A “worldview” is a set of assumptions we hold about the world and how it operates. Everyone has a worldview and these assumptions or core beliefs about reality work as filters that give meaning to our experiences. Most of us, whether we want to admit it or not, discard or reinterpret facts that don’t seem to line up with our presuppositions about life. As an old Paul Simon song says, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”

For instance, if we believe that no one can be trusted, then no matter how trustworthy a person has been, we simply assume that his or her trustworthiness is only a ruse to set us up for some future betrayal. We will simply deny the reality of their trustworthiness even though he or she has never shown us any other quality. On the romantic side of life, if we believe that there is only one “right” person for us in all the world, we will probably have such anxiety about missing that “made-in-heaven soul mate” that we will over analyze every relationship we encounter and look for irrefutable proof or signs from heaven so long that the relationship withers and dies. Then we console ourselves by believing that if the relationship died, he or she wasn’t that one and only match made in heaven after all.

Sometimes our worldview affects insignificant matters but sometimes it has eternal consequences. It helps to understand the source of some of the perspectives that make up our worldview so that we might evaluate them to see if they are legitimate or imbalanced. The church should stop from time to time to examine her own assumptions to also see if those assumptions are still aligned with God’s truth.

For instance, do we maintain a biblical view of the spiritual realm? A church’s view of that has wide implications. Believe it or not, not all mainline churches believe in the activity of angels or demons or in the gospel accounts of Jesus and his followers casting out those demons or healing the sick. These churches ascribe the gospel accounts to symbolic, figurative language rather than descriptions of literal events. Why would they not believe?

Francis MacNutt gives a succinct explanation when he writes. “The reason is the acceptance of the Western world, beginning with the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, of a rationalistic, scientific view of the world that assumed there is no reality beyond the natural, material universe. If something cannot be measured and observed in a laboratory, it does not exist. This materialistic worldview has so affected Western Christianity that we automatically regard the work of the supernatural with skepticism and rule out the world of angels and demons with no further need of discussion” (Francis MacNutt, Deliverance From Evil Spirits, p.42-43). In the same book, MacNutt quotes Charles Kraft, a professor at Fuller Theological University who adds, “…even though we are Christians, our basic assumptions are usually more like those of the non-Christian westerners around us than we would like to admit…we often find ourselves more Western than scriptural…God and the Church were dethroned and the human mind came to be seen as Savior.”

Unfortunately a western, rationalistic, materialistic worldview has invaded the church as well as our culture. The church whose leaders have been trained in western universities, for the most part, have been trained with a non-supernatural worldview that makes them shy away from or even deny spiritual realities beyond the forgiveness of sin. Some will acknowledge that those realities (demons, angels, miracles, etc.) occurred in “Bible times” but don’t think they occur today.

That kind of worldview allows the devil to run free and pose as all kinds of things that we ineffectively try to attack with worldly wisdom and worldly weapons. When national leaders do not see a spiritual reality behind ISIS and terrorism they seek a political solution that is doomed to fail. When doctors do not recognize that a spiritual dimension to sickness may exist, things that need to be cast out are simply medicated. Even those of us who believe in the spiritual realm often run to every solution the world (natural realm) offers before we finally start seeking spiritual solutions. That impulse betrays a view that the world offers better and more powerful solutions than God since we only go to God when “the best solutions” have failed us. I admit, at times I default to that same setting. I’m not saying that everything is demonic or that we should jettison science and medicine. We are body, soul, and spirit and are affected by issues in both realms but the bible suggests that the spiritual realm is always where the most significant battles are fought.

Spiritual warfare requires a biblical worldview in order to triumph. Spiritual authority and power must be directed against real demonic spirits and schemes. Anything short of that attacks the symptoms and not the cause. That means the problem will only resurface later like cancer recurring after a brief remission.

Because worldview matters, it’s good to check our own worldview from time to time to see if we are lining up with biblical truth. It is easy to be coopted slowly and gently by the world and find ourselves out of alignment with God’s truth. Remember Jesus said that truth sets us free. Being fully  aligned with the Father in our worldview as well as our in our hearts is an essential key to winning the fight.

Yesterday, I was listening to an interview that Rick Joyner gave recently. He spoke about an encounter with God, a revelation of heaven, and a sobering prophetic dream about America. It was about a 45-minute interview so he said much more than I can report or even recall here but a few things stuck in my aging brain that I think are worth commenting on.

First of all, he had an encounter with God in which God told Joyner that he wanted Joyner to be his friend. He said He was in search of friends. Rick said that he was caught off-guard by the Lord’s statement to him because he thought that God either had no need of friends or that he had a multitude of them. The Lord simply told him that friends are hard to come by. Joyner confessed that he had served God all these years with the intention of being a faithful servant or a good soldier who was always ready to obey the Lord but he had not thought about being the Father’s friend.

He realized, however, that we might serve God faithfully without knowing him personally in the same way that we can serve the CEO of a large company faithfully without really knowing him personally – even though we may know much about him and may have even attended events at his house. But God was looking for more than that. He wanted a man who would be his friend like Abraham was his friend. Joyner explained what that friendship looks like. Friendship with God is simply an ongoing awareness of his presence and an ongoing dialogue with him about what is on our hearts as well as his. Of course, it still involves faithful service but at a different level.  Some employees can become close friends with their employers while others simply remain employees. The friend never forgets who the boss is but, as friendship develops, his service comes from a heart of love and loyalty rather that from the need of a paycheck or the fear of being fired.

One interesting thing he mentioned was that while God wants us to be his friends, we need to be faithful servants first. That was certainly the pattern Jesus established with his disciples. He said, “         I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn.15:15). Notice that his followers were servants first. If I have not learned to be a servant first, I will probably take advantage of the friendship and treat it like an entitlement rather than a privilege. But proof of the friendship is when God begins to share with us the things not generally known to all believers. When we become friends with Jesus, he will show us things that go beyond the written revelation that is open to everyone. He will begin to share his heart, prophetic words, words of knowledge, and so forth. The greater the friendship, the greater this personal revelation will be. Think about becoming a friend as well as a servant. Spend time with him, worship him, share your heart with him, and listen to his voice. Ask him to teach you how to be his friend.

Secondly, he had a revelation of heaven – beautiful beyond description. However, he said God gave him a taste of heaven without the presence of God or the family of God. Joyner said that experiencing heaven alone is not heaven. The presence of God and those he loves make it heaven. The two great commandments – love God and love others – confirms that notion. If we want a little heaven on earth it will be found not in beautiful surroundings and mansions but in developing those relationships.

Finally, he spoke of a troubling revelation of countless terrorists coming over our southern border who will make ISIS look like Sunday school boys in comparison to their violence, hatred, and the torture that they will extend to Christians – as if hell itself had opened up in the United States. The interviewer asked if that could be stopped. Joyner said that it could surely be stopped if America would turn back to God and if the church would lead in that turn around not only by preaching the gospel and speaking up for righteousness without compromise, but also by demonstrating the gospel with power.

The future of America is not in the hands of our president but in the hands of God’s people who must begin to walk in the spirit of a warrior who prays for people with passion, who confronts the enemy with the word of God, deliverance, healing, and love and who will stand in faith in the day of battle – still loving our enemies while lifting up the name of Jesus. I would say that we need to get busy learning how to pray effectively and learning how to push back the borders of darkness with God’s divine weapons.   I would also say that the great majority of believers in our nation have no clue about how to do either. Please pray for the Lord to teach his church and to do so quickly.

Three thoughts from Rick Joyner that I thought were worth considering. Be blessed.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.             Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

Paul finishes his description of the panoply of God by commanding us to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We cannot overstate the power of the word of the Lord. God himself declares through the prophet Isaiah, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa.55:10-11). The writer of Hebrews declares that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb.4:12). John also speaks of this power in his vision of Jesus recorded in the book of Revelation. He says, “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations” (Rev.19:14-15). Remember that the spoken word of God created the universe and that Jesus himself is called the Word (John 1:1). The Word (Jesus) has all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, this sword of the Spirit is very powerful.

A sword is both defensive and offensive in nature. The word of God is said to be alive, powerful, penetrating, and capable of taking down nations. It is the sword of the Spirit, a weapon infused with power by the Spirit of God. Defensively the sword is used to block and deflect attacks by the enemy. As we have seen all through Paul’s discussion of spiritual weapons, the word of God and the truth of God disarm the enemy whose primary weapons are lies, accusations, and distortions of God’s word and character. To declare God’s truth in the face of Satanic deception blocks his attempts to draw us out of the ranks and extinguishes the doubt and condemnation he has fired at us. Jesus himself, as a man, used the word of God against the very presence of Satan in the Wilderness Temptation. Satan would tempt and Jesus would declare the word over the strategy. Satan attempted three volleys and after Jesus answered his volleys three times with God’s truth, the enemy gave up and departed – at least for a season.

Offensively, the word of God broadcasts truth and when it has settled in hearts it sets people free. At another level, the word of God declared over situations releases the power of God into that situation. In his sovereignty, God has determined to do his work on the earth through his people. Often, God does nothing until his people ask or until his people declare his promises over a person or a situation. In the first chapter of Jeremiah, God tells the prophet, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer.1:9-10).

As you read the rest of Jeremiah you see that Jeremiah did those things by declaring God’s word over nations and kings. As he said in Isaiah 55, when God’s word goes forth it fulfills its purpose whether from his lips or from ours. When we declare the word of God over a situation, we release God to direct the power of heaven into that situation to make his word come to pass.

Typically, that does not happen overnight, although on occasion it does. It often comes to pass immediately when God’s word of healing is declared over a person. It seems to take longer when declaring faith over a person for salvation or revival over a nation but the word of God can launch angels on missions and take great patches of territory from the enemy.

Again we discover that to declare the word or use it as a weapon we must know the word. To declare it skillfully we must know the ways and the heart of God that lies behind the word.  But as we learn those things we learn how to wield the sword of the Spirit with great power. So be quick to take up the word of God and use it to defend and to take ground, to push back the enemy and to expose his schemes, to uproot his lies and sow God’s transforming words in hearts. It is a divine weapon that is essential and powerful when facing the enemy.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.             Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

The second part of God’s armor that Paul lists is righteousness. We are to wear it as a breastplate. I believe Paul is referring to righteousness as a quality of faith and character that guards our hearts from the attacks of the enemy. As believers, we possess righteousness in two ways. First of all, the Father declares us to be righteous on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). We also possess a righteousness in proportion to our righteous living. The first thing every believer must know and stand on is that our salvation comes from a righteousness that has been imputed to us by the grace of God because Jesus paid the price for our sins. Our salvation does not initially stand on the basis of our own efforts and it is not sustained by our own efforts. We are saved by grace and continue by grace. The enemy would have us believe different.

The greatest attack on our faith comes from the enemy planting seeds of doubt in our hearts through thoughts of condemnation and accusation. As soon as we feel condemnation we assign the thoughts and feelings to God. At that moment, we sense rejection and begin to feel as if we are on our own in this world and will need to earn or work our way back into his graces. Those of us who feel alone will typically shift into a “high-control mode” because if God is not caring for us then we have to take care of ourselves, provide for ourselves and protect ourselves. We become number one in our lives. Our grace for others, our patience, and our forgiveness are curtailed because each of those actions makes us vulnerable. Both relationships and faith go south when we are feeling condemned and rejected by God.

However, condemnation and accusation are NOT from God. Satan is the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev.12:10) and for those in Christ there is no condemnation (Rom.8:1). Knowing that our righteousness is a result of our position in Christ rather than our condition in this world guards our heart from the attacks of the enemy. It is true that the Father expects us to mature and grow in righteousness as believers, but there is never an expectation of perfection. The enemy constantly hoists that standard as a source of accusation and discouragement but we do not have to live perfect lives because we have a perfect savior.

Even though the blood of Christ gives us a righteous standing in heaven, we should still be committed to living righteously. Our own righteous behavior is a safeguard to our hearts because it keeps us aligned with the Father and prevents the enemy from gaining any kind of foothold in our lives. Paradoxically, part of being righteous is consistently acknowledging our own unrighteousness before the Father rather than pretending a self-righteousness. John reminds us, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn.1:7-9). Satan would have us think that sin after salvation separates us from God and the greater the sin or the greater our awareness of sin the greater the separation.

But John is clear that to claim to be sinless on the basis of personal righteousness is a delusion at best and most probably a lie. However, confession of sin keeps us in the purifying stream of Christ’s blood and is intended to take away the shame and stain of sins we may commit. The spiritual discipline of confession slams the door on Satan and allows our standing as righteous and our desire to be righteous to continue to guard our hearts against the attacks of the accuser. Righteousness, then, is the breastplate of the believer. God has given it to you so wear it with confidence.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

Having made his case for the believer’s daily battle against spiritual forces of evil, Paul goes on to enumerate elements of our faith that constitute God’s armor. Remember the word armor in the Greek is panoplia and includes both armor and weapons. The idea that our armor is the “armor of God” implies that our armor and weapons originate with God. They come to us from God’s armory, are designed by God, and empowered by God. They cannot be shaped or empowered by man. They must be divine weapons not weapons of the world (2 Cor. 10:4).

Paul begins with a call to stand firm in the face of the enemy – to give no ground and to refuse to let the devil push us around. I remember Graham Cooke commenting on the propensity of most believers to simply give in at Satan’s first volley rather than turning the tables and coming at him with all we’ve got. James tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Jesus himself declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church – and we are his church. The people of God should not fear Satan. Satan should fear the people of God. We have armor. We have weapons. We have Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth. We have the host – the armies – of heaven to back us up.

Paul, then, tells us to stand immoveable on the day(s) Satan comes against us. We should keep in mind that Satan rarely comes against us with a frontal assault. His first choice is always to draw us out of God’s will in some area of our life so that the natural and spiritual consequences of sin roll over us like a rockslide. If he can seduce us in one area that we begin to withhold from God for a season without repentance, he will gain a foothold in that area which soon becomes a stronghold. The armor of God keeps us aligned with the Father so that no door is left open for the enemy to enter.

He begins with truth. He may be instructing us to always be truth tellers but I believe his emphasis here is in knowing and standing on the truth of Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn.8:32). “Truth” in this context means a reality that stands firm – an unchanging reality. Jesus came to blow away the smoke and mirrors of Satan’s lies and to enlighten our own darkened understanding so that we might know what reality truly us. God told Adam and Eve the truth – you eat, you die. Satan clouded that reality when he declared that they would not die – at least not in the physical sense, at least not right away. Adam and Eve believed the lie and here we are.

God’s truth is a window into eternal realities and absolute right and wrong. Satan’s first line of attack is always to woo us away from that truth just as he did in the Garden. In a sense, everything else hangs on knowing and believing what is true – what is real. When we know God’s truth and stand on it, Satan has no point of entry. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he stood on the truth revealed in God’s word and Satan soon gave up the game and left. One of the church’s great challenges today is that by and large, believers no longer know much of the truth. Real Bible study has given way to devotional books and light reading. Those things are not wrong but should not replace serious study and time in the Word.

Most believers today have no chance of defending their faith based on the Word of God. Many believers have attached themselves to favorite preachers and teachers who present one slice of the biblical pie over and over but don’t present the whole counsel of God. As a result, a believer may be well versed in grace but not holiness, self-esteem but not self-sacrifice, or in end-times theology without knowing the teachings of Jesus on faith and character. When we are familiar with only one facet of God’s will it is easy for Satan to lie to us about other parts of his will.

God’s truth is a foundational weapon of spiritual warfare and is essential in these last days. Paul warns us when he says, “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” (1Tim.4:1-2). Everything hangs on God’s truth. He expects us to know the truth ourselves not just to depend on others to know if for us. Our first line of defense is knowing the eternal realities that God’s Spirit has revealed to us. Study to know.

More about God’s armor in my next blog.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  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, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Eph.6:10-13)

There is an armor that has its origins with God. Paul instructs each of us to put on that armor – literally to dress ourselves. There is an intentionality in that directive. Each believer must initiate the process and, in order to be fully ready for the battle, must put on the whole “panoplia” which includes not only armor but weapons as well. Paul is clear that without the armor and weapons that God supplies we cannot stand against the assaults of the enemy. Paul’s statements here echo his directives regarding divine weapons in 2 Corinthians 10. We cannot stand against the enemy in our own strength or defeat him in our own wisdom. We must receive and wield what God provides.

Paul continues to emphasize the necessity of standing in God’s strength and putting on God’s armor because our real struggle is not against human adversaries but against those that exist in the spiritual realm. Paul uses the word “wrestle” to describe the struggle. It is a Greek word that specifically describes wrestling in the Greek game, the Olympics. When you think of Olympic wrestling, it is not guys in striped tights flying off the top ropes and whacking each other with folding chairs. Rather, it is a sport involving strategy (schemes), strength, and endurance. One interesting rule dictates action on the mat. Wrestlers are expected to force the action, and they receive passivity warnings from the referee if they don’t. A wrestler deemed passive is then at the mercy of his more active adversary, who is given the option of putting his opponent in the par terre (on the mat) position, which generally makes it easier to score points. Passivity on our part, in the realm of spiritual warfare, also gives the enemy a great advantage.

Paul goes on to speak about rulers, authorities and cosmic powers in this spiritual realm we war against. He is speaking about ranks of demons and their roles. Several translations use the word principalities instead of rulers. In the book of Daniel, the prophet prays for an interpretation of a dream God has given him. After twenty-one days of praying and fasting, an angel appears and tells him, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (Dan.10:12-13).

The first angel is one of the hosts of heaven (a member of the armies of heaven – See Rev.19:14)). As he attempted to fulfill his mission, he was opposed by a demonic spirit referred to as the Prince of Persia. This high-ranking demonic spirit ruled a spiritual principality over the nation of Persia. We can assume that his mission was to promote Satan’s agenda in that nation and to command lesser demons under his authority. He was powerful enough that he withstood the angel that had been sent by the Lord for twenty-one days. Only when Michael, one of the chief princes (an archangel), was sent to aid him and take up the battle was the first angel able to fulfill his mission.

This section of scripture reveals that both angels and demons have specific territories and people to whom they are assigned. In the book of Revelation, it also appears that angels are assigned to churches (see chapters 2-3). If angels are assigned to churches it is not a stretch to believe that demons have also been assigned. If we have guardian angels then it is also a small stretch to believe that we may also have demonic spirits assigned to harass us and oppress us, at least from time to time. In the spiritual realm there are armies with different ranks of commanders who receive orders from the top. Jesus is the commander of the armies of heaven (Rev. 19) and Satan commands those in the dominion of darkness. There are strategies, campaigns, wars, etc. that take place in the invisible realm and we, as believers, play a significant role in those wars. More about our part in the next blog.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  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, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Eph.6:10-13).

In my last blog, we looked at Paul’s teaching regarding worldly weapons and divine weapons in 2 Corinthians 10. He is clear that the church must employ divine weapons infused with divine power because the real battles are fought in the spiritual realm. Paul pulls back the curtain on the spiritual realm in the text above.

He begins by counseling us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Strength is found in the Lord as he releases his mighty power. The word for power here is not “dunamis” but “kratei” which means the force inherent in a person or thing such as the withering force of a category five hurricane. When we speak of the power of a king, we usually mean the power that he can command in his armies. The power does not rest in him personally but in the numbers of those that serve him. This power (kratei) actually rests in God with or without angelic armies to back him up. That word makes sense when we remember that God alone not only spoke the natural universe into existence but the spiritual realm as well – including his angelic armies. So our strength is to come from trusting in the Lord and the power that he personally brings to bear on our situation. That power is greater than anything we can imagine, so that is a very good place to stand.

Secondly, we discover that God expects us to take up the battle and to stand against the enemy. My first response to that revelation is that I would much rather God just handle things for me. He has the power and might to sweep away the enemy without me leaving the house and some days that would be my great preference. That however, is not how God operates. Many of the events and doctrines of the Old Testament were “types” and “shadows” of things to come (see Rom.5:14; Heb.11:19; Col.2:16-17; Heb.10:1). In other words, they were imperfect forerunners or hints of greater realities that God would bring to pass in the future that still give us insights into the reality. For instance, Moses was a “type” of Jesus who was sent by God as a deliverer for God’s people. The temple sacrifices and the festivals were “types” and “shadows” of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. The Red Sea crossing was a “type” of baptism. The Promised Land of Canaan was a “type” of our salvation.

After forty years in the wilderness, God brought a believing generation of Hebrews to the brink of the Jordan River to enter the land he had promised to Abraham and his descendants. The problem was that Canaan was still full of powerful tribes and walled cities like Jericho who had no intention of giving up the land. It would have been no problem for God to destroy these enemies without any effort on the part of the Hebrews. In 2 Kings 19, the king of Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem. King Hezekiah truly was helpless to defend the city but cried out to God for deliverance. The text says, “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew” (2 Kings 19:35-36). God is clearly able to deliver us from our enemies without us breaking sweat. On occasion he does, but that is not the norm.

The norm is that God’s people fight. He goes with us and goes before us but we are called to put on armor and fight. Even when previous generations have won victories, God still leaves us battles to be fought. Joshua did not drive out all of the opposing tribes in Canaan. After his death there were still tribes and cities that had to be conquered. We are told, “The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience)” (Judges 2:23-3:2).

Those tribes were tribes who worshipped idols and those idols represented demons (Dt.32:16-17). God still calls on us to fight against demonic forces today. In the battle, we draw closer to God, increase our faith, and gain strength. In the battle we learn the realities of the spiritual realm, the authority of our King, the heavenly joy of victory, and the comradeship of those who go to battle together.   More about Ephesians 6 in my next blog.

The expression of power to destroy the works of the devil is inherent in the kingdom of God and is part of the ministry of the Spirit through us. Baptism with the Spirit is directly related to such power. Bill Johnson says that a gospel without power is no gospel at all. I agree. The New Testament model for preaching the gospel was the declaration that the Kingdom of God had come followed by a demonstration of that truth. Jesus declared, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Lk.11:20). When John the Baptist began to question whether Jesus was truly the Messiah, Jesus told John’s followers, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.     Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (Mt.11:4-6).

It’s interesting that Jesus did not fit the preconceptions of even John the Baptist when it came to the fulfillment of his mission. Some were being tempted to fall away because Jesus was not using the methodology of the world (power and politics) to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Today, many believers are much more comfortable with the strategies of the world to build churches than the power of the Spirit. Many church leaders are glad to bring on great music, great sound, state of the art media, celebrity testimonies, and global television productions but balk immediately at the thought of healings, deliverance, and raising people from the dead.

John tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn.3:8). Those works were unbelief, disease, demonic oppression, death before God’s appointed times, bondage, physical disabilities, etc. We know those are the works of the devil because those are the very things Jesus reversed over and over again in his ministry and then gifted his church to do the same. To destroy those works requires power and authority.

Jesus told his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they received power when the Spirit came upon them. Having received that power they would then be equipped to be his witnesses throughout the world. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is closely associated with the “pouring out of the Spirit” in Acts 2. Jesus told his disciples to wait. They waited together as they had been instructed. Suddenly the sound of a violent wind was heard, fire appeared above the heads of the believers, they began to speak in languages they had not learned, and boldness entered into their hearts. Peter’s explanation for the event was that Joel’s prophecy had finally been fulfilled. “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:16-18).

In Acts 1:5, Jesus told his disciples that they would be baptized in the Spirit in a few days and that the Spirit would release power in them when they received that baptism. Power was manifested when the Spirit was poured out so the baptism of the Spirit is closely associated with the fulfillment of Joel 2. A close study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament reveals that the Holy Spirit healed, raised the dead, prophesied, imparted supernatural power, performed miracles, produced dreams, and everything we see him doing in the New Testament. In the O.T., however, the Spirit was reserved for a few prophets, priests, kings, and judges. In the book of Acts that power is poured out in abundance and made available to every believer. In addition, the Holy Spirit takes up residence and goes to work maturing believers so that their character might match the gifts and power God places within them.

I believe this “pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh (all believers)” was the historic moment when the baptism of the Spirit was made available to every believer. Beginning at that moment, every follower of Jesus has the potential to receive great power from the Holy Spirit for boldness and miracles as we bear witness to the reality of Jesus to those around us. (More about that power today in my next blog).

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:10

When we speak of cursing today we usually think of swearing or cussing or simply saying hateful things to someone with whom we are angry. In our minds we limit the damage to hurt feelings or broken relationships. The Bible views curses as much more serious because they have a spiritual dimension to them.

In Numbers 22, we find an interesting account. Israel had moved into the region of Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, felt threatened by their presence. He went to a man named Balaam and declared, “Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed” (Num.22:6) But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed” (Num.22:12).

Balak had seen the power of Balaam’s words over people and situations. Those over whom he spoke blessings seemed to be blessed and those over whom he had spoken curses seemed to be cursed. The interesting thing is that God took him seriously and instructed him to speak a curse over those whom God had blessed. How do we make sense of that in our world?

It is not that words have power in themselves but they have authority to set things in motion in the spiritual realm. A curse releases forces in the spiritual realm to come against a man, a family, or a nation to work for negative outcomes in the natural realm. Before you write that notion off, think of a curse as a kind of prayer. We pray to God and ask him to set forces in motion to bring blessings and positive outcomes to ourselves, our families, and people we care about. We pray for health, provision, protection, direction and all kinds of things and expect God to mobilize his angels or to work through his Spirit to create positive outcomes for those we bless.

A curse is a kind of a prayer than mobilizes forces in the spiritual realm to hinder blessings and bring about negative outcomes in the life of the individual over which it has been spoken and Satan is very eager to take the curse as his authority to come against those who have been cursed. Satan is always poised to kill, steal and destroy and he is simply looking for the legal right to do so. A curse may give him that right.

If you are reading this blog, you probably already believe in the God-given authority of believers to command, declare, and pray for kingdom outcomes in lives, situations and nations. If our words have authority, how much more should we guard our words so that we do not release a curse over others either purposely or carelessly. We should always speak blessings because our words can set demonic forces in motion to enforce any curse we speak over others. As I have already said in this series, we may not take our words seriously but the spiritual realm does.

Our words don’t have to be formal curses. They can simply be expressions of ill will or judgments over others: Your worthless! You’ll never amount to anything! I wish you were dead! You’re going to end up in prison just like your worthless father! Etc. We can even speak curse over ourselves in the same tone. I don’t believe every careless word is enforced as a curse by demons but I do believe that if we say it often enough or with enough venom, the demonic realm may answer. I also know that there are man and women today who do pronounce formal curses over God’s work and God’s people. Maybe someone has even spoken a curse over you or your family even in past generations. I will discuss that in our next blog. Until then, be a constant source of blessing even toward your enemies (see Luke 6:27-28).

We just concluded a season of what we call Free Indeed at our church in Midland, Texas. Free Indeed consists of eight weeks of study and small group interaction related to finding healing and freedom in Christ. We conclude the eight weeks with a weekend (Freedom Weekend) of inner healing and deliverance. This past weekend we had 60-65 in attendance and when the weekend had concluded about 95% reported that they had received significant healing or deliverance over the weekend. Some of these were new to the faith while others had been believers for decades.

One of our new leadership couples is from South Africa. After experiencing their first Freedom Weekend, I asked them about their observations since they would have seen what we do with fresh, non-American eyes. Both of them were very surprised at the amount of brokenness and bondage (demonization) among so many Christians. What they saw was our typical weekend comprised of people who love the Lord, attend church regularly, and who serve in the church. By the way, a number of participants also come from mainline churches in our area where they attend regularly and serve.

Our South African friends have a legitimate question. Why are there so many broken and demonized believers? I believe it is because the church in America has majored in getting people saved but not sanctified. We have been great at getting people to pray “the sinner’s prayer” but we have not taught them how to wage spiritual war and how to be transformed by the Spirit of Christ.

Over the years, even believing families have accumulated a lot of spiritual baggage that has been passed down from generation to generation. Those who have come to us from the world have typically been abused, molested, involved in sexual sin, and in occult practices – all of which give the enemy an open door into their lives. Very few of these have been taught how to deal with their past, their shame, their secret bondage, or the parts of their lives that are out of control. They have been taught to attend church, give, and serve in the children’s ministry but they have not been taught how to drive the enemy out of the promised land of a transformed life. Many pastors don’t even know how to drive the enemy out of their own lives or marriages so they certainly can’t teach their congregations how to wage war with divine weapons.

As I mentioned earlier, we have a number of believers from other churches who attend Free Indeed – a significant number being pastors, former pastors, or family member of pastors from other churches. They consistently report that they have never received teaching or heard a sermon on the basics of spiritual warfare. In their churches, the demonic realm goes unnoticed and uncommented on so that their people are poorly armed against the assaults and schemes of the enemy. The idea of believers walking in real authority is vague at best. The lack is not intentional. We simply pass on what others have passed on to us. But when you look at the American church something is missing. The lives of many, many Christians don’t stand out all that much when compared to the lives and families of unbelievers. That is evidence of a people who are saved but not sanctified.

Jesus and his followers preached the good news of the kingdom of God and then demonstrated its power through healing, deliverance, raising the dead, and radically changed lives. We should be doing the same. My hope is that more and more believers will soon discover the power of Jesus Christ to not only save them from an eternal hell but also from a hell on earth that many believers experience daily believing that nothing more is available to them until after the funeral. Not so. Jesus is so ready and able to heal and set free now and has done so for many. May we assist him in doing the same for many more.