Spiritual Warfare TGIF Today God Is First by Os Hillman September 8, 2006 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12 My wife walked out of the airport restroom. She looked as if she was going to throw up. We were about to go through the airport checkpoint when we paused. "I feel awful. It came on suddenly. I don't know if I should go," she said. We were going on an overnight trip to meet with a workplace ministry about a possible joint venture project. It was important for me to have her there. But she was feeling so badly and would probably be miserable traveling in her condition. "You may be right. Perhaps you should not go." We were both disappointed. We began to transfer my clothing into my bag. We prayed together and I proceeded to the gate. I was disappointed, perplexed, and a bit angry. "Lord, I don't know about this. If this is not of Your hand, I pray against it in Jesus' name. I pray for Angie's healing right now and I bind this spirit of infirmity." I got to the gate about ten minutes later. As I was waiting to check in, I looked up and there was Angie. "I'm going. I kept asking if I should go and a voice said, 'No.' I changed my mind three times. But I finally decided that I am not dead and I should be going on this trip." We got on the plane and within a few minutes, the symptoms of illness were completely gone. The symptoms were a counterfeit. She was fine the rest of the trip. It was critical for her to participate with me because it became a major turning point in my own spiritual pilgrimage. She needed to experience what I was going to experience. There is the spiritual and there is the physical. The spiritual involves two forces. One is good. One is evil. We must realize that the spiritual is more real than the physical. Satan has his agents in the world to thwart God's purposes. We need to recognize when these are at work. Pray that you might have spiritual eyes and ears to discern these forces today in your work.

Hello Kathy ..there is a struggle between good and evil all the time...Larry

Hello Larry, It all seems so senseless though,I do not understand why there has to be any.kathy

I found this information on the subject...

Defeating your Adversary, the Devil

By Dr. Dale A. Robbins

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Every Christian has an enemy. Although unseen by the natural eye, this adversary is not imaginary nor a mythological character. Satan, the Devil, is a real person... a spirit being, with intelligence, tangible characteristics, and whose incessant goal and ambition is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

Around the clock the enemy is on the prowl, seeking to cause mayhem and destruction to all believers and the work of Jesus Christ throughout the world. With military-like strategy and ruthless hostility, the devil aggressively searches for weakness in our faith and spiritual life, hoping to devour us with deception, temptation, or oppression. He is the personification of all that is evil and is the author of every despicable work.

Regardless of whether you realize it, Satan has targeted you as a victim. He knows your name and address, your strengths and weaknesses. Somewhere in the shadows, he and his forces lurk, waiting, planing for the moment they will strike when you’re caught off-guard. He desperately hopes that you will, as many Christians, remain ignorant of his reality so that you’ll blame his assaults on somebody or something else.

His method of operation is almost always “undercover.” Subtly, he manipulates hindering circumstances and inspires evil thoughts or temptations, disguising his activities behind the shroud of people or things. He will always seek to divert attention and blame for his actions upon others. But make no mistake, he is the real enemy, not your husband, wife, employer, government or Christian brethren!“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Satan has no Rightful Authority over Believers!

The good news is that, although the Devil is described “like” a “roaring lion,” in reality he has no actual authority over believers. He is not really a lion, but roars “like” a lion would to bluff his victims into fear and intimidation. Satan is a liar and deceiver and uses deception as his weapon to gain advantage over those who are ignorant of the limitations of his power.

When Jesus gave his life on the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world, He also redeemed us from Satan’s power and dominion over us. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15). “...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Praise God! Satan is already a defeated enemy! His legal authority was neutralized by the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Every Believer has Authority over Satan!

So if Satan is already defeated, why then is he still able to cause trouble? Because, even though Christ broke Satan’s legal power, the Lord has left it up to us to “enforce” the Devil’s defeated condition. It's our responsibility to use the authority that Christ has given us to put Satan in his place.

As a believer, you need not fear Satan, but realize and exercise the authority which God has given you over the Devil. Every person whose name has been recorded in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” (all those who are saved) have been given authority over the power of the Devil. “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

You have the right to use the authority of the name of Jesus to repel and drive Satan out of your territory and to break his grip over spiritual strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). When you recognize Satan’s activity and covert operations, take authority over him in the name of Jesus! Just as Jesus and the early apostles did, command Satan to leave (Mark 16:17).

The Devil hates the name of Jesus and detests an atmosphere of praise and worship which exalts the name of Jesus. Christ said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Be assured, the presence of Christ will expel the presence of Satan. Lifting up Jesus in praise will send the Devil running!

Slam the Door on the Devil!

The name of Jesus will drive Satan away. But it would be futile to order Satan’s departure if we leave the door wide open for him to flourish. The Bible tells us to not “give place” for the Devil (Eph. 4:27). That is, provide no area of your life where Satan can be comfortable or establish strongholds.

The enemy can always be found working in those who entertain sin, disobedience, rebellion or a self-willed nature. Unforgiveness toward others is another area which Satan flourishes (2 Cor. 2:11). Furthermore, any area of your life which is not submitted to God is considered open territory to the Devil, and he has the right to bring his expanding influence to those areas.

This is why the scripture says, “...submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The only way to actually resist Satan is to submit yourself fully to God. This was what Jesus was referring to when He said, “...the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Jesus had submitted himself to God, and although the Devil would try Him, there was nothing for the Devil to use to gain an advantage.

Rejoice Christian! God is in you, and YOU have been given power over the Devil! By submitting to God, and exercising your authority in the name of Jesus, you are more powerful than the enemy. “...He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Defeating Your Adversary: YOUR EGO!

Hello Kathy,

I going to shoot straight from the hip/heart here.  This thread really got me thinking; "does anybody know what a poltergiest is?" I'll bet that story really got some Ooohhs and Aaahhs at his JV meeting what do you think?

Oooopps, thinking is my ego's best friend.  So, here is an excerpt from, 'YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE LUXURY OF A NEGATIVE THOUGHT' by John-Roger and Peter McWilliams. 

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Altitude and Attitude

    Another "closed loop" (we like to think of them as upward spirals) is the one of altitude and attitude. When "stuck" in something you don't like, you can either change the altitude or the attitude and, as Perer Pan would say, "U-u-u-u-up you'll go!

    Altitude is our viewing point, the perspective we have. The higher our viewing point, the more we can see. The more we can see, the more information we have.  The more information we have, the better we can make a well-informed decisioin.

    The question that needs deciding is, "Shall I think negatively about this moment or not?"  We maintain that, with enough altitude, your spontaneous response will be, "or not." [Any thought that includes the Devil, IS, in fact, negative.]

    Have you ever been in a situation that seemed awful at the time, but eventually led to something wonderful? If you knew, at that time, that the bad situation would eventually lead to a much better one, would you have wasted all that energy feeling bad about it?  Probably not.

    What if all  situations in life were like that?  What if there was a reason behind all movement, a plan behind the action? What if, with sufficient altitude, you could see the plan? Not necessarily the way in which every detail will come to pass--what a dull life it would be if we knew precisely what the future held--but more a general sense that "something good will come from this."

    Attitude is the way we approach things--our point of view.  Do you look at life as an adventure to be enjoyed or a problem to be solved?  There are infinite possibilities for living in either Adventureland or Problem City.  The choice, as we've pointed out numerous times before, is yours. The key is your attitude.

    The connection between attitude and altitude is easy to see.  If we have a good attitude, our altitude will lift, and if we have an elevated altitude, our attitude will rise. (The reverse, by the way, is also true. Spirals go up or down, and seem to be infinite in either direction.)

    You can add upward momentum by raising either your attitude or your altitude.

    Altitude is raised through meditation, contemplation, prayer, spiritual exercises, creativity, service--connecting directly in some way with the uplifting energy of life.

    Attitude is lifted through inspiring lectures, reading, seminars, therapy, support groups, books, movies, TV shows--learning concepts and techniques that naturally lead to an enlightened approach.

    If you lift the attitude, the altitude will lift.  If you raise the altitude, the attitude will lift.  Either way, comme tu veux (it's up to you).

    Of course, doing things to lift both attitude and altitude will put you on what is technically known as an upward hyper-spiral, or, as it's more commonly known, joy.

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Which makes more sense Kathy, spending your time and energy making war on some (and I know there are people who read this forum that will call this blasphemy) man-made character called the Devil because it makes a better story -- or -- using that same time raising your alltitude to get a better view?  And, do you think people who are constantly at war with the Devil are on upward spiral or down?

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Another excerpt:

Nothing Is Too Good to Be True

    Ready for a pop quiz? OK. Consider this statement: "If something is too good to be true, it is."

    Pop quiz question: "What does it  refer to?"

    (A) "too good"  (If something is too good to be true, it is, therefore, not true.)

    (B) "true" (If something is too good to be true, it is true.)

    BZZZZZZZZZZZ. Time"s up.

    The correct answer is (B):  if something is too good to be true, it probably is true.  The answer most people spontaneously arrive at, however, is (A).

    LESSON:  Negative thoughts lead to negative assumptions!

    SCORING:  Give yourself 50 points if you chose answer (A).  Give yourself 50 points if you chose answer (B).  Give yourself 100 points for taking the test.

    GRADING:   If you got more than 20 points, congratulations!  You get an A+.  Give yourself a gold star.  Excellent work.  Superb. Bravo. Hurrah! Good for you.

    That's the pop quiz. How did you do?

    Too Good to be true?

    It is.

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The Devil doesn't exsist except in your mind.  Too good to be true?

Is that shocking enough for you Beautiful Lady?