Understand the Enemy!

The conflict of good and evil has been around since man's rebellion in the Garden of Eden. We have only to read our history to see the ebb and flow of this war. The world climate has not come to its present state overnight. Through a process of years of devaluing human life, indifference to Biblical morals and disrespect for Divine virtues, the enemy has brought us to where we are as a civilization. He has slowly penetrated every level of human life and had his way with little or no resistance. Consequently, he has destroyed empires, governments, states, churches and families. His goal is to control every facet of life on this earth.

The enemy has slipped in unaware. It has seemed to be little things but they have become great things. Little things like taking prayer and Bible reading out of schools because it offended a small minority. Little things like a failure to take a public stand for the right under the Constitution to express our faith in the public arena. But it is a great thing. Slowly but surely the enemy has sought to silence the cry for truth and justice. It is a great thing to take the life of an unborn child. Their innocent blood is crying out to each and every generation, “where is truth and justice.” How can the leadership of this country, those who are directly responsible for these heinous crimes, invoke the name of God? How can they look out over a public gathering and declare “God bless America?” They are heartless, cold and calculating men and women with no feeling for the loss of innocent lives. Do you think God is going to overlook such egregious behavior? He didn't give a pass to the Israelites when they offered their own children on the alter of sacrifice with the Canaanites. He will not give America a pass either!

Our struggles in the spirit realm have spilled over into the physical and invariable affect our lives. It is a great thing to exclude God from our schools, governments and public arenas. It is there that truth and justice should be promoted and encouraged. We have allowed our leaders to prohibit the mention of God in all our public places and then wonder why is our world in such a mess. We have excluded God and He has left us to our own devices and the consequences of governing in the flesh.

The devil has silently done his work. We did not recognize the evil he intended and unwittingly became a partaker of his evil scheme. But we cannot go silently into the night. Even at this late hour we must draw attention to the evil and avarice in this world. We must take a stand for truth and justice.

Matt. 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

What has happened to the light? Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Instead of being separated from the world to be a light to the world, the world has been assimilated into the churches. When we rely more on the planning and production models that we have observed in the world than on the revelation and anointing of the Holy Spirit, how can we expect people to be enlightened. Can we really expect lives to be convicted of sin and changed in repentance and regeneration?

Why do we fall back on the planning and production models of the world? Because it is the easy route. You can go buy a book or take a course in planning or preparation. For revelation and anointing of the Holy Ghost we have to go to the BOOK and bury our faces into the carpet on the floor and cry out to God with every thing that is within us and fervently petition God to send His fire among us to address the needs of His People. That requires much more of an investment. That investment is us, all of us, every fiber in our very being. Nothing can be held back because we know that God requires all if we are to have His approval.

The departure from the Faith, the Gospel, the Truth of God's Word has affected the fortification of God's protection around us. I visualize it this way. Suppose you are building a stone wall and the stones have mortar joints. You are almost finished but you are running out of mortar so with the last few bags you add a little extra sand to have enough to finish. What could that hurt? It still looks fine! The problem with that is that it weakens the mortar and under the right circumstances the mixture will fail and the stones will fall apart.

That is what has happened in the churches. In an effort to include and please the masses, churches have compromised the truth, the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Just as the extra sand weakened the mortar used to set the stone, assimilating worldly systems into our churches weakens the impact of ministry. The Holy Spirit is the driving force of the ministry of Christ. Satan has taken advantage of the powerlessness in the churches. He has attacked the weakness in their mortar and there is a breach in the wall. Now the evil forces come and go at will because there is no power to resist. Why? Because many are relying on man made theology and man's intellectual ability instead of the power and guidance of the Holy Ghost.

What are we to do? What can we do? We must have the wind of the Holy Spirit to rekindle His flame of fire in the churches. We must recognize where we have left the perfect path and correct our course. We must confess that we have missed the mark which Christ has established for us. We must come together in repentance and rebuild the wall, stand in the gap and close the breach of God's divine protection around His people. Disobedience must be purged from the Body. We struggle with our choices because we have chosen our way over God's way. God made provision in the Garden of Creation for every need imaginable in the life of man. Man chose his own way laying aside the provision of God. You can't have God's provision and walk in man's way. God's way brings God's provision. We must get back to “Speak Lord for thy servant heareth.” 1 Sam. 3:10

What is standing in our way? What do we need to correct to make things right with God. Do we want God's provision, blessing and protection? Then we must get rid of anything that separates us from His perfect plan for our lives. We must get rid of the trash or refuse. Refuse is what we throw away.

Trash – anything that doesn't have its beginning, blessing and completion in God. If it doesn't bring honor and glory to the works of God, we need to dispose of it. Beware of uncommanded work. The necessary work is the work God has commanded. All else is disposable and is a distraction.

We must identify the areas where we have fallen short, make the necessary adjustments and Jesus will give us the victory. Honesty and openness is the stone and mortar of the fortification of God around us. Honesty and openness turns the light on. It dispels the darkness and takes away the hiding place for unbelief. As long as unbelief can hide in darkness it is a powerful force. But once the light of truth is turned on, unbelief is exposed and dethroned. It falls powerless behind us, no longer preventing us from moving forward into the glory God has prepared for a victorious people. 2 Cor. 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,..”