LIES ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE - Christians should take note that the majority of the elements in the armor of God are defensive instead of offensive, meaning the devil attacks more often than we think. God knows how much we’ve messed up, and he loves us anyway. He welcomes us with open arms, waiting for his prodigal to come back home. It can often seem as though Satan has infiltrated every crevice of the world, and that darkness has won. Satan wants us to think this so we despair and lose hope. But Jesus has overcome the world. Stand strong and hold fast to knowing that Satan will battle us with doubt and insecurities, but he will not win the war. Outfitted in the armor of God, we know how the story ends. As Christians, we understand a battle rages around us every day, invisible to the naked eye. But because this battle is often waged in the ‘unseen’ realm, we’re susceptible to believing lies we may be hearing. We may naturally drop our guard and become vulnerable to attack. Christians should take note that the majority of the elements in the armor of God are defensive instead of offensive, meaning the devil attacks more often than we think. One of the best ways Satan can operate in peace is if he’s to purge himself from our thoughts: an out-of-sight, out-of-mind tactic. But when we doubt the existence of any evil forces, we allow easy access for Satan and his armies to carry about business as usual, because we decided to look the other way.

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Lies about Spiritual Warfare

6 Lies about Spiritual Warfare and How to Overcome Them

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Christians should take note that the majority of the elements in the armor of God are defensive instead of offensive, meaning the devil attacks more often than we think. God knows how much we’ve messed up, and he loves us anyway. He welcomes us with open arms, waiting for his prodigal to come back home. It can often seem as though Satan has infiltrated every crevice of the world, and that darkness has won. 

Satan wants us to think this so we despair and lose hope. But Jesus has overcome the world. Stand strong and hold fast to knowing that Satan will battle us with doubt and insecurities, but he will not win the war. Outfitted in the armor of God, we know how the story ends.

Hope Bolinger

Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

 

Ephesians 6:10-18 (known as the armor of God passage) stands out because it easily identifies several of Satan’s tactics of spiritual warfare.

As Christians, we understand a battle rages around us every day, invisible to the naked eye (Ephesians 6:12).

But because this battle is often waged in the ‘unseen’ realm, we’re susceptible to believing lies we may be hearing.

We may naturally drop our guard and become vulnerable to attack.

Christians should take note that the majority of the elements in the armor of God are defensive instead of offensive, meaning the devil attacks more often than we think.

So, what are some of most common lies the devil has created?

Let’s look at six of them as they pertain to the world of spiritual warfare, by evaluating the purpose and power of each part of the armor of God to equip us against these six lies:

Lie #1: Satan isn’t as active in our world as one would think.

   One of the best ways Satan can operate in peace is if he’s to purge himself from our thoughts: an out-of-sight, out-of-mind tactic.

   In American society in particular, we tend to shy away from spiritual topics and often don’t like to acknowledge that the spiritual realm exists.

   But when we doubt the existence of any evil forces, we allow easy access for Satan and his armies to carry about business as usual, because we decided to look the other way.

   Which part of the armor of God helps us combat this? The belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14) can help us combat this lie.

   We can discern where the devil is working and has kept himself hidden (1 Peter 5:8).

   The devil doesn’t want us sober-minded and alert because then we can see him as he is: a liar.

Lie #2: Satan and his armies can possess Christians.

A number of Christians who I’ve known over the years who had formerly lived sinful lives until they came to know Christ especially struggle with this fear.

They believe Satan and his army have a certain sway or amount of power over them because they’d not given their lives to Christ until later in life, after living in sinful patterns.

We often forget that with Christ living inside of us, God holds power over the evil forces of this world (Colossians 1:13).

That means Satan cannot overpower us. God is stronger than Satan.

Not to mention, Satan wouldn’t want to be in close proximity with someone as holy as God.

Satan and his armies hate everything good, so why would they indwell someone who has the most good thing in the world inside of them (Matthew 12:43)?

Which part of the armor of God helps us to combat this? The helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17), when placed upon our heads, guarantees we have life abundant inside of us, and no power of Satan can take that away from us.

Although there are no Scripture verses that specifically say demons can’t indwell a Christian, we see no examples of this happening in Scripture.

Anyone in Scripture who is possessed is not a believer, such as the man possessed by demons called Legion (Mark 5:1-20).

What happens if we slip up and sin? Even if we offer the devil a foothold, can he still get a stronghold over us?

The answer is no, if we turn to Christ and confess our sins (1 John 1:9) he is faithful enough to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lie #3: Little sins don’t affect believers much, since they’re already saved.

Paul talks a great deal on why we should leave our former life behind (Romans 6:1-2).

We can often forget that sin is like a parasite, like gangrene.

It eats away at the soul, until we become nothing more than a grumble (see The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis and Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.).

Once we allow Satan to have a foothold (Ephesians 4:27), we stunt our growth in our spiritual walk, being unable to do the tasks God has given us.

When we become complicit with “minor” sins like gossip and white lies, we run the risk of damage.

The corrective action to take, when we commit these sins, is to confess our sins to one another.

Even if we are saved, the damage we risk is that we may cause others to stumble by our actions (1 Corinthians 8:9), especially those young in the faith or those on the outskirts of Christianity.

They may see our actions and deem Christianity to be false since we are acting hypocritically.

Which part of the armor of God helps us to combat this? The breastplate of righteousness, Jesus’ righteousness, covers our sins (Ephesians 6:15).

The Holy Spirit inside our hearts (where the armor covers) convicts us when we have sinned, so we don’t let the sun go down on our anger (Ephesians 4) and we can choose not to give into sin. 

Lie #4: God will take your salvation away if you sin too much.

Throughout my life, the devil has planted doubt in my heart. Can God really save me if I keep messing up?

Maybe there’s a limit to how much you can sin before God takes away his salvation.

Satan likes to infuse doubt into a Christian’s mind to prevent them from focusing on their God-given tasks at hand.

Scripture makes it clear that Satan doesn’t snatch you out of God’s hand if you sin too many times (John 10:28).

We’re secure in God’s hand.

However, if we do sin, we should confess our sins and attempt to restore the relationships we have damaged by our sin. 

Although there are entire books written about apostate Christians, Christians in name who made it seem like they followed Christ but fell away, there is a difference between those who had salvation in the first place and those who made it appear as though they had salvation.

Only God can know our hearts (1 Kings 8:9), but if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

God knows how much we’ve messed up, and he loves us anyway. He welcomes us with open arms, waiting for his prodigal to come back home.

Which part of the armor of God helps us combat this? The shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16) helps us extinguish the devil’s flaming arrows and assures us to Whom we belong.

Lie #5: Satan and his armies have overcome the world.

Ever get depressed when scrolling through the news on social media or watching horrific events on TV?

It can often seem as though Satan has infiltrated every crevice of the world, and that darkness has won.

Satan wants us to think this so we despair and lose hope. But Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).

It isn’t a matter of: Is God going to win? God has already won.

Which part of the armor of God helps us combat this? The shoes of the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15) will help us to stand firm when all the world appears to give way.

Just following Jesus and walking with him, step by step in faith, is warfare that works.

We can observe the events in the world around us knowing that God will make everything right in the end.

Lie #6: We need to find truth and peace outside of God’s word.

Satan will try to convince us to find truth elsewhere, other than the Bible.

He will attempt us to keep our minds on the things of this world instead of on things above (Colossians 3:2).

The reason does this is he wants us to avoid our calling to the great commission (Matthew 28:19), our call to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The only offensive piece of the armor is the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.

Satan, on the defense here, will do anything in his power to prevent us from using this weapon.

Which part of the armor of God helps us combat this: In everything, we need to be in the word, the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6:17) and to pray without ceasing (Ephesians 6:18).

In fact, we need to put on the whole armor of God through prayer. Satan will attempt to prevent us from using the sword of the Spirit to spread the Gospel, so we need to engage in the Word every day to be able to discern when he is trying to attack (1 John 4:1).

Stand strong and hold fast to knowing that Satan will battle us with doubt and insecurities, but he will not win the war. Outfitted in the armor of God, we know how the story ends.

Hope Bolinger is a literary agent at C.Y.L.E. and a recent graduate of Taylor University's professional writing program. More than 450 of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer's Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Her column "Hope's Hacks," tips and tricks to avoid writer's block, reaches 6,000+ readers weekly in the Serious Writer newsletter. Her modern-day Daniel, “Blaze,” (Illuminate YA) released in June, and they contracted the sequel “Den” for July 2020. Find out more about her here. 

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/lies-about-spiritual-warfare.html?utm_source=Jeeng

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THE ANGELIC LEGIONS - Jesus didn’t need Peter’s undersized, insignificant sword to deal with His situation. Jesus had all the power that was required to conquer those troops. As you face your own challenges in life, always keep in mind that Jesus has the power to fix any problem you’ll ever come across. Before you jump in and make things worse by taking matters into your own hands, pray and ask the Lord what you are supposed to do. Then after you receive your answer and follow His instructions, just watch His supernatural power swing into action to solve the dilemma you are facing!

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The Angelic Legions

Twelve Legions of Angels

Rick Renner

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” —  Matthew 26:53

How much strength do you think one angel possesses?

Today I’d like for us to consider the full impact of Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:53, where He said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”

Let’s look at three questions:

·       What is a “legion”?

·       How many angels would there be in twelve legions?

·       What would be the combined strength of this number of angels?

It is important to know the answers to these questions, because the answers reveal the full might that was available to Jesus had He requested supernatural help in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Actually, when we take into account the power that was already demonstrated in the Garden and then add the potential assistance and impact of twelve legions of angels, it becomes obvious that there was no human force on earth strong enough to take Jesus against His will.

The only way He was going to be taken was if He allowed Himself to be taken!

This is why He later told Pilate, “…Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above…” (John 19:11).

Let’s begin with our first question: What is a “legion”? 

The word “legion” is a military term that was taken from the Roman army.

A legion denoted a group of at least 6,000 Roman soldiers, although the total number could be higher.

This means that anytime we read about a legion of anything, we can know it always refers to at least 6,000 of something.

An amazing example of this is found in Mark 5:9, where the Bible tells us that the demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes had a legion of demons.

That means this man had an infestation of at least 6,000 demons residing inside him!

Let’s now contemplate the second question: How many angels would there be in twelve legions? 

Since the word “legion” refers to at least 6,000, it means a legion of angels would be at least 6,000 angels.

However, Jesus said the Father would give Him “more than” twelve legions of angels if He requested it.

Because it would be pure speculation to try to figure out how many “more than” twelve legions would be, let’s just stick with the figure of twelve legions to see how many angels that entails.

One legion is 6,000 angels, so if you simply multiply that number by twelve, you’ll discover that twelve legions of angels would include a minimum of 72,000 angels.

But Jesus said the Father would give Him “more than” twelve legions of angels; therefore, you can conclude that there were potentially many additional thousands of angels available to Jesus the night He was arrested!

Finally, let’s look at our third question: What would be the combined strength in this number of angels? 

Angels are powerful! In fact, Isaiah 37:36 records that a single angel obliterated 185,000 men in one night.

So if a single angel had that kind of power, how much combined strength would there be in twelve legions of angels?

Since a single angel was able to obliterate 185,000 men in one night, it would mean the combined strength in a legion of 6,000 angels would be enough to destroy 1,110,000,000 men (that is, one billion, one hundred ten million men) — and that’s just the combined power in one legion of angels!

Now let’s multiply this same number 185,000 by twelve legions, or at least 72,000 angels, which was the number of angels Jesus said was available to Him on the night of His arrest.

When we do, we find that there was enough combined strength at Jesus’ disposal to have annihilated at least 13,320,000,000 men (that is, thirteen billion, three hundred twenty million men) — which is more than twice the number of people living on the earth right now!

Jesus didn’t need Peter’s little sword that night. 

Had He chosen to do so, Jesus could have summoned 72,000 magnificent, mighty, dazzling, glorious, overwhelmingly powerful angels to the Garden to obliterate the Roman soldiers and the temple police who had come to arrest Him.

In fact, the combined strength in twelve legions of angels could have wiped out the entire human race!

But Jesus didn’t call on the supernatural help that was available to Him. Why? Because He knew it was time for Him to voluntarily lay down His life for the sin of the human race.

Learn a lesson from Jesus and from the apostle Peter.

Jesus didn’t need Peter’s undersized, insignificant sword to deal with His situation.

What good would a single sword have been against all the troops assembled in the Garden that night anyway?

Peter’s actions were a perfect example of how the flesh tries in vain to solve its own problems but cannot. Jesus had all the power that was required to conquer those troops.

As you face your own challenges in life, always keep in mind that Jesus has the power to fix any problem you’ll ever come across.

Before you jump in and make things worse by taking matters into your own hands, remember the story of Peter! 

The next time you’re tempted to “grab a sword and start swinging,” take a few minutes to remind yourself that Jesus can handle the problem without your intervention.

Before you do anything else, pray and ask the Lord what you are supposed to do.

Then after you receive your answer and follow His instructions, just watch His supernatural power swing into action to solve the dilemma you are facing!

My Prayer for Today

“Lord, I am so glad You have the power to put an end to my problems! So many times I’ve acted just like Peter, swinging furiously in the strength of my own flesh as I’ve tried to solve my problems without Your help. Forgive me for wasting so much time and energy! Today I ask You to speak to my heart and tell me what I am supposed to do; then help me follow Your instructions to the letter. Give me the patience to wait while You supernaturally work behind the scenes to resolve my questions.

   I pray this in Jesus’ name!”

My Confession for Today

“I boldly and joyfully affirm that Jesus Christ has all the power needed to fix my problems! I am not smart enough by myself to figure out how to get out of my messes, so I turn to Him to give me wisdom, insight, power, and the answers I need to get from where I am to where I need to be. His power works mightily through me, and that divine power is being released right now to tackle the challenges I face in life and bring me to a peaceful place of resolution in every situation.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!”

Questions to Answer

1. Has there ever been a moment in your life when you got in a hurry and acted too fast — and then later regretted your actions?

2. When you candidly examine your life, do you find that the same problems keep resurfacing again and again? Does this indicate that you are trying to solve those problems in the strength of your flesh instead of relying on the power of Jesus to help you?

3. How does today’s Sparkling Gem cause you to look differently at your challenges? What are you going to do differently as a result of what you have read and learned today?

Over the years, Rick and Denise Renner pioneered three churches, a Bible school, and a ministerial association that serves thousands of Russian-speaking pastors throughout the former USSR as well as parts of the Middle East. As Rick began training and mentoring leaders in the early days, Denise also developed a women’s ministry that is actively involved in changing the lives of women and their families today. Specifically, they minister to the needs of orphans, women prisoners, the homeless, and drug-and-alcohol addicts.

https://renner.org/twelve-legions-of-angels/