NO SHORTCUTS
I received a lot of emails from people asking for help with spiritual warfare in their lives. Many times they want to talk on the phone so I can pray for them. They have been looking for someone who can pray and set them free from their bondage. They believe that if they get rid of the demons they will live happily ever after.
There are times when God does immediately and completely deliver. One prayer and a person’s life is forever changed. They are delivered and free. However that is the exception and not the rule. For most of us, freedom is a battle. There is no quick easy solution to our difficulties. God allows it this way so we will learn to fight. The Jews had to learn to fight behind Joshua to take the land. It was one battle after another as they gradually advanced. The same is true with us. Paul talks about the armor for our battle in Ephesians 6.
Spiritual warfare takes perseverance. It takes sacrifice. It takes time. Our bondage develops over time, and it takes time to overcome and defeat all of it. God could remove it in an instant, but in His wisdom, He wants us to learn how to battle. He wants us to learn what causes our bondage and grow through it. And he wants us to be able to help others who struggle. In Matthew 12:43-45 there is a story about a man who cast a demon out of his life but didn’t fill his life with God’s presence and so that demon came back with seven others and he was in much worse shape than before. That’s a danger with just wanting demons gone without understanding and removing what gave them access in the first place.
I grieve for those who insist on finding the right person, church, TV program, website or whatever to bring them complete and instant deliverance. God’s purpose is to help us mature to be like Jesus, not to give us an easy perfect life. Our battle with demons is one tool He uses to strengthen us, increase our faith and show us His power.
I have found that if a person perseveres in their faith, keeps their eyes on Jesus and grows spiritually, they will find gradual but lasting freedom from their oppression. Sometimes it is not God’s will for them to have victory, but when that is the case, he promises his grace despite the oppression. That’s what he told Paul when Paul prayed three times for deliverance did not receive it (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Life is a battle. Battles aren’t fun. Battles are won little by little. That’s true of our battle was sin and Satan as well. (July 18, 2022 Doylestown, PA)
Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
If you are in a battle, what is God trying to teach you? Are you learning it.? Do you see Him making you more and more like Jesus? Are you patiently and consistently following Him, or are you demanding instant victory?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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