â Today's Promise: "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. âIn your anger do not sinâ: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." Ephesians 4:25-27
 Words of Encouragement
Beloved brothers,
HEBREWS 11
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Note - please read the whole of Hebrews 11 before reading this.
The basis of spiritual warfare starts in Faith - ask yourself - whom do I believe - Do I believe the circumstances and situations that present themselves to me, or Do I Choose to believe what God says about me, my spouse and my circumstances.
Letâs talk about spiritual warfare this time. Spiritual warfare is the cosmic battle that is happening in the heavenlies for our souls and prayers. The verse that best gives us insight into this is in Daniel 10 where angel of God has to fight the Prince of Persia (it is believed that at the time Satan had his throne in Persia - so that is why the Archangel Michael had to be called in to support), but even with all the opposition the Angel brought the answer to Danielâs prayer in 21 days.
I am not the type of Christian who believes everything is the devilâs fault. Sometimes sin enters into our lives because of other peopleâs choices and sometimes we make really bad choices. Therefore, I do not believe that we should go out chasing Demons out of our marriages and situations unless the Lord tells you to.
Donât misunderstand me. I do realize that we are involved in a spiritual battle and we are reminded constantly that our battle in this world is not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities in high spiritual places. So what is the purpose of spiritual warfare?
2 Corinthians 10:1-6 (NKJV)
Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christâ who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Ephesians 4:25-27 (ESV)
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. âIn your anger do not sinâ: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Sometimes you are going to be really oppressed in your spirit. When you are unable to pray, unable to worship, you feel overwhelmed and start imagining what may or may not happen; what may be planned against you by your wife and that really gets us down.
In the Corinthians verse above Paul is telling us the purposes of spiritual warfare are: destruction of strongholds; Casting down imaginations; bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ and having readiness to avenge all disobedience. In the verse from Ephesians, he says not to give the devil a foothold through anger. In other words, when you are angry, upset, downcast do not let these emotions take hold of you, drag you away and keep you.
First, strongholds are deep-seeded ways of thinking and acting that can bring us down. They can be caused by bitterness, trauma, and anger. This explains something about why the people we are praying for are always acting the way they are. For instance, because your wife is so deeply hurt, she is angry then the anger is so deep it becomes bitterness. Now she is acting out of bitterness. The stronghold is bitterness and unforgiveness and it can be so deep it becomes spiritual. This changes a personâs way of thinking or being. It is important that you dear brother do not have a stronghold in your heart and pray against them when you encounter them in other people such as your beloved wife.
The second purpose of spiritual warfare is casting down imaginations. This speaks of removing all reasonings that defy the knowledge of God. Iâll give you an example of secularism, it defies every knowledge of God. People will tell you to move on, they may tell you the divorce is okay, but you as a follower of Christ understand that God hates divorce. This is why we believe and pray for marriage restoration. Refuse all vein imaginations that cast themselves against the knowledge of God.
The third purpose spiritual warfare is bringing every thought to captivity of Christ. The reason this is so important is that our thoughts are the first to be triggered in a chain reaction to our soul and spirit. Our thoughts stir up our emotions, then that stirs up our desires, and then our desires stir up our actions. Controlling your thoughts is extremely important and enables you to stop this chain reaction Stop thinking about what your wife is doing or not doing. Again, intentionally stop yourself from thinking in fear. Bringing these thoughts to captivity remind yourself that in every moment Jesus Christ is in control.
The fourth purpose of spiritual warfare is to avenge all disobedience. This simply means we are taking back ground from the devil and all evil. We use the power of Godâs truth and meekness of wisdom to overcome darkness and sin in our lives as well as others. This may seem very weak but for God, they are very mighty.
At the start of this we said that Now Faith is - Spiritual warfare is there to defend that position - When God speaks and His word is Final - so anything that opposes that is to be defended against and attacked through prayer and faith.
~ Tad RESTORED in Australia
If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to read my testimony and then my wife's encouragement.