Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”    The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Numbers 21:4-7

There are numerous occasions in the Old Testament when the people of God began to grumble and complain about their circumstances. In this circumstance, they complained about an apparent lack of food (or a variety of food) and a lack of water. They complained bitterly about the “miserable food” they had. The miserable food was, of course, the manna that God provided every morning. In response to their constant complaints, God released a plague of fiery snakes into the camp of the Israelites. Some died from the painful bites.

The New Testament writers also have some things to say about grumbling and complaining:

We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 1 Cor. 10:9-10

Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! James 5:9

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. Philippians 2:14-15

So…why is grumbling and complaining such a serious matter for God’s people? Ultimately, our grumbling and complaining declares that God’s work and provision in our lives is deficient, insufficient and unfair. It is an indictment against the character and the love of God for his people.

After 400 years of bitter slavery in Egypt, God led his people out of Pharaoh’s furnace with an unprecedented reign of terror in the form of ten plagues from which Israel was exempt – at least for most of them. God then capped that off with the Red Sea crossing and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army. Not only that, but when the Hebrew slaves left Egypt they left with gold, silver, and jewels given to them by the Egyptians themselves along with herds of sheep and cattle. God then fed 1.5 million people in the desert every day with manna that formed around them each morning and miraculously provided water when it was necessary. But that wasn’t enough. The Hebrews were unsatisfied with the miserable food God was providing.

Concerning that manna the Hebrews collected each morning, the psalmist declared, “Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat” (Ps.78:23-35).

The miserable daily provision of God each day was described by the Holy Spirit as the grain of heaven and the bread of angels. Jesus would later draw an analogy between himself and the manna as he called himself the “bread of heaven.” Apparently, the manna had an amazing, if not miraculous, ability to sustain life and health in a barren desert. It was more than sufficient for their needs and was provided daily by a faithful God. For the Hebrews, however, it wasn’t sufficient. It did not provide the variety they desired. It could not be stored up so it kept them dependent on God when they apparently desired self-sufficiency. The water complaint points to the same issue. They wanted a ready and infinite supply of water rather than having to trust Gold for miraculous provision each day. When they grumbled and complained, they weren’t speaking against their circumstances, but rather against the character of God himself.

The New Testament writers offered the same observations and conclude that our complaining is also an indictment of God’s love, his care, or his fairness. We deserve more. God hasn’t provided enough or the right kinds of things. His care is inadequate. That was the accusation of Satan in the Garden of Eden when he suggested to Adam and Eve that God was holding out and that there was more they needed for life and happiness than God was giving. Grumbling echoes Satan’s accusations against God that he is unfair and uncaring. When we complain and grumble we come into agreement with
Satan and empower him. Then the snakes – the demons – show up in our own lives and when they do they bite. Complaining and grumbling gives off an aroma in the spiritual realm that draws the enemy like flies to rotting meat.

So what is the antidote? After all, aren’t we all human and prone to complaints? Yes, we are but we are also prone to other sins as well. Grumbling and complaining is sin. Therefore, we begin with repentance and then move to thanksgiving based on the belief that God is always with us and is meeting our needs in the way that suits our present condition best.

Graham Cooke makes this observation. “Every obstacle, every problem, every attack, is allowed and designed to teach you to become more like Jesus. That’s why every problem comes with a provision attached to it. As Christians, we must stand in the midst of the problem, knowing God’s promise, and expect a provision. All things work together for good in the economy of God” (Graham Cooke, Crafted Prayer, Brilliant Book House, p. 35-36).

Because God is in the midst of every situation – even those we make for ourselves – and is working all things to our good, we can give thanks in every situation. Thanksgiving closes the door to the enemy. It allows us to see the hand of God in our lives and to hear his voice. It strengthens us and reminds us that he who is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Thanksgiving for what God has done and for what he is about to do is the language of heaven. Grumbling and complaining is the language of hell.

So…if you find yourself prone to complain or recognize that you have been in a season of grumbling, repent and discipline yourself to thanksgiving and praise. It will make all the difference.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb.11:6). This is a statement from Hebrews 11 where all the great men and women of faith are listed for our consideration. The phrase “by faith” comes up over and over again in that list and throughout the scriptures. Jesus also declared faith to be a central component in many of the miracles he performed. He often said something like, “Your faith has healed you” or “May it be done to you according to your faith.” He declared that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could command a mountain to be thrown into the sea and it would be done. At times he was amazed by the faith of a few and, at other times, amazed at the lack of faith of others. Paul assures us that we are saved by grace through faith.

For anyone who has studied the New Testament, faith is clearly seen as a central issue in the life of every person who follows Jesus. Faith is a central issue in our lives if we are going to see God move powerfully in response to our prayers or work through us as we minister to others. Most discussions about faith orbit around our perception of God and his ability to do great things that intervene in the natural order of the universe. However, in my experience, believing that God can heal the sick and raise the dead or that he can move mountains and give great victories in the face of overwhelming odds is often the easy part of faith.

What I have discovered through the years is that my challenge is not to believe that God will move in those ways for his children, but to believe that God will move in those ways for me. Perhaps, you struggle with the same doubts at times.

I find that for many of us, believing that God truly loves us personally and is eager to answer our prayers is the stumbling block for our faith. For many, it is much easier to believe God’s promises for others than for ourselves. We know ourselves too well. We live with a daily awareness of our secret sins, out fears, our defectiveness, and our weaknesses. We know our dark thoughts and shame-filled memories. We reject ourselves so we expect God to reject us as well.

It’s part of our fallen nature to expect punishment from God rather than grace and love. One of Satan’s great strategies is to persuade us that God is a perfectionistic father who requires the same perfection from his children if he is going to love and bless them. We expect him to be angry when we don’t deliver that perfection.

Like Adam and Eve, our first response to our failures is typically to duck into the brush, attempt to cover up our shame, and when God shows up to blame everyone in the surrounding territory for our shortcomings. Why did Adam and Eve hide and blame rather than running to their loving Father and confessing their sin immediately? Perhaps, it was because Satan had subtly convinced them that God wasn’t such a loving father after all. We know what he was whispering to them before they took fruit from the tree and ate, but we don’t know what he whispered the moment after they took that fateful bite.

I’m confident it was a litany of fear-filled claims that God was going to fly into an uncontrollable rage and become a terrifying abuser – that he was going to kill them that day because “ in the day you eat of that tree you will die!” I’m sure he whispered that God now hated and despised them and would never forgive them for what they had done. He probably laughed at them and shamed them in every conceivable way so that they would hate themselves and expect God to feel the same.

Satan whispers to us in our failures as well. He whispers that God only loves the “super-Christians;” he only responds to the prayers of those in the 95^th percentile; or the last sin was the last straw and God is through with us until we can work hard enough to earn his love and mercy again – but we are such losers that we’ll never be able to do that anyway.

Satan persuades us that God is a father whose intimate involvement in our lives, whose love, whose laughter, whose delight, whose abundant forgiveness, and whose approval will never be there for us. And so we pray and believe with reservation – not about his goodness or his ability – but about our “worthiness” for his love and attention.

Faith accepts that our worthiness was secured on the cross apart from our performance. It believes God’s promises for us in spite of our abundant weaknesses and failures. Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.5:21). By God’s grace there is no condemnation for us because we are no longer under law (Rom.8:1). You have been adopted into the royal family by a father whose love is unconditional. He knew all your faults before he ever called you to be his son or daughter.

Most of us believe in our minds that God loves us. The problem is to believe in our hearts that he loves us and has written our name on every promise. So how do I finally come to believe that every promise is for me and not just for those around me?

First of all, we may ask the Holy Spirit to give us a revelation of that truth in our heart. He is the teacher who leads us into all truth. God speaks of writing his laws or his truth on our hearts. Revelation comes to our hearts, not to our minds, so a consistent prayer for that revelation would be an essential place to start.

Secondly, we need to begin to say what God says about his love and promises for us and refuse to add any disclaimers that disqualify us for those promises. Stop the “buts.” As soon as we say, “ I know what the Bible says, but…” we have introduced unbelief into our hearts and have diluted our faith. If the Bible says it, stand on that without qualifying the scripture or stating a disclaimer about your “worthiness” to receive the promise. Jesus has made you worthy…period. Find a set of declarations about your identity in Christ and read them out loud every day ending them with a thank you to God that he has made you all of those things.

Thirdly, we need to find a promise that becomes our promise – one that resonates with our spirit and one that we will not let go of. Ask God to show you a promise that will anchor all his other promises for you. Memorize it, confess it, and use it against the enemy. When the devil shows up with his truckload of accusations and condemnation, be quick to call him a liar and command him to leave and take his lies with him. Declare your promise over the accusations. That is how you resist Satan and send him fleeing.

Getting the truth that every promise of God is for you and not just everyone else in your church is critical to living a blessed and victorious life. It is a process more than an event and you have a part in it. So get started today and ask the Lord to show you his heart toward you. When we truly understand his heart for each of us, we will be transformed.

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.  

We are told that by Jesus, that Satan is a thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy (Jn.10:10). With that in mind, there seems to be historic periods when Satan is more active or, at least, more successful in his trade than at other times. If Adam handed the keys over to Satan through his sin, then it follows that an increase in sin increases the authority of the enemy to be about his business. I believe that is because the hand of God typically restrains the enemy but people and nations often force God to remove his hand of protection.

The Book of Job gives us some insight into that principle. In the beginning of Job, Satan comes before the Lord and the Lord points out his servant Job as a model of righteousness in the earth. Satan replied, ““Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:10-11). Satan’s complaint was that God had placed a protective barrier around Job, his family, and his possessions. Why did he need a protective hedge? He needed the hedge because Satan is always poised to kill, steal and destroy – especially anything that is good or godly. Satan’s accusation was essentially that God only received praise from his people because they were always blessed. Take away the blessing, he argued, and your “servants” will not find you so worthy of praise. God needed a champion and Job was selected. God then set limits on what Satan could touch. The implication is that Satan would have gladly visited Job with total disaster long before this moment if God had not restrained him.

We see another version of this principle in Ezekiel. “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezek.22:30-31). This is a moment when the rebellion of Israel had brought God to the brink of judgment on the nation. His love looked for some way to avoid judgment while his righteousness demanded it. He said that he had looked for someone who would stand between him and Israel like Moses did in the wilderness as he aked for mercy for a rebellious nation. The plea would have been enough to at least justify putting off the judgment since “mercy triumphs over judgment.” Mournfully, God said that he could find no one who would truly intercede for the nation so judgment would have to come.

My belief is that Satan is always at the door, desiring to unleash suffering and destruction and is limited only by God’s edicts restraining him. When people or nations demand judgment by their own persistent godlessness and rebellion in the face of God’s pleas for them to return to him, God eventually can find no just cause for mercy. He then simply lifts his hand of restraint and Satan has his way.

As a person, family, or nation persists and increases in sin, I believe God has to honor our choices and so he begins to lift the restraint like slowly opening a floodgate and letting more and more water through until the gate is fully open and massive destruction occurs downstream. In this case, the floodgate lets in more and more demonic powers and we see more and more evidence of evil, destruction, natural disasters, violence, and tragedy. Even God’s people are caught up in the flood of increasing judgment. We see that principle in the book of Daniel when he and his three righteous friends are deported to Babylon along with many other Jews. They also lost their homes and their families and had to endure the forced march to a foreign nation. There they continued to be under attack by Satan who subjected them to persecution for their faith. Though God sustained them, they still experienced suffering because of the sins of their nation and their leaders.

As our nation and leaders continue to call evil things good and good things evil; as they continue to forbid the presence of God in our schools and government buildings: and as they persecute followers of Christ while deferring to Islam and the homosexual agenda, the flood gates of judgment will continue to open more and more. The demonic will be given greater presence and their presence will be manifested in greater spikes of tragedy, violence, illness, floods, storms, attacks, and perversity in the nation. The question then becomes, is there anything believers can do about it?

There are several things we can do. First of all, stand in the gap and pray for your family, community, church, and nation. Pray for God’s mercy and forgiveness for the nation and for his Spirit to work righteousness in this country or in the life of an individual for whom you are praying.

When its time to vote, vote for the candidate who will most likely steer the country toward biblical values or who will less likely steer us away from biblical values. The choice may not be clear and there may not be a faithful believer in the mix, but even a nominal believer or a non-believer who is not hostile toward the gospel is a better choice than those who clearly and aggressively support ungodly values. Many Christians may refuse to vote for anyone who is not a sincere Christian but that plays into the hands of the devil. Sometimes, our vote does not usher in righteous leadership but less evil leadership. That is still a better choice that handing the nation or a community over to those who actively war against the gospel.

Secondly, do your part to increase righteousness in the land and push back against the devil. Begin with increasing righteousness in your own life. Living in an ungodly culture dulls our senses to the sin and lethargy in our own lives. Measure your life by biblical standards rather than cultural standards and make adjustments where needed. Actively pray for the church and against the devil. Pray for God to pour out his Spirit on the church in America for a move of unprecedented power, love, evangelism, and a boldness to once again be the conscience of the nation.

Learn how to engage in spiritual warfare. The real battle for an individual, a family, or a nation will be won or lost in the spiritual realm. Aggressive prayers and declarations of God’s truth and promises push back the enemy and liberate hearts and souls. Share your faith with others. That is also spiritual warfare. The most powerful way to defeat the enemy is to take away his soldiers – not by killing them but by making them soldiers of the Cross.

America is experiencing more and more turmoil, economic chaos, and decline because the church stopped evangelizing those around us and because the church withdrew from the realm of secular leadership. We turned leadership over to unbelievers and we are paying the price. All of that can be reversed if the church will exercise her authority over the devil and if believers will step up and lead again beginning with city councils, school boards, state governments and so forth. It may seem overwhelming but nothing is impossible with God. God gave believers stewardship of this nation founded on biblical truths and principles and through the years we turned it over to those who do not fear or regard God.

Israel often did the same thing but there were generations who once again responded to God and God once again blessed the nation with peace and prosperity. I am certain the prayers of a few sparked those revivals of faith and we can do the same. Jesus declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church but that promise pictures an aggressive church pushing Satan and his servants back into the hole from which they came. It’s time to do just that. Our children’s future depends on our prayers and actions today. Be blessed in Him.

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.

(2 Cor.10:4-5)

This is a key passage for those who engage in spiritual warfare and whether we know it or not, we are all engaged in battles with the spiritual realm. Paul’s declaration to the church at Corinth reveals that the primary battle fought against the enemy is waged first in the arena of our thought life. The battle is waged against thoughts and beliefs that are contrary to God’s truth. The fact that these thoughts are not just the rumblings of our own intellect or imaginations is suggested by the need for divine weapons to take them captive. A key thought is that these lies and misbeliefs can exist as strongholds.

Strongholds are fortifications in which the enemy hides and finds sanctuary. In this context, the implication is that the enemy (demonic forces) hides and finds sanctuary in our thought life when our thoughts are not aligned with God. There is a principle that we empower whatever we agree with. When we agree with the enemy in our thoughts and perspectives we give him a place in our lives and empower him. Our misaligned thoughts invite the enemy and once he has found a place with us, he works to reinforce the lies we already believe. Those lies become strongholds that eventually enslave us.

Mental strongholds or systems of false beliefs function in two ways. First of all, Satan labors to destroy our identity. His goal is to convince us that we are defective, insignificant, and unlovable. He fills us with insecurity and fear and convinces us that even God can’t love us. Without a sense of God’s love we feel orphaned and on our own. Our sense of defectiveness and insignificance drives us to medicate our fears and emptiness with whatever the world offers. Our drugs-of-choice (alcohol, sedatives, gambling, porn, food, recreation, etc.) become perpetual God-substitutes in our life.

The second function of strongholds for the enemy is to draw us out and away from the will of God. Scripture declares that God is our strength and our shield. He is our strong tower. But if we wander out of his will and stay there, we become vulnerable to the enemy. We become vulnerable in our thinking. Satan first draws us away from the person of God through our misbelief that he can’t or won’t love us and care for us. Then he draws us away from his will. Once we are living outside of God’s will, in part or in whole, the destructive consequences of our actions also begin to take their toll. Paul warned us that if we sow to the flesh we reap destruction (Gal.6:8). We also continue to empower the enemy as we agree with him. That is how people, including Christians, become demonized. The demonic establishes a hiding place in our thought life and in our imaginations that begins to take control of part of our thought life. That part begins to influence all of our emotions and decision-making. Over time, he will gradually take more control over our thoughts until he controls great sections of our lives.

We cannot afford to think or speak in ways that are misaligned with the Father. His word, his perspectives, and his promises are truth. Jesus said that you will know the truth and truth will set you free. It will also keep you from being enslaved in the first place. Most Christians pay attention to their behaviors but not to their thought life. And yet, Paul instructs us to take every thought captive to Jesus. Whenever you assert God’s truth and continually find something within you pushing back strongly against that truth while giving you fifty reasons why it isn’t true for you, a stronghold is indicated. The truth of God along with the divine weapons of prayer, authority, and deliverance are in order. When you have broken that stronghold, then keep every thought aligned with the Father’s by making quick course corrections as you find yourself wandering from his truth. Paul tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom.12:2). A renewed mind is one that is fully aligned with God’s truth.

As our mind comes into alignment with the Spirit of God who longs to lead us into all truth, we are transformed. When we are transformed, the enemy can find no place in us. Watch your thoughts today and be blessed in Him.

Have you ever been hurt by a church, or more accurately, someone within your church? Many believers stay away from organized churches because they were once wounded by some leader in a church or some “charter member” who had been there since the first brick was carted onto the property. When that happens, many individuals feel wronged by the entire church or by God himself.

A number of years ago, I tried to share my faith with a man that I worked with. I knew he did not go to church so I was trying to turn every conversation into a discussion about the Lord. One day he simply told me that he was not interested in anything having to do with church. He went on to tell me that at one time he and his wife had both been very involved in a church and had served in numerous ministries. But one day he had come home unexpectedly and found his wife in bed with his best friend who also was very involved in his church. He felt betrayed by God who had “let that happen” and by church people who apparently were all hypocrites. He had generalized the offense from two people failing God, to God himself and the entire world-wide church. He had never been back to any church. I have met numerous people in my lifetime who have done the same thing when they were wounded or disappointed by something that occurred in their church.

We should not be surprised because Satan does his best work within the church. Scripture warns us of that reality over and over. On numerous occasions, Jesus spoke of the religious leaders of the Jews as children of Satan and sons of hell. These men thought that they were incredibly spiritual and pleasing to God and yet they were deceived. That deception caused many to stay away from embracing God. Jesus declared, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” (Mt.23:13-15). Satan had taken what was holy and over a period of years had perverted the heart of Judaism, turning it into rules made by men rather than a guidebook for building a relationship with God. Their hypocritical way of life and burdensome rules kept people away from the Lord.

Paul encountered the same demonic tactics. Writing to the church at Corinth about men who were trying to undermine his ministry there, he wrote, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

Jude was forced to write about the same phenomenon. He said, “ I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 3-4). In addition, Paul warned Timothy by saying, “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).

We need to understand that Satan has an active ministry within the church. Where else would he direct his best efforts? The church is God’s only instrument for distributing his grace to a lost world so why would he not infiltrate the church in order to destroy it?

Toward the end of World War ll, it was discovered that Germany had built cities just like cities in America and had trained German spies to blend in with American culture, speak perfect English, discuss baseball, be well versed in American history, dress like Americans and order food that Americans liked. The plan was to infiltrate the American army and America itself with perfect replicas of the average American whose plan was to confuse and destroy Germany’s enemy. Satan does the same in the Lord’s church.

John spoke of such men when he said, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 Jn.2:18-19). Those men had been part of the church, had fellowshipped with the saints, and probably led ministries but John declared they were not members of Christ but rather those who were controlled by the spirit of Anti-Christ.

We will inevitably be wounded, betrayed, or offended by people in the church. Some are simply broken people, immature in Christ (even long time attenders can remain spiritual children). These individuals have been victimized by Satan. They carry deep wounds and fulfill the adage that “hurting people hurt other people.” Others are unknowingly under the strong influence of Satan and believe they are serving God while all the time they are doing Satan’s work. Still others apparently arrive with clear and willful agendas to damage the church.

So, what are our takeaways? First of all, don’t be surprised when some people in the church fail you or act badly. We are all still in process and will fall short of the glory of God in our bad moments. Some are plants of the enemy so don’t ascribe their behavior to the whole family of God or God himself. Choose not to be easily offended and do not generalize the failure of a few to represent the many. Secondly, don’t let Satan win. Make biblical responses to bad actors applying grace and forgiveness as needed. For those serving Satan without repentance, the leaders of the church must discipline them and escort them to the door.

We must remember that we are in a war and that war is sometimes fought within the confines of the church – especially when we have been infiltrated by enemy agents. Now, please don’t accuse everyone with whom you have differences or who had been rude to you of being pawns of Satan and anti-Christs. Mostly, we will encounter broken people whose pain spills over onto others. But remember, that even within the walls of God’s church our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Don’t be surprised by it and do reject the body of Christ because of it. In the end, those who stick will win and a generous application of grace and love towards those who have wronged us neutralizes the venom from the serpent. Be blessed today in Him.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:17-20)

The gospel of Luke gives us insight into the mindset of the Pharisees regarding Jesus. Jesus did not match their preconception of what the Messiah would look like. Jesus was not raised in a noble family; he was not educated at the feet of great Rabbi’s; he had not presented himself to the Sanhedrin or the Pharisees asking for their seal of approval; and he did not covet their favor at all. In fact, rather than courting their support he had confronted them on numerous occasions about their religious hypocrisy. As a result, they rejected him as the Messiah. They did have a major problem, however, in their attempts to discredit Jesus. His miracles were extreme, public, numerous, and undeniable.

Their final ploy was simply to ascribe his miraculous works to the power of Satan. They were most clear about their accusations when Jesus was casting out demons. Jesus’ response was simple. Why would Satan (Beelzebub) cast out his own minions who were doing his work? Wouldn’t that kind of contradiction undermine the kingdom of darkness? And…if demons are only cast out by the power of Satan, then how did they explain their own exorcists who cast out demons?

Ultimately, his response came down to a declaration regarding the kingdom of God. The Jewish leaders were very keen on the Messianic kingdom being established in their own day. They anticipated that it would be a kingdom of politics and military might backed up by the power of God. They had thought that they would all be given positions of power and influence in that kingdom. Jesus’ disdain for them and his disinterest in a political or military solution did not “fit their theology.”

Jesus, however, made a definitive statement about the nature of the kingdom of God as proof that he was a bona fide representative of that kingdom. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Lk.11:20). A mark of the true kingdom was to be supernatural power. It was not power to be used politically or militarily but to destroy the works of the devil. The mark of kingdom would be the preaching of the good news, healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, etc. It still is.

Jesus declared that the kingdom the Pharisees would have ushered in was not the kingdom of God but rather another earthly kingdom devised by men. The question arises – does any view of the kingdom of God that does not claim and demonstrate supernatural power correctly represent God’s kingdom? In his letter to the Galatians, Paul expressed a great concern about the so-called gospel that was being preached. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” (Gal.1:6-8)!

Paul’s primary concern in this text was a gospel that included works for salvation and not grace alone. But the warning is not to change or pervert the gospel that was declared by Jesus and taught by the apostles. Throughout his letters, Paul frequently talked about the power of the kingdom of God and demonstrated it time and again. Is a gospel without power, a true gospel at all? Is a miracle drug that is eventually dispensed with only part of the formula, still the solution that was promised or is it something else? The gospel is not only the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but also the promises attached to what Jesus did. Without those promises the gospel is no good news at all. The forgiveness of sin, rebirth into God’s family, the indwelling Holy Spirit and the power of the Spirit in our lives is all part of the package. To leave out any of those components makes the gospel less than it is meant to be.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph.1:17-20).

Wisdom, revelation, spiritual eyes, hope, inheritance, and incomparable power are key words that he prayed over and over again for the church in Ephesus. Without a demonstration of power, Christianity will be viewed, by most, as just another philosophy of life. But…we teach peace and love. So do Eastern religions. The historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection sets us apart but the power of the gospel is what confirms that resurrection. The psalmist declares that God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases (Ps. 103). When Jesus was questioned about his authority to forgive sins on the earth, he simply healed the man as proof that the man’s sins were forgiven. Matthew records the moment when Jesus said, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Rise, pick up your bed and go home’” (Mt.9:5-6). A demonstration of power, governed by love, confirmed the reality of forgiveness.

We need those same demonstrations today. A gospel that preaches forgiveness without demonstrating the goodness of God through the supernatural intervention of his Spirit falls short. The charisms or supernatural, spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit are not just power but expressions of God’s love for people. That is why Paul devoted a whole chapter to love in the middle of his discussion on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

I am still frustrated that so many Christian churches today continue to deny, teach against, and even forbid the exercise of spiritual gifts such as healing, deliverance, prophecy, tongues, and so forth. Like the Pharisees, many still argue that the exercise of those gifts is satanic deceptions. The real deception is found in the prohibition of their exercise. Paul declared, “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues” (1 Cor.14:39). He also charged, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt” (1 Thess.5:19-20).

I am not saying that the churches that deny the full ministry of the Holy Spirit do not love Jesus. I’m not saying that they do not do good. I am saying that they operate with an incomplete gospel because the promises attached to his good news are incomplete. Trying to push back the powers of darkness without the manifest power of the Holy Spirit is like hunting with a gun that is not loaded. That was never the Lord’s intent. Regardless of where you attend church, I hope that you will pursue everything the Spirit promises because those promises validate the resurrection of Jesus and the presence of his kingdom. They are continuing expressions of God’s love in a dark world. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Luke 11:17-20). Be blessed.

The Old Testament is full of types and shadows pointing to greater realities to come. The Passover Lamb of Exodus pointed ahead to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Moses, who mediated between God and Israel, pointed to Christ as the mediator between God and man. Egypt pictured sin and bondage. The Promise Land of Canaan was a type of salvation – the destination of God’s people and a land flowing with milk and honey which looked ahead to the abundant life that Jesus promises.

The Promise Land, as a foreshadowing of our salvation, is always instructive in the arena of spiritual warfare. Rodney Hogue, in a teaching on deliverance, pointed to the twenty-third chapter of Exodus for some of that instruction.

I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.     Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:28-30)

Nearly every preacher I have ever heard invites the unbeliever to come to Jesus for peace, the abundant life, and the “easy yoke” of the Savior. These are, indeed, promises made by Jesus to those that would follow him but it is only part of the story. Many come to Jesus with an expectation that as soon as they climb out of the baptistery, life gets easy, blessings flow without measure, and tragedy is always on a far horizon. When “all hell” breaks loose, they wonder what is wrong and where Jesus and all of his peace and blessings went.

We sometimes pitch the Christian life like a 1981 recruiting ad for the Navy that said, “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.” Of course, the add showed proud men in crisp, white uniforms standing in long lines, powerful ships launching gleaming fighter planes, and navy seals skirting across the open water in high-powered, high-tech assault vessels.   Everyone looked strong, happy, incredibly competent, and totally unafraid. There, of course, was truth in those images – but it was not all the truth. When those sailors were fighting 40 foot waves in frigid temperatures in mid-ocean and when those seals were cold, hungry, and hugging the ground as enemy fire lit up the night around them, the adventure was not so clean, crisp, or glamorous. The Christian life also launches us into war that is not always so clean, easy, or peaceful.

The account of Israel taking Canaan (the promised land) should alert us to that. First of all, like salvation, the land was given to them by God. It was theirs by grace. But one problem existed; the land was full of hostile tribes who were not ready to give up their parcel of ground. The land had been deeded to the Hebrews, but they had to go take it from enemy hands. God promised victory and promised that he would go ahead of Israel into each battle but they still had to face an enemy who knew how to use a sword and often who had much more battle experience than they did. According to the book of Joshua, it took years and dozens of battles to secure the land and enjoy all of its abundance.

That is a picture of sanctification – the process in which we become more and more like Jesus and walk in more and more of his promises. In one sense, salvation is experienced as an event – the moment a person truly surrenders his or her heart to Jesus. Sanctification, however, is a life long process that often includes some real battles.

The interesting thing about the passage from Exodus 23 is that it points to a “principle of occupation.” God only frees us in areas that we are ready and willing to occupy. Those of us, who are involved in spiritual warfare and deliverance, typically want to free a person from every stronghold and every demon in one sitting. But we also know that driving out a demon may not always be in the best interest of that person and that sometimes, even when we try, we just don’t get it done.

Jesus tells a parable of a man who was demonized and received deliverance (Mt.12:43-45, Luke 11:24-26). The demon stayed away for a bit, but then returned to inspect his former dwelling place. Jesus said that the demon found the “house” clean and in order and so returned and brought seven other demons with him that were even more wicked than the first. The point of the story seems to be that any unoccupied house or territory invites tenants, and the new tenants may be much worse that the former.

In Exodus 23, God promised that he would go before Israel and give them victories over their enemies but would not do all at once. He said that to clear the land that Israel could not occupy and develop would simply turn agricultural fields into wild thickets, where wild animals would take up residence and become too numerous for Israel to manage. As Israel became stronger and more adept at war, God would then give them more of the territory he had promised. In our terms, God may not set us free and give us spiritual territory within us that we are not willing or able to occupy – to fight for, to maintain, and to develop. Hogue pointed out that the grace of God might keep us where we are until we are truly ready to hold onto our freedom or healing.

It is counter-intuitive, but not everyone wants to be healed or set free from sin and demonic oppression. Sometimes, when praying for people, praying over people, or in commanding spirits, the will of the individual is a greater obstacle than the spirit, the sickness, or the situation. Many want to be freed from the painful consequences of sin, but not the sin itself. Others have had their lives defined by an illness or brokenness so long that they have organized their lives around those things. To be healed or set free may be more frightening than inviting to those individuals because it represents the unknown. Israel was enslaved in Egypt, but their lives had become predictable and in some degree manageable. They thought they wanted freedom, but as soon as they faced the unknowns of the wilderness they wanted to go back to what they knew. They were not yet ready to occupy the new territory of freedom.

As we pray for people and minister to them, we may want to take measure of how ready they are to occupy – fight for and maintain – any new territory the Lord gives them. Some simply do not know how to fight and must be taught how to fight and cultivate the new ground that has been given to them. Others may not be sure they want it. We may need to ask the Holy Spirit if that is the situation and what to do about it. We may want to help them explore their hearts and their will in the matter.

I am certain we need to teach people how to fight and maintain freedom before casting out demons, because that demon will eventually return or others will drop be to see if there is unoccupied territory in the heart of a person. That space must be occupied by the things of God and the individual must be willing to fight to guard those things when the day comes. God is willing fight with us and he assures the victory, but we must take up a sword and fight. Let’s be sure that we know how to do that and teach others to do so as well. As Paul said, we have to fight the good fight. After all, it’s not just a job, it’s an adventure!

We fight two battles over the same issue or problem. The initial battle, to get free; and the second battle, to stay free. (Graham Cooke, Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior, p.83, Brilliant Book House)

It’s amazing how many Christians get free from some bondage, only to loose it again in a week or two. When they do, they decide that nothing really happened initially. In their mind, God’s “divine weapons” did not work for them, so they default back to a pre-spiritual warfare mindset and a passive approach to faith and overcoming issues.

A number of believers receive freedom through the ministry of other believers but then loose it shortly. The reason is that very few believers have been taught how to fight. Very few are aware of the authority that they have been given. Very few confront and defeat the enemy when their world is crumbling under his attack. Very few even think in terms of spiritual attack. Instead they think that God is punishing them or ignoring their pain that comes from bad luck or victimization by bad people. Many “defeated” Christians simply take on a victim’s mentality and resent God for not protecting them or blessing them when they have been commanded to fight against the enemy.

Notice the language of the following scriptures:

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. (2 Cor. 10:3-4)

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God… (Eph.6:10-13, ESV)

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. (Col.2:1)

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith ….. (1 Pet.5:8-9)

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. (Heb.10:32)

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. (Luke 10:19-20)

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Ja.4:7)

These verses contain the language of warfare – war, weapons, struggle, resistance, trample, overcome, suffer, contest, wrestle, demolish, strongholds, stand your ground, etc. Although the ultimate victory has been won and Satan’s legal right to own and dominate believers has been taken away, the enemy still wages an illegal war against God’s people.

He cannot snatch away our salvation but he can harass and afflict us so that we are distracted and ineffective in our assigned mission. We don’t fight to win the victory but to enforce it and most often we have to enforce it in our own lives with the truth of who we are and what Jesus has done. The first volley of any battle must be the declaration of truth over the enemy’s lies followed byn the exercise of faith and authority.

The number of believers that are afflicted by demons without recognizing that they are under spiritual attack or without having any idea what to do about it is significant. The freedom that these believers often experience through the declaration of truth and the exercise of our authority in Christ typically astounds them. But they must learn how to wield their own authority in order to maintain their freedom. The enemy will not give up territory without a few attempts to reclaim it.

I believe that every church in America needs some level of ministry available to help believers find freedom and equip them to keep it while helping others find freedom as well.   Even if it is just a few individuals or couples in a congregation who know who they are in Christ and who have experience in a few facets of spiritual welfare, the difference they can make over several years can be exponentially significant.

Declarations of truth, intercessory prayer, inner healing, deliverance, breaking curses, etc. are all divine weapons that need to be in the arsenal of every congregation and every mature believer. The goal of these ministries must not be to minister deliverance and healing only, but to teach the individuals they minister to how to fight with an expectation that they will maintain their freedom and help others do the same. The church has that mindset in evangelism. After we bring someone to Christ, we believe that they then know enough to lead someone else to Christ and we encourage them to do so. Most churches offer classes to further equip their members in a simple approach to evangelism. We should have the same mindset concerning spiritual warfare.

Even in charismatic churches, those who minister healing and deliverance are often seen as a few elite that everyone comes to for ministry. But every believer walks in the authority of Christ and every believer will have to face the enemy. Some may have more experience than others, but everyone should be equipped for the day-to-day battles that come with living in enemy territory.

If you agree with this perspective but are not in a church that operates in the gifts of the Spirit, healing, and deliverance how do you get trained? Tomorrow I will give you some perspectives on that and recommend some resources. Blessings in Him.

There are individuals today who have the capacity to see into the spiritual realm. They typically see both angels and demons from time to time. This is called the gift of spiritual discernment or distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor. 12:10). They often have the gift of prophecy as well but not always. Many of the Old Testament prophets had the capacity to see into the spirit realm and were called seers. Elisha demonstrated that capacity when he saw chariots of fire surrounding Dothan when enemy troops had come up during the night to capture him.

What is not clear is whether seers see angels and demons as they are or as symbolic representations of what they are and are doing. God shows his people many things that are related to the spiritual realm in dreams, visions, and open visions. He may open up the spiritual realm as we dream as he did with Jacob when he saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder or a stairway to heaven (Gen.28:10-17). God also reveals things through visions that come to individuals who are awake but slip into a trance-like state where they are unaware of anything else going on around them (see Acts 10:9-16).  Open visions come to individuals who are seeing things God wants to show them while they are still quite aware of their surroundings. Elisha at Dothan might be a good example of an open vision. Cornelius would be another example. “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius…One day about three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him…’ (Acts 10:1-3).

Jonathan Welton, in his book The School of the Seers, says the he sees angels superimposed over the natural realm. He doesn’t see them as clearly as a person in the flesh but he sees them with “spiritual eyes.” We have several individuals on our Free Indeed team at Mid-Cities that see angels and demons from time to time as we minister to people. In our setting (spiritual warfare), they are typically dressed in armor. Some are eight feet tall. Others are much taller. Some are on the floor. Others are close to the ceiling. Sometimes, as we read the Word of God, our seers will see angels kneel in reverence to the Word. On several occasions, as we have been doing deliverance with large groups of people, our seers have been aware of an angel close to the ceiling next to a whirlwind sucking up unclean spirits as they are cast out. Is that literal or is God showing them symbolically what is happening in the spirit realm? I don’t know. Our seers will also see demonic spirits on those days as smoke leaving individuals, as serpents crawling away, and so forth.

Many seers see angels in worship settings. Welton recounts one such experience. “As worship began, I saw two angels standing on the stage and they were unlike anything I had ever seen. They were about 15 feet tall and there was fire coming out of them – six feet in every direction. I was standing in the front row of the church with Randy, so I was closer to the stage than the rest of the crowd around me when the closest angel began to walk toward me. I wanted to run or get out of his way but I was unable to move. He came straight at me and reached out his hand. When he touched my chest, I collapsed to the floor on my side…The spiritual fire from his touch remained on me causing me to create my own puddle of sweat on the cement floor of the church…

Over each section (of the sanctuary) I saw another angel of fire about the size of a human man and fire only emanated out of them about six inches. As the worship intensified, I saw more of these smaller angels come down through the ceiling and join the crowd of worshippers. The worship grew so intense that at the height of worship, while the fire angels continued to join in, the crowd looked like a field of grass on fire, an extreme wild fire of worship” (Jonathan Welton, The School of the Seers, p. 29). At the end of the service, Welton asked another person, with the gift of spiritual discernment, what he had seen and he described exactly what Welton had perceived.

I was at a conference in south Texas once where an individual was taking digital photos of the dark ceiling of the sanctuary during worship when only the stage lights were on. Afterwards, he showed me the pictures and there were orbs of light all around the dark ceiling. He believed those orbs indicated the presence of angels. You will have to decide what you think.

Here is what we know. Angels were created as ministering spirits who minister not only to the Father but also to the children of the Father – that is you and I. They play a prominent role throughout scripture in the lives of God’s people and in the life of the nation of Israel (think Six Days War). Sometimes they are not seen, except by those whose spiritual eyes are activated to see into the spiritual realm. Sometimes they are seen as amazing creatures who often inspire awesome fear. They are seen in dreams, visions, and open visions. Sometimes they come to people and do not inspire fear such as when Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she would carry the Messiah. Sometimes they appear as humans and, according to Hebrews, many of us have entertained angels unaware of who they were. They are powerful. One angel destroyed 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night. They love to worship God as we do. Sometimes they work on our behalf for protection, provision, and direction and sometimes they are fellow servants serving alongside us to accomplish God’s purposes.

Perhaps, the major takeaway from this little study on angels is that God is “sooooo for us” and has provided for us in remarkable ways. His Son died for our sins and intercedes for us now. The Holy Spirit lives within us and leads us into all truth, equips us with spiritual gifts, and provides us with divine weapons. Magnificent angels watch over us and work beside us. He hears every prayer and knows even the number of hairs on our heads. And scripture declares, “If God is for us who can be (stand) against us?” So as the angels say, “Don’t be afraid.” Live with joy. Walk with confidence. Do not fear man or Satan because you are filled and surrounded by the immeasurable power of God who cares for you. Be blessed today and keep an eye out for angels.