GOD’S PROMISES AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Satan is a liar. He always was and always will be. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He lied to Eve in Eden when he tempted her to disobey God and told her “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). In contrast, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) and His truth brings freedom (John 8:32) not bondage.
God gave us His Word so we could learn and follow the truth and not be misled. The Bible not only teaches us His truth, it reassures us of His promised involvement in our lives. There are hundreds of promises in the Bible. Victor Storms counted 7,487 promises from God to man in the Bible. These promises are like checks from God to be used as needed. They are only good on this earth though – no need for them in heaven. Some Christians know God’s promises and rely on them at the necessary times. They live in peace and victory. Other Christians don’t know the great resources available to them and live full of anxiety and defeat. Which are you?
These promises are especially important for spiritual warfare, where we face an enemy that is wiser, stronger and more experienced that we are. We need to know and use God’s battles to win our battles against our enemies, just like Joshua needed them to have victory as the Jews moved into the Promised Land. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Joshua followed God’s promises and they led him to victory in their physical wars. The same is true for us in our spiritual battles.
This starts a series of blogs about promises we can use for spiritual warfare. Knowing and using the promises of God is very important, especially when fighting Satan and his demons. If not fear, confusion, deception and feelings of helplessness which overwhelm us and we’ll be taken captive to live in bondage. God can and will set us free as we use His Word as our offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). That’s how Jesus had victory when tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).
There is no one weapon that fits all circumstances, we must know which to use when. You use a fly-swatter to kill a fly, not a shotgun. But a flyswatter wouldn’t stop a grizzly bear. In spiritual warfare we need to know all the promises at our disposal so we know which one to use when. This series of blogs will help you understand the promises, the checks from God, the weapons we have available to us so we know how and when to use them. The better we know them the more efficiently we can use them and the sooner we will have victory. So read these blogs, memorize them so you always have them with you and use them in your daily life.
Quoting Scripture is our “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:10-18) and that is how Jesus had victory over Satan’s temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). This is a great verse to counter fear and remind us of where the real power lies! Memorize Joshua 1:9 this week. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). When will you need this weapon? Use it to fight fear, discouragement and weakness.
(My blogs about my India ministry are currently in a series on the promises of God as they relate to daily Christian life. If you would like to be on this mailing list contact me at jerry@schmoyer.net.)
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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