When the armour is on

           When the armour is on                

  We have the armour on we are standing firm.  We are defending ourselves; blocking the fiery arrows and  strengthening our walk with God.  We are thinking on truth, righteousness,  gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the word of God(Sword of the Spirit).  Which is good! But there is an and that comes after you put on the armour.

  Verse 18 (Eph. 6:18)  "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. "       The direction I am going is a little different and not an absolute but something to consider, ponder.    

   So we prayed the armour on to help us defend against the enemy but there is more to it than that.  Verse 18 directs us to 'Pray in the Spirit' . 

When:  on all occasions

With: all  kind of prayers and requests

Why: With this in  mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.

  This is what to consider:  When is the armour  taken off?  That is how do we know that our armour is still on?  Verse 18  PRAYER  The armour is on prayers come.  Not just any type of prayer but Prayer in the Spirit( let's call that God directed prayer).  Prayer for all the Lord's people!  Verse 18 'be alert'   So I will end with verse 1Peter5:8-9 "  8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering."  The Lord's people need prayer too!  The enemy is attacking the Lord's people!                                                                

The attacker''s workings

                        The attacker's workings    

We have been talking about spiritual warfare; the armour (Spiritual,God's armour), recognizing the attack... our focus mainly was on the one being attacked.  That is the one who is being beat-up if you will;  the one who is the recipient of the attack.  

 Now I would like to take our focus to another victim of the attack.  Stay with me for the attack can have many victims!  But now it is time to look at another victim; some might have a hard time with this one.  So to let's keep our focus to the Church,  the Christian.  Now just like before Satin attacks are directed toward anyone;  the weak, the strong, the new believer, the mature believer, old young the list goes on.  

  This attack is direct toward the one who says those bad things, or directs bad behavior.  The verse that comes to mind is Luke 17:1-6 and  Matt. 18:1-6.  Causing little ones to fall, this does not mean only children or we can go there; remember we are children of God, in Christ Jesus.  Some times our words are not our words that is the enemy found an opening to do his work.  Here is the thing if our focus is not totally on God and is on our self or works or busyness... Or if sin even the littlest sin Satin will exploit anything he can to do his crafty work.  

  Remember in Eph. 6:12 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.  Most attacks come from people.  Now let's take away bad communication, miss understanding... even though Satin can use that and if he does read keep on reading. Now to the direct attack the words are clear; we are not talking about confronting sin.  Words that demean, words that insult, words that eaccuse, words that put down, words that judge, bad words, bad phrases; words that are not edifying.  Seriouly this does happen even to the best of us, I'm not talking about the one hearing but the one saying.  The attacker has attacked you!  Just like he attacked the one these words were addressed to.  You need to put on the armour, recognize were the weekness is and reinforce it and correct it;  then fix the problem.  That is go to your brother/sister. The enemy is here to kill,steal and destroy!   He uses any means he can.  But Christ Brings Peace Healing Restores   Forgiveness is powerfull both need to practice this asking and giving Read Roman 14:13

The attack that hurts

                 The attack that hurts      

  The attack that hurts!  That is the reality of an attack;  it is to hurt some one(s).  Have you thought about that?  The devil and his friends(demons) want to hurt you; kill, steal and destroy what is said in John 10:10. Kill your spiritual life, steal your joy and peace and to destroy your relationships(with God and man).  

We talked about recognizing the attack and about has the enemy broke in.  Now we will address the attack and the results of the attacks that were not defended. The hard thing is that the enemy is not clearly seen; he is hiding. In the shadows behind things even behind people; even though he's behind shadows he is just as sneaky in the brightness of day.

  Now the enemy has target you with an attack (destroy,steal and kill).  That is his goal/mission.  It is never for your good.  But God can use it for your good, Romans 8:28.  The attack He uses is with words,  these words start with from men;  we all can say wrong things knowingly and unknowingly; never mind miss understanding...  So the hurt comes it was not blocked or defended against.  The damage has begun!  Then the enemy (Satan is the enemy remember that) hits again more damage and he hits again, the attack is stronger and more broad not just one saying but it spread to others; maybe many.  The hurt is really hurting it's over whelming.  How do we know it is bad? Well bad emotions and thinking start popping up.  The root of bitterness Hebrews 12 :15.  Bitterness is not good.  Bitterness is more than a thought; it manifest in thinking that is negative toward someone(s).  It can lead to attacks of stealing, joy and peace.  Then to attacks that are trying to kill you, distance you from God..

  The root of bitterness what is it?  Dislike, rubs me the wrong way, prejudes (race or abilities),you tolerate someone,  your looking for them to fall,  judging,  take every word looking for fault,  isolating or avoiding, spying for fault, setting them up to fail, judging their works, UNFORGIVRNESS, RESENTMENT, REVENGE, Anger... read Eph.4:31

  Combat against the root of bitterness!  Using Eph.4:32, starting with kindness, then compassion(we all need these) then to forgiveness as Christ forgave us. Doing deeds of kindness and thoughts of compassion helps with forgiveness that is 'helps making forgiveness being real in your life'.  

You see the root of bitterness is used by the enemy to hurt.  You get hurt by someone who is bitter then you are bitter hurt some one and it keeps on spreading...   Bitterness, rage(burning inside),anger,brawling(fighting physical and verbal), slander(and gossip).  

The attack is within

                      The attack is within

  This maybe hard to read/hear!  The armour is to be put on before the attack; maybe during the attack.  Now what if the attacker is already inside the fort(house).  Now I am aware that there is a view that the evil ones can not enter a Christian; the point is that how ever we want to look at it, it seems that the evil one(s) have gotten in.  More than that they have a grip.  Their holding on and doing the things they do. Now it maybe just one reeking havoc or more. 

  We must remember that they are strong!  As with the armour it is not any regular armour; it is the armour of God!  The strength needed comes from God through the Son and from Son the to the Holy Spirit and from the Holy Spirit to us.  Yes we still proclaim the name of Jesus Christ...  Let's look at Eph.4:28 One has a problem with stealing; what does one do?  You renounce and ask for forgiveness,  the renounce here it kick out that spirit.  But you can not stop there.  There is a void/hole that needs to be filled.  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. There is work to be done(not always physical work) and with that work a manifestation of giving.  In the name of Jesus  Christ is the power to tell evil spirits to leave and than as we surrender to Jesus He directs us to put on a new trait/work to minister to others.  That is what is meant in Eph4:22-24.  As our example one needs to stop stealing then one needs to do something, work but not just work, give.  It is simple but there needs to be faith in our God and Jesus Christ our savior.  A short out line:

1. Conviction (A sermon, a believer, friend...  THE HOLY SPIRIT)

2. Repentance: Asking God for forgiveness 1john1:9 read all of 1john

3. Recognizing the threat and armour up

4. renounce the threat  cast out or repel

5. Take control of the area and protect it.

6. Replace the action with Godly actions

7. Be on the alert put on the armour

8.  Repeat:  Let's be real it is hard!  Be that we start at 1. again or we are at 3. or 5. or 6. The key is the Word of God and Prayer and Faith and Trust in God and do not give up!  Ask for prayer.

                         The attack can come from anywhere

  It does not matter how 'strong' you are in the Lord Jesus; satan is cunning and will setup situations to get you off track, to fall, to silence Godly work... This happened to me and to tell you the truth it wreaked havoc in me!  Yes I know the scriptures.  But it still wreaked havoc.  Satan was coming from every direction.  

  It started out with a younger Pastor telling me that me and my generation has screwed up, referring to programs in the Church.  Then the attack got more person.  Started a bible study and a member of that study reached out to other men.  Well the Leaders of the Church told those men it was an unauthorized bible study and more. Soon men we not talking to me... Some even would not even greet me... others who I was close with would 'tolerate' me. Then comes another blow by a Pastor, you would never be a leader, these young men will be better than you. Sometimes it is a good thing that you follow Jesus Christ; that you have worked on the anger issue.

  What do you do?  Well, first you need to put anger aside, for anger of man will not accomplish the rightness of God.  James 1:20     Then you need to check yourself.  Now that can be hard.  Well with the bible study it was not malicious and the intent was not of pride. The putting on the armor is important!  Also it is important to check yourself!  Sometimes Satan will use you as the point of attack; that is when you are not doing what is right in God's eyes(His will).  Now with that what do you do?  Needed to go to the book of Eph. chapters 1 and 2. to remind myself who I am in Christ.  It doesn't matter how knowledgeable you are of these scriptures you need to pickup the bible and read them, soak them in and pray them.  Use the word of God that corresponds to each part of the armor of God.  The armors power is in the words of God. 

  Now one must forgive the person(s) that where part of the attack.  Yes this is of utmost importance!  This might be the hardest thing to do; but it is of great importance in order to move forward(standing) against the real enemy, Satan. If you miss this step the enemy will see that "weakness" and exploit it. You see the armor is help you to stand firm; to resist!  The goal is that Satin will flee; or stop attacking presently. And most important is for God to strengthen you and your faith being built up.