I heard a story about a guest teacher at a Bible school.  The guest teacher had come to teach on healing.  Various teachers and students had stopped him throughout his lesson with comments like: “Well, we don’t really believe in that healing stuff.”  He dug deeper in the Word and read even more scriptures about healing.  More students stopped him.  “We just don’t believe in that stuff,” they’d say.  The guest teacher paused and lifted the page of scripture he was reading from and ripped it out of the Bible, “Well then I guess we better get rid of this page.”  He went on and on, ripping out more pages about healing and other topics they disagreed with.  By the time he was done, the Bible was nothing more than a thin little book.  “Here’s your Bible,” he said.  Then he left.

Tags: authority, freedom, God's Word, healing, truth, Victory

I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense.  I saw that it was overgrown with weeds.  It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.  Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. -Proverbs 24:30-34, NLT

This passage of truth illustrates the fruits of laziness from a natural standpoint, but what about from a spiritual standpoint?

Tags: Christianity, defeat, God, Jesus, Proverbs 24:30-34, satan, spiritual laziness, Victory, weeds

Last night I watched the Bourne Ultimatum.  It wasn’t the first time I saw it, but every time I watch it, this thought goes through my mind: “This guy is unreal.  He cannot be beat.”  And then, as is my custom with most war/action movies, I started trying to equate it to spiritual terms.  And man, this one was a cinch.  It only took me a few seconds to think of the spiritual significance of it.

Tags: Battles, Bourne, Bourne Ultimatum, defeat, fighting, God's Word, Jason Bourne, satan, spiritual warfare, Victory

How long do we fight?

Until we see the victory.

Not a moment sooner.

There’s no such thing as: “Well maybe it’s just not God’s will for me to have victory in this area.”  Get that lie out of your mind.  If it’s not it in God’s Word, you have no business believing it.

But what we do once we’ve seen the victory?

Keep standing.

Don’t sit down and take your comfy seat in the crowd.  Keep standing.

Tags: Ephesians 6:13, fight, God, Jesus, stand, Victory, what now

You know why that story I shared yesterday is so huge for me?  It’s huge for me because for most of my life, I was living under this old religious lie that says: Whatever happens, happens.  And the best thing you do, as a Christian, is just keep a good attitude.  I lived under the lie that to be a Christian means you’ll have some pitiful, defeated life.  I learned that living by my emotions is ok.  And at the end of all these un-Biblical, un-Godly beliefs, they’d tack on this: But don’t worry, God’s grace is sufficient for you.  And His grace was sufficient for me, but you know what?  I still lived a defeated life as satan’s doormat.  Once I discovered what God’s Word really said and stopped listening to the doctrine of people’s experiences, I got angry.  And that anger hasn’t left.  Now I’m not talking about the sort of anger that’s based in rage and fear — I’m talking about a righteous anger towards satan and towards those religious lies that kept me in bondage for years.

Tags: God's Word, healing, relentless, Sickness, Sword, truth, Victory

How does our enemy rule?  By trickery.  By deception.  Notice that when satan snuck up upon Adam and Even in the forest, he didn’t do so as a fierce bear or a vicious lion.  He didn’t try to intimidate them with his size or might.  No, satan slithered upon them as a snake.  A small, slimy, sneaky snake.

Satan didn’t have power over Adam and Eve.  He wasn’t bigger than they were.  He wasn’t stronger than they were.  But he was crafty.  And if he could trick them into bowing down to him, he could have their authority.

Tags: Adam and Eve, authority, depression, fear, Garden of Eden, God, Jesus Christ, poverty, satan, self-hatred, Sickness, snake, Victory

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  -Ephesians 6:13

And after you have done everything, to stand.  And after having done everything, to stand.

When you watch the news and hear of enemies of war being captured, do they talk about those enemies being released after ground is taken?  No.  Those enemies are put behind bars and fences and surrounded by guards.  And my friends, you and I can’t treat our enemies any differently.

Tags: and having done all to stand, defeat, Ephesians 6:13, stand, stand your ground, Victory

For anyone who has been reading through these rather war-like posts, I sincerely thank you.  I do.  I really mean that.

When I write like I’ve been writing, I don’t mean to be harsh or condemning towards you or myself or anyone else, but rather towards the subtle and not-so-subtle attacks that try to permeate our lives every single day.

Tags: battle, defeat, fear, fight, God's Word, The Sword, Victory, war

Do you believe God’s Word is the final authority?  Then why do you give your own doubts and fears the last say?

Do you believe God’s Word when it says: The joy of the LORD is your strength?  Then why do you walk around sad and weak, depressed and despondent?

Do you believe satan was totally conquered 2,000 years ago on the Cross?  Then why do you let him knock you around, kick you in teeth, and take your lunch money?

Tags: defeat, God, God's Word, Jesus, prove it, satan, Victory

One of the best illustrations I can think of to show someone how to be victorious in their life is a war movie.  I know I’m crazy.  I honestly do.  But hear me out.  Gladiator, for instance.  I know a lot of people are anti-war.  They don’t like to see blood and guts and fighting.  I get that.  But, in the opening scene of Gladiator, when I see the messenger return from the enemy lines with his head cut off, I don’t think: “Yeah!  Blood and guts!  That’ so cool.” I think: “Yeah, that’s exactly how the enemy fights.  He likes to send weird stuff against us to freak us out.  And how am I going to react?  Am I going to run and hide and shake like a leaf?  Or will I be like the soldiers in this movie and look right back at the enemy and charge him till he’s the one shaking like a leaf?”

Tags: defeat, fight, gladiator, God, God's Word, satan, Sword, Victory, War Movies