Archive for July, 2006

Welcome to a new season of The Jesus Journey!

I’m excited to let you know that we have joined the themes of our devotions with the themes of the Young Adult HoDiWoCo evenings! This means that at the beginning of each month our journey will start with a talk at HoDiWoCo, introducing the theme for the month, and the devotions will follow that idea through! Thus giving you more food for thought during the month, and help you to really come to grips with a topic, more than you would usually get out of one talk!

August is Truth month and we will focus mainly on the absolute truths of our faith found in the Apostles’ Creed.

You’ll see that there are 12 main clauses, so I’ve given you the weekends off!

Enjoy!

Blessings Kiera

‘Truth is a pursuit … truth is something we each must seek!’

- Daniel Jarvis

Today we are going to discuss your spiritual weaponry. Any soldier will tell you that without an intimate knowledge of how your weapons work you are not going to make much progress on the battlefield. The spiritual battle is exactly the same!!

1. The spoken word of God

The sword of the spirit is a spiritual weapon, (Proverbs 18:21; James3:2-8; Mathew 12:37) and it works hand in hand with your mouth. The words you speak can be spiritually lethal. (James 3:5-6; James3:10-12) When the word of God is spoken it does terrible damage to sin and evil, it alters the course of History, it changes things and circumstances, it drives out demons and evil spirits and it heals the sick. It is therefore imperative as Christian soldiers that we are familiar with the word of God so that we can speak into circumstances and change the outcome!

2. The name of Jesus

(Mark 16:17’18) “These signs will follow those who believe; In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover”- That means you! Jesus has given all born again believers authority in his name. The name of Jesus Christ gives us the backing of the entire kingdom of heaven!

3. Prayer

There is immense power in prayer! The Bible is full of examples of great prayer warriors. When Moses prayed the red sea opened, when Joshua prayed cities fell, when David prayed wars were won, when Elijah prayed droughts began, when Jesus prayed the dead where raised. Prayer is communicating with God and is our “gateway” into affecting the spiritual realm. Prayer gives the angels the power to fight on our behalf in the spiritual realm (Daniel 10:12-13, 20-21) (James 5:16) “The earnest heart felt, continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available.”

Take up your weapons and fight for the Lord!

Prayer:
O Lord give us spiritual discernment that we might see the attack of the devil and respond with courage and boldness, rejoicing in the victory you have won in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Amen

In the past week we have looked at the various players in the spiritual battle, God and his angels vs. Satan and his demons. But what about us as Christians? Where do we fit into the battle plan? How will we know what to do and when to do it? And how do we make sure we don’t get “shot down”?

The first thing any soldier does before he goes to battle is to get dressed and to take hold of his weapons. Weapons he is well trained in. You may be feeling a little overwhelmed and not 100% sure how to begin. Let’s start by getting dressed!

1. The shield of faith

(Ephesians 6:16) The shield of faith protects us from fear and unbelief which are the opposite of faith. Without protection from these two enemy arrows, we are susceptible to; spiritual wounds or seeds of doubt; emotional wounds ( when Satan tries to remind you of all the times “God let you down”); wounds of the will- trying to make you forget the righteousness and freedom Jesus won for you on the cross

2. The helmet of salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

A soldier’s helmet protects his eyes, ears, mouth and brain- his whole head. The Helmet of salvation therefore protects our spiritual vision helping us to see God’s will in situations. It protects our spiritual hearing helping us to hear the voice of God. It protects what comes out of our mouths in terms of what we say. Finally and most importantly, it protects the way we think. (2 Corinthians 10:5; 4:4) Without clear, God led thought, we are useless in the spiritual battle. We discussed yesterday how Satan works with thoughts by planting seeds of doubt, seeds that would never take root if we had our helmets firmly in place.(Romans8:5-8)

3. The breastplate of righteousness

(1 Thessalonians 5:8) The breastplate of righteousness is placed over the chest and stomach and is the defence for the heart of man (Proverbs 4:23). As sinners we can never be righteous, but as born again Christians washed by the blood of Jesus, we have been made right or righteous before God, (Romans 1:17) and can therefore communicate freely with him. Satan however brings condemnation on us by reminding us of our sins and planting doubts in our minds about the complete salvation we have received through Jesus. As a result we feel condemned and don’t communicate with God. In addition condemnation stops us from fully understanding and “digesting” the meaning of God’s word, resulting in “baby” Christians, always in need of care and never able to join God’s army, (Hebrews 5:13-14; 1 Corinthians 13: )- exactly what Satan likes!

5. The belt of truth

The belt worn by soldiers in Jesus’ days sat on the waist and had long leather knee length strips forming a protective “skirt” around the reproductive organs and legs. The purpose of the belt was protection that allowed for movement. The Truth of God sets men free from earthly kingdoms and world systems. (John8:31-32, 36) The Truth of God also protects us from harm and ultimately from Gods judgement. (Hebrews 4:12; John3:17; Proverbs4:3-27) As a result we can move confidently through any situation because we are protected by Gods truth and know what is the right and wrong path to follow.

6. The boots of the Gospel of peace

(Ephesians 6:15) Our boots give us the protection we need to tell others of the wonderful freedom and reconciliation Jesus won for us on the cross. (2 Corinthians5:18-19) They help us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by equipping us with the good news of his death and resurrection and filling us with the courage to tell everyone this wonderful life giving news (1 Peter 2:21-25). This is the ultimate weapon against Satan as the battle we are fighting is for souls- those won for Jesus and those lost without him.

One of the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit is “The discerning of spirits”. This is the ability to differentiate between the Holy Spirit, angelic spirits, mans spirit or demonic spirits. ALWAYS RELY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW WHICH SPIRIT IS ACTIVE IN A SITUATION and remember (Proverbs 3:5-6) “trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all your ways and he will direct your paths.”

Remember the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self-control. Anything that is the opposite to these fruits are not of Gods spirit. Take a look at some of the spirits you may have had a run in with in the past.

2 Timothy 1:7 says “We do not have a spirit of fear but of love and of peace and of a sound mind”

Prayer: Help us to be bold and un-afraid, secure in your love and protection

If we as Christians are to fight a successful war in Christ then we need to understand the layout of the battlefield and be able to recognise the attack of the enemy.

Let’s first define the playing fields. Where does Satan have domain?

According to (Revelations12:9-12; Ephesians2:2 and Luke4: 5-6 )Satan only has authority where man is and where man can give it to him. Therefore Satan’s domain consists of:

1. The Earth

When we speak of the earth we are talking about the kingdoms of the world, world systems (economics, politics, society) and this present age (the time in which Satan has to rule this earth is limited )(john12:31; Corinthains4:4)

2. The Atmosphere

This refers to earthly calamities such as earthquakes, Tsunami’s, floods, volcanos, famine, disease etc
Now that we understand where the battle takes place lets look at what we can expect in battle. To start with never underestimate the enemy. Satan and his demons are cunning and deceptive, they work with earthly systems to deceive and steal the truth by appealing to man’s sense of “justice”, “self fulfilment” and “rationale”.

1. You can expect to find seeds of doubt. Those small seemingly insignificant thoughts questioning the validity and truth of the word of God. (Genesis3:1; Luke4:3)

2 You can expect direct contradiction. Open questioning of God’s sovereignty, power and truth. After all if you no longer believe that God is all powerful why bother praying to him? (Gen3:4)

3. Open deception. Satan is doing a fabulous job of selling the pleasures of sin, and it would appear that everyone is queuing up for the sale. Media everywhere promote the message of living for the moment, instant gratification, self fulfilment etc as a result we read daily about various societal ills- child molestation, adultery, violence, theft and corruption.
Through all this however let us not forget (Luke 10:19)

“Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power that the enemy possesses, and nothing shall harm you!

Now we understand how the “goodies” work and what they are tasked with doing, lets have a look at the “baddies”. One of the greatest tactical weapons any army can have is to know their enemy. The same applies in the spiritual realm.

Ephesians 6:12

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”

Generally people’s immediate reaction when we start discussing demons is the Ostrich effect. Head in the sand, if I can’t see it, it can’t see me! The victory of the cross goes out the window and the topic is closed for discussion.

Before we even begin then let me remind you that this battle was won almost 2000 years ago when Jesus died for us on the cross and rose again on the 3rd day. AS BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO FEAR ABOUT DEMONS BECAUSE WE ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!!!

Ok so now that we are no longer afraid of them lets get to know the enemy so that we can more effectively fight a great spiritual fight in the Lord.

Demons were originally angels of God. They formed a conspiracy to be equal with God led by Lucifer, aka Satan, or the devil. Lucifer was God’s masterpiece - breathtakingly beautiful, wearing every precious stone you can imagine - his vocal chords consisted of an orchestra and he was anointed to cover the throne room of God. Lucifer was made to reflect the glory of God (Ezekiel 28:12-15) BUT he became the originator of sin. Lucifer did not have a model to follow or a “deceiver” because at that point sin didn’t exist. He became arrogant and proud of his beauty, status and position in heaven and decided that he was better than God and would take over from God.( Isaiah 14:12) God saw Lucifer’s arrogance and pride and cast him out of heaven along with all of the other like minded angels to earth (Luke 10:18)

As you can imagine Lucifer and his horde were and still are angry about this situation and have been the enemy of God and the angelic hosts ever since.

Prayer: Lord give us an understanding of the power we have over Satan and demons in you, keep us from being afraid and empower us in Jesus name Amen

If you haven’t heard about it, our sunny SA is two weeks into a nation-wide initiative called Heartlines. The intention: to get us thinking about and discussing VALUES. Every Sunday evening (with repeats on Thursdays and Saturdays) a short film is aired which highlights one of the eight core values.

Wow. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited to see big players like SABC2 and First National Bank getting behind something like this with the potential to actually make a positive difference. And I have to wonder if any other countries have pulled off anything similar on such an impressive scale.

So, let’s get into the spirit of it and kick off some discussion - what are your thoughts, views, cheers, gripes or moans? What kind of impact has it had on those you’ve been speaking to? Let’s hear it!

Ok, so now we have a fairly comprehensive idea about what angels look like, and they sound great!! But what do they do?

The job description of angels is very clear and is demonstrated in over 25 verses in the Bible.

1. Angels are worshippers of God (Revelations 7:11; Isaiah 6:3; Revelations 5:11-12;)
2. Angels give directions to people (Acts 8:26; Acts 10:3-5; Judges 6:11-27)
3. They protect people (Psalm 91; Daniel 6:16-23; Daniel3:1-28; Acts 27:22-24)
4. Angels give information (Acts 7:53; Daniel 7:15-27 and 8:13-27; Zechariah 4:1; 5:5; 6:5)
5. Angels usher us to heaven (Luke 16:22)
6. Angels deliver God’s judgement (1 Chronicles 21:14-15; Exodus 12:23-30; Acts12:21-23)
7. Angles bring healing (John 5:3-4)
8. Angels bring provision (Genesis 21:8-21; 1 Kings 19)
9. Angels are spiritual warriors (Revelation 12:7-9; 2 Kings 6:17 and 19:35; 2 Samuel 6:1)
10. Angels bring encouragement (Daniel 9:21)
11. They create spiritual opportunity (Hebrew 13:2)

A friend of mine tells a story about a quiet time tradition she had, where everyday she would pray for a different member of her family. One day during her quiet time she happened to be praying for her sister.

Unbeknown to her while she was praying her sister was high-jacked outside her boyfriend’s house. The highjackers forced her out of her car and made her lie on the side of the road while they drove away with her car. Cars can be replaced… sisters can’t!!

Was it just coincidence that she was praying for her sister when she was high jacked and that her sister sustained absolutely no injuries during the entire ordeal, or do you think it’s possible that those prayers were heard and were the basis for her sister’s protection?

What experiences have you had where there are just too many coincidences to be ignored and it is quite obvious that God had his hand on that situation?

Prayer: Open the eyes of our hearts Lord help us to see your wonderful work in our lives and evidence of the strength and power of your heavenly army in every situation.

The Bible gives us a very clear description of what physical properties angels have, how they are organise and what their purpose is. Over the next 2 days we will explore what God’s word tells us about them

Let’s start with what they look like or what the physical properties of angels are:

1. Angels are immortal (Luke 20:36)
2. Angels are intelligent (Samuel 14:20)
3. They are awe inspiring (Genesis 32:1)
4. They have wings (Exodus 25:18; Exodus 37:7)
5. They radiate light (Deuteronomy 33:1; John 20:11)
6. They have swords (1 Chronicles 21:29)
7. They talk to each other; (Ephesians 3:8; Daniel 8:13)
8. They eat manna (Psalm 78:21.)
9. They do not marry (Mathew 22:30)
10. Angels are innumerable (Hebrew 12:22; Job 24:3; Luke 2:13-14)
11. Angels are strong (Thessalonians 1:7; Rev 18:1 Psalm 103:2)
12. Angels are invisible (Number 22:22-31)
13. Angels are joyful (Luke 15:10)
14. Angels are NOT equal to God and are NOT to be worshiped (Rev22:8-9 Collosians 2:18)

It is very important to note that the Bible refers to angels as God’s servants and as such we as God’s children should never ever worship them!! (Job 4:17; Psalm 103:19)

Have a look at these verses. Do you have a clear mental image of what angels look like and a glimpse of their characters yet?

Let’s start with the good guys.  According to the bible we as born again Christians have a whole team of them on our side.  The obvious one that we all know about being God/Jesus/ Holy Spirit.  The ones we perhaps don’t know so much about are angels. (1 Tim 5:21)” God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions”

First lets start with the question do angels even exist?

Well, angels are mentioned a whole 108 times in the Old Testament and a whopping 165 times in the New Testament.  You might argue that the Bible is really very old and God doesn’t work that way anymore. The fact is however that in a preliminary internet search there are 130 000 000 entries on angels, if even 1% of these are real then we have 1.3 million accounts of people experiencing the presence of an angel recently!

Even if the internet research doesn’t quite cut it for you, the fact is Jesus regularly referred to angels and endorsed their reality. (Matthew 22:29; Matthew 4:11; John 1:50; Matthew 18:10; 1 Peter 1:10)

With all the evidence at hand what do you think? Do angels exist? Is there a supernatural realm?

Read Ephesians 6:12