Before I start this message I have to obey the Lord, he told me to prophesy: somebody listening to this message is going to go from a Zero to a Hero, you’re going to go from the underdog to the wonder dog.
You’re going from the Wimp to the Warrior, from the worrier to the worshiper, from the fretful to the faithful, from the rocking chair to the battlefield.
God said to tell you that today the tables are turning, you’re never going to see yourself the same way again, today is a day of transformation.
Josh 10:24-25
Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: (for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight).
De 2:24 ¶ (KJV) Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: (begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle).
Look at the same verse in The basic bible English translation.
De 2:24 ¶ (BBE) Get up now, and go on your journey, crossing over the valley of the Arnon: see, I have given into your hands Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and all his land: (go forward to make it yours, and make war on him).
Now lets look at one more scripture before we get into this word:
Lu 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
These verses tell us something:
You have to go after it; you have to engage the enemy in battle.
The door to opportunity is marked (PUSH)
God never promised you a life without battles (he promised you the victory, if you fight).
It’s amazing to me how many lazy people we have in the church today, who expect God to hand them everything on a silver platter.
Even Jesus himself said: I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy (then he said) you must do the treading upon serpents and scorpions, it’s up to you and me to put the devil under our feet.
2 Co 10:3-5 He tells us that we have weapons of warfare that are mighty given to us by God and with these weapons we can pull down strong holds, we can cast down imaginations and high arguments and theories that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God, and we can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
In our text Joshua said to his captains who were representative of the whole nation of Israel: You see these kings under your feet, God will give us this kind of victory over every enemy that we fight against.
Again we see that God has promised the victory but it is dependant upon action on our part.
I’m reminded of the great walls that surrounded the city of Jericho, (Josh ch 6) God promised Joshua and the children of Israel that he would give them the city, (but they had to march around the city for seven days without saying a word, then on the seventh day and the final time around they were to blow their trumpets and shout the victory shout.
I believe one of the greatest problems we have in the church today, is many of Gods people are not properly trained and equipped to engage the enemy in battle.
I say that not because they have not been told or taught, but because so many today are unwilling to embrace the mindset and the attitude of a warrior.
The majority of the church world is very comfortable with the Father child relationship with God, (meaning I’m his child, he’s suppose to take care of me).
That is absolutely true, and what a privilege it is to have such a wonderful relationship with our heavenly father (But we’re not talking about just waiting on Daddy God to do everything and give us everything)
we are talking about the fact that there is a devil who hates us who has a host of demons at his disposal who is absolutely set against the child of God and who wants to destroy us.
We’re also talking about the fact that we are suppose to be walking in Jesus footsteps doing the same things he did, healing the sick cleansing the lepers, casting out devils, preaching deliverance to the captives and setting people free from the devils power.
Mk 16:17-18 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
That is why we must do as the Apostle Paul said in Eph (6) Put on the Whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
We understand from scripture that the child of God is not suppose to lose in life:
2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which (always) causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
But this scripture stands absolutely upon the premise that you and I are going to fight.
My intent for this message is to stir up the warrior in you, I want you to realize you are more than a conqueror, I want you to recognize that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
I want you to get mad at everything the devil is doing in your family, in your ministry, in your finances, in your health.
I want you to rise up on the inside and tell the devil (enough is enough).
I want you to realize that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and that you are seated with him in heaven places and the devil is under your feet.
I want you to realize that in the mind of God you are the winner, You have the advantage, You have the Word of God, and you have The Power of The Holy Ghost, (You are anointed)
Tell your neighbor: I am anointed
Now say it to yourself: I am anointed
Now tell the devil: I am anointed
I’m anointed: The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me, The same anointing that was on Jesus is on me.
Ac 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
1Jo 2:20 But ye have (an unction) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath (anointed us,) is God;
The devil is like that bully in the old Charles atlas commercial: The big bully would come to the beach and kick sand in the skinny little wimpy guys face, and walk away with the skinny guys girl friend laughing at the poor little skinny guy.
But one day: The little skinny wimpy guy had enough of sand being kicked in his face and watching some big bully walk off with his girlfriend, and he started lifting weights and working out, (The big bully wondered why he hadn’t seen the skinny little wimp around on the beach for awhile) so he thought to himself, he was so afraid of him and so tired of him kicking sand in his face that he would never come back to that beach again.
But a few months later: The bully is sitting on the beach with the little skinny wimpy guys girlfriend and here comes this big muscle man and he walks right up to the bully and takes his girl friend back and kicks dirt in the bully’s face and the bully is so afraid of him he doesn’t even argue with him.
And the bully can’t believe it is the same skinny wimpy guy he used to bully around.
What made the difference?
Well you could say it was because he went and started working out and built up his muscles; and you would be right, but only half right.
Because the first thing that happened was he got tired of being pushed around, he got tired of being stolen from, he got tired of having dirt kicked in his face.
And every time he thought about giving up, and slacking off he reminded himself of how miserable it was being pushed around all the time, and he disciplined himself and committed himself to change the circumstances by changing himself.
It may sound a little humorous but there is a great application here.
(Nothing will change in your circumstances, until you change.)
You have to decide to be the Man of God you were destined to be, or the Woman of God you were destined to be.
You have to decide to discipline yourself to the Word of God, to Fasting, to Prayer
You don’t like the circumstances you’re dealing with in your life, then I ask you the question (What are you going to do about it?)
You don’t like what the devil is doing in your finances) I ask you the question (What are you going to do about it?)
You don’t like what the devil is doing in your family or against your ministry,
I have one question for you (What are you going to do about it?)
Ask your neighbor: What are you going to do about it?
There was a man in the bible who was bedfast, bedridden, he couldn’t walk but he had four friends who wanted things to be different for him and they heard that Jesus could make him well, so they took him to where Jesus was ministering but the crowd was too big and they couldn’t get to Jesus.
They could’ve said: Sorry Charley we tried, but we couldn’t do it, but they didn’t (They got him up on the roof and tore the roof off and let him down in front of Jesus and Jesus Healed him)
There was a syrophenician women who’s daughter was possessed with a devil; she came to where Jesus was but his disciples intercepted her, they told Jesus (send her away she crieth after us)
Finally she gets through the reluctant disciples and cries to Jesus; Have mercy on me I have a daughter who is grievously vexed with a devil. (his first response was, he answered her not a word) Then He said: It is not right to give the children’s bread to the dogs.
This women could have hung her head and walked away, she could have gotten angry and resentful, she could have lost all hope, she could have let her pride rise up at being called a dog.
The disciples had resisted her, Jesus had ignored her, then when he did give her his attention he referred to her as a dog.
Why put yourself through that?
Why submit yourself to that kind of treatment?
The answer is: She wanted a change, she needed a change, she needed something from Jesus.
It is not meet to give the childrens bread to the dogs.
Truth lord she answered, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs the fall from their masters table.
She answered: It doesn’t matter if you consider me a dog, I will gladly be called a dog if you will at least throw me, or drop me just a crumb of the bread that you are giving to the children.
Jesus said: Woman great is your faith, go your way the devil is gone out of your daughter.
You can sit around complaining about how bad everything is, and about what the devils doing, and about what you don’t like, and how you wish things were different.
But I’m closing this message with this question:
what are you going to do about it?
You are called
You are chosen
You are anointed
You have the name of Jesus
You have the word of God
You have the power of the blood of Jesus
You are the righteousness of God in Christ
You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth
You are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ
The greater one lives in you
What are you going to do about it?
How long will you let the devil bully you around? How long will you let the devil harass your family and kick dirt in your face before you say (I’ve had it)
and make the decision to put your armor on and take your sword and take your authority as a son and a daughter of God and take that bully out.