Living for Eternity – Knowing the Enemy!
No one wants to waste his or her life: We want to feel important, and we want to be part of something important. Sometimes, it can be difficult to keep sight of how our investment in the koG is making any difference. We must keep the big-picture in mind so that our enemy should not use our immediate struggles, frustrations, disappointments or the demands on our time to cause us to become discouraged.
We are in the enemy’s territory once we step out in faith. Jesus was harassed continually by the powers of darkness and the enemies of the Gospel. He was misunderstood and rejected and was often left alone, particularly at the hour of His greatest need! It is vitally important for us to remember that our walk and service to the Lord are not normal, like a nine-to-five, five-day-a-week job, for which we can clock in and clock out. We must realize that we may face attacks and problems any time of our life. Effectively, these attacks from “the enemy” shows that we're in the right path.
Eph 6: 10-13 10...be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day...
Satan will be forever tormented in the lake of fire & he knows it already & is very angry about it! It is only a matter of time before the appointed moment when his doom is sealed by God.
Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Mt 8:29)
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." (Rev 12:12)
Because of this wrath, those of us who have heard the call of eternity and committed ourselves to pray, give and go to reach the lost world, whether we realize it or not, have called for direct confrontation with the powers of darkness. As long as our hearts are committed to serving the Lord and helping advance His kingdom on earth, we will always face opposition from the enemy. We're in the battle of reaching people who live in lands ruled for centuries by demonic powers and principalities,we can be sure we will find ourselves in the very heat of the battle. Hence we face serious attack once we make decision pertaining to the KoG. We will experience attacks and opposition to our decision. We should be prepared and pray, along with fellow believers, for the Lord’s protection.
The evil one can use all sort of human systems – poitical systems, religious hierarchies, financial institutions, educational—everything on earth can be manipulated by the enemy to lead men and women away from the living God and keep them in bondage.
He will try to work on believers, too, particularly in our areas of vulnerability: devil knows every weakness, every fear, every struggle and how each can be attacked most effectively! (Act 19: 15) That’s why we sometimes experience tensions and conflicts with those who are closest to you – family, work, even in your prayer group or home fellowship soldiers who go to war are the ones who get wounded.
Only when we are dead, we will face problems no more!
What Tactics does the enemy uses:
-
burn the barn down
One attack of the enemy is tempting us to major on minor issues.
If you have a barn, you expect to find a few rats!
Satan does: He takes small things and makes them big. Some says something that caused misunderstanding. The people blow the problem out of proportion and the church,instead of dealing with it, divides.
Enemy will highlight specific failures, even the smallest shortcomings, of leaders of Christian organizations, pastors, church elders and those with whom you work and fellowship so that we will be blinded to the total picture, and this can be very dangerous as the Pharisees who gave tithes, prayed and fasted. But they left out mercy, kindness and love. They criticised
Jesus’ disciples eating their food without washing their hands according to the Jewish law
Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath
Jesus told them, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ ” (Mt 9:13).
You do not abandon a true friend when he has problems; you stay and pray with him/her – so that our brothers and sisters do not suffer needlessly.
- a. pray about it
- b. focus your heart on the percent of good that is happening
whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice” (Phil 1:18).
-
a herd mentality: tempting us to become self-centered by rationalization.
Our flesh never looks for what it can do for God’s kingdom, but for what it can get for itself.
Peter decided to go back to fishing. “[The disciples] said, ‘We’ll go with you’ ” (John 21:3).
Peter was used by Satan to pull the disciples away from their commitment to Jesus and run after the fishing nets and boats again.
when your heart becomes discouraged, when doubts rise in your mind, when you are tired and want out of the battle, remember that it does not matter what happens to anyone else. Your only concern is to follow the Lord.
- William Carey → All the church board discouraged him for his India mission!
- Daniel & His friends
- Enoch
- Noah
- Jeremiah
Enemy will use many voices around you to attack you so that you begin to question your calling. But we must not look for approval from anybody as you seek to build the Lord’s kingdom.
Testify: the same happened in my life too.
Like Joshua and Caleb, even when people picked up stones to stone them: “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Num 13:30).
Jesus also stood alone. And to His disciples He said, “I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3).
Jesus’ own brothers came to snatch Him away, saying He was “out of his mind” (Mark 3:21; see John 7:5).
Jesus said: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
keep our allegiance to God’s revealed
Word, to obey Him and follow Him. That does not mean we should not listen to
the wisdom of those in our prayer fellowship or congregation. Balance – His will, His plan!
-
tempting us to forget we have an enemy.
Plan is to make believers ineffective in the work of the kingdom. we are in a spiritual war, (Eph 6:12-13)
no need to be afraid of the enemy’s schemes – resist & he'll flee. (Jas 4:7)
God is never troubled by the lack of money or ideas – but purpose is to find people.
those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chro 16:9).
Lord has given every man his work, and the devil’s business to hinder him if he can
So dont waste your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work God has given you. with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal
-
to forget our need to exercise faith in God.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
when we have more questions than answers thats when “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
“This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Caleb at age 85 was still ready to go and possess his inheritance: he was confident in God’s ability to
go beyond any weakness or frailty.
Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. . . . The Lord helping me, I will drive [the Anakites] out just as he said. (Josh 14:11–12)
our natural mind always comes up with some argument against God’s way of doing things.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isa 55: 7
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive
every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:3–5)
No matter what God says, our own thoughts will either try to get the job done, or say it cannot be done, or say it is not God’s will for it to be done, or say that is not the way He works.
First we must search our hearts and make sure nothing is keeping us from uniting our hearts with one another.(Mt 18:19).
believe that you have received it (Mark 11:24)
more like something an ignorant child would
do rather than an educated adult do—to believe as a child believes
(Matthew 18:3)
Go beyond your natural thoughts and reaction, but begin to thank God.
Trust Him, in obedience to what His Word says, for miracles far greater than what your mind could ever imagine.
- Distract/ destroy our prayer time:
we need to pray: Without prayer your walk with the Lord will lack substance and credibility.
God in His incredible wisdom has ordained prayer to be the most powerful weapon of the Church. prayer
requires none of stuff needed for things like preaching, singing, money or education
To stand in the gap on their behalf and intercede for their souls.
Purpose of prayer:
-
Prayer Gets You Alone with God
Intimacy: to get His people alone with Him - When it is just God and you, you come face-to-face
with yourself and your sins. be conformed to the likeness of his
Son. (Rom 8:29)
-
Prayer Changes you
Getting to know Jesus and loving Him are not one-day things. The more you know Him, the more
you will love Him. And the more you love Him, the more He will revolutionize your life, and the more you will live in the light of eternity.
-
Prayer Equips You for Battle
Jesus spent an entire night in prayer, often after a day of hard work, minister to people in the strength of the Spirit. (Eph 6:12–13)
need to unite together to pray against the powers of darkness.
-
Prayer Moves the Hand of God
one of the most difficult jobs you will ever under take—
but it is the quickest way to get anything done. the battles are first won in prayer
disciples when they were threatened or harassed, when they faced struggles or problems, they met immediately
for prayer. (Act 4:31) others knew that they have been with Jesus (Act 4:13)
Ask & it shall be given! (Lk 11:9)
-
Prayer Changes the Course of History through a small handful who prayed and fasted
Peter released while church prayed
Prison broke open when Paul & Silas prayed!
you are able, by God’s grace, to change your circumstances.
Those who turn the world upside-down! (Acts 17:6)
spend more time praying than planning.
Start right now!
as you begin to spend more time in prayer, allow your heart to open up in worship to the Lord.
use common resources for prayer topics.
Ask the Lord for the grace and maturity to look beyond the immediate (which tends to take precedence
over everything else) to the lives of those people you are influencing through your obedience and service to Him.
Does my heart still beat with the same tenderness and passion for the dying world?
search your heart. Is the passion still there? Is your heart broken?
He is waiting to do major things through us, but we must bring our hearts back into focus.
Meditation:
- Am I aware of my most vulnerable tactic from the enemy against me?
- How can I be more effective against the enemy's tactics?
 |
 |