faithful, and He won’t al ow me to be tempted beyond what I am able. With every temptation, He wil provide a way for me to escape so that I wil be able to endure it. My mind is set on the things above, not on the things that you tempt me with on earth. What is on the earth is passing away. For I have died, and my life is Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 203

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

204

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is my life, is revealed, then I also wil be revealed with Him in glory, and your defeat wil be made visible to al .

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for Your faithfulness! You promise me that my temptations are no harder than what people have already overcome, and You wil not al ow me to suffer more temptation than I can handle. Instead, with the temptation, You wil provide a way for me to escape so that I wil be able to endure it. Bring things into my life each hour and every day to remind me to set my mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

For I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in You.

When Christ, who is my life, is revealed, then I also wil be revealed with Him in glory in Your presence. Remind me of this throughout my day, Lord, and help me to make my decisions with this in mind.

Day Five

ial

Wear It

ter

The helmet of salvation. “God has not cal ed us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

ted ma

Putting on Christ. “By this wil we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for ighyr

al ” (Hebrews 10:10).

op

Stand in It

C

God has not cal ed me for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. By this wil I have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Use It

Satan, God has a different plan for my life than you do. He Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 204

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

205

has not cal ed me for the purpose of impurity and sexual sin, but in sanctification—to be set apart for Him. By this wil I have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for al . Jesus has defeated and disarmed you on the cross.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You have not cal ed me for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Show me how to walk in the sanctification You have given me through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “…things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, al that god has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Putting on Christ. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, ial

a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that ter

you may proclaim the excel encies of him who has cal ed you out of darkness into his marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but not you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

ted ma

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your ighyr

behavior excel ent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because op

of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in C

the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:9-12).

Stand in It

I have neither seen nor heard nor received into my heart al that God has prepared for me because I love Him. I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 205

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

206

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

a people for God’s own possession, so that I may proclaim His excel encies. He has cal ed me out of darkness into His marvelous light. I once was an outsider, but now I am included in the people of God. I once had not received mercy, but now I have received mercy. I wil abstain from fleshly lusts, which seek to destroy my soul, and I wil keep my behavior excel ent so that no one wil have cause to slander me in anything. If anyone is to speak of me, let him only speak of the good works that God Himself has done through me, thus giving God the glory that He deserves.

Use It

Satan, you tel me that I do not have a future and that tomorrow wil be fil ed with pain and loss and emptiness, but God tells me that I have neither seen nor heard nor received into my heart al that He has prepared for me because I love Him. You tel me that I am worthless, a nobody, and that I don’t belong. But God tel s me that I am included in a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, so that I may proclaim His excel encies. You want me to stay in darkness, ial

but God has cal ed me out of darkness into His marvel-ter

ous light. I once was an outsider, but now I am included in the people of God. I once had not received mercy, but now I have received mercy. Rather than listen to you, I wil ted ma

abstain from fleshly lusts because you are using them to destroy my soul. I wil keep my behavior excel ent so that igh

no one wil have cause to slander me in anything. If any-yr

one speaks of me, he wil only speak of the good works God op

Himself has done through me, thus giving God the glory C

He deserves for defeating you.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I have neither seen nor heard nor received into my heart al that You have prepared for me because I love You. I am a member of a chosen race, a royal Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 206

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Sexual Strongholds

207

priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Your own possession, so that I may proclaim Your excel encies. You have cal ed me out of darkness into Your marvelous light. I once was excluded, but now I am included in Your people.

I once had not received mercy, but now I have received mercy. Because of al of these blessings, Lord, I ask You to enable me to abstain from fleshly lusts. I ask You to give me power through the Holy Spirit and the indwel ing Christ to keep my behavior excellent so that no one wil have cause to slander me in anything. If anyone speaks of me, he wil speak only of the good works You have done through me, thus giving You the glory that You deserve.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 207

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 208

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

15

Victory over

Gambling Strongholds

The Stronghold

Al of us gamble to some degree if we define gambling as simply taking a risk. The last time you got into your car, you gambled. The last time you boarded an airplane, you gambled. The last time you ate out at a restaurant, you gambled. Your last investment in the stock market was a big gamble. Taking a risk is not wrong in and of itself. In fact, in ial

Matthew 25:14-30 we read that Jesus condemned the unjust servant for his unwil ingness to take a risk. He buried his master’s money in ter

the ground instead of investing it in hopes of a return.

The question is not whether it’s okay to take a risk; the question is what kind of risk is okay to take. Gambling becomes a stronghold ted ma

when il egitimate risk replaces God’s revealed approach in whatever igh

area of life we’re facing. One of the ways a gambling stronghold is man-yr

ifested is when the motivation is greed. Jesus tel s us in Luke 12:15, “Be on your guard against every form of greed.” Scripture says that get-rich-opC

quick schemes fal into this category and lead to ruin.

• “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5).

• “A faithful man wil abound with blessings, but he who 209

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 209

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

210

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

makes haste to be rich wil not go unpunished” (Proverbs 28:20).

• “A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want wil come upon him” (Proverbs 28:22).

These are just a few of the biblical warnings that making haste to be rich is an il egitimate attempt to get what God has planned for us.

There is no other way to describe the lottery or the casinos available to us today other than as opportunities to get rich quick. This places them in the category of il egitimate risk. By il egitimate I simply mean they aren’t sanctioned or provided by God.

Having money is not wrong. Seeking wealth becomes wrong when the motivation is greed and the approach to acquiring it is il egitimate.

Neither is prosperity wrong. God Himself declares that He wants to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). It only becomes wrong when God is no longer sought after as God but rather as a means to the end of becoming prosperous.

When my children were younger, I tried to pick them up a gift at the airport on my way home from a trip. Looking forward to the gift, on their part, was not wrong. But after a while, I started hearing, “Hey, ial

Dad, when are you going on a trip?” When the focus shifted from my ter

return to what was I bringing for them, I got lost in the process. God doesn’t want us to lose Him in the process of seeking His provision, and one way we can easily lose Him is by using what He has given us ted ma

in a way that He has not sanctioned through il egitimate risk-taking.

Gambling is a stronghold not only when it’s based on greed but also igh

when it’s not tied to productivity. We read in Proverbs 10:4, “Poor is he yr

who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes op

rich.” We also read in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that “if anyone is not wil -

C

ing to work, then he is not to eat, either.” Throughout the Bible, God links personal responsibility and productivity with His provision. Even when the rich were instructed to leave portions of their fields available to the poor for gleaning, the poor were required to make the effort of doing the physical act of gleaning. If that effort was not made, the left-overs in the field would have remained there.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 210

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

211

I was recently in South Carolina when there was legislation pending regarding the lottery. As a result, several reporters wanted to inter-view me on the subject. My answer was simple. “When a government must sponsor a lottery in order to have a tax base to produce a service for its citizenry, it is saying that we have so little faith in our community’s ability to be productive that we have to give them a game to play in order that we might have enough money to keep our programs running.” Rather than encourage personal responsibility and productivity, il egitimate risk-taking through get-rich-quick gambling schemes promotes an atmosphere of dependency rather than an atmosphere of empowerment and productivity.

Not only that, but it also fosters poor stewardship. For example, financial planners are professional stewards of other people’s money.

If you were to give your financial advisor $10,000 for him to manage in your portfolio, and he told you he was going to give it to his wife because she had been wanting her kitchen remodeled for a number of years, you would demand your money back. Or if your bank told you they were going to take the money you had in your account and buy lottery tickets with it because they were feeling lucky that day, you would pul your money out of that bank immediately.

ial

God is the owner of everything, as we read in Psalm 24:1: “The ter

earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwel in it.” Therefore, we are stewards—financial planners—of anything He al ows us to have. Our money is not our money. It’s God’s money ted ma

entrusted to our care. God says we should never use the money He has given us without Him in mind because ultimately it is His anyhow.

igh

Perhaps you have read everything so far and you are saying, “Tony, yr

I don’t gamble for those reasons. I just gamble because it’s fun.” God is op

not opposed to you having fun (see 1 Timothy 6:17). He is just against C

unrighteous fun. He doesn’t want you to have the wrong kind of fun with His money, just as you wouldn’t want your financial planner to have a weekend of fun with his wife using your money.

God’s Viewpoint

God compares il egitimate risk-taking through gambling to idolatry Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 211

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

212

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

when He addresses the Israelites’ rebel ion: “But you who forsake the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who fil cups with mixed wine for Destiny, I wil destine you for the sword, and al of you wil bow down to the slaughter” (Isaiah 65:11).

To gamble il egitimately is to trust luck rather than the sovereignty of God. It’s tel ing God that you have more faith in the numbers on the ticket than in His ability to provide you with everything you need. God says you are proving that you have forsaken Him when you spin your own wheel of fortune in order to create your own destiny. Forsaking God means turning from Him as your Source and placing your hopes in something else as your source. It is a form of idolatry. Anything that eclipses God’s rightful place in your life is idolatry.

God’s solution

The stronghold of gambling exists because God has been replaced as the ultimate source, so the way to overcome a gambling stronghold is to return to God. As I referenced earlier, God “richly supplies us with al things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Likewise, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow”

ial

(James 1:17). Not only that, but God’s provision comes without a price ter

tag. We read, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (Proverbs 10:22). That is a key principle to understand when you have received a blessing from God. When you get that ted ma

new car, new house, new job, or whatever it is, you need to see that as a blessing from God. There is great inner satisfaction and peace that igh

comes with acknowledging God alone as your source. Many of us are yr

paying for things we can’t afford, and as a result, these things are not op

blessings to us because a blessing is always infused with the content-C

ment with which to enjoy it.

Overcoming a gambling stronghold comes purely through adopt-ing a mind-set of trusting God to take care of your needs and honoring Him with what He has given you as your first priority. It also includes trusting God to both empower you to be productive as wel as cover areas where you are lacking in your capacity to work. You won’t need Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 212

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

213

to spend your money on a get-rich-quick scheme once you realize that you know the One who owns it al and that He has given you “every spiritual blessing” in the heavenly places through His grace. Instead, your time, effort, and attention ought to go toward responding to whatever God would have you do in faith in your walk with Him.

Let me give you a tip about a very important conjunction. The conjunction is “but.” How you use that conjunction can make al of the difference in the world in freeing you from the stronghold of gambling.

It can go one of two ways. Here’s the first way: God is good, but I’m in a problem.

God owns the cattle on a thousand hil s, but I am buried under a mound of debt.

God is able, but I’m in a mess.

The second way changes everything:

I’m in a problem, but God is good.

I’m buried under a mound of debt, but God owns the cattle on a thousand hil s.

ial

I’m in a mess, but God is able.

ter

The way you use the conjunction “but” determines whether you wil fret or rest. For example, Joseph said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

ted ma

One of my most enjoyable ministry opportunities has been to serve igh

the NBA Dal as Mavericks as their chaplain for the past three decades.

yr

Basketbal is a fast-paced, precision sport, fil ing every minute with op

adrenaline and feats of skil . When someone is an excel ent shot from C

the three-point line, he wil often earn the nickname “Money.” If he is real y self-confident before he takes the shot, he’l even say his name to himself—“Money”—before he sends it up. However, the best three-point shooters in the league only make the shot 40 percent of the time.

That means that 60 percent of the time they are not going to get any Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 213

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

214

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

points at al and wil most likely turn the bal over to the other team on the rebound. And yet they are stil cal ed “Money.”

Friend, God never misses the hoop. Every time He goes up for a shot and He wants to score, it’s nothing but net. The key to overcoming gambling strongholds is to get close to God, learn from Him, abide with Him, access His grace through faith, and let Him not only cal the shots in your life but also make them. Aligning your financial dreams and desires underneath the overarching rule of God is a gamble worth taking simply because He has already guaranteed to “supply al your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Last I checked, God’s jackpot has more than enough for anyone who wil follow Jesus’ command: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and al these things wil be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Putting on the Armor of Christ

Day One

Wear It

ial

The belt of truth. “Seek first His kingdom and His righter

teousness, and al these things wil be added to you.”

Putting on Christ. “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak ted ma

and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (Acts igh

20:35).

yr

op

Stand in It

C

Each and every day, I wil seek to find out what God has to say about what I’m facing and how His kingdom can be advanced and glorified through my life. He has promised me that when I make this my priority, al I need wil be given to me. I wil also strive to work hard so I can help Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 214

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

215

the weak because the Lord Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Use It

Satan, seeking to find out what God has to say about what I’m facing and how His kingdom can be advanced and glorified through my life is my highest priority. I do not need to worry about whether or not I wil have enough for everything I need because God promises that “al these things” wil be provided for me when I put Him first. It is not more blessed to gamble money on trying to get rich quick because Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, show me and reveal to me Your wil on what I’m facing and how Your kingdom can be advanced and brought glory through my life so that I wil live a life that puts You first. I know You wil provide everything I need when I put You first because You have assured me of ial

this in Your Word. Give me opportunities to work hard as wel as open doors to help those in need with things that ter

wil truly benefit them while maintaining their personal dignity because You value and treasure them as much as You value me. Bless me, Father, by al owing me to give ted ma

beyond what I ever even imagined I could.

igh

Day Two

yr

op

Wear It

C

The breastplate of righteousnes . “Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it”

(Proverbs 13:11).

Putting on Christ. “No one can serve two masters, for either he wil hate the one and love the other, or he wil be devoted Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 215

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

216

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).

Stand in It

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but what I gather by labor increases. I cannot serve two masters, for either I wil hate the one and love the other, or I wil be devoted to the one and despise the other. I cannot serve God and money.

Use It

Satan, wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but what I gather by labor increases. I cannot serve two masters, for either I wil hate the one and love the other, or I wil be devoted to the one and despise the other. I cannot serve God and money.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I desire to serve You, but You say that I cannot serve two masters. If I am placing money higher than You and Your principles, then I am serving money ial

instead of You, Father. Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but what I gather by labor increases. Help me to labor wel .

ter

Show me the work You have ordained for me to do, and I ask that You wil then grant me the increase that I can enjoy.

ted ma

Day Three

igh

Wear It

yr

The shoes of peace. “He who loves money wil not be satisfied op

with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income”

C

(Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Putting on Christ. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In al wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His wil , according to His kind intention which He purposed Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 216

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

217

in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the ful ness of the times, that is, the summing up of al things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth”

(Ephesians 1:7-10).

Stand in It

I wil never be satisfied with money if I love money more than I love God. But when I place Christ as the highest love in my life, I wil live in the freedom of the redemption I have through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on me. In al wisdom and insight He makes known to me the mystery of His wil , according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the ful ness of the times, that is, the summing up of al things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Use It

Satan, I rebuke the lure of fast money through gambling.

ial

I wil never be satisfied with money if I love money more than I love above God. Only when I place Christ as the ter

highest love in my life wil I live richly in the freedom of the redemption I have through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which ted ma

He lavished on me. In al wisdom and insight He makes known to me the mystery of His wil , according to His igh

kind intention, which He purposed in Him with a view to yr

an administration suitable to the ful ness of the times, that op

is, the summing up of al things in Christ, things in the C

heavens and things on the earth.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I wil never be satisfied with money if I love money more than I love You. But when I place Christ as the highest love in my life, I wil live in the freedom Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 217

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

218

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

of the redemption I have through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of Your grace, which You lavished on me. Give me al wisdom and insight and make known to me the mystery of Your wil , according to Your kind intention, which You purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the ful ness of the times, that is, the summing up of al things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light”

(Colossians 1:12).

Putting on Christ. “Cal ing ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come’ ” (Luke 19:13 esv).

Stand in It

ial

I give thanks to God, my Father, who has qualified me to ter

share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Because of His great grace, I am to use what He has given me and to maximize it in legitimate means until He returns for me.

ted ma

Use It

igh

Satan, the only thing you have ever qualified me for is yr

death and destruction. You do not deliver on your promises because you are a liar, but I thank my Father, who has opC

qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, and I wil wisely use what He has given me, conduct-ing business with it rather than gambling in ways He has not ordained.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for qualifying me to share in Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 218

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

219

the inheritance of the saints in light. Please reveal to me the ful manifestation of this inheritance in my life today and each day. Also give me wisdom, Lord, on how to be a good manager of the resources (time, talent, and finances) You have given me to use until Christ returns.

Day Five

Wear It

The helmet of salvation. “There was not a needy person among them, for al who were owners of land or houses would sel them and bring the proceeds of the sales” (Acts 4:34).

Putting on Christ. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fel ow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:16-18).

ial

Stand in It

ter

There was not a needy person among them, for al who were owners of land or houses would sel them and bring the proceeds of the sales. The Spirit Himself testifies with ted ma

my spirit that I am a child of God, and if I am a child, I am an heir also, an heir of God and a fel ow heir with Christ, ighyr

if indeed I suffer with Him so that I may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present op

time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is C

to be revealed.

Use It

Satan, the Holy Spirit testifies against you when you say that I do not belong and that I am not loved. In fact, the Holy Spirit tel s my spirit that I am a child of God and also Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 219

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

220

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

an heir. I am an heir of God and a fel ow heir with Christ, if indeed I suffer with Him so that I may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, show me how I am to give out of the resources that You have given me to help others in need.

In fact, show us as a church how to give in such a way that there wil not be a needy person in Your body of Christ.

Thank You for letting my spirit know that I am Your child as wel as Your heir and a fel ow heir with Jesus, if indeed I suffer with Him so that I may also be glorified with Him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

ial

The sword of the Spirit. “Beware, and be on your guard ter

against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

ted ma

Putting on Christ. “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who ighyr

receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness wil reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ”

op

(Romans 5:17).

C

Stand in It

I am to be on guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. Because if by the transgression of Adam, death reigned through Adam into al humanity, much more do I, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 220

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Gambling Strongholds

221

who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Use It

Greed, envy, coveting…these are al things that I resist in Jesus’ name. Because of the power of Christ, they no longer have permission to influence my mind. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. If by the transgression of Adam, death reigned through Adam into al humanity, much more do I, who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, reign over you, Satan, in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, give me wisdom and open both my eyes and heart to be on guard against every form of greed. If by the transgression of Adam, death reigned through Adam into al humanity, much more do I, who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, reign ial

in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Let that reigning power be manifest ful y today in my thoughts and actions.

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 221

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 222

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

16

Victory over

Food Strongholds

The Stronghold

One of the most overlooked strongholds today is that of eating.

Often, it’s not even viewed as a stronghold. In fact, in Christian circles, we wil frequently condemn the alcoholic, the drug addict, or the porn addict, al the while excusing the food addict. However, eating strongholds dominate such a large percentage of the population that a major-ial

ity of our health problems stem from this root.

An eating stronghold doesn’t always have to show up through a perter

son eating too much food. An eating stronghold can also show up in someone who either won’t eat enough food (anorexia) or eats too much food only to purge themselves afterward (bulimia). An eating strong-ted ma

hold exists when food (its presence or lack) becomes the dominant fac-igh

tor in someone’s life. A dependence on food can result in eating as a yr

way to escape from stressful situations, to feel in control, to gain comfort, or even to inflict self-punishment.

opC

Food plays a prominent role throughout the Bible. For starters, the whole world was plunged into sin over food from a fruit tree in the Garden of Eden. We also see that for a bowl of porridge, Esau gave away his future. In 1 Samuel, we read that the Eli priest fel backward and broke his neck because he was a heavy man. The Bible also tel s us that his sons were gluttons who took food by force. Scripture declares that 223

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 223

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

224

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Nabal was a gluttonous fool who died of a heart attack. These are just a few examples.

Food was responsible for a number of deaths in the Bible and is responsible for many deaths today as wel . God has explicitly commanded us, “Thou shalt not kil ,” and yet every year hundreds of thousands of us dig our graves with our teeth and commit suicide with our forks.

In fact, the stronghold of eating leads to such disastrous ends that God even warns us not to hang around those who are entangled with it. In Proverbs 23:20-21 we read, “Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton wil come to poverty, and drowsiness wil clothe one with rags.”

Proverbs 28:7 says, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.”

Food is the object of eating strongholds, but it is not the cause.

Food is merely the symptom. Paul gives greater clarity on this in his letter to the church at Philippi.

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tel you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of ial

Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appeter

tite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things (Philippians 3:18-19).

The problem is not a food problem. The problem is a God problem.

ted ma

Paul compares the stronghold of an uncontrol ed appetite to that of an idol—“whose god is their appetite.” Many of us say that we would igh

never bow to an idol, but when we give in to the demands of our appe-yr

tite or do not permit ourselves to eat, we have essential y bowed to an op

idol. We have placed food in the position of preeminence in our lives C

that only God should hold.

God’s Viewpoint

Paul directs us to the Old Testament as an example of how God views misplaced desire, or idolatry. We read first about this example in the book of Psalms, where it talks about the Israelites complaining Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 224

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

225

against God in the wilderness after they had been set free from the Egyptians.

Then they spoke against God; they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing; can He give bread also? Wil He provide meat for His people?”

Therefore the Lord heard and was ful of wrath; and a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also mounted against Israel…He sent them food in abundance…When He rained meat upon them like the dust, even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, then He let them fal in the midst of their camp, round about their dwel ings. So they ate and were wel fil ed, and their desire He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their desire, while their food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and kil ed some of their stoutest ones, and subdued the choice men of Israel (Psalm 78:19-21,25,27-31).

Paul elaborates on this in his first letter to the church at Corinth.

ial

Nevertheless, with most of them God was not wel -pleased; ter

for they were laid low in the wilderness.

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not ted ma

be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play”

igh

(1 Corinthians 10:5-7).

yr

We are not to place the desire for food (or the desire to control food) opC

above God. In fact, God tel s us how we are to view food. Paul writes,

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do al to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Food must be brought into its proper perspective underneath the purposes and program of God.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 225

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

226

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

God’s Solution

Your god, or your idol, is whatever it is that you obey. If food cal s to you and you obey it outside of God’s wil for its natural use in your body, you have made food an idol. The solution to overcoming an eating stronghold can be found in Paul’s letter to Titus.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to al men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-13).

Paul says that the solution is grace. Remember, grace is what God does for you. A diet is what you do for yourself. Cutting back on this or eating more of that is law. It can last a minute, but it rarely lasts long because law does not lead to life. The first principle of the grace diet is this: You are uniquely created to bring glory to God through your life. We read in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

You wouldn’t walk into the New York City Bal et or any other ial

expensive place of architecture and spray graffiti al over the wal s. God ter

says that you too have been purchased with a very high price—His Son Jesus Christ. You are not a closeout special or an item on the sale rack.

God paid top dol ar for you, and He wants you to treat your body in a ted ma

way that reflects His value of you. Not only that, He has designed you with your individual qualities so you can bring Him glory in ways that igh

no one else on earth can. When you view and value your body as a tool yr

for reflecting God’s glory, it becomes difficult to surrender it to any-op

thing that might bring it damage.

C

Here’s the second principle of the grace diet: You must move from self-discipline to Spirit-discipline. Let me explain. Diets are usual y tied to wil power. The problem with that is that the human wil is limited.

Even though you want to stop giving in to that piece of cheesecake or that fast-food favorite, you may feel unable to wil yourself to do so.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 226

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

227

Only grace, supplied through the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit to your spirit, wil enable you to have a power that’s beyond your own.

When the Holy Spirit’s power is supplied through grace, He aligns your thinking under the viewpoint of God that says that your body is here in order to glorify God. Food then becomes a means to that end.

Once the first two principles have been put in place—that you are to glorify God in your body and that you need Spirit-discipline instead of self-discipline—the next part of the grace diet can begin. We read about it in Paul’s letter to Timothy.

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some wil fal away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be grateful y shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:1-5).

ial

Something is “sanctified” when it’s set apart for a special purpose.

ter

Sanctification as it relates to food means turning mealtime into a spiritual time. You receive your food, whether a meal or a snack, in a spirit of thanksgiving. You remember what God’s Word reveals as your purpose—to bring Him glory through your body, which He has pur-ted ma

chased at a high price. These things change the way you approach that igh

food. Instead of eating to satisfy your flesh, emotions, or desires, you yr

eat to satisfy God’s destiny in you. You recognize God in His position op

over you, because now when you pray, you say something like this: C

Lord, I thank You for this food and also for my body, which You have given to me. I don’t want to dishonor You by what I put in it, and I want to bring You as much glory as I can, so wil you have the Holy Spirit convict me and let me know when I’m eating too much? Wil Your Spirit control Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 227

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

228

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

my thoughts so that I wil feel uncomfortable when I have gone too far with this food or when I turn to food to meet a spiritual need that You want to meet in me Yourself? Your Word says You wil give me anything I ask according to Your wil , and because I know that this prayer is according to Your wil , I am trusting that You wil do this, and I am thanking You in advance, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Friend, if you have an eating stronghold, I know exactly what you’re facing because I faced one in my life for a number of years too. It wasn’t until I put the principles from these passages into place in my own life a few years ago that I was able to overcome my eating stronghold. I now no longer have to respond to its dictates. In fact, I lost ten pounds in the first three weeks that I began to live by these principles. That was more than I had lost in the previous three months on diet after diet.

God’s Word is truly the way to overcome any stronghold in our life.

Grace simply means that you come to God and say, “God, I can’t do this. I can’t give this up. This one is bigger than me, but because I am Yours, please let Your Holy Spirit loose in me so that whatever I eat or drink, it is done to bring You greater glory and to maximize this ial

temple that You have given me while I am on earth in order that I may serve and enjoy You the rest of my life.”

ter

Putting on the Armor of Christ

ted ma

igh

Day One

yr

Wear It

opC

The belt of truth. “I can do al things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Putting on Christ. “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which al Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 228

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

229

refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treat-ment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indul-gence” (Colossians 2:20-23).

Stand in It

I can do al things through Him who strengthens me, including eating only until I’m ful or even eating what I need to instead of avoiding food.

Use It

Satan, food does not have the final say over me. I can do al things through Him who strengthens me. If I need to stop eating something, I can stop eating it in Christ’s strength.

If I need to eat better foods, I can eat them through Christ’s strength in me. I have died with Christ to the elementary principles of this world, so I wil no longer be control ed by rules of men, but by the Spirit of God.

ial

Draw It Down

ter

Father in heaven, thank You for giving me the promise that I can do al things through Christ who strengthens me.

Because of Jesus Christ, I have died to the elementary printed ma

ciples of this world. I no longer have to live in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men. Instead, I igh

trust myself to Your Spirit’s power at work in me to give yr

me the self-control I need to eat in a way that glorifies You.

opC

Day Two

Wear It

The breastplate of righteousness. “You shal love the Lord your God with al your heart and with al your soul and with al your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). “His divine Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 229

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

230

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who cal ed us by His own glory and excel ence” (2 Peter 1:3).

Putting on Christ. “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Stand in It

I am to love the Lord my God with al my heart and with al my soul and with al my might because His divine power has granted me everything I need to live a ful life through the true knowledge of Him who cal ed me by His own glory and excel ence. I have been raised up with Christ and am to seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Use It

Satan, I love the Lord my God with al my heart and with al my soul and with al my might because His divine power has granted me everything I need to live a ful life ial

through the true knowledge of Him who cal ed me by His ter

own glory and excel ence. I have been raised up with Christ and am seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

ted ma

Draw It Down

igh

Father in heaven, help me to love You with al my heart yr

and with al my soul and with al my might because Your divine power has granted me everything I need to live a ful opC

life when I truly know You—the One who cal ed me by Your own glory and excel ence. I have been raised up with Christ, so I ask that You empower me to seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at Your right hand.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 230

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

231

Day Three

Wear It

The shoes of peace. “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Putting on Christ. “And the peace of God, which surpasses al comprehension, wil guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Stand in It

God has said that in Him I am to eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. I am not to be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is my strength. While I am enjoying what God has provided, His peace, which surpasses al of my own wil -power and understanding, wil guard my heart, my appetite, and my mind in Christ Jesus so that I have the self-control to stop before my eating becomes ial

excessive.

ter

Use It

Satan, God has said, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for ted ma

this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” And it is written, “The peace igh

of God, which surpasses al comprehension, wil guard yr

your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

opC

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, because of Your goodness, You have instructed me to eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to You. In You, I am not grieved, for Your joy is my strength. I ask You to let that joy to show up in my life at Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 231

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

232

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

this moment and be an ever-present part of my life. Help me to recognize Your joy in my life and to turn to it to find deep satisfaction. And while I am enjoying and celebrat-ing Your goodness and al that You have supplied, guard me with your peace in Christ so that I do not indulge in excess.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Putting on Christ. “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

(1 John 5:5).

Stand in It

I have overcome the world because I am born of God. My faith in God is the victory that has overcome my eating stronghold. Because I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of ial

God, I have al that I need to overcome everything in the ter

world that is seeking to defeat or control me.

Use It

Satan, I resist you because it is written that whatever is born ted ma

of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that igh

has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who yr

overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? I believe in Jesus, the Son of God.

opC

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I have overcome the world because I am born of You. Show me how to walk in the reality of this victory I already have. When I look at food that I should not be eating, remind me that my faith in You has given me al that I need to overcome the temptation in front of Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 232

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

233

me. Satisfy me with the truth that my belief in Jesus Christ, Your Son, is enough to overcome the world.

Day Five

Wear It

The helmet of salvation. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to al men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age (Titus 2:11-12).

Putting on Christ. “…looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13).

Stand in It

The grace of God has appeared, bringing me salvation, instructing me to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and teaching me to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. I am looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ ial

Jesus.

ter

Use It

Satan, I resist you because it is written that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to al men, instructing us ted ma

to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and teaching us to igh

live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. I am yr

looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. I have more than opC

enough with which to be content.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, thank You for Your grace, which has appeared and brought me salvation. Use it to instruct me to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to teach me to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 233

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

234

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Enable me to respond quickly to Your instruction, Lord.

And focus my eyes on the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

Putting on Christ. “He has fil ed the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53).

Stand in It

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the Word of God and prayer. Jesus has fil ed and satisfied me with good things.

ial

Use It

ter

Satan, it is written that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the Word of God and prayer. In the life of Christ, God has fil ed the hungry with ted ma

good things.

ighyr

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, everything You have created is good, and opC

nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.

With gratitude, Lord, I receive the food You give me. Help me to use the food in a way that pleases and honors You.

Sanctify this food for Your purposes. And thank You for satisfying me with the life of Christ in me. I look to Him to meet not only the hunger in my body but also the hunger Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 234

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Food Strongholds

235

in my soul. For Your gifts to me are sanctified by means of the Word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 235

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 236

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

17

Victory over

Emotional Strongholds

The Stronghold

Far too many Christians are held hostage by emotional strongholds such as anger, depression, discouragement, frustration, inferior-ity complexes, fear, and countless other volatile feelings. People dealing with emotional strongholds usual y know it. When they wake up in the morning, they don’t say, “Good morning, Lord.” Rather, they say, ial

“Good Lord, it’s morning.” They struggle simply to survive, often living in a perpetual state of hopelessness, worry, or despair.

ter

An emotional stronghold isn’t the same thing as simply having a bad day. We al have bad days or even bad weeks. An emotional stronghold is an attitude or emotion that stays with you day in and day out.

ted ma

It does more than just show up from time to time. It dictates and often igh

even dominates your thoughts and choices and thus your life itself.

yr

God never ordained for you to wake up every day depressed or to always be paralyzed by fear. He didn’t create you to carry anger around opC

for five, fifteen, or fifty years. God has promised you a ful life in Christ.

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

(John 10:10). If you’re not experiencing the abundant life that Christ freely gives, it may be a result of living with an emotional stronghold.

God wants to free you from the endless and fruitless task of deny-ing or suppressing emotional strongholds through distractions, pil s, 237

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 237

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

238

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

entertainment, or even spending. He wants to reveal to you the root behind what you are experiencing. Just as a doctor wil not only listen to how you feel when you go in for an examination but wil also probe deeper through X-rays or tests, so too overcoming emotional strongholds involves going deeper than just your feelings to discover the root cause behind them.

Certainly, some emotional strongholds are tied to physiological causes, such as a chemical imbalance. And those need to be addressed physical y. However, a large number of emotional strongholds are not physiological. They are rooted in sin. The sin may be your own, or someone else’s sin may be affecting you, or your environment may be contaminated by sin. Maybe you were abused as a child, raped, betrayed in a relationship, or unwanted. It wasn’t your sin that created the stronghold of fear, insecurity, guilt, or shame that you may be facing now, but it was stil sin that caused it.

Emotional strongholds often come as a result of what I cal atmospheric sin—sin that so clouds the atmosphere around us that its results affect us whether we committed the sin or not. It’s similar in concept to secondhand smoke and lung cancer. You may not have smoked the cigarettes yourself, but studies show that if you grew up in a home ial

contaminated by cigarette smoke, you have a higher potential for conter

tracting lung cancer. The same holds true for sin. An environment deeply contaminated by sin leads to a greater susceptibility to emotional strongholds.

ted ma

There are three general categories of emotional strongholds. The first category includes those strongholds rooted in our past. This is igh

when emotional damage happened during a person’s developmental yr

years either through trauma, neglect, or any number of negative fac-op

tors. These situations create emotional grooves in our mind that even-C

tual y become part of our normal mode of thinking and perceiving. A biblical example of someone who had past emotional strongholds to overcome would be Joseph in the Old Testament, who was picked on by his brothers and eventual y betrayed, left for dead, and then sold into slavery as a youth.

The next category of emotional strongholds are those that are part Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 238

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

239

of your present. This is when the trials and tests you’re currently facing result in continual emotional fatigue. Maybe you’re in a bad relationship or your work environment is unstable. It could be a health chal-lenge, finances, problems with your kids or your spouse—any number of things. This is when the chal enges of each day relentlessly attack your emotional wel -being. The best example in the Bible would have to be Paul. Beaten, imprisoned, hungry, facing physical ailments, and often in danger of death, Paul labored through countless emotional trials, boasting only of God’s strength evident in his weaknesses (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-33).

The third category of emotional strongholds involves the fear of the future. This is what we cal worry. Worry can be referred to as interest paid on trouble before it is due. Worry means you’re scared about your tomorrow. You ask yourself questions like these: What if I get cancer?

What if I have a heart attack? What if one of my children dies? Or we lose our retirement funds? Or we have to foreclose on our mortgage?

Or our marriage doesn’t make it? What if? The Bible commands us not to be anxious for tomorrow (see Matthew 6:34) because a person bound by an emotional stronghold for the future becomes paralyzed today. Esther was a woman who had every reason to be held hostage to ial

a fear of the future. After al , she was ful y aware that the king gave an ter

irreversible decree to completely annihilate not only her but also al of her people in the land. Regardless, Esther did not cower to a fear of the future, so she was able to walk victoriously in the present.

ted ma

God’s Viewpoint

igh

Jesus says that in this world—past, present, and future—we wil yr

face trials and the effects of sin, but in spite of those trials, we’re to op

“be of good cheer” because He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33

C

nkjv). Our emotions are based on choices we make, which in turn are based on what we believe. If we truly believe that Jesus has overcome whatever it is that we’re facing and that we’re ful y accepted and made complete in Him, that wil alter how our emotions respond to our trials.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 239

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

240

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

That doesn’t mean you wil “be of good cheer” al day, every day. But it does mean that it wil be the normative mode in which you function.

God’s Solution

The cure for any emotional stronghold is not to deny that it exists.

Just as you can’t cure cancer by pretending you don’t have it, so too, you can’t overcome an emotional stronghold by wishing it away. Neither does the cure come through distracting yourself out of it. Distractions can provide temporary relief at best, but they offer no long-term solution. In fact, oftentimes distractions can eventual y develop into their own strongholds (such as eating, spending, drinking, sex, and entertainment), leaving you with more to overcome than when you first began.

You also can’t overcome an emotional stronghold by obeying it. If you feel like cutting, cussing, or simply shutting down—doing any of those things wil not bring about an end to the stronghold. It wil just pacify you until the next time the emotion asks you to repeat the behavior.

The key to overcoming emotional strongholds is—as in the cases we’ve talked about already—to understand and address their root.

ial

This is because emotions have no intel ect with which to reason. They ter

are dumb. They don’t think. Emotions simply react off of borrowed thoughts. Therefore, whatever or whoever controls your thought life controls your emotions. The root of al emotional strongholds can be ted ma

found in what you think and believe to be true. If Satan is influencing your thought life, you wil feel what he wants you to feel. If God igh

is dominating your thought life, you wil feel what God has designed yr

you to feel. “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7).

op

Say you go to buy a car, and the salesman tel s you the dealership C

can’t offer you a loan even though you have excel ent credit. Most likely, you wil leave the car lot with your emotions running low. However, let’s say the dealership cal ed you on your way home and said they had made a mistake—you do qualify for the loan. In fact, you qualify for a loan with 0 percent interest. Now your emotions are high again.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 240

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

241

Emotions merely respond to our thoughts. Therefore, we overcome emotional strongholds through our thoughts.

What you believe determines how you respond, which ultimately determines how God responds. For example, with only a few seconds left in the game, a basketbal player rushes to the basket to make a shot but gets knocked to the ground by the opponent. As he’s laying on the ground, a referee—the man in stripes—blows his whistle, altering the current experience of the game by relocating the basketbal player who got knocked to the ground to the free-throw line for an unhindered opportunity to score.

However, if that same basketbal player didn’t like getting knocked down, and he decided to respond by getting back up and knocking down the opponent who fouled him, that would change what the referee would do. The referee would no longer put him on the free-throw line. In fact, the referee might even throw him out of the game altogether for unsportsmanlike conduct.

How you respond is often a reflection of what you believe. The basketbal player on the free throw line believed that the referee was going to handle the situation, so he simply got back up and continued in the game. But if you don’t believe that God has your best interest at heart ial

and that He won’t do anything about the wrongs that happen to you ter

or the emotional struggles you’re facing, you wil try to take things into your own hands. This places God in a different position. He now has to respond to you in a different way, based on what you have done.

ted ma

Friend, God saw what happened to you, and He sees what is happening to you now and your fear about what may happen to you in the igh

future. Oftentimes we inhibit His response and deliverance in our lives yr

by trying to take care of things our own way. This only compounds op

the problem as we add our sin to the atmospheric sin impacting us. In C

other words, God is saying through His Word and His promises that He is the One with the stripes, and He wil handle it for us if we wil only let Him. Why don’t we let Him? Because we don’t believe Him when He says “vengeance” is His (Deuteronomy 32:35), He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33), “and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 nkjv).

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 241

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

242

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Intimacy with Christ that offers a perspective on God in al of His ful ness, goodness, and power is the key to overcoming emotional strongholds. When you know Christ in a real, abiding way and live according to His truth—whatever is going wrong in your life no longer has the final say. It may have a say; it just won’t have the say. Jeremiah lived life in this way. If anyone had a reason to be bound in an emotional mess, it would be the prophet Jeremiah. His city was destroyed.

His people were fal ing apart. His future looked bleak. Yet, this is what he said in spite of it al :

This I recal to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him” (Lamentations 3:21-24).

Hope can take you a long way. Whenever I counsel people struggling with emotional strongholds, I always want to check their hope meter. Because when you have lost your hope, you have lost everything.

Simply defined, hope is the belief that my tomorrow wil be better than my today. David knew about the power of hope when life looked ial

hopeless. He said, “My tears have been my food day and night” (Psalm ter

42:3). When your tears are your food, that means you are no longer eating. You have lost your appetite. You are checking out of life. Yet when David reached this low point, he talked to himself. He encour-ted ma

aged himself. He spoke hope back into his situation.

igh

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within yr

me…Hope in God, for I shal again praise Him for the op

help of His presence…The Lord wil command His lov-C

ingkindness in the daytime; and His song wil be with me in the night…Hope in God, for I shal yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God (Psalm 42:4,5,8,11).

David said that even though he was in misery at the moment, he would remember what God has done for him in the past. In fact, both David and Jeremiah said that they would “recal ” or “remember” some Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 242

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

243

aspect of God’s truth. In doing so, David trusted that God would

“command His lovingkindness” once again. He hadn’t done it yet; things stil looked discouraging. But David knew that God would come through in His perfect timing. It was that truth that caused David to change his emotional wel -being from that of tears to hope.

Friend, God can turn a mess into a miracle if you put your hope in Him. He promises, “Those who hope in me wil not be disappointed”

(Isaiah 49:23 niv). In fact, God is able to turn things around so completely and satisfy you so ful y that He wil do more than merely bring you out of your emotional bondage. He can even cause you to forget how deep it ever was. He did it for Joseph, and He can do it for you.

When God restored to Joseph al he had lost and more, Joseph gave his sons two very revealing names. The first son he cal ed Manasseh, which means, “The Lord has helped me to forget.” The second son was named Ephraim, which means, “The Lord has made me fruitful in my suffering.”

I know your emotions may seem overwhelming, and you may even wonder how you could ever overcome them, but if you wil hope in God, replace the lies holding you hostage with His truth in your mind, and address any related sin, He can turn emotional suffering into a vic-ial

torious life.

ter

Putting on the Armor of Christ

ted ma

igh

Day One

yr

Wear It

op

The belt of truth. “ ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’

C

declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Putting on Christ. “Who wil bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 243

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

244

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:33-34).

Stand in It

God knows the plans He has for me. They are plans for welfare and not for calamity, plans to give me a future and a hope. Who wil bring a charge against me? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for me.

Use It

Satan, God says that He knows the plans He has for me, and they are plans for welfare and not for calamity, plans to give me a future and a hope. Your accusations carry no weight against me because God is the one who justifies.

Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for me.

Draw It Down

ial

Father in heaven, thank You for the plans that You have for me—to give me both a future and a hope. Because of ter

You, I am forgiven of my sins, and regardless of what Satan accuses me of, You have already justified me before You because of Jesus Christ, who died for me and was raised.

ted ma

He is sitting at Your right hand, interceding for me. Let His prayers on my behalf bring about a great result in my igh

life, Lord, as I look to You to fulfil the promise of a future yr

with hope.

opC

Day Two

Wear It

The breastplate of righteousnes . “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 244

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

245

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 niv).

Putting on Christ. “Who wil separate us from the love of Christ? Wil tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…But in al these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35,37).

Stand in It

Instead of being anxious and worrying, I wil give God thanks for al He has done and is doing in my life. After that, I wil present my requests to Him because He loves me and has my best interest at heart. Nothing can separate me from His love in Christ. Absolutely nothing. Whether it’s a trial, or distress, or loss, or abuse, or anything I have done—in al these things I overwhelmingly conquer through Christ, who loves me.

Use It

Satan, rather than worry or stress about the thoughts you ial

bring my way or the trials and pain that I am facing, I ter

can give God those troubles through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, and He wil hear my requests. Nothing I have ever done or wil ever experience can separate me from His love. In al of the things that you use to overted ma

whelm me, I have overwhelmingly conquered through Jesus, who loves me.

ighyr

Draw It Down

opC

Father in heaven, thank You for al that You have done for me. Thank You that You never abandon me in my pain and that You promise me You hear me when I present my requests to You. Give me the wisdom and power right at this very moment to walk victoriously in the love of Christ, which enables me to overwhelmingly conquer al I’m facing in my life.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 245

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

246

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Day Three

Wear It

The shoes of peace. “ ‘Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Putting on Christ. “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world”

(John 16:33).

Stand in It

God gives me His comfort because He cares for me. He is near to the brokenhearted and saves me when I feel crushed in spirit. In Christ, I have peace even though I face trials, problems, and pain in the world I live in. But Jesus has overcome the world, and in Him, I wil take courage.

Use It

ial

Satan, when you tel me that God has abandoned me, I remember His word that shows me that He is a God who ter

cares deeply for me and for any of His children who are hurting. He says, “Comfort, O comfort My people.” He is near to the brokenhearted and saves me when I am crushed ted ma

in spirit. In Him I find my peace because He has overcome you.

ighyr

Draw It Down

op

Father in heaven, You have promised me comfort, so I C

ask for an experience of that comfort right now. You have told me that You are near when my heart is broken. God, my heart is broken. You say that You are near when I feel crushed. God, I feel crushed. I need You to make Yourself known to me right now and each day so I can feel Your presence and turn to You to satisfy and relieve my pain.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 246

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

247

In You, I have peace. Let that peace overpower me at this moment and throughout this week.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “This I recal to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I have hope in Him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he waits silently” (Lamentations 3:21-26).

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shal live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4 kjv).

Putting on Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

ial

Stand in It

ter

This I recal to my mind; therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faith-ted ma

fulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the ighyr

person who seeks Him. It is good that I wait silently. My soul is not lifted up in me, but instead I live by faith. I have op

been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, C

but Christ lives in me. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Use It

Satan, your thoughts of discouragement must leave me Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 247

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

248

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

because this I recal to my mind, therefore I have hope: The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. (Great is Your faithfulness, Lord!) The Lord is my portion, so I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that I wait silently.

I live by faith. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20).

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You give me hope because Your lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for Your compassions never fail. They are new every morning—great is Your faithfulness! You are my portion. Be my portion today, Lord. Show Yourself to me as my portion. Reveal Yourself in a way that wil satisfy me ful y with hope. You are good to those who wait for You, to the person who seeks You. It is good that I wait silently. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I ial

now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who ter

loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Day Five

ted ma

Wear It

igh

The helmet of salvation. “Do not let your heart be troubled; yr

believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are op

many dwel ing places; if it were not so, I would have told C

you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I wil come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Putting on Christ. “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 248

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

249

for our wel -being fel upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Stand in It

I wil not let my heart be troubled; I believe in God, so I believe also in Christ. In heaven are many dwel ing places; if it were not so, Jesus would have told me. He is there now, preparing a place for me. He wil come again and receive me to Himself so that I may be where He is. He was pierced through for my transgressions; He was crushed for my iniquities. The chastening for my wel -being fel upon Him, and by His scourging I am healed.

Use It

Satan, you are trying to make my heart give up, but my heart wil not be troubled. I believe in God, and I believe also in Christ. In heaven are many dwel ing places; if it were not so, Jesus would have told me. He is there now, preparing a place for me. He wil come again and receive me to Himself, that where He is, there I may be also. Jesus ial

was pierced through for my transgressions; He was crushed for my iniquities. The chastening for my wel -being fel ter

upon Him, and by His scourging I am healed.

Draw It Down

ted ma

Father in heaven, thank You that I do not need to worry or have my heart burdened with troubles. I believe in You igh

and in Christ Jesus. In heaven are many dwel ing places; if yr

it were not so, Jesus would have told me. He is there now, op

preparing a place for me. He wil come again and receive C

me to Himself, that where He is, there I may be also. Thank You that He was pierced through for my transgressions and that He was crushed for my iniquities. The chastening for my wel -being fel upon Him, and by His scourging I am healed. Show me how to walk in the realness of that healing this very day.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 249

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

250

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shal come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Putting on Christ. “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, wil be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Stand in It

He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shal come forth as gold. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, ial

and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. For I am convinced that ter

neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing wil be able to sep-ted ma

arate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

ighyr

Use It

op

Satan, God knows about everything you are throwing at C

me. In fact, He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shal come forth as gold. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 250

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Emotional Strongholds

251

principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing wil be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, I trust that when You have tried me, I shall come forth as gold. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. For I know that I have placed my belief in You, and I am convinced that You are able to guard what I have entrusted to You until that day.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing wil be able to separate me from Your love, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 251

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 252

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

18

Victory over

Debt Strongholds

The Stronghold

Al of our cars have indicator lights that come on to serve notice when something is wrong. When the light comes on, the problem is not with the light. The light is letting you know that there’s a deeper problem.

Not long ago, an indicator light came on in our nation serving ial

notice that we had a problem. This light showed up under several different names: recession, economic downturn, bailout, and others.

ter

What this light revealed is that a certain level of financial irrespon-sibility had caught up with us as a country. Not only that, but it had caught up with—and is stil catching up with—many of us as individ-ted ma

uals as wel .

igh

There is no more poignant way that this stronghold is being yr

revealed today than in the debt level of God’s people. Many in the body of Christ are living in economic slavery to the consumer debt opC

that controls their lives. Someone once said there are the haves, the have-nots, and the have-not-paid-for-what-you-haves. Another person said, “Money talks—and it says ‘Good-bye!’ ” Many of us, like the Seven Dwarfs, leave every morning singing, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.” Americans are drowning in a sea of debt, and until we address the spiritual stronghold behind this destructive financial reality, 253

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 253

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

254

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

we wil remain in trouble, the indicator light stil trying to warn us of impending danger.

To understand what victory over a debt stronghold looks like, we first need a point of reference in our understanding of what living in financial blessing—instead of financial debt—looks like.

A blessing is your capacity to experience, enjoy, and extend the goodness of God in your life. It’s not merely having stuff. A blessing is the ability to enjoy the stuff you have. Many people have houses that are not a blessing because their houses are not homes. Many people have nice cars that are not a blessing because they hate driving that car to a job where they do not feel satisfied and fulfil ed. Others have many nice clothes that are not a blessing because they’re miserable on the inside while wearing them.

Blessings involve much more than mere external things. A blessing is your capacity to enjoy what God has given you with a spirit of contentment, ease, and satisfaction while simultaneously being a blessing to others. When people are no longer free to make life choices apart from how they are going to be able to continue to pay 18 percent interest (or more) on credit cards or make their mortgage or car payment while making no progress toward lessening the mountain of debt ial

they’re under, that’s no longer a blessing—it’s a form of slavery. As Prov-ter

erbs 22:7 says, “The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.”

God’s Viewpoint

ted ma

Scripture tel s us that it’s abnormal for a Christian to live in debt.

We read in Psalm 37:21, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, igh

but the righteous is gracious and gives.” In Romans 13:8 we read, “Owe yr

nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his op

neighbor has fulfil ed the law.” In fact, God makes a direct connection C

between spiritual responsibility and financial accountability. In Luke 16:10-11 we read, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who wil entrust the true riches to you?” A refusal Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 254

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

255

to handle money God’s way can actual y limit God’s responsiveness to any requests you make for greater things.

Although the Bible does not condemn legitimate borrowing, it does condemn borrowing in such a way that you’re not able to pay it back—or pay it back without incurring a substantial loss.

God’s Solution

God’s solution to the debt stronghold can be summarized with three simple words: give, save, and spend. Your financial freedom is inextricably tied to these three principles.

Give

The first principle is the initial action that should happen anytime you receive from God— give to Him. The average Christian in America gives less than 3 percent of his or her income to God. Roughly 85

percent of Christians do not tithe, and approximately 40 percent of Christians give nothing at al . Essential y, mass larceny is taking place in the kingdom of God, and yet we wonder why the kingdom is failing to advance in our nation and in our world. In light of how much we rob God (see Malachi 3:8), it’s no surprise that we often end up as ial

victims rather than victors in spiritual warfare. God delights in and ter

rewards faith (Hebrews 11:6). No greater faith can be revealed with regard to your finances than that of giving to God out of what He has given to you.

ted ma

Whenever God gives something, He always holds something back.

For example, when God created Adam and Eve and placed them in igh

the garden, He gave them everything except what was on one tree—

yr

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were free to op

enjoy al that had been created for them in the garden except what was C

on that one tree. By holding something back, God reveals two things: our trust in Him and our submission to His sovereignty. The act of giving to God out of our finances and material gains wil show our trust and His sovereignty.

Throughout the Bible we’re instructed to honor God with the best of the resources that He has provided for us. The principle of giving Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 255

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

256

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

shows up very early in the Scripture. One important place we see it is in the book of Genesis, where we read that Abraham gave the priest Melchizedek, king of Salem, “a tenth of al ” (Genesis 14:20). Proverbs 3:9-10 gives a condition we must fulfil if we are to reap from God: We must sow to God. “Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of al your produce; so your barns wil be fil ed with plenty and your vats wil overflow with new wine.” In these verses and others, God connects giving to Him with the state of the economy in which He enables you to live. He says that by trusting Him—coming underneath His authority and returning to Him a portion of what He has given to you—you open the door for Him to return to you.

In fact, God says in Malachi 3:10 that He wil open up the flood-gates of heaven and pour out so much that you won’t even have enough room to put it al . God longs to bles you. He just wants to know first that you acknowledge Him as your ultimate source—that you fear Him, delight in Him, and trust Him.

God says when you honor Him with your finances, He wil then do things for you that you could never do for yourself. God wil turn things around that you didn’t even know could be turned around.

Right now, maybe you’re so deep in debt that you can’t see the way out.

ial

God can show you the way out if you wil trust Him by walking in faith ter

through giving to Him. Even more, He wil also rebuke Satan and his demons from devouring what you already have (see Malachi 3:11). He wil make what you do have stretch further than you thought it could.

ted ma

Now, I can already hear you saying, “But Tony, didn’t the practice of the tithe stop when Jesus fulfil ed the Old Testament law?” That’s a fair igh

question; however, we need to remember that the tithe was first men-yr

tioned in Genesis 14:20, before the law was given, as we saw in reference op

to Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:11 tel s us that Jesus came as the high priest C

“according to the order of Melchizedek,” and verse 8 also references the continuation of the tithe. While the law has been fulfil ed, both the principles behind the tithe and the priest over the tithe have continued.

The greatest truth I could ever give you regarding your finances is that God is your source. Everything else is a re source. Never treat the resource as if it were the source because then the resource wil control Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 256

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

257

you. Not only that, the resource wil get the honor, time, and attention that should be going to God. Honor God first and foremost not only through a tithe but also by giving to Him as He leads you. In so doing, you acknowledge Him as your provider. And if you’re stil hes-itant and saying, “Tony, I can’t afford to give,” my response is simple,

“You can’t afford not to give.” God is your Source, and giving is what He asks of you.

Save

The second word we’re looking at in overcoming debt strongholds is save. An estimated 35 percent of al Americans have absolutely no savings. While debt is paying for yesterday, savings is putting something away for tomorrow. In Proverbs 21:20 we read that only a foolish man spends al that he has, setting aside nothing for savings. In fact, in Proverbs 13:22, Scripture equates goodness with leaving an inheritance for your grandchildren.

One of the greatest examples of savings in the Bible comes through the wisdom of Joseph. When Egypt and the surrounding nations were about to enter into a famine, Joseph advised Pharaoh, “Col ect al the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under ial

the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food ter

should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that wil come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine” (Genesis 41:35-36 niv).

ted ma

Do you know what wil happen if people save even the nominal amount of $100 every month from the time they are 16 years old igh

(assuming a lifetime average of 6 percent interest)? By the time they yr

reach retirement, they wil have a mil ion dol ars. If you start at age 25, op

you wil need to save $300 a month to reach the same mil ion. If you C

wait until age 30, you wil need to save $450 a month to hit that million mark. And if you delay until age 40, you wil need to save $1000

a month to end at the same goal of one million dol ars by retirement at 65.

Wherever you fal on the grid—even if you are above 40—it’s essential that you set aside a portion of every dol ar you earn for savings. Start Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 257

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

258

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

somewhere because you are not only saving for your future but also for the futures of your children and children’s children.

Spend

The last word we wil look at in overcoming debt strongholds is spend. The question with regard to spending is, how do you spend wel ?

If you don’t manage your money, it wil soon manage you—your emotions, time, and decisions. Proverbs 16:3 tel s us that God blesses plans that have been committed to Him. We read in Proverbs 21:5 (niv),

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit.” And yet in spite of this truth, many households do not operate on a budget. A budget is simply a plan. Without a plan, our spending may easily exceed what is coming in—and that’s how many people accrue debt.

Another thing to consider as you make your financial plan is the difference between what you want and what you need. Philippians 4:19

assures us that “God wil meet al your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (niv).” But what we must recognize is what is meant by “needs.”

If we have food and clothing, we wil be content with that.

ial

People who want to get rich fal into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge ter

men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of al kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many ted ma

griefs (1 Timothy 6:8-10).

igh

You may not have what John and Jenny have, but that’s not the yr

point. The question is, do you have al that you need? You may want to op

drive a souped-up Escalade, but what you need is a dependable car. You C

may want a Gucci bag, but what you need is a purse. You may want a five-bedroom house, but what you need is a roof over your head.

There’s nothing wrong with having material blessings if you can pay for them after you have given and after you have saved. But what we can’t do is confuse our wants with our needs. We are free to spend what God has given us, but that spending needs to be done with wisdom.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 258

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

259

When you align your finances underneath God’s overarching principles of giving, saving, and spending, you wil see God work in freeing you from the stronghold of debt.

Putting on the Armor of Christ

Day One

Wear It

The belt of truth. “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shal not be in want of any good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

Putting on Christ. “And my God wil supply al your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Stand in It

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but when I seek the Lord, I wil not be in want of any good thing. My God ial

wil supply al of my needs according to His riches in glory ter

in Christ Jesus.

Use It

ted ma

Satan, the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but it is written that whoever seeks the Lord wil not be in want of igh

any good thing. God says He wil supply al of my needs yr

according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

opC

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You say that even though the young lions lack and suffer hunger, if I seek You, I wil not be in want of any good thing. You say that You wil supply al my needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. For these things, I thank You in advance.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 259

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

260

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Day Two

Wear It

The breastplate of righteousnes . “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives”

(Psalm 37:21). “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncer-tainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with al things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

Putting on Christ. “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (Acts 20:35).

Stand in It

The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but I will be gracious and give. I wil fix my hope on God, who richly supplies me with al things to enjoy. In everything I wil work hard so that I can help the weak while remembering ial

the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

ter

Use It

Satan, God says that the wicked borrows and does not pay ted ma

back, but I am to be gracious and give. I am to fix my hope on God, who richly supplies me with al things to enjoy. In igh

everything I am to work hard so that I can help the weak yr

because Jesus says that it is more blessed to give than to op

receive.

C

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, please help me to pay back everything I owe and then live in such a way that I am not burdened by debt. Help me not to become what You have cal ed a wicked person, who borrows and does not pay back.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 260

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

261

Rather, help me to be gracious and give. I have put my hope in You because You are the One who richly supplies me with al things to enjoy. In everything, give me strength to work hard so that I can help the weak.

Day Three

Wear It

The shoes of peace. “You shal remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18). “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting al your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Putting on Christ. “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you wil receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4).

Stand in It

It is God who gives me power to make wealth. I wil humial

ble myself underneath His mighty hand so that He may ter

exalt me at the proper time. I wil cast al my anxiety on Him because He cares for me. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, I wil receive the unfading crown of glory.

ted ma

Use It

igh

Satan, it is God, and not you, who gives me the power to yr

make wealth. His mighty hand lifts me when I am humbled beneath Him. He exalts me at the proper time, so I opC

do not need to worry about how things are going to work out because He cares for me. When the Chief Shepherd appears, I wil receive the unfading crown of glory.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, You give me the power to make wealth.

I am asking to access that power in You as I align myself Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 261

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

262

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

humbly beneath Your mighty hand. I give You al of my fears, worries, and doubts because You care for me. I thank You that when the Chief Shepherd appears, I wil receive the unfading crown of glory.

Day Four

Wear It

The shield of faith. “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I wil never desert you, nor wil I ever forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).

Putting on Christ. “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place”

(2 Corinthians 2:14).

Stand in It

I choose to be free from the love of money, being content with what I have. God Himself has said, “I wil never desial

ert you, nor wil I ever forsake you.” Thanks be to God, ter

who always leads me in triumph in Christ and manifests through me the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

ted ma

Use It

igh

Satan, you lure me with money and what money can yr

provide, but God says I am to be free from the love of money, being content with what I have. God Himself has opC

said, “I wil never desert you, nor wil I ever forsake you.”

God always leads me in triumph in Christ and manifests through me the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, convict me through Your Holy Spirit and Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 262

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

263

Your Word if I have the stronghold of the love of money, and then set me free through confession, repentance, and forgiveness. For You Yourself have said, “I wil never desert you, nor wil I ever forsake you.” Thank You for leading me in triumph in Christ and manifesting through me the sweet aroma of the knowledge of You in every place.

Day Five

Wear It

The helmet of salvation. “Beloved, I pray that in al respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).

Putting on Christ. “The thief comes only to steal and kil and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Stand in It

In al respects I wil prosper and be in good health, just as my soul prospers. The thief comes only to steal and kil ial

and destroy, but Christ came that I may have life and have ter

it abundantly.

Use It

Satan, the Word of God says that in al respects I wil prosted ma

per and be in good health, just as my soul prospers. You igh

have come only to steal and kil and destroy. Christ came yr

that I may have life and have it abundantly.

op

Draw It Down

C

Father in heaven, thank You that in al respects I can prosper and be in good health, just as my soul prospers. Even though the thief comes to steal and kil and destroy, You have sent Christ that I may have life and have it abundantly.

Let me live in light of this truth today, experiencing al of the abundant life You sent Jesus to secure for me.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 263

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

264

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

Day Six/Weekend

Wear It

The sword of the Spirit. “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

Putting on Christ. “The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord’ ”

(Luke 4:17-19).

Stand in It

David has said that he has never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. When Jesus came, He proclaimed, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has ial

sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to ter

proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Use It

ted ma

Satan, God does not forsake the righteous. Neither do their descendants beg for bread. Jesus Christ came to preach the igh

gospel to the poor and to proclaim release to the captives yr

and recovery of sight to the blind. He has set free those op

who are oppressed by you and has proclaimed the favor-C

able year of the Lord.

Draw It Down

Father in heaven, because of You, the righteous are not forsaken. He who trusts in You wil always have enough and never have to beg. Jesus Christ has come to proclaim my Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 264

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Victory over Debt Strongholds

265

release and the favorable year of the Lord. Because of Jesus, I know that I have al that I need. Thank You for giving me back what Satan has stolen. Help me to walk in Your ways and to experience what You have in store.

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 265

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 266

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Scripture Index

[to come after final read]

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

267

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 267

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

268

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 268

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Scripture Index

269

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 269

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

270

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 270

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Scripture Index

271

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 271

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

272

Victory in Spiritual Warefare

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 272

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

About Dr. Tony Evans…

Dr. Tony Evans is one of the country’s most respected evangelical leaders. The first African-American to graduate with a doctoral degree from Dal as Theological Seminary (DTS), he served as an associate professor in the DTS

Pastoral Ministries Department in the areas of evangelism, homiletics, and Black church studies.

Dr. Evans has served as the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fel owship for more than 34 years, witnessing its growth from ten people in 1976 to now more than 8500 congre-gants and more than 100 ministries.

Dr. Evans also serves as president of The Urban Alternative, a national ministry that seeks to bring about spiritual renewal in America through the church. His daily radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 600 stations throughout the United States and in more than 40 countries.

ial

Through his local church and national ministry, Dr. Evans ter

has set in motion a Kingdom Agenda philosophy of ministry that teaches God’s comprehensive rule over every area of life as demonstrated through the individual, family, church, and society.

ted ma

Dr. Tony Evans is married to Lois, his wife and ministry igh

partner of 40 years. They are the proud parents of four yr

(Chrystal, Priscil a, Anthony Jr., and Jonathan) as wel as op

proud grandparents of ten (Kariss, Jessica, Jackson, Jes-C

sie Jr., Jerry Jr., Kanaan, Jude, Joel, Kelsey, and [name to come at final read J ].

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 273

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 274

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

The Urban Alternative

The Philosophy

Dr. Tony Evans and The Urban Alternative (TUA) equip, empower, and unite Christians to impact individuals, families, churches, and communities for rebuilding lives from the inside out.

We believe the core cause of the problems we face in our personal lives, homes, and societies is a spiritual one; therefore, the only way to address them is spiritual y. We’ve tried political, social, economic, and even religious agendas. It’s time for a Kingdom Agenda—God’s visible and comprehensive rule over every area of life.

The Purpose

TUA ministers to a world in chaos with the goal of restoring every area of life to its divine order under the rule of God. When each biblical sphere of life functions in accordance with God’s Word, the net results are evangelism, discipleship, and community impact. As people ial

learn how to govern themselves under God, they then transform the institutions of family, church, and society from a biblical y based king-ter

dom perspective.

The Programs

ted ma

To achieve our goal we use a variety of strategies, methods, and resources for reaching and equipping as many people as possible.

ighyr

Broadcast Media

op

Hundreds of thousands of individuals experience The Alternative C

with Dr. Tony Evans through the daily radio broadcast, which play on more than 600 stations and in more than 40 countries. The broadcast can also be seen on several television networks and is viewable online at TonyEvans.tv.

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 275

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

Leadership Training

The Kingdom Agenda Conference

This conference progressively develops churches to meet the demands of the twenty-first century while maintaining the gospel message and the strategic position of the church. The conference introduces intensive seminars, workshops, and resources, addressing issues affecting…

community

family

leadership

organizational health and growth

ministry programs

theology, Bible, and more

Pastors’ Wives Ministry

Founded by Dr. Lois Evans, this ministry provides counsel, encouragement, and spiritual resources for pastors’ wives as they serve with ial

their husbands in the ministry. A primary focus of the ministry is the ter

First Lady Conference, which offers senior pastors’ wives a safe place to reflect, renew, relax, and receive training in personal development, spiritual growth, and care for their emotional and physical wel -being.

ted ma

The Kingdom Agenda Fellowship of Churches (KAFOC) This fel owship provides a viable network for like-minded pas-igh

tors who embrace the Kingdom Agenda philosophy. Pastors have the yr

opportunity to go deeper with Dr. Tony Evans as they are given greater op

biblical knowledge, practical applications, and resources to impact C

individuals, families, churches, and communities. KAFOC welcomes senior and associate pastors of churches regardless of size, denominational affiliation, or race.

National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative (NCAASI) This initiative prepares churches across the country to impact Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 276

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

communities by using public schools as the primary vehicle for effect-ing positive social change in urban youth and families. Leaders of churches, school districts, faith-based organizations, and other non-profit organizations are equipped with the knowledge and tools to forge partnerships and build strong social-service delivery systems.

Resource Development

We are fostering lifelong learning partnerships with the people we serve by providing a variety of published materials. We offer booklets, books, CDs, and DVDs to strengthen people in their walk with God and ministry to others.

Outreach Model: The Turn•Around Agenda (TTA)

TTA is a comprehensive church-based community impact strategy.

It addresses such areas as economic development, education, housing, health revitalization, family renewal, and reconciliation. To model the success of the project, TUA invests in its own program local y. We also assist churches in tailoring the model to meet the specific needs of their communities while simultaneously addressing the spiritual and moral frame of reference.

ial

*

ter

Contact us for more information on TUA, a catalog of Dr. Tony Evans’ ministry resources, and a complimentary copy of Dr. Evans’

ted ma

devotional newsletter.

igh

TUA

yr

PO Box 4000

op

Dal as TX 75208

C

(800) 800-3222

TonyEvans.org

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 277

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 278

2/4/11 10:52 AM

For Review Only

To learn more about other Harvest House books or to read sample chapters, log on to our website: www.harvesthousepublishers.com

®

ial

ter

ted ma

ighyr

opC

HH Backmatter.indd 5

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.indd 279

11/16/09 2:38:22 PM

2/4/11 10:52 AM

Document Outline

Victory in Spiritual Warfare galley cover.pdf

Victory in Spiritual Warfare.pdf