I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.      I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13

When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi, he was writing from a Roman prison. The church at Philippi had sent him some supplies and Paul was thanking them for their concern and response to his needs. He was quick to say that he appreciated their gifts but that his needs had been met in Christ because he had learned to be content in every situation of life. In this letter, we learn that contentment, in the sense that Paul uses it, is an essential key to happiness.

The word translated “content” is a very strong word in ancient Greek philosophical circles. It was the state that all Greek philosophers aspired to as a state of being totally unaffected by the world around them and emotionally self-sufficient. You see this mindset of total, unquestioning acceptance in eastern religions. It is the idea of being self-contained so that nothing upsets a man’s inner world of peace. Eastern mystics often strive to reach that state of inner peace through total, unquestioning acceptance of their circumstances and a disregard for personal needs or comfort. It is ultimate expression of fatalism that says whatever happens, happens – so just accept it.

Paul did not mean “contentment” in the same sense because Christians are never to be indifferent to the needs of the world around them or to be self-contained and self-sufficient. We do not live a life of fatalistic acceptance because we are more than conquerors in Christ. However, Paul had discovered a Christ-sufficiency that guarded his heart and generated an internal contentment even in prison.

Paul experienced that internal contentment as peace and goes on in this same letter to say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.        And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:6-7). How many of us are in search of peace in our hearts? How many of us would be willing to give anything to alleviate our anxiousness, our angst, and our internal restlessness that never lets us enjoy the moment or find peace in the midst of the storm?

I believe Paul’s secret to contentment and peace was his strong conviction that God was in the midst of every storm with him. Paul did not believe that God caused his hardships because he knew who the enemy was. However, he did believe that God was with him and that God would insert his purposes into every situation. For Paul, every obvious victory and every seeming defeat offered an opportunity to discover more about the Father and more about Jesus. In the midst of crisis, Paul saw an opportunity to discover who God was going to be for him in that crisis. It was a chance to discover a new facet of the Father’s love and power that he had not known before.

He believed that both seasons of plenty and seasons of lack were opportunities for thanksgiving. In a season of plenty, thanksgiving was prompted by the harvest that had just occurred. In a season of lack, thanksgiving was prompted by the harvest that was on the way. Paul had learned to see God’s hand and feel his presence and his working in every situation.

In a circumstance where we might feel that God had abandoned us to injustice and hardship, Paul still saw the hand of God. Early in his letter he wrote, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” (Phil.1:12-14).

Even in a prison cell, Paul saw the hand of God at work. God was working something in Paul as well as through Paul in his present circumstance. Because of that, Paul found a spiritual capacity to be content or at peace with life at any given moment because even the hard times had an eternal purpose for him. His thanksgiving was based on what he believed God was doing and would do in each moment. He said that prayer and thanksgiving in any crisis would guard our hearts and produce a peace that transcends or goes beyond our understanding.

The key is to know that God will work something good out of every circumstance in which we find ourselves. He is not absent, he is not indifferent, he is not powerless. He is working and a heart of thanksgiving opens up our spiritual eyes to see, first of all, who he is and then what he is doing.

We live in a world and a culture that works hard to produce a state of non-contentment. Every add you see in a magazine or on television tries to convince you that you need at least one more thing for happiness or fulfillment – a new car, a cruise, a new look, or the perfect house just beyond your budget. The devil also whispers that what you have is not enough – you deserve more or you deserve better – a more attentive or better looking spouse, more money, more power, more influence, or more fame. With each of those temptations he promises more significance, more happiness, and more contentment.

However, outside of God’s purposes, nothing will bring those things in any lasting way. Remember Adam and Eve. Satan convinced them that there was just one more thing they needed for happiness and that one bite from the tree would meet their need. To Satan’s delight, instead of peace and contentment, that next bite produced fear and shame.

Paul had definitely learned to look for more – but more of God rather than more of what the world offered. No circumstance could keep him from God so in every circumstance he could say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil.4:4). Because of his relationship with the Father, Paul always anticipated good because God is good. He always anticipated victory, because God is victory. He always anticipated having enough because God is the God who provides. He always anticipated the ability to endure because he knew that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Contentment is great gain. Learn to find the hand of God in every circumstance and that contentment can be yours.

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.      But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down…Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Rev. 12:7-12

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into a battle that took place in the heavenlies at some point in the far distant past. Satan, desiring to be on the throne instead of God, formed a rebellion and was cast out of heaven and hurled to earth along with the angels who had sided with him. He is described as the accuser of the brethren who accuses them day and night. In this text, he is said to accuse them before God but one of his primary strategies is also to accuse the brethren by accusing them in their own minds day and night. Satan is a master at bringing up the past and framing our weaknesses and mistakes as things that disqualify us from serving God or from receiving his blessings.

As a strategy, every time life happens to a believer and a challenge arises or a painful moment comes our way, Satan jumps in to accuse us and plants the thought that we are being punished for our misdeeds or rejected for our weaknesses. In a flurry of thoughts, he loves to heap condemnation on us and reinforce an identity of being a gross sinner, a target of God’s wrath because of our evil hearts, an abandoned child because of our misbehaviors, and a hypocrite who should be ashamed for even posing as a follower of Jesus.

Not only do those condemning thoughts rob us of our security but they also take away our joy and our peace. In addition, they prompt us to become accusers of those around us. Since accusation is based on performance, we find ourselves wanting to point out all the faults and failings of those around us in an effort to level the playing field. If you are prone to fault-finding in others or blaming others for the problems in your life, you are likely living with law as a reference point rather than grace.  You are trying to relate to God on the basis of your performance rather than his grace. Paul points out in Romans 8:1-2 that condemnation thrives in an environment of law in which a record is kept of every violation. Satan has the most success with those of us who still tend to view our relationship with God as a relationship defined by law rather than grace.

Law defines my relationship with God as a relationship based on performance. Under law, I am always asking the question, “Am I good enough or have I done enough to be loved, forgiven, and blessed by God?” Under law, our Father in Heaven becomes a perfectionistic parent withdrawing his blessings and affection every time we fail to live up to his lofty standards. On the basis of law, everything is open to accusation and condemnation. Under a mindset of law, Satan is free to accuse us not only of blatant sins but even of our attitudes by degree. Where we have repented, he will suggest that we did not repent enough. When we think about our love for God, he will accuse us of not loving God with all of our heart. When we acknowledge a weakness he will call us hypocrites for pretending to love Jesus when we still fail so often. When we give generously, he will always suggest that we should have given a little more. The accusation and feeling of condemnation is never ending….day and night.

The only escape from the devil’s scheme is to absolutely know that there is no condemnation in Christ because the blood of Christ has removed us from a system of law and placed us in a relationship based on the unfailing love of a Father who does not love and bless on the basis of performance but only on the basis of his heart. You must know that Jesus became sin for you that you might become the righteousness of God. You must know that you have been given positional righteousness in the eyes of God based on what Jesus did, totally apart from your own righteousness or your own spiritual performance. The good news is that God does not love you because you are perfect, but because he is perfect.

The proper response to the accusations of the devil when he brings up your past or even present weaknesses and whispers that you are falling short of God’s standards is, “Of course, I am falling short. So what? That is why Jesus died for my sins and because of that, God does not hold my sins against me. I live in a condemnation free zone by the blood of Christ and by the grace of God. Satan you have no power here and your accusations have no weight. My past has been blotted out. My present is in process and my future is secure. I am justified in Christ and it is you that are condemned. Now go away!”

When accusation comes, don’t brood but respond with God’s truth. When condemnation raises its head, dismiss it as a lie. When Satan runs up the flag of rejection, ignore it because that sign has no meaning in the kingdom of God. Too many of us believe that punishment motivates us to change. If that were true, there would be no repeat offenders in prison. Too many of us believe that accusation, condemnation, and self-loathing will prompt us to do better and so we agree with Satan’s accusations.

But accusation, condemnation, and demeaning criticism only solidify our identity as broken and worthless. When the prodigal returned, he was given no lecture, no condemnation, no probation. Instead his return was celebrated and he was immediately given back his identity as a son. His true identity as a respected son of a proud Father was reinforced and that is what will bring our own growth and transformation. So remember, when the devil knocks on the door of your mind, post your Condemnation Free Zone sign and send him on his way.

In my last blog, I began a discussion of why most of the American church does not teach on the demonic, deliverance, or the supernatural moves of God through the gifts of the Spirit and miracles. I spoke a little about the historical origins of that theology that still has a strong grip on the church today. I would encourage you to read my last blog entitled Supernatural before continuing with Part 2.

Since most churches are still heavily influenced by the theology that sprang from the Age of Reason and the exaltation of science and intellect over faith, they do not believe that God operates through miracles or miraculous gifts of the Spirit anymore. Within these churches there is a sense that the supernatural doesn’t operate anymore except in very limited ways and that it rarely, if ever, affects believers.   The reasoning goes that since God does not intrude into the natural realm with supernatural acts, then the supernatural realm must not be relevant anymore. Since demons are part of that realm, they are no longer relevant either. As a result, there is no need to teach about them and deliverance has no meaning where demons are not active and a threat.

Like their 18^th century predecessors, the notion that demons still stalk us, that angels might rescue someone from flood waters, or that men may operate in healing gifts and prophetic words from the Lord all seem like quaint superstitions held by ignorant or, at least, unscientific people. Francis MacNutt puts it this way. “Nevertheless, despite the clarity of these passages (biblical texts describing miracles and demonic activities, added), many theologians and preachers profess skepticism as to whether we should take accounts of people being tormented by Satan and other evil spirits in a literal way. They explain their position by saying that people in Jesus’ day believed in evil spirits, as do many primitive people today. Jesus, born into their culture, accepted their superstitious beliefs, as did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John” (Francis MacNutt, Deliverance from Evil Spirits; Baker Books, p. 40).   He goes on to talk about how many current theologians and preachers are embarrassed to talk about the supernatural as if doing so is intellectually unrespectable.

MacNutt goes on to quote Charles Kraft from Fuller Theological Seminary who says, “It is interesting (and discouraging) to note that even though we are Christians, our basic assumptions are usually more like those of the non-Christian Westerners around us than we would like to admit…Even though there is a wide discrepancy between the teaching of Scripture and the common Western assumptions. We often find ourselves more Western than scriptural. Western societies passed through the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and a wide variety of ripples and spinoffs … The result: God and the church were dethroned, and the human mind came to be seen as Savior. It is ignorance, not Satan, we are to fight.”

Humanism is a philosophical position that came out of the Age of Reason. Simply put, Humanism holds that man is essentially good and will evolve through reason, science, and the arts to a golden age of mankind where the world will live in peace and prosperity by man’s own efforts. This is the new tower of Babel in which God is irrelevant. How are we doing so far?

Historically, that is the Cliff’s Notes on why the church in America and Western Europe tends to ignore demonic and angelic realities and tends to deny that God still works outside of science and medicine. It is not a biblical position but a cultural position imposed on the Bible. This view leaves the church irrelevant and powerless. In this view, if God exists at all, he is only needed after the funeral and when science discovers how to keep us alive forever, God won’t even be needed then.

The truth is that humanism is wrong. Man is not essentially good. He has a fallen and sinful nature that requires the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to redeem. Science may continue to discover amazing things that God has built into his creation, but fallen man will use those discoveries to create weapons or withhold them to protect corporate profits. A new heart is what is needed to bring mankind into the light – not more technology. God is the provider of a new heart.

Secondly, the assumption that Jesus and the apostles performed miracles only to validate who they were is invalid. If miracles were only to validate them, why did so many others perform miracles in the New Testament and why did the Spirit give miraculous gifts to the church at large? Why did Jesus say that those who believe on him would do even greater things than he did if miracles were only to validate Jesus and the apostles?

In addition, although the gospels do tell us that the miracles of Jesus did confirm that he was from the Father, there were many other times we are told that he healed and delivered out of compassion rather than a need to be validated. He also told many he healed and set free not to tell anyone what he had done. No validation there. Is God no longer compassionate today? Does Jesus no longer need validation among those who don’t believe the Bible to be true – Muslims, etc.? Do God’s people no longer need to be rescued? Do they not still need supernatural healing in the face of stage four cancers and supernatural deliverance in the face of lifelong addictions?

Ultimately, the Age of Reason, Cessationism, and the worship of reason and intellect end up denying the supernatural activities of God in history and the world today. If God does not act outside of the natural realm, there was no resurrection because walking out of a grave three days after you are dead is not natural. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for our eternal life. Paul himself said that if Jesus was not raised from the dead then we are to be pitied above all people because everything we believe is a lie. The very underpinnings of our faith are based on the supernatural acts of God from creation to the resurrection of Jesus to our own resurrection on the Day of Judgment. Supernatural intervention into the natural order of things is what God has always done and he does not change.

There is a supernatural, spiritual realm that exists all around the natural. Angels serve, demons tempt and torment, people are healed and, yes, even raised from the dead. Miracles occur every day and we interact with that supernatural, spiritual realm as children of God. It is real – even more real than the natural realm because Paul said that what can be seen is temporary, what cannot be seen is eternal, and our struggle is not against flesh and blood. I am not against science. I believe science is part of “subduing the earth” and discovering what the genius of God has placed in the natural realm to benefit mankind. All truth belongs to God. Some truth is discovered and some truth is revealed by the Spirit of God. Both science and revelation are grounded in the Creator of Heaven and Earth and both should ultimately find confirmation of his reality rather than hurrying to make him “irrelevant” so that we are not burdened with the knowledge that we will have to answer to this God of Creation some day.  Blessings in Him.

Last night, in a study I was leading about demonic spirits and deliverance, a standard question came up. I think it’s a good question and one that comes up frequently. I didn’t have time last night to answer it adequately, so I thought I would try to do a better job in a this and one more blog. The question was, “Why do most churches avoid teaching about demons and deliverance today when demons and deliverance are so prevalent in the pages of the New Testament?”

The answer to this question goes beyond discussions of demons and deliverance to the very heart of any supernatural or miraculous events in the Bible…including the resurrection. The 18^th century ushered in what has been labeled, The Age of Reason. Much had happened in previous decades to upset the established order of Western Europe. Abuses in the Catholic Church had prompted Martin Luther to protest and the ensuing Protestant Reformation undermined the dogma and political hold of the Catholic Church. As the Catholic Church came under fire, so did the biblical theology on which Rome stood. What was dangerous to question before, was suddenly fair game for European intellectuals. Not only was the Catholic interpretation of scripture challenged, but scripture itself became a target.

At the same time, science and medicine were making great strides.
Reason and logical deduction became the new bywords of “modern society.” In the cultural atmosphere of Western Europe and the United States, science and reason became the new gods. In the context of “the Age of Reason,” science and medicine became the proclaimed hope of mankind.

This 18^th century perspective invaded universities and the schools of theology within those universities. Suddenly, the scientific method was deemed the only valid way to discover truth. Reality only consisted of those things that could be observed, measured, and reproduced in a laboratory. Undoubtedly, there had been some dark days of superstition and inquisition in the centuries before the Age of Reason, but, instead of the pendulum swinging to a balanced middle position, it swung to the far side and a movement began to deny not only Biblical revelation as a source of truth, but also to deny the existence of God altogether.

The big fizz about Darwin’s theory of evolution was that if offered a natural mechanism that seemed to make God unnecessary.  Of course, the fossil record and numerous other scientific discoveries have left the theory untenable, but even the brightest minds of today doggedly hold on to it as a way to deny God and any personal accountability to a God. The intellectuals of the 18^th century, including theologians in major universities, began to “reason away” the supernatural aspects of our faith as events recorded through the lens of superstitious and backward people. Many began a movement to “demythologize” the scriptures and give naturalistic explanations to the miracles recorded in God’s word. Miracles simply weren’t scientific.

That thinking affected even Bible believing Christians and preachers who were not willing to throw out the miracles of the Bible but found an intellectually respectable middle ground. Their position was that the miraculous accounts of scripture were indeed true, but were limited to “Bible times.” Their view was that although God intervened in the lives of his people in miraculous ways throughout the Bible, he curtailed those supernatural activities somewhere around the end of the first century and has not been in the miracle business since. In today’s world, God still acts on behalf of his people, but only through natural means. This position is called cessationism and is the most prevalent view in American churches today.

This view is based on the assumption that the only reason Jesus and the apostles performed miracles was to validate who they were: Jesus as the Son of God and the apostles as his inspired representatives. Once the New Testament church was established and the Bible was completed and confirmed through first-century miracles, there was no longer any need for such supernatural events and, therefore, God has only worked through natural means for the past 2000 years. Any claim to the contrary, they say, is misguided at best and heretical or deceptive in worst cases.

As a result, when churches pray for the sick today, they rarely pray for supernatural healing but rather for God to guide the doctor’s hands. When a person is tormented by mental or emotional anguish, the church does not consider demonic affliction but simply turns God’s people over to the medical community (many of whom are unbelievers) and over to medications. When cancer is diagnosed, our first call will likely be to M.D. Anderson rather than to the elders of the church to come and pray for healing (see James 5:14-16). You can see that in the American church, we trust God to forgive our sins but we trust science, medicine, and government for the rest.

More on this in my next blog.  

When you are engaged in spiritual warfare, the word of God is essential. It is essential not only for discerning God’s will in a matter, but it is also a weapon to be used directly against the enemy. When confronting the enemy who is harassing, tempting, or afflicting you or someone else, the word of God is powerful. It is powerful because his word carries authority and authority directs power.

When describing the armor of God, Paul tells us that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph.6:17). The word translated as sword is a word that means a knife or a dagger rather than a large sword. That word suggests spiritual warfare in two contexts. The first context is hand-to-hand combat when the enemy is close and within reach. Spiritual warfare is often that way when the enemy is standing right in front of us as we minister deliverance to someone or when he is harassing us in our bedroom at three in the morning.   The second context can be understood as a moment when we use a knife or a dagger to dislodge an arrow or some shrapnel that has been fired at us by the enemy and has lodged in us…such as a fiery dart of the enemy.

The first context is battle. In the spiritual realm authority is critical. That’s why we are reminded over and over in the New Testament that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth and that he has a name that is above every name. In the context of battle, the word of God becomes a weapon because the word of God must be enforced by the army of heaven. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb.4:12). In the book of Revelation, John describes a vision of Jesus and says, “In his right hand he held seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword” (Rev.1:16). That picture of Jesus establishes him as one with great power and authority. His words leave his lips as a sword with power to destroy.   In the book of Hosea, God told Israel, “Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you” (Hosea 6:5). Words direct the power and judgments of heaven so that when used as a weapon against the enemy, they can inflict harm.

In the wilderness temptation recorded in Matthew 4, Satan came to Jesus to tempt him in face-to-face, hand-to-hand combat. The devil always shows up when our strength (spiritual, emotional, or physical) is somehow depleted. Satan approached Jesus after forty days of solitude and fasting. His energy levels were low and he had been without the encouragement of friends or family for over a month. Satan, believing Jesus to be extremely vulnerable, came to tempt him as he did the First Adam.

Jesus fought back with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Jesus quoted scripture in response to every temptation of the enemy. I don’t believe Satan left Jesus only because he thought it was pointless to continue to tempt him. That was undoubtedly part of it, but I also believe the word of God inflicts pain on the enemy as a knife or dagger thrust. One thrust will typically not dispatch the enemy but several will leave him bloody and wounded and ready to run.

The words of believers carry authority and power. How else could the commands of God’s people bring healing and deliverance or even raise the dead? In the spiritual realm, our words have substance and weight. If our words have substance, how much more do the very words of God spoken from our lips carry weight? God spoke through Isaiah saying, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). Whether God’s word goes out through his lips or through ours, it will still fulfill its purpose.

Again, we are told that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. I believe when we declare that word with faith and conviction it cuts and bruises the enemy. When we are confronting the enemy, declaring appropriate scripture has a powerful affect that afflicts and torments the demonic. We should store up his word in our heart as much as possible and whip it out every time we encounter the enemy.

The second context of using the knife or dagger, which is the word of God, is when our faith, our joy, or our purpose has been wounded by a blow from the enemy. The fiery darts of the enemy (Eph. 6:16) that are extinguished by the shield of faith are undoubtedly lies that slip past our defenses – accusation, discouragement, weakness, etc. The word of God, then, reassures us and re-establishes our faith as we go back to the promises and the character of God. Each promise in the word digs out a piece of shrapnel or cleans out a wound left by the enemy. The word then can be wielded as a weapon against the enemy or as a scalpel useful for healing.

In the heat of battle or in a moment of treating wounds, declaring scripture strengthens our own faith in the moment while it weakens the enemy and torments him. Demons do not always depart with the first command. If a stronghold exists, you may have to “assault the walls of the enemy’s fortress” more than once with numerous commands. Declaring the word of God over that person or over a situation takes big chunks out of the bunkers of the enemy.

I remember one of our Freedom Weekends when a young woman was manifesting severely with a spirit of witchcraft. Her eyes were rolling back in her head, the spirit was growling at us, telling us that he hated us and that she belonged to him. We were commanding and he was resisting. It seemed like a stalemate until one of our team members was prompted by the Spirit to read Psalm 91 over the young woman, personalizing it with her name. As the word of God was read, the demon departed. The sword of the Spirit had its way.

Every believer should have a catalogue of scriptures on hand to wield against the enemy: scriptures that declare who Christ is, who we are in Christ, the defeat of Satan, the victory of the church, God’s willingness to heal and set captives free, and scriptures that defeat fear and temptation of every kind. As believers, our own words carry authority but the very words of God from our lips, carry even more power and authority with which to defeat and torment the enemy. Make a list, memorize them, and keep them handy.   We live in a dangerous world. Don’t leave home without your sword and remember, it’s always open carry.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul penned the lines above in his opening statements. The apostle had a great affection for the church there and he wrote with an almost sentimental tone that we don’t always get from Paul. “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart” (Phil.1:7). Paul is proud of this little church and writes, perhaps, the most positive letter in all of scripture to them. His heart for them is that their love for God and for others might abound more and more. Paul often speaks of that quality. He knows that abounding love will be a work of the Spirit on our lives because the natural man only loves those who loves him first and benefits him. He writes a whole chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13. But here he adds a couple of interesting qualifiers.

Paul said that he wanted their love to abound more and more but also to be guided by knowledge and a depth of insight. In essence, Paul wants us not only to love, but to love wisely. What Paul prays for this church to receive, we should pray for ourselves as well. First of all, we should pray that the Spirit of God would increase our love. Jesus said that the two great commandments are to love God and to love our neighbors. He would say that all of the Law and the Prophets hung on those two commands. If you think about it, the entire Bible is simply a set of instructions teaching us how to love God and how to love others. John tells us that God is love (1 Jn. 4:8) and although a number of other attributes describe God in scripture, love seems to be his paramount and most striking quality.

If you scan the Old Testament to see what endures forever, that phrase comes up a frequently. We are told that God’s throne endures forever; his name endures forever; his works endure forever; his word endures forever; and his righteousness endures forever. But the descriptor that is quoted dozens of time more often that the ones just mentioned is his love endures forever. Everything else flows out of that. God is good because he loves. God is merciful because he loves. God hates sin, because he loves and sin destroys the people he loves. Jesus himself defined his mission by love. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend. The cross was the ultimate act of love and God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…to redeem us from the universal mess we are in.

If we are to become like the Father and like the Son, then we must grow in love to the point that we abound in it so that it drips off of us wherever we go and saturates our environment. But Paul attaches the conditions of knowledge and insight that are to guide our expressions of love. Knowledge, in this context, is the knowledge of God – his character, his will, and his ways. Insight is seeing to the heart of a matter.

Love can be misunderstood and misdirected. Biblically, love (agape) is not a feeling or the idea of doing everything we can to make someone happy. It is not just a heart that goes out to others. Instead, it is a constant decision to always act in the best interests of another person. That may include saying no, applying discipline, or a little loving confrontation at times. In our present church culture, love has, in many ways, been redefined to mean tolerant, non-judgmental, and accepting of everything and every lifestyle. The knowledge of God informs me that I can love a person without tolerating a sin that will eventually destroy him or her and infect others on the way. Depth of insight is spiritual discernment that helps me see to the heart of a matter so that I can apply love in constructive ways that touch the deepest need or issue rather than living like a permissive parent who never says no to the demands of immature believers.

Not only is my insight for understanding people and situations around me, but it is also for me to discover which things are best, so that I can live a pure and blameless life. Scripture often tells us that our guide for living should not be simply avoiding sin or staying away from bad things. That is certainly a start, but in numerous contexts we are told that our goal is to always discern and choose what is best – not just good, acceptable, or tolerable – but best.

God wants the best for his children. If you are investing for retirement, you are not looking for average investments or adequate mutual funds, you are looking for the best – the funds that are most stable and that pay the best dividends year after year. God want his children to invest in the things of life that pay the best dividends in heaven. Paul says that the fruit of love guided by knowledge and insight is righteousness. Righteousness is where true freedom is found because it means we have mastered the flesh and the enemy has no claim on us whatsoever. We are aligned with the Father in every part of our life. When we walk in righteousness, we constantly sow to the Spirit and we reap life in everything we do (Gal.6:8).

So, we find that increasing love directed by knowledge and a depth of insight is the door to increase – more of God, more of Jesus, more of the Spirit, more effective ministry, more righteousness, more freedom, and greater harvests. Paul prayed for God to grant that to the believers in Philippi. We should do the same. Paul offered a similar prayer for the church at Ephesus where he prayed that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so they might know him better (Eph.1:7). I encourage you to add both of those prayers to your heavenly requests as well. It is God’s will for us to request those things and he is glad to give when we are hungry enough to ask. Be blessed today and may you abound more and more in love in knowledge and depth of insight.

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 1 Corinthians 6:2-3

Whenever we engage in spiritual warfare we must first remember who Christ is and who we are in him. Everything else rests on that foundation. In the New Testament, we are told that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that he has all authority in heaven and on earth, that he has a name that is above every name, and so forth. We cannot enter into spiritual warfare with an expectation of winning if we do not already know that Jesus has already won the victory and that we are only enforcing what has already been determined. As many have said, we are not fighting for victory, but from victory.

The battles we fight in the spiritual realm today are parallel to the battles Israel fought when entering the Promise Land. The land had already been promised to the descendants of Abraham. In essence, God had already deeded the land to his people. It was his to give and he had given it. His people had a legal right to the land they were about to take. Suddenly, those who had been inhabiting the land were trespassers and Israel’s first task was to evict those who no longer had any claim to the property that was the inheritance of God’s people.

The irony of God’s gift to his people was that although it had already been given to them, they still had to take possession of what had been given. I know men and women who have been given land by parents or grandparents with an expectation that they would live on it someday and, perhaps, raise crops or herds on it. Sometimes the land had been developed but at other times it had not. The land belonged to them but they still faced the daunting task of clearing rocks, brush, and acres of mesquite trees. Wells had to be dug and fences erected. Unwanted critters had to be dispatched and others tamed. Hindrances to life and productivity had to be removed. Enemies, in all their forms, had to be uprooted and removed.

Israel faced the same dilemma, but instead of rocks, trees, and brush they were called to remove hardened enemies who lived in walled cities and who had experience with war. Some of them were “goliath-like” in size and temperament. And yet, the Lord promised to go before them and guarantee the victory if they would step out in faith and obedience. God was asking them to fight from victory rather than striving for victory. Israel failed to take the Promise Land when they first came to the Jordan River because they continued to believe that they had to fight in their own strength. They were not convinced that God would be strong and victorious for them. Israel still had the identity of slaves rather than sons of God. They still anticipated that the God who had defeated Pharaoh with plagues and ocean water would abandon them in the face of inferior forces.

We can also drift into that same mindset, thinking that God may or may not be there for us when we face the enemy. We can drift into the mindset that although God gave us the victory yesterday, we are not sure that he will do the same today. We know we are in that place when we pray or command out of a sense of hoping that God will come through rather than operating in a firm expectation that he will come through. We know we are in that place when we feel that we are facing the enemy in our own strength and skills rather than in the strength and authority of the Commander of the Armies of Heaven.

We are not slaves. We are not servants. We are sons and daughters of a God who does not change, does not abandon, does not sleep, and who never loses. We may exercise the power and authority of heaven because of who we are in Christ. It is not about our righteousness, our wisdom, or our performance. We are who we are because God has placed us in a position of favor, authority, and rule because of what Jesus had done.

What we need to remember is that we have exceptional standing with the God of Creation. We are sons and daughters, friends of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, co-heirs with Christ, ambassadors of heaven, appointed and anointed, seated with Christ in heavenly realms, and so forth. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6 that we have such standing that we will sit with Christ, judging both the world and angels, when the curtain comes down on this age.

When we begin to clear the spiritual land that God has given us, we need to spend a moment remembering who our Lord is and his immense, infinite power that he is always willing to wield on our behalf. We also need to remember who we are in Christ. We need to remember that because of a cross and an empty tomb, the victory has already been won and both the Father and Son have agreed to go into battle with us because they will never leave us or forsake us in any circumstance. The Spirit goes with us as well because he lives in us.

As we remind ourselves of who Jesus is and who we are in him, we should also remind the enemy of those two things as well before we pray, declare, or command.   Our confidence in both creates fear in the enemy. If we doubt who we are, the enemy is emboldened. Who we are does not change from day to day based on our spiritual performance that day. We are who we are in Christ. Even on bad days, our position allows us to call on the power of heaven to destroy the works of the devil because the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the best hell can offer. As you pray for healings, command spirits to depart, or declare God’s promises over “impossible situations,” take a moment to remember who you are. You are one of God’s chosen, who will judge the world and even angels and, through Christ, you are to exercise that authority even now. Be blessed today and know who you are.