"Know Who You Are Fighting!" (Part 1)

[Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

Scriptural Foundation: Ephesians 6:12:

“Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.” (biblegateway.com – New Century Version – NCV).

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We are not in a physical fight but a spiritual one! We are using our faith to fight against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12)! In other words, we are fighting against the devil and his army of demons; BUT Jesus has ALREADY given us the victory – we use our faith to keep believing the Word of God as to what Jesus has already done – His finished work (Ephesians 1:3-13)! Jesus told us in John 16:33 what was going to happen to us in this world – we would have tribulations (“grievous trouble; severe trials, suffering” per dictionary.com)! These tribulations will happen because satan is the god of this world right now; so your troubles have nothing to do with you specifically – if you name the Name of Jesus, you will have severe trials, sufferings, etc. in this world – BUT Jesus said we would have His peace (IF Jesus is YOUR personal Lord & Savior)!! Real peace ONLY comes through accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior!! Jesus gave us His peace in John 14:27 so when things try to come against us, we will not fear (John 14:1) but allow His peace, which surpasses ALL our understanding (Philippians 4:6-7), to comfort us by guarding our hearts and minds!!

We do not need to know the full details of “why” things happen all the time; all we have to do is believe Jesus, who is the Word – believe that He gave us His peace and He has overcome the world – tribulations will happen but we have the VICTORY ALREADY, IF Jesus is our Lord!! Therefore, let us be of good cheer as Jesus said in John 16:33! Also, we are to be of good cheer because we are profiting from our trials! James tells us in James 1:2-8 to count it all joy when many kinds of troubles come because these troubles test our faith – that is how we profit from our trials!! James said in verse 3 of James 1: “because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience” (biblegateway.com – NCV). When trials come, they test our faith; WE are not being tested, but our faith is!!

Jesus knew our faith would be tested, that is why He let us knew what was going to happen in John 16:33 and told us to be of good cheer because He had overcome the world and gave us victory!! And as our faith is being tested, we have Jesus’ peace, guarding our hearts and minds as we stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free (Galatians 5:1)!!

The peace of God is one of our spiritual weapons that we can use against the enemy to keep our hearts and minds free of clutter, confusion, negativity, and anything that tries to come against us – these things causes distractions – distractions pulls us away from God’s purpose for our lives!!! These things are not natural things but spiritual; anything that tries to stop your destiny in God is a spiritual attack – these attacks can take many forms (financial, divorce, abuse, mental illness, physical illness, etc.)! Therefore, we must fight in the spiritual realm (use our faith in the Word – Jesus) not in the natural realm – you are seeing things happen in the natural realm but there is a spirit behind those things!                 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 lets us know why we must fight in the spirit:

“3 We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ...” (biblegateway.com – NCV).

When we argue with a person, we are not arguing with them but the spirit behind them; we should not fight people’s ideas, their reasoning’s with our words, but with the Word of God (which is our spiritual weapon) – using our faith (also a spiritual weapon) in what the Word says, secured in the peace of God (because it is guarding our hearts and minds, so we can think clearly)!! The spirits who are talking to these people, put all kinds of evil ideas of destruction, etc. in their minds and totally control their thought pattern! Sometimes they even tell the people it is God telling them to do all kinds of crazy things; God does not tell people to kill and destroy people!!!!

We are under a spiritual attack and the ONLY way to stop it, is through God’s mighty weapons!! Let’s look again at what God’s mighty weapons do:

“3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (biblegateway – NKJV).

God’s mighty weapons:

1. Pull down strongholds
2. Cast down arguments
3. Cast down EVERY high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God
4. Brings EVERY thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Since we now know who we are really fighting against, not the people but the spirit(s) behind the person. Therefore, let’s STOP getting upset when people hurt us or come against us in any other way!! We are in the light (God) and they are in darkness (of the devil) – they may or may not have chosen God – the key is believing the finished work of Jesus and accepting Him as your personal Lord and Savior!! According to the Amplified Bible version of 2 Corinthians 4:4, to believe means “adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ!!!” The people who does not believe the finished work of Jesus has their minds blinded by the ruler of this world (the devil) because of their unbelief (2 Corinthians 4:4). Again, the trials will test your faith, what you believe, and you will know without a doubt, if you really believe the finished work of Jesus!! Once people believe, they will be able to see the light of the Good News – the Gospel which tells how Jesus paid the price for us with His Blood!! Jesus cancelled our debts, which listed all the rules man was supposed to follow according to the Law, but failed; Jesus took away the record of the rules and nailed it (the record of the rules) to the cross (Colossians 2:14)– giving us VICTORY over the Law of sin and death and EVEN punishment (consequence) of sinning!! Jesus gave us victory by stripping the spiritual rulers and powers (these same rulers and powers in this world today) of their authority (Colossians 2:15), when He died on the cross; NOW the devil and his demonic force is POWERLESS OVER US!!

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May God continually bless you and keep you!

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

 

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