Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

Intimacy Attracts Disciples

Posted on 11/05/2022 | Comments Off on Intimacy Attracts Disciples

People who embrace intimacy with God are the most joyful people on the planet. The fruit of joy comes from the Holy Spirit and grows from the tree of love and intimacy. The fruit of the Spirit is our measuring stick for the right perspectives in Christ. Our life in Christ becomes clear and exciting when we are close to God. We become more driven by His purpose and quickly align ourselves with His will and plans.

Intimacy with the Father produces the fruit of His nature in us, and from our lives will pour forth the life of God into the world around us.

Intimacy attracts disciples

         Christians follow others for many reasons—personality, charisma, doctrine, integrity, social status, etc. Most people follow a Christian leader because of the relationship with God that is evident in their life. All great Christian leaders have one thing in common, a genuinely intimate relationship with God that is obvious to all.

          God sent Jesus to restore man to an intimate relationship with Himself. The Gospel’s message is redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of relationships. It is the removal of all barriers that stand between God and man. Jesus is our peacemaker. When Christians are not continually growing in this revelation and living out this truth, they cannot reach their full potential as leaders. 

Ephesians 2:14-18 (NKJV)For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Jesus tore down every barrier that separates us from our relationship with the Father. It is only through Jesus that we have access to the wonderful and mysterious relationship. Our intimacy with God will make others hungry for the same, Christians and non-Christians alike.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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How Much Do You Love God?

Posted on 11/04/2022 | Comments Off on How Much Do You Love God?

Years ago, in a private time of worship and prayer, I blurted out, “Lord, I love you so much!” He then said, “How much do you love me, Jack?” Without hesitation, I said, “With all my heart Lord!” He spoke again, “Jack, that is not enough.” It felt like a punch in the gut, but He immediately brought this scripture to mind.

Mark 12:30 (NKJV) And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

I then realized that “loving God with all my heart is only 25% of what this verse commands me to do.” God showed me that I was created to love Him as He loves me. With every fiber of my being.

Honestly, I had to ask the Lord to show me how to love Him with my soul, mind, and strength. If fact, this happened over 25 years ago, and I am still processing this truth.

The chief expression of love is selfless giving (“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son”). We must have the courage to ask ourselves; What are we giving our soul, emotions, and mind to? What do we give our strengths, giftings, and talents to? What do we give our time and attention to? What we love and worship can be identified by what we offer most of our time and attention to.

John 15:9-14 (NKJV) “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 

Our experience of God’s nearness or distance doesn’t indicate His actual proximity to us but our level of intimacy with Him. The more we love God, the more intimate we will be with Him. It is often due to a lack of intimacy when we feel distant from God.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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Am I Submitted to God?

Posted on 11/03/2022 | Comments Off on Am I Submitted to God?

We would all like to believe that we are entirely submitted to God, but submission is only revealed when there is a disagreement. We never know if we are submitted until we disagree with God. Even if we agree, it can still be challenging to follow orders. Jesus shows us exactly what that looks like.

Luke 22:41-44 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

There is so much wisdom and instruction to glean from this passage of scripture. Jesus knew His calling. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy. After He declared, “not my will, but yours be done,” an angel appeared to strengthen Him. Even then, He was in great agony and had to pray more earnestly to settle this in His heart.

How intense was this prayer? What kind of conflict was going on in His soul that caused Him to sweat blood? How hard was it to see and know the terrible torture and death He must endure and still obey the Father? He could not do this on His own. Without humility and intimacy with the Father, even Jesus would not have been able to endure it. We must follow His example.

Prayer is vitally important in spiritual warfare, but praying a lot does not make us “prayer warriors.” Humble submission to the will of the Father and Spirit-empowered prayer does.

1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV) For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Notice it says, “we” have the mind of Christ, not “you” or “I.” Understand this about the mind of Christ; “I can do nothing of myself” does not just mean that I can do nothing without the Father. It also means that I can do nothing without relationships with my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. I will need others to help me accomplish all God has planned and wage the good warfare.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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The Fruit of Disobedience

Posted on 11/03/2022 | Comments Off on The Fruit of Disobedience

Those in the military know that following orders, no matter what they are, is non-negotiable. There is harsh punishment for disobeying orders. An authority questioned or challenged in the heat of battle endangers everyone. Insubordination is not tolerated at any level.

The higher the rank, the harsher the punishment, and the greater the consequences. The more military authority one has, the more potential casualties are caused by disobedience. In like manner, the more authority and influence we have in the body of Christ, the more people get hurt by our disobedience. In spiritual warfare, we must always be mindful that what we do affects the rest of the body.

I have seen churches split and even destroyed because of the disobedience of a leader. The damage is always compounded when exposed publicly.

A believer must trust in the orders given by the Lord and follow those orders even when He disagrees, even if it means his death. Understanding can usually wait; obedience cannot.

Philippians 2:8 (ESV) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus was a good soldier. What we see in His life, we should model in ours. If our doctrine does not align with what we see in Christ’s life, it is time to change our beliefs. Jesus and His life is perfect theology. We should be diligent in observing His life and follow in like manner.

Understanding the mind of Christ is foundational in spiritual warfare. The mind of Christ is summed up in one profound idea. One simple thought.

“I can do nothing of myself.”

John 5:30 (ESV) “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 5:19 (ESV) So, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

John 6:38 (ESV) For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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