For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.  2 Corinthians 10:3-6

This is a very well known passage from the writings of Paul, but I’m not sure how many Christians actually know how to use divine weapons or even know what they are.  The Greek word translated as stronghold is an ancient  military term that means a fortified place.  A fortified place implies that someone has intentionally built up defenses to protect something. Strongholds, as Paul uses the term, are well established belief systems deep within us that are opposed to God’s truth.  In the context of Paul’s writing, these strongholds or belief systems actively argue against God’s truth.

The word translated as pretensionmeans anything that arrogantly sets itself up above the word of God.  Anything that wants to exalt itself above God or his word is demonic.  Isaiah, speaking of Satan said, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit” (Isa. 14:12-15). The word translated as demolishcan also mean “to dethrone.”  These strongholds are built and reinforced by Satan and contain thoughts that always want to argue against and exalt themselves above God’s truth.

Undoubtedly, each of us has to contend with some measure of strongholds in our life.  We are constantly bombarded by the belief systems of the world from childhood as we listen to television, read books, attend secular schools, pick up the strongholds of our parents, etc.  On top of that, we have experiences that establish beliefs about ourselves, God, and life in general and act as filters for every subsequent experience we have. For instance, an abused child will walk away from that abuse believing that something is so defective in him or her that they cannot be loved. Why else would a parent treat them that way? An abandoned child may grow up believing that, sooner or later, everyone they love will leave them.  Others will grow up in homes where whatever they did was “never good enough” and so will always struggle with feelings of incompetence and fears of failing.  Others will experience some disappointment and walk away believing that God doesn’t hear their prayers. These strongholds begin as some childhood conclusion we draw from a hurtful experience but then Satan reinforces those beliefs that oppose God’s truth.

Each of those strongholds will limit a person in life and in relationships. Each of those strongholds produces beliefs contrary to the word of God when it comes to those who are born again and have a destiny in Christ. God says he will never leave us or forsake us.  He tells us that we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ and that nothing can separate us from his love.  He tells us that he has made us competent and that we can do all things through Jesus.  He tells us that whatever we ask for in the name of Jesus that is aligned with his word will get his full hearing. As long as we have persistent thoughts that are not aligned with God’s truth, strongholds exist that war against and argue against our faith and our obedience.

When believers hear these scriptures enough, they come to believe them on an intellectual level but may not believe them in their hearts.  They tend to believe them for others but not themselves or always have a “Yes, but…” response when called on to believe a promise enough to act on it.

Those belief systems that are buried deep within us are reinforced by the demonic realm at every opportunity.  In the parable of the sower, Satan comes to steal the seed which represents the word of God before it can put down roots and bear fruit. When strongholds exist, the enemy will provide any number of reasons not to believe God’s truth when it is offered. Because these strongholds are places fortified by the lies of the enemy as he operates in the spiritual realm, it takes divine weapons to dismiss the demons that keep rebuilding the walls of those lies and divine weapons to destroy the stronghold.

Counseling and therapies that do not engage the enemy on a spiritual playing field will not be able to truly demolish these spiritual fortifications.  We may learn to manage our issues to some degree or learn coping skills, but that is far from freedom and victory over the issue.  Most churches still send their members out to counselors who do not believe in or have skills in spiritual warfare, although Paul clearly says our struggles are not against flesh and blood but spiritual powers. Even churches that have counselors on staff, typically have counselors who were trained in secular approaches to counseling.  They may pray and offer a scripture but do not know how to confront the enemy and exercise authority to break these strongholds. Because of that, only a small percentage of Christ’s body actually walks in the full freedom that Jesus has purchased for them.

Divine weapons include Spirit-led counseling, the spiritual gifts of discernment, healings, wisdom, revelation, deliverance, prayer, hearing God, and so forth. If you think about it, most strongholds are established as a result of some intense experience or trauma.  Most life-altering transformations also occur as a result of an experience with God –  Moses at the burning bush, Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, the apostles seeing the resurrected Christ and experiencing the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Gideon watching an angel ascend in flames, the servant of Elisha seeing chariots of fire all around him, Jewish neighbors seeing Lazarus emerge from his tomb and so forth.  Divine weapons allow us to experience the presence and power of God so that strongholds are discredited, demolished, and them replaced by the truth that comes through encounters with God. It often takes an experience with God to overwrite what we have believed because of an experience with Satan.

In addition, a huge part of destroying strongholds is offering obedience in every part of our life.  Many believers don’t experience freedom because they withhold slices of their lives from God and do not willingly submit to him in the areas of relationships, giving, entertainment, forgiveness, addictions, and so forth.  Each area that remains “unsubmitted” to Jesus is an open door for the enemy to come in and rebuild the very fortifications they are trying to tear down. Paul says, “we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:5).  In other words, when we have submitted all of our life to Jesus, then those who oppose us in the spiritual realm and the natural realm will be punished or caused to suffer by God. When we are obedient, demons can be driven out and the strongholds they have defended can be torn down.

I would venture to say that nearly every believer has some stronghold that remains within him or her – myself included. So many strongholds have been with us for so long that we don’t even recognize them.  They seem like a natural part of who we are and the enemy has provided numerous justifications for our beliefs that don’t line up with the Word.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any strongholds that exist so that divine weapons can be applied and the stronghold torn down. In its own way, every stronghold is a form of bondage though we may not recognize it is that.  A stronghold is simply a slice of our thought life that has been taken captive by Satan.  Our goal should to surrender every thought to Jesus because surrendering to Jesus truly brings freedom.  An essential part of deliverance is discovering these strongholds and pulling them down. Giving some serious thought to our personal strongholds on a regular basis is also essential to becoming all that he wants us to be.

In my last two blogs I laid out the biblical background for the spirit of python which seems to be encountered much more frequently now by deliverance ministries than it was even 20 years ago. This proliferation has most likely been brought on by the emergence of new age practices since the 60’s as well as the growth of satanic organizations and witchcraft in America.  Many Americans dabble in the occult without knowing the dangers or are exposed to it in unintended ways. How many of us when we were young played with Ouija boards, went to palm readers, or participated in séances at sleepovers thinking it was all fun and games?  This spirit can also be passed on generationally from grandparents who practiced white magic or who were involved in Masonic organizations decades ago.  Remember that python is a spirit of divination or witchcraft (Acts 16) which manifests in numerous ways.  The spirit of python can manifest in prophecy, communicating with the dead, and healing at times.  That was the draw at Delphi in the days of Paul.

I want to talk about some of those manifestations in this blog so that you can recognize what you are dealing with in those to whom you may be ministering.  In deliverance, knowing the name of a spirit is much more effective than simply calling out some unclean spirit.

Today, there are those who are demonized by this spirit who prophecy, provide spiritual counseling, speak to the dead, and even heal in the name of Christianity. Often, these individuals manifest uncontrolled jerking and shaking and claim they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  This may take some discernment, but as John said, we are to test the spirits because not every spirit is of God.

Those who are impressed by their prophecies and physical manifestations may seek an impartation of the gifts they believe they are witnessing and will receive not only a “gift” but the spirit of python as well.  The spirit is usually a source of significant income for those who allow it to work through them. Prayer, discernment and an observation of the fruit of that person’s ministry may be needed to determine if this spirit and the gifts are from God or not.  This spirit will seem to be a source of blessing at first so that people may believe that God is blessing them, but at some point that spirit will come to collect the bill for services rendered. Jesus has paid the bill for those who serve him, but Satan always comes to collect.

Those who are simply being afflicted by this spirit will exhibit some other manifestations.  Remember that python slowly squeezes the life out of people, organizations, and ministries.  For instance, if a once vibrant Christian has slowly lost his/her passion for the kingdom of God and has become apathetic towards prayer and ministry, this person may be under attack from this spirit.   This usually happens gradually rather than because of some traumatic event so that the person himself cannot explain the loss of passion. If a ministry or business seems to have stalled out with no further growth, even though everyone is still working hard and doing the right things, a python spirit may be coiled around the business or ministry restricting its ability to expand.

On a physical level, breathing disorders (asthma, COPD, chronic pneumonia, bronchitis, etc.) that doesn’t respond well to treatment or that keeps reoccurring may be an indicator of this spirit as his coils try to suffocate his victims.  We did a house cleansing recently where two of the family members had been plagued by breathing problems for several weeks.  Medications had not helped.  The Holy Spirit showed us that a python spirit was in the house so we commanded it to leave.  By the following day, the breathing problems cleared up. Skin problems may also become evident and reflect the molting of skin that a serpent goes through.

This spirit, because it is a spirit of witchcraft, may also manifest in perverse sexual drives and practices. Many pagan religions and cults through the centuries have had very sexualized rituals that included temple prostitutes (male and female), as well as public fertility rights, etc.  Some deliverance ministries suggest that this spirit may manifest in teenage women as a desperation or compulsion to get pregnant by any means and by anyone.

As you begin the deliverance process, you should have the person to whom you are ministering repent of any and all occult involvement for himself or his bloodline and to renounce all forms of witchcraft and divination. He or she should also agree to get rid of any objects in their house related to witchcraft in any form…jewelry, books, movies, music, souvenirs from overseas, even native American artifacts, etc.

When you begin to command this spirit to leave a person, you may find that it does not leave immediately or easily. Not only will it be coiled around a person but may be biting that person as well to maintain a hold.  You should command it not only to uncoil but also forbid it from biting. Often this spirit will hiss at those ministering deliverance and boast that the person belongs to him. On occasion, we have seen people sway like a serpent or fall on the floor and writhe like a snake. Those who are being delivered may complain of difficulty in breathing or pressure on their chest. You should forbid the spirit from restricting the person’s breathing or placing pressure on the chest as you continue to command it to leave.  You may also call on angels to cage this serpent or for the Holy Spirit to restrain the serpent.  You may also want to use the sword of the Spirit on the head of the serpent, as that is typically the best way to rid yourself of a snake.

Sometimes a snake gets in because the spiritual, hedges or walls around the person have fallen into disrepair. Ask the Lord to rebuild those walls and then make sure the person to whom you are ministering knows how to maintain the walls or hedges of protection with time in the word and prayer. As always, we need to keep in mind that not everything is a demon, but we need to be one to the possibility and be ready to minister deliverance when the Holy Spirit points us in that direction.  Hopefully, this has been helpful.

Last week I introduced the topic of the spirit of divinationfrom Acts 16 and the Greek background of this spirit that the people of the day called Python.  Spirits with names like these tend to take on the qualities of the animal whose name they share.  The python and other constrictors do not kill by venom but instead squeeze the life out of their victims very often suffocating them before crushing them.  This is a very subtle and yet powerful animal and the spirit of python is as well…often taking its time to crush the spiritual life out of its victims.

Just as the serpent in the Garden drew Adam and Eve away from God’s truth, this serpent will do the same. Once we have been drawn away from God’s truth we become easy targets for other spirits to join in the attack.  Because of the subtle strategies of these serpent spirits, it is imperative that God’s people know the Word of God because it is the only plumb line of truth by which we can objectively measure what is aligned or misaligned with God in the church or in our own lives.

John tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 Jn.4:1).  He is warning the church because these spirits will try to establish areas of influence in the church.  I can certainly tell you that over the past 25 years, the hunger to study the Word of God in many churches has been quenched. It is quoted and referred to but rarely truly studied in our day. The truth is that we have churches full of smart but biblically illiterate people who read spiritual books but not the Word, who go where they feel good, and who seek spiritual experiences that are not tested against biblical truth.  I am all for connecting with God emotionally and for spiritual experiences, but they must be tested and can only be tested by the Word and the Holy Spirit who always lines up with the word.  Knowing fragments of truth from the Bible without having some sort of overall understanding of God’s will and God’s ways is like having sections of a protective wall erected but with huge gaps in the middle through which the enemy can easily enter.

Paul warns us in his letter to the Thessalonians that, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thess. 2:9-10).  These spirits that are infiltrating the church will do impressive signs and wonders.  They will be counterfeit not because they are cheap tricks but because the source is not the true God.  If our theology is based on experiences only, we will be easily drawn to power without a filter to know whether we are being taught the truth or led away.

Should we then ban signs and wonders to avoid deception?  No. People are seeking these alternative forms of faith because they are looking for power, healing, prophecy, and so forth that they have not found in their churches.  Spiritual gifts, including the more miraculous gifts, are given for building up the church and must be exercised, perhaps, more now than ever if the church is to be strong and flourish.  We can’t abandon miracles and power to the enemy. We need to do them authentically and biblically…while teaching our people how to test the spirit behind them to see if they are from God.  Paul warned Timothy of this infiltration when he said, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Tim.4:1-2).

Just as the owners of the slave girl in Acts 16 were motivated  by money, influence and power, those who teach doctrines of demons will probably be motivated by the same things. We must be careful with our judgments however because everyone with disagree with is not a false prophet.  Unfortunately, you can go on YouTube right now and find dozens of preachers pointing the finger at other preachers for declaring the doctrines of demons. Typically, they are accusing men whom they have never met nor had a personal conversation with. They don’t know the fruits of their lives or ministries first hand. Division ion the church is one of Satan’s greatest weapons and sometimes we join right in.

Since a large part of the Christian church remains relatively uninformed about spiritual warfare, strategies of Satan, and demonic activity…how will they perceive and combat these doctrines of demons as those presenting them will come presenting themselves as enlightened Christians open to the new things of God? God certainly does new things but they are never contrary to his written word or character.  I think in many ways the break down of denominationalism and allegiances to one slice of the church is a good thing that can lead to unity, but I also believe that because of those break downs and people drifting from church to church or watching the electronic church, they don’t know what they believe and that makes them easy pray for the demonic.

My prayer is that God’s people will get serious again about Bible study, knowing what they believe and why, and will get serious about spiritual warfare in the church because the spirit of python and a multitude of other spirits are still alive on planet earth.  Too often we want to run to the gifts, run to the power, start the healing or deliverance without truly grounding ourselves in the Word. We should not be afraid because he that is in us is greater than anything hell can send our way but we do need to be equipped to fight…more than ever.  Knowing the Word is our first line of defense.  Knowing how to use the Word is just as important because it is the sword of the Spirit.

Next Week – specific indicators of a python spirit and how to pray against it.

We are living in a schizophrenic age in America where materialism abounds, atheism is trending, and science is seen as the great savior of mankind.  At the same time there has probably never been a greater hunger for the supernatural – psychic hotlines, Kundalini yoga, Wicca, spitiual healing clinics, and movies of all kinds about the paranormal, sorcery, and the living dead. On one hand, we deny the reality of the spiritual realm while at the same time being immensely fascinated by the realm we say we don’t believe in. This hunger and fascination confirms that a material world will only satisfy human longings  to a point, then we compulsively look for something more.

There is real danger in all of this because uniformed Christians are being drawn into hybrids of Christianity and occult practices such as psychic counseling, yoga, reiki healing, eastern philosophies, and eastern forms of meditation. . Many believers are being told that there is no harm in these forms of exercise, counseling, meditation and spiritual healing and that God is blessing it all.  Much of the yoga and spiritual healing forms talk about energy rather than spirits, but these ancient forms of exercise, meditation and healing have been designed to open the doors to spirits that were pursued in pagan rituals. Christians are seeking these “new” forms without understanding the door they are opening for demonic spirits.  Just because a session opens with a prayer in the name of Jesus, does not mean that everything that occurs after that is from the Father.

In Acts 16:13-18, there is an interesting account of Paul being followed by a young slave girl who was controlled by a spirit of divination while he preached in Philippi.  The text says, “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling^.  This girl followed Paul and the rest of us shouting, ‘These men are servants of the most high God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’  She kept this up for many days.  Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus I command you to come out of her!’  At that moment the spirit left her.”  Of course, trouble soon followed because the money she had been making for her owners was suddenly cut off.  The text raises some interesting question and provides some valuable insights for believers today in this areas of Christian/occult hybrids.

First of all, the spirit in the girl was a spirit of divination.  It could predict the future, at least to a great enough degree that people believed it was authentic. The Greek word for the spirit is “pythona.” Today it is often referred to as a python spirit and we are seeing more and more of this spirit in deliverance and house cleansing sessions. Jesus spoke of spirits taking that form in Luke 10 where he said,. “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  This spirit takes on the qualities and strategies of a python and just as a python in the natural realm wants to crush the breath out of its victims, this spiritual python wants to crush God’s breath, the Holy Spirit, out of its victims.

The Greeks believed  that a great serpent or dragon called Python had once protected a hill with an opening into the earth at Delphi. In Greek  mythology, Apollo had killed the serpent and dumped his body into an open crevice where it continued to rot for centuries.  Delphi, in southern Greece, became a center for prophecy, healing, and fortune telling.  People would travel from all over that part of the world to get a word from the priestess of Delphi called Pythia and pay her lots of money for the privilege.. She would essentially sit over a fissure in the ground and breath fumes that placed her in an ecstatic state during which the “spirit of python” was supposed to speak through her.  The fumes were thought to be from the rotting corpse of the great serpent as his spirit still inhabited the place.  Girls like the one in Acts 16 were thought also to be under the influence of the ancient spirit called Python.

This spirit is identified as a demonic spirit in Acts 16, posing as a spirit of prophecy or fortune-telling. Notice that the spirit first arrived as Paul and his company were going out to pray.  One of the strategies of this spirit is to distract us from developing an intimate relationship with God though prayer. This spirit will crush or dampen our desire to pray and spend personal time with the Lord.  He will also offer an array of distractions.

Secondly, serpents are known for their cunning and stealth. In Genesis 3, we are told that the serpent was more crafty that any of the other animals God had made. He was crafty enough to seduce Adam and Eve into rebellion against the commands of God.  This spirit is subtle and invades a life or home slowly so that its target is almost unaware of its movement.

In Philippi, this serpent spirit said all the right things as he declared that Paul and his company were men of God and were showing people how to be saved.  Why would a demonic spirit even do that? In doing so, he was deceptively associating himself with Christ in the minds of those who heard Paul’s preaching. Because he seemed to be aligning himself with Paul, it was possible that those who would seek to follow Jesus might assume that it was the Holy Spirit speaking through the girl rather than a demonic spirit.  In that way, after Paul left to preach in another city, he could lead many believers astray under the guise of being a spirit sent by God.  That is exactly what is happening in these hybrid Christian/Eastern religious practices that are being adopted by believers.

It’s curious that Paul put up with the girl for “many days,” but eventually, troubled in his spirit, he cast out the demon. Perhaps, he knew that when he did set her free, there would be a huge uproar in the city that would then prevent him from continuing to preach the gospel there, and that is exactly what happened. The point is that demonic spirits can say the right things and appear to be aligned with God while they find ways to infiltrate the church and the lives of individual believers.   Pythons and other constrictors can slowly approach a victim that is not paying attention and then slowly squeeze the life out of that victim little by little.  When the victim recognizes he is in danger, it is too late to escape the coils of the snake. Satan has done that to many believers through the centuries.  There is a “new age” Christianity that is gaining traction that will be a hybrid of Christianity and the occult, but will all be presented as offering new spiritual pathways  to God. These spirits may even manifest in prophecy and healing today as they did at Delphi two thousand years ago. This spirit seems to be one of the most active spirits in the European and American church today. So, how doe we indeed notify it and what do we do after that?  We will talk about those indicators and solutions in Part 2 next week.

My wife Susan and I recently went to see Overcomer, which is the newest movie out from the Kendrick Brothers who also produced War Room, Fireproo,fand Courageous. This is a movie about a young black girl who became the single member of a cross country track team for a Christian School.  Of course, she overcomes all odds to excel in her sport and discovers herself and a family member she thought was dead. In some ways, the plot is predictable but in the end you still shed a tear and want to applaud as she overcomes an immense amount of  brokenness.

Although the movie is based on a formula, I highly recommend it. The formula works time and again because it develops the theme of redemption.  A person loses his way, makes terrible mistakes, hurts others, burns bridges, finally receives a second chance to do it right…and does it. Something in us wants to stand and cheer.  If you think about it, a number of great movies through the years have developed that theme including the classic Ben-Hur, Les Miserables, the Rocky series, the redemption of Darth Vader in Star Wars, etc.  I believe these work and we cheer the formula decade after decade because we all know deep within, that we personally need our own redemption.

The Word of God says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Eccl.3:11). The idea of setting eternity in the hearts of men can mean many things, but more than anything, I think it confirms that God has deposited within each man the sense that something lies beyond this life and beyond the physical realm. Within each of us there is a sneaking suspicion that when I take my last breath, a door is opened to another realm.  I know that there are self-proclaimed atheists who argue that there is nothing beyond that moment of death, but I believe they had to convince themselves of that view…it did not come naturally.

With an inherent sense of eternity and the longing and even certainty of life after death, the next logical question is, “What does life after this life look like?” Historically, every culture has developed some answer to that in the form of religion and each one has imagined some kind of reward for righteous living and some form of punishment for the wicked…however that was defined by the culture.  It is fascinating that every people group through the ages has struggled with their own mortality and has been concerned with their eventual destination after death.  I believe that is confirmation that God has indeed placed eternity in the hearts of men.

I also believe that we have inherited a sense of defectiveness from our ancestors – Adam and Eve.  After they both sinned against God, they were overcome with a sense of fear and shame…a sense that they were no longer acceptable to God. That sense of defectiveness haunts us all at some level.  One response is to construct a system of good works, courageous exploits, self-sacrifice, or special knowledge that will earn us entry into the blessed realm of the next life.  Every form of this option has us trying to earn our salvation, but men are still haunted by the fear that they have never done enough.  Another option is to simply deny life after death and the threat of judgment through a disciplined mindset of atheism. If I can’t earn my way to God, I will simply deny  his existence. The third option is found only in Jesus and that option believes that God is good and that he loved us enough to personally pay the price for our defectiveness.  We cannot earn salvation but can only accept it through the sacrifice of Jesus.  In a works religion, man keeps trying to get to God. In Jesus, God has come to man.  In him and him alone is the redemption we all long for because we know we need it.  Maybe we can’t verbalize it, but we sense it – we feel it.

When movies or stories hit that nerve, it resonates with our deepest need.  We identify with the character who finds redemption and we experience the hope of redemption in that moment.  Of course, it is only a movie or a book and that hope fades unless we have the abiding hope of Jesus.  One reason the gospel is so powerful, is because it hits that nerve.  As followers of Jesus, we have the story that meets the need.  We should be eager to tell it and the truth of it will resonate in the hearts of men. Jesus is the redeemer and the hero of every story.

We have all heard the expression, “Peace through strength.”  The idea is that peace comes when you are strong enough that others hesitate to pick a fight with you. On the world stage, that means that your military might acts as a deterrent to anyone who might be thinking about attacking your nation. The Kingdom of Heaven has peace as a core value but we are also instructed to put on armor every day and wield divine weapons in an ongoing battle with an enemy that will not make peace. He only comes to kill, steal, and destroy and he will not surrender or go away until he is eventually cast into a lake of fire.

One of Satan’s most effective strategies over the last forty years has been the feminization of the church.  This movement has effectively made men apologetic for being men.  The movement has condemned the aggressive, competitive, pugilistic, side of men and has called on them to become nurturing, passive individuals who should endeavor to become more like women in every way.  However, Genesis clearly states that God made them male and female. God intends for there to be clear and unique differences between the sexes.  The feminization of the church has, in many ways, taken the fight out of the body of Christ because we have condemned the very traits that make an individual a great warrior.

In many ways our faith has become passive, non-aggressive, and non-combative at every level. Certainly we are to display the fruit of the Spirit in our relationships with one another, but we should be stirring up masculine traits when it comes to spiritual warfare.  In that arena you cannot be passive or placating. Instead of eradicating those traits from the church, we should simply train our children and our adults that those are God-given traits to be used in spiritual warfare by both men and women.

In an effort to make men gentle and soft-spoken, we may have declawed the lion. Why did the “culture leaders” in America try to make men more like women and guilt trip them about their toxic masculinity rather than attacking women for toxic femininity? Although some good things have certainly come from that movement, I also believe the movement has been used by Satan to take the fight out of the church. Undoubtedly, women are extremely capable, strong,  and should have significant roles of leadership in the church.  But I believe that God appointed men to lead their families and lead significantly in the church as well.

God has placed a mantle on men that Satan wants to remove.  Statistically, if a child comes to the Lord, the rest of the family will follow suit in very low numbers – less than 5%.  If a mother comes to Christ, about 40% of those families will follow suit. But if a father comes to Christ, over 90% of those families will also follow the Lord. Take the masculinity out of man and you remove that mantle. Take the godly masculinity out of a man and he will abandon his family.

Most women find the male compulsion to shoot guns, blow up things, and kill innocent animals puzzling.  They may find the tendency of most boys to play with toy guns, swords, and GI Joe toys alarming as well.  But what if God made men for war? What if men watch movies about war because something God placed in them calls them to bravery and sacrifice against all odds?  What if they are called to war every day against the unseen enemy for the sake of their families and their nation? If we squelch the very traits that make us effective in war, we are setting ourselves up for defeat.  What we need now is a generation of warriors and spiritual ninja’s who will take the battle to the enemy and aggressively push back the borders of darkness.

Certainly aggressiveness and competitiveness can be misplaced and abused.  That doesn’t mean we should condemn those qualities but rather, those qualities should be redirected in godly ways.  The church at Corinth abused spiritual gifts about as much as they could be abused. The apostle Paul addressed the abuse rather strongly but did not forbid or discourage the exercise of those gifts. Instead, he simply taught them how to exercise the gifts in godly ways.  We should do the same with aggressiveness, boldness, and combativeness.

King David proved that the qualities of a warrior can exist side by side with the qualities of a poet, an artist, and a shepherd. David was a man who could write beautiful psalms, weep at the loss of a friend,  but also cut the head off of a giant.  Sensitivity and ferocity are not exclusive.  So…lets not be afraid to put on the armor and swing a sword – both men and women and let the church regrow her claws.

Clearly, not every obstacle in life is a demonic attack.  Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble.  But Paul also said that we should not be unaware of the devil’s schemes.  Here are some indicators that you or others may be under spiritual attack if these conditions are prolonged.  (Adapted from a teaching  by Jentezen Franklin as well as some additions of my own).

The devil is most effective when these conditions come on us slowly so that we begin to feel that they are arising out of natural conditions. If we were to experience these things suddenly, we would probably see it as spiritual attach.  When these things creep up on us over a period of months, we begin to think it is just our “new normal” and begin to simply live with it rather than fight it.

Indicators:

1. Your spiritual passion and desires have subsided. You find yourself without the desire to read the Word, pray, worship, attend church, or even serve in your calling without any appare reason.  You are marked by apathy and indifference and can’t seem to shake it.
2. You are experiencing a season of physical and emotional exhaustion even though you are being reasonably responsible toward your health. Maybe you are experiencing lingering illnesses that are not clearly diagnosed and for which treatments have not been affective.or that treatments have not been affective
3. You are experiencing a “lack attack” in which everything is breaking down at once or one thing right after another, unexpected expenses keep draining your accounts, unexpected job loss, etc.
4. You experience constant disruptions and distractions when you try to pray.
5. You are in a prolonged season of feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances and feelings of hopelessness are beginning to creep in.
6. Old iniquities and temptations begin to surface again that you have not had to deal with for months or years. The enemy will attack from the last place he had success in your life.
7. You find yourself pulling away from godly people in your life and feel drawn to people who aren’t committed to Jesus or old friends who are not believers. You find yourself becoming cynical and critical of the church and you are having thoughts that life before Jesus was better than life with Jesus
8. You find yourself being drawn to things of the world more than things of the kingdom…not things that are sin in themselves but sports, recreation, travel, hobbies, etc. so that those things are getting much more time and attention than the Lord.

When these things are going on you should suspect that you are under demonic attack.  When you sense an attack, take action.

• Have others stand and pray with you. See Ecc.4:12 / Lev.26:7-8 / Matt. 18:19 / James 5:16
• Remember that you have been made to outlast the storm because you stand on The Rock.
• Remember who you are in Jesus. Return to confessing your identity.
• Begin to confess victory again and speak the word of God over your life.
• Exercise your authority over demons and circumstances. Luke 10:19
• Get mad at the devil not at God. God’s plan is to bless you while the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:28-30

This is one of those “so familiar” verses that we often read right through it, assuming that we fully understand it.  Those are the verses in which it is often best to slow down, read word by word, and ask the Spirit to give you an additional revelation.  So I wanted to do that myself tonight.

The first phrase is an emphatic invitation.  Many Greek concordances translate it with an exclamation point next to it.  It might be translated, “Come to me now!!!  The word “come” can also be translated as “follow.”

The ultimate goal of most of us…especially as we grow older is to find peace, rest, or renewal in our lives.  Over the months and years, the world nibbles away at our souls.  If we are not careful there will be an accumulation of stress, anxiety, regrets, losses, and a longing for something we have not yet found that robs us of peace and joy. Life and even ministry can become a burden.

Jesus recognizes that condition with the words weary and burdened.One suggests the tiredness and exhaustion that comes from a long march or days of hard labor with little to show for it. There is a sense that those who are weary are on the verge of quitting.  Remember, Paul tells us to not grow weary in doing good because eventually there will be a harvest (Gal.6:9).  He is encouraging believers at Galatia not to quit or give up because they have labored hard but have not yet seen any harvest. His call is to keep going because God has promised a harvest that will surely come if we keep believing. Sometimes staying faithful seems like labor.  You serve, you pray, you cry out and have yet to see a breakthrough. You begin to question the promises of God or your own faith because no fruit , no answered prayer, is yet discernable.  Those can be hard days.

The word burdenedcalls to mind a heavy load. Some translations call it “heavy laden.”  Caring for a special needs child or a spouse with a long-term disability can begin to feel like a heavy burden where the responsibility weighs you down.  Maybe a child torn by addictions or a marriage in which you feel like the only one trying can bear on your soul. On those days, the road seems too long before you get a break.

Jesus has a remedy for the labor and heavy burdens. He calls it rest.Rest can b translated as relief, recovery, renewal, or restoration. Remember David’s 23^rdPsalm where he says that the Lord restores his soul by making him lie down in green pastures and leading him beside still waters.   This is the same thought.  I think it is closely akin to peace.

Jesus declares that this rest is available, but he is the only provider.  Come to me!!! He declares and no one else. You come, you follow, and I will give it to you. The promise implies relationship. You can’t just drop by the corner pharmacy and get a box of tablets that make you feel better as you continue to live for yourself and follow you.  That is where the emptiness comes from in the first place.  It is only found in him.

He then describes the process of gaining rest.  It is not sitting down and ceasing to serve but it is yoking ourselves to him and learning how to live in the abundance and peace of the kingdom. Yokes tie two animals together, who then labor together.  The untrained animal would learn how to pull and plow by being yoked to the one who was already trained for the task. Simply doing what he saw and felt the other do trained him.  Being yoked with Jesus in a relationship and as a co-laborer in the kingdom teaches us how to live and how to trust in kingdom resources to get us through hard times. Trust is the forerunner of rest.

Jesus doesn’t train us with a whip and harsh words.  He encourages us and brings us along at the pace that fits us. He is gentle and humble and even though he is King he will not lord it over those who come to him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light because he shoulders most of the weight.  Once again, scripture reveals God as a God who wants to partner with his people, co-labor in the kingdom, and grow close by doing great things together.  Intimacy and training in how to live in the kingdom while still on planet earth is what restores our soul.

Too often when we have labored long and carried a weight, we want to run away from the call God has on our lives.  We want to ditch our responsibilities ands chase the promises of the world that offer peace, love, and significance at a minimal cost…but those things truly only come through Jesus. The key to rest is to press in, not to pull away.  In fact, weariness and burden bearing are hints that we have already drawn away and are trying to face life in our own strength. When you feel the weariness and the burden, remember the words of Jesus – “Come to me…I will give you rest!”

In my last blog I talked about the dangers of compromise in our spiritual lives.  I referenced Solomon in that blog but I think he deserves a closer look than we were able to give him then.

By all accounts, Solomon stunned the world as the King of Israel.  His wealth, his wisdom, his knowledge, and his strategies were legendary even in his own day. He was the son of King David and God had promised David that there would always be one of his descendants on the throne of Israel as long as those descendants followed the commands of God. When Solomon was a young king, he experienced a visitation from God who told him he would grant whatever request he offered.  In a moment of brilliance, Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people.  Because he asked for wisdom rather than wealth, power, or long life, God graciously promised him all those things as well as wisdom.  In a sense, the words of Jesus were fulfilled that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all the other things needful for life will be given to us.

Solomon began his reign in a stellar fashion.  He secured the kingdom from his enemies, he built the magnificent temple for God that his father David had envisioned, and he built his own palace that amazed all who saw it.  His wisdom was known throughout the Middle East and other kings came or sent envoys just to ask him questions.  God gave him victory in every battle and eventually peace on his borders.

One famous visitor was the Queen of Sheba who said, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lordyour God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10:6-9).  She was amazed at everything she saw and, as it should be, his giftedness directed her to give glory to his God.

Solomon surpassed every expectation that anyone could have ever imagined for his reign.  And yet, he died as a failure. The text says, “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women… They were from nations about which the Lordhad told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lordhis God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lordcompletely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.  The Lordbecame angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command” (1 Kings 11:1-10).

The question for us becomes, “How could the wisest man in history who had two personal visitations from the Lord and who knew well the promise that God had made to David about faithful sons, lose his way?”

First of all, Solomon asked for wisdom to rule Israel.  That may not be the same as spiritual wisdom.  We can ask God to give us wisdom for business, creativity for the entertainment industry, a best selling book, a mind for science, and many other things that will advance us in this world, but spiritual wisdom to know how things operate in the heavenly realm can be another thing. One type of wisdom is tied to the affairs of this world while the other is tied to the eternal realm.  The silence and submission that promoted Jesus in heaven, got him crucified on earth.

Secondly, years of amazing success and people bowing before you can cause anyone to forget God…I don’t care who you are. Somewhere in Solomon a seed of self-sufficiency and pride was planted, watered and grew.  The time came when he didn’t fear God or see him as the only true and living God.  Many great spiritual men have fallen because they became “stars” and “celebrities” within the church.  They believed their own press and refused to be accountable to others.  David made some huge mistakes but he still had men and prophets who would speak into his life to warn him and even confront him. Solomon seemed to have no one who could speak to him.

Thirdly, he eventually surrounded himself with unbelieving wives which opened the door to Solomon himself being demonized to the extent that he worshipped the most perverse of the pagan Gods…even those to whom children were sacrificed. The word of God clearly prohibited taking foreign wives and making foreign alliances. And yet, Solomon ignored those laws.  Paul declares the same for us in 2 Corinthians 6 when he commands us not to be yoked together with unbelievers.  Solomon had a weakness for women but excused it and fed it until it consumed him.

We need to be honest with ourselves about our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and we need to build guardrails around ourselves in those areas with prayer, confession, and accountability to some people we trust and respect.  These people must always have our permission to ask questions and give correction when needed.

To excuse, minimize, or justify those weaknesses is an open door to the enemy and if we play the game long enough, we will be deceived.  I am certain Solomon himself fell into that trap. I’m sure he didn’t give into the pleadings of his foreign wives at first.  He most likely tried to evangelize them and point out the greatness of his God for years.  But if we surround ourselves with unbelievers long enough, they will inevitably wear us down and we will be drawn to their way of life…little by little…. but drawn, all the same. One good apple placed in a barrel with rotten apples, will not make them healthy, but the one placed there will become rotten as well. Jesus hung out with sinners as ministry, but surrounded himself with those seeking God the rest of the time.

I’m also confident that Solomon’s wealth and success convinced him that God was all right with his foreign wives and foreign alliances.  That can be the danger of success and we all need to be aware of that danger. God is longsuffering, but his patience should not always be taken as approval.  We need spiritual wisdom to know the difference.

So pray for spiritual wisdom more than wisdom to succeed in this world. Be honest with your vulnerabilities and build guardrails for yourself including some who know what is going on in your life. Watch your relationships with unbelievers and do not open the door for the enemy.  If you find one open, shut it because even Solomon in all his glory finished his life as a failure.

I think one of the greatest traps we can fall into as believers is the trap of compromise. Compromise with the culture and with the devil is often deceptive.  It usually comes in small incremental steps which allows us to create justifications for each small departure from biblical standards.  Typically, we fall into some kind of “the end justifies the means” thinking.  In extreme cases we can seemingly justify almost anything and declare it to be within God’s will.

Recently, I met with a young man who described himself as godly and spiritual but was battling depression and some traumatic events in his life.  He acknowledged that he was making a living selling marijuana on the streets in a state where it is still illegal.  In his mind, he was providing something good for his clients, like a doctor dispensing medicine and, therefore, his drug dealing was God’s will for his life because he was “helping” people.  After all, he noted that marijuana is legal in “enlightened” states and so that added to his justification. For him, selling weedhurt no one and was approved by some and, therefore, must be approved by God.  He had also made considerable money from his business and believed with all his heart that God was blessing him financially and that was more confirmation of God’s approval.  When I mentioned the command to obey the laws of the land, he simply said that he obeyed the laws of God, rather than men.  When I raised the possibility that the financial blessing he was experiencing might be from the enemy and not from God, he dismissed that as unlikely.  The fact that he didn’t sell heroin or cocaine gave him a sense of comparative righteousness and for him justified the compromise he had made with God’s word. Even though he had nearly been killed twice by people he met in his trade, he couldn’t see any misalignment with his lifestyle and biblical principles – many of which he could quote.

We find the same reasoning with believers who live together and share in all the privileges of marriage without being married. The justification is that they are in a committed relationship rather than sleeping around and so assume that God approves or, at least, gives them a pass on sex outside of the marriage covenant. They practice the value of commitment and, therefore find a way to ignore the standard of sexual purity outside of marriage.  The Christian gay community does the same thing by declaring that because they practice love and commitment – two biblical values – they have God’s approval for same-sex marriage.

Compromise treats God’s standards as if he grades on the curve and if we are living out some of God’s values and commands then we can ignore others and still get a passing grade.  To be sure, none us are without sin.  However, falling short of God’s standards out of weakness or even rebellion and then repenting is a very different thing from simply deciding that we will ignore or modify his standards that keep us from what we want while we offer him a justification for doing so.

When we do that we simply find ways to compromise with the world or the devil and still consider ourselves committed Christians. That is a dangerous place to be.  We can also ignore the standards of God in the name of tolerance and grace and explain away God’s clear commands in the name of acceptance and love.  When we do that, we give away our view that God’s laws are restrictive and punitive rather than life-giving.  We give away our view that some of God’s commands are unreasonable or outdated. Culture or the flesh wears us down so we begin to compromise in some areas of our faith while standing strong in others.  We are in danger when we begin to justify that compromise.  It would be better to simply acknowledge our sin or weakness while asking God to deliver us from that sin rather than deciding that our particular sin should not be considered sin at all.

King Saul lost his entire kingdom over the issue of compromising God’s standard and then justifying his compromise. “Samuel said to Saul, ‘I am the one the Lordsent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the LordAlmighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ … Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed…When Samuel reached him, Saul said, ‘The Lordbless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.’ But Samuel said, ‘What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?’ Saul answered, ‘The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lordyour God, but we totally destroyed the rest’”  (1 Sam.15:1-15).

Samuel went on to rebuke Saul while Saul continued to argue that the he had fulfilled the Lord’s command.  You get the feeling that Saul was thinking that doing “most” of what God had commanded was sufficient and should count as full obedience. He adjusted the standard that God had set to meet his personal sense of what the standard should have been.  As a result, God counted him as unworthy to rule and took away his kingdom.

One of the worst things we can do is to begin to justify our sin before God rather than simply acknowledging our failures and asking God’s forgiveness. When David sinned with Bathsheba, his heart was revealed in Psalm 51.  He had committed murder and adultery but as he sought God again he never blamed anyone else or tried to justify or minimize his sin.  He acknowledged his sin, took full responsibility, and then cried out for God’s mercy.  He was fully forgiven.  Saul, on the other hand, justified himself and blamed others for his failures. David found the favor of God again while Saul lost his kingdom.

I think each of us should ask the Holy Spirit on a regular basis to highlight areas of compromise in our lives and to show us places where we have begun to justify our sin.  Whenever we do that, we come into agreement with Satan and open a door for him to camp out in our lives. Ask others to watch your life is well to see where those small compromises and justifications are sneaking in to our lives.  When we discover those places of spiritual erosion, don’t ignore them, excuse them, or deny them.  Simply deal with them through the cross and renew your commitment to God’s word as his eternal standard for life.