“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For 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”. Ephesians 6:10-12
We are to be strong in the Lord, not in ourselves or our cultures and traditions, nor in carnality, but in the Lord.
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Every time you think otherwise, you are already been distracted and in captivity by the enemy.
For as long as you are targeting the wrong person or your focus is somewhere else and on someone as your enemy, other than the real enemy, the devil has gotten you.
A lot of times, when we think someone is our enemy and have finished "killing" him, the devil will look for any available person to take up his place. This attitude and heart is one thing that has divided our nation, NIGERIA. The hatred and rivalry among tribes have destroyed not only our nation but her citizens as well.
The hatred and rivalry between tribes is demonic. The thought of division in Nigeria is the thought of a defeated and weak mind. A weak mind keeps looking for means of dodging issues, or an escape route. The north is not our problem; a location cannot be our problem. Your utterance is actually the problem. You cannot call a confederacy what they call a confederacy and think you are different. In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. Two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement. You cannot be in disagreement with God and expect to be used of Him.
The authenticity of God’s word cannot be nullified because of our experiences. However, we should judge our experiences with the word of God. The devil can manifest through flesh and blood, but flesh and blood is not the issue. When we know this, it will help us in discerning who and where the real enemy is. Our responsibility as believers is to rescue and to save, it is God who has the sole right to decide who lives and who dies.
NOTE: Life is an arena of warfare. The physical is subject to the spiritual
Our warfare is not in the physical but has physical manifestations
Principalities and powers are spirits that can manifest through any available flesh and blood.
“…For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled”. 2 Cor. 10:1-6.
We cannot come into the plans of God as long as our thoughts do not align with God’s thoughts. We are either free or captives in the thought realm.
The
Apostles were not taken unawares. The fact that some were killed was because
they were ready and willing to lay down their lives. In fact, a prophecy
came about Paul and how he would die if He went to Jerusalem but that didn’t
stop him, he had an assignment and his mind was made up to finish it and not
allow the thought of death deter him.
Life is an arena of warfare, everything that manifests in the physical has already transpired in the spiritual. This war is not fought in the physical. Every time a love-being drops down to the terrain of hatred, you start losing.
What should we do in dangerous circumstances?
Since we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, the war cannot be with physical weapons. It would be utterly impossible for us or for anyone to win a battle that is not fought in the terrain meant for that battle. If our warfare is not in the physical, then our defensive mechanism cannot be physical. God is the Man of War; He has never lost any battle.
The best defense mechanism is a personal, functional working relationship with the Holy Ghost.
What/where are these strongholds?
The strongholds are not just somewhere but inside- it is the state of the mind, be they imaginations, thoughts, they are all inside.
Strongholds - that which holds you strong in the mind.
- The
battle GROUND is in our mind, that's the terrain for the battle.
- The
battle is fought, lost and won in the realm of our thoughts. Spirits enter men
and take hold of them through thoughts. It is the inside that determines the outside.
All our struggles stem from the thoughts that go on in our minds. Through that
thought pattern, you sieve everything you hear, including the word of God. For
as long as you are thinking like an Ibo/a Yoruba/an Edo man etc, whatever is
the limitation on these cultures become yours also. God brought the Israelites
out from Egypt, out of slavery yet, they didn’t allow slavery to go out from
them.
- Every time you do not reckon with who you are in Christ, you cannot walk in and enjoy the benefits and privileges of redemption.
Prosperity is a state of the mind. You may be in church, a believer, but still, think and live like an unbeliever. We cannot escape being limited and defeated when God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9.
We limit God in our lives because of
our thought pattern. Our thought pattern has not only become an individual
problem but a national problem as well. However, when we begin to think like
God, when we open up to God and allow His power to go to work in and through
us, then we are coming up to His level and our thought pattern is being
upgraded.
To be continued…
