Agreement is a significant issue in the realm of spiritual warfare.  There is an axiom that states, “Whatever or whomever you agree with, you empower.”  When Adam and Eve agreed with Satan in the Garden of Eden, their initial agreement gave him more influence and more power in their lives.  Their initial agreement ultimately led to being banished from the presence of God and turning over their dominion to Satan himself.

Satan’s initial premise was that God was not a generous god and did not have their best interest at heart.  Satan suggested that Elohim was withholding good things from them.  Satan posed the question, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the Garden?” He knew better, but planted a seed suggesting that God might be withholding good things from them.  Once Eve joined the conversation, she began to lean into his premise.  After that, he gathered more agreement until they both ate from the tree and reaped the consequences of their agreement. 

Interestingly, when Eve responded to Satan, she altered God’s command.  She said, “God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” (Gen. 3:3).  Satan then denied the truth of God’s word by declaring that they would not actually die, but would become as wise as God…the very thing God was withholding from them.

In his commands, God did not say they could not touch the fruit without the penalty of death. Not touching it seems like a wise precaution, but the fact is that Eve altered God’s command. She added to what he had said.  We must avoid altering his word, whether we are making things stricter than he intended or more lenient.  God is intentional in his wording, and we should be careful how we handle it.

To alter God’s word often brings us into agreement with Satan and, thus, gives him more power and influence in our lives. Sometimes we alter God’s word by misquoting what he said and sometimes we distort it by choosing a verse or two on a topic while avoiding the whole counsel of God on the subject. 

We live in a day when abundant liberties have been taken with the word of God.  There seems to be a prevalent view that God’s word should evolve with the culture.  In practical terms, it means that if culture thinks something is right or wrong, then any contradictory view in scripture can be discarded or explained away as being culturally specific (it was only wrong then because the people were not as informed as we are now) or unscientific (God really doesn’t know how genetics work and is certainly not as enlightened as our culture is today). 

One of Satan’s primary weapons is as old as the Garden.  He speaks a little truth while distorting the Word and that distortion leads people away from the absolute truth of God’s will bit by time.  After traveling down that road a few miles, we feel that we are free to determine which part of God’s word we want to obey and which part we want to discard. As we do so – whether individuals, churches, or a nation – we come into agreement with Satan and open the doors for his presence and his demons to operate within. 

God’s word is as eternal and unchanging as God himself.  We cannot disregard the Word or change it to fit current cultural values or politically correct positions without consequence.  

King Saul lost his reign because of his looseness with the commands of God. The prophet Samuel declared. “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam. 15:22-23).

If you read the story, Saul had obeyed part of what God commanded and disregarded the rest for reasons he thought were sufficient.  Interestingly, as Samuel challenged him on his disobedience, Saul kept insisting that he had done everything God had commanded.  Through a series of other indiscretions, Saul had opened himself up to deception by the enemy as he believed he was fully obeying God’s will, when any objective observer knew he had made serious departures from the commands of God.  Eventually, he lost his kingdom, the lives of his sons, and his own life because he distorted the Word of God while claiming to be faithful to it.  

We live in a day when we must examine what others are claiming to be the Word of God and be careful that we are not coming into agreement with Satan by coming in to agreement with culture and politics. Many are using bits and pieces of the Word to validate their own agendas rather than submitting their hearts and ways to God.

None of us have everything figured out, but the difference is in a heart that wants to obey the word of God at every turn and the heart that feels free to pick and choose the parts he or she wants to adhere to while ignoring the rest. Those who pick and choose will come into agreement with the enemy and find the power of Satan growing in their lives. Those who stay in agreement with God and his word will find the power and influence of the Holy Spirit growing in their lives.

This week we will conclude out discussion of ten indicators that you may be under spiritual attack.  

Indicator Nine

You are having unwelcome recurring or obsessive thoughts that do not dissipate, but rather, press in harder when you resist them.

Unwelcome thoughts pop into our conscious mind on a regular basis.  They may be thoughts of lust, revenge, anger, fear, self-loathing, judgments, bigotry, etc.  Some of those come from impressions made by the flesh or the world that bubble up into our conscious minds.  Some fly across the screen of our thoughts so quickly that we hardly notice.  Others drift by slowly until we notice them and say “No” to those thoughts with our mind or our heart.  As we do, they lose power and diminish in intensity.  When we declare the word of God over them, they tend to go away. 

There are other unwelcome thoughts, however, that are stronger and more intense, as if they are thoughts that have their own voice in our head.  As we resist these thoughts, they don’t diminish but actually press in harder – especially thoughts that create lust, bitterness, despair, self-destructive desires, or fear.  These thoughts have an obsessive quality and often have a component pushing us toward sinful or destructive actions.  These kinds of enduring thoughts indicate a demonic stronghold. Some believers find these thoughts to be so oppressive that they give in and cease to resist the thoughts because it takes so much energy to resist – even though they know the thoughts are destructive or perverse. 

Just trying to think something else will not overcome these thoughts because they have a demonic component. We must recognize the source, repent of our agreement with the thoughts, renounce the thoughts, and then command the spirit that is the source of the obsessive thinking to leave.  Remember, you cannot ask a spirit to leave or simply want it to leave…you must command it to leave.  Spirits of lust, pornography, sexual fantasy, perversion, fear, anxiety, suicide, rejection, condemnation, victimization, etc. are common.  If we think those thoughts simply belong to us, we will typically condemn ourselves for having the thoughts, which gives the enemy even more power over us.  Just trying to deal with the thought without going after the demon, is like treating symptoms without dealing with the cause.

Indicator Ten

 You simply sense that something demonic has attached itself to you.  Don’t simply dismiss that feeling or possibility.

Most people have no idea that they are under demonic attack, but there are also numerous individuals who sense that something beyond themselves is affecting them.  Maybe the Holy Spirit points out what is happening or the thoughts take on the form of “you are….” rather than “I am…” and that feels like something beyond the individual is in play. 

If we have been taught that Christians cannot be demonized, then we will dismiss the idea as irrational or unbiblical. The truth is that you can’t always know, but there is no harm in “covering that base” to see if a demonic spirit is involved. 

It is often wise to get others involved in commanding a spirit rather than trying self-deliverance.  When you are uncertain about the presence of a demon, command it to manifest and show itself.  Forbid it to hide or remain silent and continue to command it to reveal its presence.  If a spirit is present, the person should feel it manifest in their body or it can be seen in the eyes of the individual, or it will “speak” to the person as a thought.  If the spirit reveals its presence, go after it until it leaves. If no spirit manifests, then get busy working on your thought life or seeking more healing for past wounds.

When any of these ten indicators are present and persistent, you should suspect that you are under demonic attack.  When you sense an attack, take action. 

• Have others stand and pray with you.  See Ecc.4:12 / Lev.26:7-8 / Matt. 18:19 / James 5:16
• Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any open doors in your life that are giving the enemy a legal right to afflict you.
• Take an inventory of how you are spending your time, what you are listening to or watching on television, or who you are spending time with that may be infecting you with fear, doubt, cynicism, or condemnation. 
• Be aware that there may be individuals directing curses at you.  If you sense that, break and nullify those curses by the authority of Jesus Christ.
• Remember that you have been made to outlast the storm because you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus.
• Remember who you are in Jesus. Return to confessing your identity in Him.
• Begin to confess victory again and declare the word of God (the sword of the Spirit) over your life.
• Exercise your authority over demons and circumstances (Luke 10:19).  If you don’t know how, find someone who does.
• Get mad at the devil not at God.  God’s plan is to bless you while the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

I hope this series on Indicators has been helpful. If this is an area in which you have little experience or theological grounding, I would encourage you to get my book, Born to Be Free, published by Morgan & James. You can find it on Amazon and I think it will be helpful.  

This week we will continue to discuss indicators that you may be under spiritual attack.  

Indicator Six

Old sins and temptations begin to surface again that you have not had to deal with for months or years.  The enemy will attack old places of vulnerability first.

A common experience for believers is a season of victory over sin and even thoughts about those sins, followed by the resurgence of recurring thoughts about the issues they have had victory over.  In other words, temptations that have faded away for months or even years suddenly return. The enemy will often return to test those places in your life for vulnerability. Those temptations might be to return to pornography, shopping binges, resentment or anger towards another person, thoughts about calling old friends that you know would draw you away from the Lord, etc.

When temptations suddenly recur and refuse to fade away when you resist the thoughts, demonic attack is indicated.  Our first thought is usually, “What’s wrong with me that I’m thinking that again?”  These should be treated first as demonic intrusions into our thought life.  We should first assess whether or not we have become careless in our actions and thought life regarding old areas of sin.  If so, we should confess that carelessness and shore up those areas with prayer and some kind of accountability.

Secondly, we need to recognize that many sins that have addictive components are simply ways we medicate old wounds or areas of emotional need.  We can ask the Lord to continue to heal those wounds or meet emotional needs in godly ways.   We can then bind and command any spirit that is indicated by the temptation coming our way. 

Indicator Seven

You find yourself pulling away from godly people in your life and feel drawn to people who aren’t committed to Jesus or old friends who are not believers.  You find yourself becoming cynical and critical of the church and you are having thoughts that life before Jesus was better.

Anyone who came to Christ after a life of sin as a teen or adult may experience these temptations. These kinds of thoughts can originate from a spirit of anti-Christ or a spirit of error that inserts doubts about the truth of God’s word or truths about Jesus.  Influence from cults, nEastern, or new age philosophies may also fuel those doubts.  

A spirit of condemnation or unworthiness may also work towards making us feel unworthy and disqualified to serve God and receive his blessings. The thought that “even God can’t love me” will often drive us back to old friends and old ways when that spirit convinces us that we will find love and acceptance there.   When these spirits attack, we need to fight them with the Word of God, call them liars, and command them to be silent and leave. We need to draw close to Christian friends and spiritual family during these times of attack as well, 

Indicator Eight

You find yourself being drawn to things of the world more than things of the kingdom…not things that are sinful in themselves, but sports, recreation, travel, hobbies, family activities, etc. so that those things are getting much more time and attention than the Lord.

 Believers must always be aware of distractions.  Satan loves to fill our lives with distractions and “good things” that we would never define as sin.  Americans, especially, are in love with busyness.  We seem to find our significance in the abundance of our activities and we have imparted that value to our children.  There was a time when schools and little league would schedule no games on Sundays or Wednesdays because those were traditional times for church.  Now many families are only seasonally active in churches.  They may be gone weekend after weekend in the name of family time at the lake, sports, and other extracurricular activities for their kids.  Careers and career development can easily take precedence over the things of God.  Our goals of close families, children feeling loved, and financial security are worthy goals, but Jesus said we must love him more than family or possessions if we are to be his disciples.

Because family togetherness and financial security are “good,” we would never define what we are doing as sin. Yet there is a sense in which we can put these things before our relationship with God or serving in the Kingdom and so these activities and our busyness can become idols.  Spirits of distraction, idolatry, materialism, etc. will help us define these distractions as good and even godly.  We need to keep an eye on the busyness and distractions in our lives and prayerfully assess what is godly and what is not.   Any kind of idolatry is a very wide open door for the enemy to camp out in our souls and a trigger for curses to be released over our lives.

Final Indicators Next Week

We are continuing a discussion of indicators that we may be under spiritual attack.  As believers, we are always subject to temptation by the enemy.  But there are also times when demonic spirits get an assignment to afflict or oppress us.  If we don’t recognize the strategies of the enemy, we may not engage the enemy directly with the divine weapons God has provided for us and the attack may continue for a very prolonged season.  So, let’s continue to look at the indicators.

Indicator Three

You are experiencing a “lack attack” in which everything is breaking down at once, one thing after another is failing, unexpected expenses keep draining your accounts, you experience a very unexpected job loss, etc.  

Again, these kinds of experiences are often just “life happening to us.”  But prolonged financial challenges when you are managing your finances in a reasonable way may indicate that something more is going on.  

In Deuteronomy 28:28-44, financial lack, poor harvests, others getting promotions instead of you – even though you are working hard, etc. are characteristics of a curse. The first thing you may need to assess is whether or not something in your life or family line has given Satan some authority to afflict you.  Unrepented sin in your life or the lives of your ancestors may be giving the enemy that authority.  In Malachi 3, God releases a curse on Israel for not tithing or for not honoring God with their finances.  If you have lacked integrity in any financial or business dealings or have had ancestors who have cheated people out of money, you may need to repent on their behalf or for your own failings, even if those were years ago.  

If you have spoken poverty or financial failure over yourself, you may need to renounce those words and begin to declare the blessings of God over your wealth.  We don’t all need to drive Mercedes and live in huge homes, but poverty and lack is not God’s intention for his people.  He wants us to have enough to meet the needs of our family and to have more than enough so that we can give to the kingdom and help the poor. Prolonged lack may take some prayer, fasting, the breaking of curses,  commanding the enemy and declaring the blessings of God over us.

Indicator Four

You experience constant disruptions and distractions when you try to pray or read the Word.  You are having recurring thoughts that you do not welcome.

There are spirits that love to distract you and keep you from quality time in the Word or quality time with the Lord.  Spirits of stupor will cause you to become very drowsy every time you try to read or pray.  Spirits of error and spirits of anti-Christ will argue against the truths you are reading and try to introduce doubt into your faith.  Spirits of sexual immorality or sexual fantasies may inject unclean thoughts into your imagination so that your time with God seems defiled and so on.  If you are getting enough sleep, Treat the fatigue and drowsiness as a spirit and command it to leave.  Do the same with other unwelcome thoughts that you did not invite onto the screen of your imagination.

Indicator Five

You are in a prolonged season of feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances and feelings of hopelessness are beginning to creep in.

Discouragement and despair are some of Satan’s greatest weapons against God’s people.  Isaiah speaks of a spirit of heaviness or despair that can come on God’s people (Isa.61:3).  It comes typically when we are tired or weary after facing circumstances that are emotionally draining.  Immediately after Elijah’s great victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, he was threatened by Jezebel and quickly succumbed to depression and despair. The enemy clearly took advantage of  his being emotionally and spiritually depleted after a day of battle.  

When we have been facing a challenging season, the enemy whispers that things will never change or that life no longer holds any promise for you. He reminds you constantly of your limitations and whispers that God’s promises are empty or, at least, empty for you.  Often, he will whisper that you don’t measure up and that all you have done in your life or ministry counts for nothing. His goal is to get you to give in and give up. 

During these times, praise and thanksgiving are important weapons to use against the enemy.  Choose to believe in spite of your emotions.  Find a promise that addresses your discouragement and begin to declare it over yourself, your family, or your circumstances. Remember who you are in Christ and declare that truth against the enemy as well as commanding spirits of despair, discouragement and even fear to leave. You cannot be passive but must take the initiative against the enemy.  Get help from those versed in spiritual warfare if you feel like you are too depleted to fight.

More Indicators Next Week

I posted a version of this topic a few months ago, but felt prompted to bring it back with some additions and some discussion that I believe will be helpful.  In order to do that, I will present this as a series of blogs rather than just one.  Some of these thoughts were framed from an excellent article by Jentzen Franklin, while much of it will be my own thoughts and observations.

Clearly, not every obstacle in life is a demonic attack.  Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble.  Many of our troubles are just the consequence of living in a fallen world in which we will face hard circumstances that we simply have to deal with or outlast.  However, Paul also said that we should not be unaware of the devil’s schemes and that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood but the spiritual powers of darkness.

There are times when demonic forces are actively attacking us and divine weapons will have to be employed to overcome those forces.  This series will present ten indicators that you or others you know and love may be under spiritual attack, if these conditions are prolonged.   Being passive will not get you the freedom or victory you need. Even prayer alone may not be enough because we have been ordained to trample on snakes and scorpions (demons) and to overcome all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). We are called to heal and cast out demons not just pray about it, so many times we must take the fight directly to the enemy if we want victory.

At times, we will not be sure whether or not we are facing a spiritual attack. The devil is most effective when spiritual attacks come on us slowly so that we begin to feel that the oppression or affliction we are experiencing is simply a natural condition. If we were to experience these things suddenly, we would probably see them as the spiritual attacks they are.  But when these things creep up on us over a period of months, we begin to think it is just our “new normal” and begin to simply live with it rather than fight it.  We should pause from time to time to evaluate the challenges in our lives to see if we simply need to endure something for a season or go face-to-face with the enemy.  The following indicators may help you with that evaluation.  These indicators are not arranged in any particular order of importance.

Indicator One

Your spiritual passion and desires have subsided.  You find yourself without the desire to read the Word, pray, worship, attend church, or even serve in your calling without any apparent reason.  You are marked by apathy and indifference and can’t seem to shake it.

We all go through seasons of depleted passion, burnout, and distractions.  But if the season drags into months rather than weeks, you may be under attack.  There are a number of spirits that can attach themselves to us in order to drain our energy, passion, and commitment.  Spirits of stupor, discouragement, fatigue, or heaviness can affect us physically or whisper thoughts that all our efforts have accomplished nothing or that our prayers make no difference.  Sometimes the enemy discourages us through others, who judge us and criticize us so that we feel condemned and begin to doubt ourselves. When we find ourselves in this place, we need to begin to rebuke the enemy and command him to take his hands off of us. In the name of Jesus we should cancel any assignment of the enemy against us and command any unclean spirit to leave and never return. If we feel that we cannot muster the faith or the righteous anger to stand against the enemy, then we should ask others to command the enemy on our behalf. 

Indicator Two

You are experiencing a season of physical and emotional exhaustion, even though you are being reasonably responsible with your health.   Maybe you are experiencing lingering illnesses that are not clearly diagnosed and for which treatments have not been affective.  Perhaps, you get treatment, feel better for a while, but then revert back to the symptoms you have been dealing with.

In the gospels, men and women were often afflicted by spirits of infirmity that mimicked real diseases and conditions and gave life to those things while attached to the person. Blindness, deafness, muteness, seizures, back trouble, etc.  were all dismissed and the person healed through deliverance.  Others with the same symptoms were healed from physiological conditions or disease, but it seems that nearly as many were afflicted by a spirit of infirmity.  No treatment will bring lasting healing as long as the spirit is present.   If there have been traumatic injuries from violence, abuse, a car wreck, etc., sometimes spirits of trauma settle into the wound or injury and keep in from healing correctly as well. It is always wise to command a spirit of infirmity to depart whenever there is an illness or infirmity in a person.  Sometimes, we cannot be certain if a spirit is operating, but it is wise simply to cover that base to see if any spirit is present. 

More Indicators Next Week

One of the most instructive scenes in all of scripture is the moment when Moses encountered the burning bush and engaged in a dialogue with the “I Am.”  You remember the background, of course.  Moses as a child was set afloat in the Nile River to prevent his being slaughtered by Pharoah’s men after Pharoah had decided that the Israelites were becoming too numerous.  The daughter of Pharoah found him and adopted him as her own. Moses was raised in the courts of Pharoah and received the best education available which undoubtedly included rhetoric and leadership. 

When Moses was about forty years old, we discover that he had become aware of his Hebrew connection and sensed that he was chosen to somehow lead God’s people out of Egypt.  In his zeal for his people and, perhaps, for his vision of deliverer, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave one afternoon.  When Moses learned there had been witnesses to the murder, he gave up his life in the palace and fled Egypt.   He disappeared into in the back country of Midian where he married Jethro’s daughter and became a simple shepherd. For forty years, he lived the dirty and often lonely life of a shepherd rather than the opulent life of a prince of Egypt.

Then came the day he saw a bush that was burning but was not being consumed.  Unaware of the adage that “curiosity killed the cat,” he turned aside to investigate.  As he approached the bush a voice told him to remove his shoes for, he was standing on holy ground. The thing that made the ground holy was the presence of God. Yaweh identified himself to Moses as “the Godof your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex.2:6) Moses then hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Then came the big reveal.  God said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers…I am sending you to Pharoah to bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Ex. 2:7,10). 

Then came the litany of excuses that Moses made in order to exempt himself from his chosen destiny:  Who am I that I should go?  What if I go and tell the people that God has sent me to lead you out, but they ask “What is His name?”  What if they don’t believe me? You know I’m not a good speaker. Please send someone else. After each of Moses’ objections God gave him an answer – I will go with you; I will cause them to believe; I will do signs and wonders through you; I made your mouth so I can give you the capacity to speak; etc.  After each assurance, Moses found another reason that God was speaking to the wrong guy.  Finally, the text says, “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses…” (Ex. 4:14). God had given him a more than adequate solution to his every objection, but he still kept saying “No” to God.  Even God gets frustrated like a parent whose child keeps asking “Why” to every instruction. 

We know that Moses eventually surrendered to God’s will and became the great deliverer of Israel. But initially, Moses believed his own evaluation of himself rather than God’s evaluation of him.  Moses saw himself as a failure, a nobody, a stutterer, a murderer, and a lowly shepherd who once possessed greatness but had run away.  Interestingly, Moses had once seen himself as the deliverer that God was now releasing to fulfill his destiny.  Forty years as a no-name shepherd in Midian had erased that perception. Moses’ appraisal was that the job had to go to a man of prominence and power, a man of influence, and a persuasive orator. God’s evaluation was that when Moses had all those things in Egypt, he was not qualified to lead because those things had made him arrogant, entitled, self-sufficient, and self-directed.  What God needed was a broken man, a humble man, and a man who had learned the patience and ways of a shepherd. God would give him the gifts, the eloquence, and the influence but what he needed was Moses’ character.  Of course, God had to stir up some faith in Moses, but God excels in using the willing rather than the highly qualified.

Now comes the application.  How often has God called us to leadership and how often have we made excuses as to why we were not the person?  How often has he called us to a moment of greatness…to speak out for righteousness, to share the gospel, to pray an audacious prayer for healing, to share a prophetic word that we sense is from God, or to lead a ministry…but we have found reasons not to do those things.  

Inevitably, we turn down the opportunity because, like Moses, we don’t feel qualified. But here is the thing…God will go with us; he will give us the words; he will do signs and wonders through us; he will give us favor, and he will guide us into our destiny…if we are willing.   All those promises for the followers of Jesus can be found in the New Testament. How much more would the Kingdom of Heaven advance on earth if the children of God would say “yes” to his call for greatness, rather than insisting that he use someone else?  Typically, we don’t just say “No,” but we say, “Not now. I’ll do it when I’ve had more training, when I’m more mature, or when my life is less hectic.” When God calls, he already has everything you need ready for you. You typically won’t receive those things before you start the journey, but only after you have said “yes” to the call and taken the first steps.

Let me encourage you (and myself) not to be the Moses in front of the bush, but the Moses in front of Pharoah.  Say “yes” to the moments and ministry that God puts before you and trust him to go with you.  If your faith has become boring, it’s because you are not stepping into moments and circumstances that require faith and you are not letting God stretch you.  Moses had been totally prepared for the call on his life but couldn’t recognize the reality.  However, God knew when the time was right. We too have been prepared and we should trust God to know when the time is right for us.  My goal is to follow Jesus with no excuses. It’s still a work in progress, but I want to encourage you to join me, at least in sincerely setting the goal. 

How often do we hear the word “deserve” used in our culture and, especially, on television ad campaigns?  “Get all the benefits you deserve.”  “Find all the happiness you deserve.” “Finally, you can live in that dream house you deserve!”  There are times when we definitely deserve some things because we have earned them.  If you put in the hours at work and do the job, you deserve to be paid.  If you have poured out the sweat to learn a craft, develop a skill, or become the best in a certain field you merit some recognition.  However, in our entitlement culture of participation trophies and no criticisms or rebukes, too many of us feel we deserve only good things and positive outcomes,  simply because we exist.

There are numerous dangers attached to that mindset, but the spiritual dangers are immense.  The moment I begin to believe that I am simply entitled to everything that others have, I feel cheated and victimized when I don’t have the possessions, the position, or the recognition of those around me.  Any rebuke, criticism, or discipline that comes my way is met with my anger and my demands that you or life has been unfair to me. What I am finding is that the entitlement mindset in our culture is creating an anger towards God because we think he hasn’t given us everything we desire and deserve.

That mindset eventually robs us of a heart of thankfulness and gratitude, which is a key to spiritual life and even spiritual warfare.  Paul taught the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:6-7).  Peace in our hearts is a quality that keeps Satan at bay. 

Thanksgiving places the emphasis on the goodness and generosity of God rather my own entitlement. My assurance in the goodness of God, despite my circumstances, leads to peace and peace guards my heart. The belief that I should always have what others have, with no effort on my part, and that I am not loved unless I get everything I want, breeds a life of envy and jealousy.  It robs a man or woman of contentment and is an open door for the enemy.

One of the key lessons to life and maturity is to understand Paul’s admonition to the Galatians. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest” (Gal.6:7). God has established a principle that we harvest what we plant in this life…both in the natural realm and the spiritual realm.  A harvest requires personal investment, work, effort, patience, and faith.   Any other view is deception. Certainly, gifts come to us that we did not earn, but those are the exception in life rather than the rule.  Our salvation is a gift from God, not something we could earn, but kingdom rewards come as a result of our faithful service to the King and our patient pursuit of His kingdom.  

For our children who have developed an entitlement mentality through our desire to give them everything they want when they want it, along with status and recognition they have not earned through effort, life is going to be a series of disappointments that they blame on everyone but themselves – including God.  The belief that they deserve all the perks of life and the blessings of the Kingdom without real effort on their part, is going to shortchange them in the long run and leave them empty and bitter. They will eventually feel cheated by life and eventually feel victimized by everyone and every circumstance. 

What we need to understand is that the only thing any of us truly deserve is eternity in hell.  Everything else should be considered a gift for which we are truly thankful even when it took effort on our part to receive it. Our focus must remain on what we have rather than what we don’t have.  What God has done for us, rather than something he hasn’t yet done for us. 

Paul spoke about the fact that he had learned the secret of contentment in every circumstance – when he had plenty and when he had little. The secret was his faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God.  He believed in every circumstance, what he had was designed by God to bring out the best in him and to produce the greatest harvest through him.  Even when he suffered, he believed there was some significant purpose that redeemed the suffering.  He never questioned God’s love when he didn’t have the position, possessions, or recognition “he deserved.”  He was simply thankful for what he did have – especially eternal life.  That needs to be our perspective on life and entitlement as well, and we need to teach that to our children.

I’m one of those guys who plays occasional golf.  What that means is that when I do play, I hit a lot of bad shots.  I comfort myself knowing that even the pros hit bad shots from time to time.  There are different kinds of bad shots.  Sometimes you just top the ball and it rolls weakly down the fairway.  Sometimes you hit the ground before you hit the ball and it pops up feebly while you look around to see if anyone was watching. 

The truly bad shots are the ones that fly deep into the rough.  In West Texas, that means that you are hunting a small white sphere in a forest of mesquite trees and careless weeds dotted with an occasional rattle snake.  If you can find the ball and if you can even swing a club, you have to make a decision.  Do you accept the fact that you hit a bad shot and simply try to hit back onto the fairway, or do you decide to try to hit a miracle shot up next to the green, deceiving yourself into believing that you might still get a par or a bogey?

In other words, do I accept the penalty that I earned with a bad shot into the rough or do I try to deny my error, avoid the penalty, and go for it. Of course, most of us go for the miracle shot, in which case, we usually hit a mesquite and bounce into a worse place than we were originally. Then the pressure is really on to hit another even more miraculous shot because the strokes are adding up.  I might even be tempted to cheat just a little.  If I had simply acknowledged my error and shot back onto the fairway, I would have probably ended up with a bogey or double bogey (two over par.)  If I try to beat the penalty, I will likely end up with a triple or quadruple bogey or even a lost ball. 

I find that we do that a lot in life.  We make mistakes. We sin. We fail.  Then, instead of acknowledging our mistakes or sins, we try to deny them or cover up what we have done with denial, lies, rationalizations, or blame.  Then the Law of Sowing and Reaping (Gal.6:7) kicks in.  If I sow to the flesh (lie, excuse, blame others), I will reap disaster.  If I sow to the Spirit, I will reap life.  The flesh (and the devil) prompt us to deny and cover our sins while the Spirit prompts us to confess and receive forgiveness.  When there are consequences, God will walk with us through those difficulties.

I’m reading through the life of David again.  As I read, I notice once again that King Saul caved to the flesh on numerous occasions. In 1 Samuel 15, God commanded Saul to attack the Amalekites and totally destroy them including the animals (There is a long history to that which I will leave for your research).  Saul attacked the Amalekites as commanded, but left King Agag alive and took the best of the sheep and the cattle.

The text says, “Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, ‘Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.’ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, ‘The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.’  But Samuel said, ‘What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?’ Saul answered, ‘The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.’  ‘Stop!’ Samuel said to Saul. ‘Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.’ ‘Tell me,’ Saul replied.

Samuel said, ‘The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’  Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?’ ‘But I did obey the Lord,’ Saul said. ‘I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’

But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king’ (1 Sam. 15:12-23).

It is amazing that Saul continued to justify his failure to do everything the Lord had commanded. Later in the chapter, he blamed his soldiers for sparing Agag and the best of the animals and then asked Samuel to go with him to honor him before the people.  The rest of Saul’s reign as King was marred by the same rationalizations, blame towards others, and an attempt to justify whatever he did, although it was clearly sin.

If he had acknowledged his weakness, his fear, and his sin and repented before God, things could have been very different. Remember that David himself slipped into extreme sin through adultery and murder, but God did not reject or forsake him.  His confession and repentance in Psalm 51 demonstrates the difference between David and Saul.  David did not deny his sin.  He blamed no one else. He was overwhelmed with his own sense of unworthiness, instead of building monuments to himself. Ultimately, he leaned on the mercy of God and, although there were hard consequences in the natural realm for his actions, he was reconciled to God and God walked with him through those consequences.  In the end, he was still known as a man after God’s own heart. 

So, the next time you shank a shot into the rough of life, I encourage you to acknowledge the mistake, lay it before the Lord, and receive the consequence without trying to escape it, cover it up, lie about it, excuse it, cheat, or even blame someone else for your predicament. Otherwise, you may find yourself in deeper weeds and lose much more in the long run than you would have if you had simply back in to the fairway. 

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Romans 15:20

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Philippians 2:3

The apostle Paul wrote both of the verses quoted above.  At first glance, they may seem contradictory so I want to ask the question:  Is there a difference between godly ambition and selfish ambition and does it matter?

Ambition in Greek word study books means “to seek after honor and praise or to aspire to a lofty goal.” Clearly, there is a difference between seeking honor for God and seeking honor for ourselves, but sometimes it is not so easy to determine what the real core of our own motives is.  However, one brings the blessing of God and reward in heaven, while the other does not. 

Many of the issues Jesus had with the Pharisees revolved around this point.  He warned those to whom he preached not to be like the Pharisees – not to practice their righteousness, their prayers, nor their fasts in order to be seen by others so that they might receive the praise of men for their “great spirituality” (Matthew 6).  Rather, he directed them to do those things in ways that only God could see and promised that the Father would reward them for doing so. Jesus declared that those who did good things in order things to receive praise from men had already received their reward. 

This teaching is relevant today because some of the most “gifted” church leaders I have known through the years, have struggled with their motives and with the challenge of pride or a desire for approval.  Because they were church leaders, it was easy for them to believe that their motives were pure – to build the kingdom of God.  But underneath that goal, were darker drives.  If they were honest with themselves, they loved the praise of men, they loved to be counted in the top tier of church leaders in their denomination, they loved the spotlight, and often resented moments when others were asked to speak, write, or lead other than themselves.

The truth is that these men often operated out of exceptional natural gifts even more than spiritual gifts.  The exercise of spiritual gifts made us all assume that that they were driven by godly ambition rather than selfish ambition.  Those gifts – healing, prophecy, teaching, leadership, preaching, etc. made it hard for them to detect their own deeper motives as well.

Here is the thing, we are all subject to the same temptation.  David wisely prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23).

Many of us desire leadership roles or greater leadership roles, profound spiritual gifts, speaking opportunities, opportunities to serve on significant planning teams, and expanded influence.  If our goal is to use those opportunities to reach the lost, build up the body of Christ, and to bring praise to God, then we are in a good place.  If we detect any selfish ambition in those desires, then we must acknowledge them, repent, and keep an eye on our hearts.  We should also pray David’s prayer on a daily basis.

Sometimes, we are promoted in the kingdom of God by men rather than by the King himself.  Our gifts can exceed our character.  Some of the failures of high-profile church leaders in recent years occurred because their gifts and promotion exceeded their spiritual character.  One of the great differences between King Saul and King David was that Saul was promoted to power and influence before his heart had been tested and before his character had developed to carry the weight of his office. The result was leadership based on polling data, the envy of others who succeeded, and jealousy to the extent that he desired to murder those who might have more influence than he did.  David, on the other hand, went through years of testing and being humbled before he ever ascended to the throne.  He made mistakes – huge mistakes – but he humbled himself before God and ultimately put himself in God’s hands when it came to promotion rather than listening to men or engineering his promotion by his own efforts.  Saul is not remembered as a great King.  David is.

We should all want to do more for Jesus.  But we need to ask the Holy Spirit to make it clear if we have any motives that muddy the waters of our heart.  And let me be clear… it is not whether we have any mixed or selfish motives, because we all do.  The difference is about what we do with our patches of selfish ambition.  

Among other things, Satan is described as “the accuser of the brethren” who accuses them day and night before God (Rev. 12:10).  In the Old Testament, we find a detailed account of him accusing Job before God (Job 1:6-11) and again we find him standing before God to accuse Joshua, the high Priest (Zechariah 3:1).  Jesus revealed to Peter that Satan had asked to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31).  I think we can safely assume that Satan had stood before God accusing Peter and wanting to unleash hell in his life.  Those accusations take place in the courts of Heaven, but Satan is even more active shouting his accusations on the earth.  

How often must the accuser whisper accusations in our ear about our spouse, about our neighbor, about our boss, about our church, or about our leaders.  He makes accusations about their motives and intent – that they are withholding what is due to us, that they are taking advantage of us, that they are liars and manipulators and want what is rightfully ours.  How often do we judge others because we presume to know their hearts and motives?

But not only does Satan accuse those around us, he also accuses us to ourselves.  He accuses us of being unworthy of love, unworthy of success, unworthy of God’s blessings, and unworthy of fulfilling a great destiny that God has already written in his book for us. He schemes to make us feel unloved and disqualified from every blessing of God…even his grace.  

Through his accusations, we can come to a place in which we believe that someone is beyond help, beyond transformation, beyond forgiveness, beyond grace, and beyond hope.  We may even believe that about ourselves.  When we get to that place, we give up on others or ourselves.  We feel so condemned that we feel hopeless and at that point we give up and give in.

A young man, we’ll call Gary, came to our church several years ago.  In a counseling session, he revealed that he had been in bondage to a homosexual life style for years.  His family, including his wife, knew nothing about his “other life.” For months he had been telling his wife he was working late but instead he had been having liaisons with other men he was meeting online.  He had grown up in a conservative church and the shame he felt for his deceit and his homosexuality was overwhelming. He despised himself and was certain that God despised him as well.  His words were,” This is my last stop.  If I can’t get help here, I’m giving in.   I’m going to leave my wife and family and give into the lifestyle.  Resisting is just too hard.”

I asked him if he had ever heard God speak.  He said that he thought he had once or twice, so I asked him if we could ask Jesus to speak to him.  He very reluctantly agreed and I simply asked Jesus to speak to him and tell Gary how he felt about him.   We sat quietly for a moment and then Gary burst into tears and began weeping.  After another minute, I asked him what Jesus had said to him.  Gary said, “He didn’t say anything, but I literally felt his arms around me.”

Gary had believed the accusations of the enemy that he had gone too far … even beyond God’s grace, but a gentle hug from the Savior ignited his hope and his faith again.  

Within four weeks, Gary had learned to treat the compulsion as a spirit that he commanded to leave whenever it pressed in on him. One afternoon, spirits of rejection, unworthiness, and homosexuality were cast out and he was free from his bondage. He fell in love with his wife and his Savior again.  Years later, he was still walking in freedom.

When our life or the life of someone we know spins out of control, Satan wants us to believe that God is through with us or them.   It is a lie.  No one is beyond God’s grace whether it is a Mary Magdalene with seven demons or a Gadarene tomb-dweller filled with a legion of demons.  We must learn to treat Satan’s accusations as lies when he whispers them about those around or when he accuses us in our own hearts.  To do less is to deny the immense love of God and the immense power of the blood of Christ.