Spiritual Attacks

Today more than ever there is a spiritual attack on the souls of believers. Those who desire to follow hard after Christ, seeking His Word for truth, will be battered and beaten emotionally and spiritually for their intense fervor. 

 

We see it every day now, the overt and sometimes covert methods used to demean and destroy our witness and the message we bring to the unsaved, as well as the truths of Scripture to the believer for their edification and growth in holiness.

 

Everyone who is seeking the Lord for everything will be able to see these tactics while most around them will not see it and often take the side of the oppressor to remain in the good graces of the perpetrator of evil. Being accepted by the ungodly is more important to these people than knowing truth and executing justice.

 

The devil is very clever, he will tell half truths as apposed to out and out lies, because it is harder to correct something when there is partial truth in it, the onlookers believe the half truth because of the small amount of truth in it.

 

There was a relative many years ago that reported to a family member that their sister had been at a bar drinking one Saturday afternoon. The unbelievers loved this because they knew this woman was a strong Christian that didn't hang out at bars. Seeing this as an opportunity to devalue the believer by pointing out her hypocrisy, they reported to others that the sister was at a bar on a Saturday afternoon, the woman was shunned and revile by others in the family based on this one testimony.

 

What the observer didn't know was that the woman had gone into town to attend a sale in a shop across the street from the bar. Since it was a good sale, the parking lot of the shop was filled to overflowing. No parking spots were available so this woman went across the street to park her car. She was not at the bar, she was at a sale, nothing was wrong, nothing was hypocritical, all was well, but the gossip mongers in the family wanted to believe the lies so when the woman was given an opportunity to tell her side everyone had already made the decision to believer the liar and mock the woman, they chose to believe the liar even after evidence was given for the truth.

 

This is one of those situations that God tells us not to judge, because those who saw her car really didn't know what was going on. Had those who saw the car there, asked her why her car was there, she could have dispelled any and all questions showing that she was innocent of any wrong. If the gossiper had looked more closely they would have noticed the bar was closed and there were only a few car in the lot, all of which were there for the sale.

 

One of the tactics of the gossips is to refuse to ask questions to clear up matters, they believe what they think they see and then act upon that misinformation as though it were fact. Not only do they shun the one for which they have contempt, they must bring others into their lie as support, it somehow validates their assumptions. Assumptions are the favored mode of operation for those who want to demean and devalue the believer.

 

One test as to the value of a friendship is whether or not they want to find out truth by asking us in a calm and loving way, "Hey, I saw your car at the bar, what was it doing there, I know you don't drink at bars?" 

 

You see someone who knows our character and loves us would assume the best and ask to make sure. Then when someone else comes along to assume wrong, we will be able to correct them and stop the gossip in it's tracks.

 

Assumptions are made because of a prejudice against those who are devalued. Why not assume that the person must not have been doing what we thought we saw or had a good reason? The reason a person assumes the worst is because they want to believe evil things or they would clear it all up by asking. 

 

Common tactics of the devil are deception, division, diversion and discouragement. (from an article called "Four Common Tactics of the Devil) All of these tactics were used in the story of the woman who parked her car in the bar parking lot. 

 

We cannot stop those who are gossipers, who love to destroy relationships, but we can be careful not to be a gossiper. It is one thing to tell the truth when we know all the facts and quite another to see something and concoct a story around very little information or based on the musings of others without any personal knowledge.

John 8:44 "44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He 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."

 

1 John 4:1-3 "4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."

 

Ephesians 6:12 "12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

 

Our response to these attacks will strengthen us or weaken us. When we are attacked in this way, we can calmly tell the truth, after which the hearer is responsible for what they do with it. If no one will listen, then we are to walk away, leaving it to God to handle, but be sure that continued contact with people who want to believe the worst about us, is not advisable. 

 

2 Corinthians 6:14 "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?"

 

We might want to consider breaking fellowship with those who do not gossip but believe the gossiper. There can be no value in a relationships that is not understanding, loyal and loving. We can always pray for our enemies, but that does not necessarily mean contact with them.

 

Matthew 10:28 "28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

 

Luke 6:21-23

"…21"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22"Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

23"Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets."

 

When we go through all these things, it teaches us lessons, one of the most important lessons, is to trust God in it and the second important lesson is to let it roll off, I am still learning this lesson. It isn't that we don't hurt when it happens, but over time as we understand better what we are up against, that it is the devils we fight against in prayer, we can "feel" less and "think" more.

 

We can observe what people are doing but not allow it to penetrate our soul. When we see that we are on our way to the Lord shortly, we can see these trials as training experiences full of knowledge and wisdom if we don't allow ourselves to camp on the emotion. The emotion will hide the lesson while obscuring the wisdom, leaving us weak and ineffective. Emotions are fleshly, they are neither hear nor there, except can be very misleading often. It is best to work past them to "reason" rather than "feel", and our reason must come from God's Word and communication with Him.

 

The devil uses emotion to destroy good sense. Those who come against us are being used by the devil, not realizing it, they are his mouthpiece. When we know this we can love them from afar while praying for their soul.

 

Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."

 

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

 

Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

 

Galatians 5:16-24

"16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

 

Don't let the devil ruin your witness by giving into his wiles, when he controls our emotion, then so do his minions, they love this, sort of like kicking a person while they are down, it makes them feel powerful, it feeds their energy.  If the devil can cause us to appear unloving, he will use that to discredit Christ.

Just Call Upon Christ

Psalm 145:18-21
"18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;...
He will also hear their cry and will save them.

20 The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever."

Fully Trusting Christ!

My Bible reading tonight while spending time with the Lord impacted me deeply as I pondered the need of many believers today who wrestle with much oppression from the powers of darkness, whether it be relationships, illness, emotional distress or anything else that attempts to discourage those who belong to Christ.

Psalm 144:5-11
"5 Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

6 Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Send out Your arrows and confuse them.
7 Stretch forth Your hand from on high;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
Out of the hand of aliens
8 Whose mouths speak deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to You, O God;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 Who gives salvation to kings,
Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens,
Whose mouth speaks deceit And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood."

What Does Difficulty Say About You?

When our response to difficulties is to run from God and avoid prayer and His Word, that is an indication of our heart condition. A heart that loves the Lord, follows hard after Him when things are normal, will be a heart that runs even harder after Christ when difficult things arise.

Character Revealed

"Difficult situations don't build character they reveal it." (Don't know who said it)

Romans 5:3-5 – “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

After Holiness or Pretense?

Ungoldy pretenders will tell you what you want to hear and then treat you with contempt covertly so that there is plausible deniability. Their actions are designed to fain concern, but their attitude and actions show their disdain.

 

This is the way pretenders treat God, they set forth a persona that demonstrates they are Christians, but in their private lives they care little about holiness or seeking God for truth.

Matthew 15:3-11...
"3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—
6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

We are running into more of these people every day, they have a form of religion but do not love God, their religion is based on elevating self not becoming holy and submissive to Christ.

2 Timothy 3:5 "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

What are we going to be, one who desires holiness and to be changed by Christ, or one who likes pretending, to impress people while negating those who attempt to challenge us to greater holiness?

The Holy Spirit is Our Teacher

Bible colleges were a human, man made idea. God never commanded, that any Christian colleges be established. Mankind is always thinking they can do things better than God can and that individual Christians can't possibly hear from the Holy Spirit.

The sad reality is that most people who claim to be Christian, will not listen to anyone on spiritual matters, who is not from one of these institutions.

1 John 2:27 "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."

John 14:26 ""But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

We can see what happens when man attempts to help God, most of these institutions are in error on many things, because of the traditions of man.

Mark 7:8 ""Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

The man or woman who depends completely on the Holy Spirit may seek counsel from other godly people, but they will not rush to others for the wisdom they seek, they will first rush to God in prayer and He will direct that godly person who will come alongside to help in the understanding.

When we place education of men above the work of the Holy Spirit, we fall into the realm of apostasy, and that is exactly what has happened over the years. Many evils have been accepted because the institutions have inculcated human and cultural thinking into their teachings in an effort to be politically correct and socially accepted.

Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."