Warfare

"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but powerful for the tearing down of strongholds."


In Hosea chapter 3, God promises we will not fight with bow or sword. Our survival during these precarious and insecure days depends upon our faith in Jesus and the practice of prayer without ceasing.


We fight not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. Paul calls the devil the mighty prince of the powers of the air.


Jesus went around casting out demons. As uneventful as He may have orchestrated it to be, casting out unclean spirits was a significant investment in Jesus’ time and ministry.


Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. A study of the Jewish temple helps to understand the main idea being communicated. I have a place I go to in my heart that I consider the Holy of Holys of my temple. But, this flesh and blood temple also has an outer court. It is in this section of my body that demons are able to inhabit. The bowels and gut are common designated areas of uncleanness. My physical body (temple) has an outer court and the Holy of Holys. I feed my spirit every day, usually pure bible. And I pray. I simply talk to God and ask Him a lot of questions. I am loved and cared for and secure in the arms of my beloved Father God.


Casting out demons is simple but requires submission to the authority of Jesus. We simply let the Holy Spirit shine. Recognizing the presence of an unclean spirit is another matter.


We are all subject to these unclean spirits in varying measures. Our flesh wages war with our Spirit. Paul understood and wrote in his letter to the Romans:


"When I do the very thing I do not want to do, it is no longer I doing it but sin that dwells within me." Rom 7


Today there is a different emphasis on "deliverance" than there was 30 years ago. I am at war and the war is in my members. Our weapons are the blood of Jesus, our right standing before Father God, prayer and prayer with fasting, worshiping God, singing, dancing, etc., but this book focuses on the weapon of speaking the Word of God from a disciplined tongue that is under submission to the Holy Spirit: The sword of the Spirit.


I love Isaiah chapter 58. He (Jesus) came to set the captives free! Believing lies maintains our captivity.


"He has not given us a spirit of fear…" is quoted to me often if I say something to arouse the fear factor in their body. My new comeback: "Well, who is giving that spirit of fear then?"


When I recognize behaviors that I have that I don’t want it is probably my flesh and therefore, sin, a stronghold or a demon. If I "see" something behind my eyes that isn’t me, I just say, "I see you. You be gone in the Name of Jesus. Then I usually ask God, "What was that? Or better yet, "Where did he come from? How did he get a stronghold? Show me the sin and anything I need to repent of. Is there anything I need to do to make restitution?" Some principalities are generational and were passed down through our parents and grandparents, and ultimately, Adam. All have sinned, so it is also our sin that is responsible for opening a door, allowing them to obtain access and set up camp in the outer court of our body, their new home. Christians can have a demon inside their body. It is much like alcohol. It’s concentration in the human body is even measured in the blood. There are varying degrees of bondage, just as you can be under the influence of alcohol or completely inebriated by it.


Alcohol influences the body that consumed it. It does not influence a person’s spirit. Our sin not only separates us from God, it also opens a door into the realm where powers of the air dwell and makes your "house" available to them. Sin dwells in my flesh. A principality can dwell in my body also.