Defeat Your Enemy

Defeat your enemy

Matthew 11:12 - And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

God has not called us to wage a continuous war against our enemy the devil. However, God wants us to aggressively protect what He has given us. What He has given us to enjoy is our right. It is not something we have to strive for, or to earn, or even to fast and pray about. No. It is ours to take and if we do not take what is ours, we will not enjoy what is ours. It is as simple as that.

2 Corinthians 10:4 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…

The devil will do everything in his power to steal the Kingdom blessings from you and only you can prevent him. We are engaged in a spiritual war and have to pull down every obstacle that stands between us and the blessings. God has given us His Spirit and weapons of war that enables us to protect and keep what we have been given.

One of the most powerful weapons that the devil uses against us is temptation. That was his strategy when he tried to defeat Jesus in the wilderness. He tempts us in the flesh and if we do not resist and overcome these temptations, we will always be fighting.

Too many Christians are fighting too many battles for too long and they do not enjoy their Christian lives. There is a time for us to be in battle mode but we should not always be fighting. Yes, we will face temptations which we must resist and there is a time for the devil to leave.

The Bible tells us that the devil left Jesus after three failed attempts to entrap Him. How senseless would it be for Jesus to continue with spiritual warfare after the devil had left Him?

When the devil departed, angels came from heaven and ministered to Jesus. God is always ready to encourage us in our earthly walk. After overcoming temptation, Jesus came out of the wilderness and started plundering the devil’s kingdom by raising the dead, casting out demons, and healing the sick.

If you are always fighting you cannot enjoy your Christian life. There is a time for the devil to leave you alone so that you can minister to others without any hindrances and to enjoy the authority and power you have in Jesus.

Spiritual forces of darkness operate from a realm that encompasses the earth and stand between heaven and earth. Once these forces are overcome, there are only two realms left and that is the earthly realm and the heavenly realm and when the demonic realm is short-circuited, heaven and earth become one. That is what Jesus was talking about when He prayed “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He saw a free flow of heaven’s blessings coming to earth without any resistance and opposition from God’s enemy. Picture the angels walking up and down from heaven to earth in Jacob’s dream.

Paul had a great revelation of this dynamic because he kind of flipped flopped in and out of heaven bringing the blessings of revelation to the early church as it struggled to find its identity. The keys of heaven are ours and we can use them to access anything we need for our daily living.

Finish the fight and start enjoying what Jesus has for you today.

Our flesh is the battle ground between good and evil and God is either going to win the battle in our life or is going to lose the battle. God will lose the fight against Satan if the flesh is strong. God will win the battle if the spirit is strong. It is so amazing to think that this battle is actually playing out in the flesh, in our bodies, and in our lives. God wants us to walk in the Spirit.

Be prepared

Matthew 25:1-13 - "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.”

We can either walk in the Spirit or we can walk in the flesh. When we walk in the Sprit, there is no devil to fight. When we walk in the flesh, we will face a spiritual fight. When we walk in the flesh, we walk out of step with God which is a difficult walk. Walking in the Spirit is walking in step with God which is an easy walk. That is why God has given us His Spirit.