Classroom: Spiritual Warfare 02-16-07
02-16-07 Ashraf Farhat
Spiritual Warfare: The Battleground
The first battleground we will look at is the mind.
1 Corinthians 10:5
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
For me I prefer to have a weapon on hand for defense. But for the battle in your mind, it won’t do anything to have a weapon like this – guns, knives, sticks…
To gain control of your mind, you have to think about what’s coming in. If you believe you’re receiving negative messages from the enemy – write them down and think about them, “Is this what my Father is saying to me?” Most of the time, or all of the time, the answer is “no” – and most of the time these messages are brought to you by your family of very close friends.
The way you see yourself makes a difference. It’s very important to train and see yourself through your Father’s eyes. Your prize is Jesus – and that is priceless. It is very important to be able to see yourself through your Father’s eyes. And the enemy will come and will try to put so many negative things around you – and that is bad because it causes you to be very judgmental. Where does this attitude of judgment come from when Jesus himself came and said “I did not come here to judge.” So where does this come from? We find the smallest things about a person and we criticize those things: the way they’re sitting, or the way they look – when you become judgmental your relationship with your Father, yourself, and the people around you is damaged.
The enemy is the same, repeating himself all the time; there is nothing new. There are seeds of doubt. And once he places seeds of doubt in you, your relationship with the Father falls apart. Just like in the garden, what did the enemy say to Eve? “Did God really say not to eat from this tree?” Remember, the enemy is a liar.
Our minds control our attitudes. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think, “do I really want to start my day today?” I have an attack from the enemy, and I think the day is going to be a really hard and tough day; and because this happened a few days with me, I discovered a trick. I said to myself, “I’m going to start my day without opening my eyes – so I’m awake and I’m not opening my eyes, and I think in my mind, “God is good.” And I start to praise Him.
The second battleground is the heart.
Proverb 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Who is the source of pride? Satan. And when you find yourself full of pride, what will happen to you? It will blind you. You will rebel. You will fall. Pride came before the fall, and when you fall you die.
Pride is a horrible thing if you have it in your heart – and the worst thing is that you are the only one who will not notice that, only everyone around you will notice it. It’s like standing on a mountain and looking down on all of the small people. The people will look up at you and will all see how small you are. So watch out. Be like Jesus and humble yourself; and he is God.
The second point – in your heart is the lack of faith. It is actually a very common struggle. You might find that God is calling you to something and you don’t have the faith to respond. One thing I keep asking myself is – do I trust circumstances or the truth? Will circumstances keep me safe, or will God?
The third thing we need to watch out for is fear. Fear is from the enemy. It is written that perfect love casts all fear out. If you love somebody, if you trust them, there will be no fear in the relationship. Most of your fear is not real, it’s in your mind.
The last area is your mouth; your tongue.
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
James chapter 3
Ephesians 1:18-23
Authority
What is the distinction between power and authority.
Authority gives us power (power gives authority)
Authority we already have – power we need to decide to practice.
Authority is a position – you are sons of God.
We have power because we have authority as sons and daughters of God. Some spiritual battles, you need to have a group fighting, not just one person.
[Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 18:18-20
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."]
You have a choice here – to carry on with living according to yourself, or you try to act according to your position in Christ. If the power of Christ is in you – at least use it; and remember that everything is one step. You don’t have to take 5 steps – take one step. Start practicing your senses and using them to see what’s happening behind the obvious. Start taking just little steps of faith to confront whatever lies are in your life; and have a plan for yourself.
Remember you are training to be a ruler – and this is your training ground; and remember that one day, literally, you will be ruling. So start practicing your authority in Christ.
A man who has the gift of healing. The first 3 people he prayed for – they died. He believed that God gave him the gift of healing. And every time he went to the hospital to pray for somebody – the person died the next day. But he believed; and today he is one of the most gifted healers. I believe that because he still believed God gave him these things – God blessed that. If you believe in God, He is always a healer.
The key here is your relationship with God (look up passage when disciples are casting out demons and healing on Jesus’ authority). Sometimes you pray in general for the sick – and the Holy Spirit will whisper something in your hear to pray specifically for something and you will pray and it will happen.
Not everyone of us is going to have the gift of healing. Because we are the body of Christ – some of us will have the gift of healing and others will have another gift.
Everything needs exercise. Faith does not come all at once; you have to grow.
Spiritual Warfare: The Battleground
The first battleground we will look at is the mind.
1 Corinthians 10:5
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
For me I prefer to have a weapon on hand for defense. But for the battle in your mind, it won’t do anything to have a weapon like this – guns, knives, sticks…
To gain control of your mind, you have to think about what’s coming in. If you believe you’re receiving negative messages from the enemy – write them down and think about them, “Is this what my Father is saying to me?” Most of the time, or all of the time, the answer is “no” – and most of the time these messages are brought to you by your family of very close friends.
The way you see yourself makes a difference. It’s very important to train and see yourself through your Father’s eyes. Your prize is Jesus – and that is priceless. It is very important to be able to see yourself through your Father’s eyes. And the enemy will come and will try to put so many negative things around you – and that is bad because it causes you to be very judgmental. Where does this attitude of judgment come from when Jesus himself came and said “I did not come here to judge.” So where does this come from? We find the smallest things about a person and we criticize those things: the way they’re sitting, or the way they look – when you become judgmental your relationship with your Father, yourself, and the people around you is damaged.
The enemy is the same, repeating himself all the time; there is nothing new. There are seeds of doubt. And once he places seeds of doubt in you, your relationship with the Father falls apart. Just like in the garden, what did the enemy say to Eve? “Did God really say not to eat from this tree?” Remember, the enemy is a liar.
Our minds control our attitudes. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think, “do I really want to start my day today?” I have an attack from the enemy, and I think the day is going to be a really hard and tough day; and because this happened a few days with me, I discovered a trick. I said to myself, “I’m going to start my day without opening my eyes – so I’m awake and I’m not opening my eyes, and I think in my mind, “God is good.” And I start to praise Him.
The second battleground is the heart.
Proverb 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Who is the source of pride? Satan. And when you find yourself full of pride, what will happen to you? It will blind you. You will rebel. You will fall. Pride came before the fall, and when you fall you die.
Pride is a horrible thing if you have it in your heart – and the worst thing is that you are the only one who will not notice that, only everyone around you will notice it. It’s like standing on a mountain and looking down on all of the small people. The people will look up at you and will all see how small you are. So watch out. Be like Jesus and humble yourself; and he is God.
The second point – in your heart is the lack of faith. It is actually a very common struggle. You might find that God is calling you to something and you don’t have the faith to respond. One thing I keep asking myself is – do I trust circumstances or the truth? Will circumstances keep me safe, or will God?
The third thing we need to watch out for is fear. Fear is from the enemy. It is written that perfect love casts all fear out. If you love somebody, if you trust them, there will be no fear in the relationship. Most of your fear is not real, it’s in your mind.
The last area is your mouth; your tongue.
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
James chapter 3
Ephesians 1:18-23
Authority
What is the distinction between power and authority.
Authority gives us power (power gives authority)
Authority we already have – power we need to decide to practice.
Authority is a position – you are sons of God.
We have power because we have authority as sons and daughters of God. Some spiritual battles, you need to have a group fighting, not just one person.
[Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 18:18-20
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."]
You have a choice here – to carry on with living according to yourself, or you try to act according to your position in Christ. If the power of Christ is in you – at least use it; and remember that everything is one step. You don’t have to take 5 steps – take one step. Start practicing your senses and using them to see what’s happening behind the obvious. Start taking just little steps of faith to confront whatever lies are in your life; and have a plan for yourself.
Remember you are training to be a ruler – and this is your training ground; and remember that one day, literally, you will be ruling. So start practicing your authority in Christ.
A man who has the gift of healing. The first 3 people he prayed for – they died. He believed that God gave him the gift of healing. And every time he went to the hospital to pray for somebody – the person died the next day. But he believed; and today he is one of the most gifted healers. I believe that because he still believed God gave him these things – God blessed that. If you believe in God, He is always a healer.
The key here is your relationship with God (look up passage when disciples are casting out demons and healing on Jesus’ authority). Sometimes you pray in general for the sick – and the Holy Spirit will whisper something in your hear to pray specifically for something and you will pray and it will happen.
Not everyone of us is going to have the gift of healing. Because we are the body of Christ – some of us will have the gift of healing and others will have another gift.
Everything needs exercise. Faith does not come all at once; you have to grow.
posted by CarbonChris at 10:10 AM
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