"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." (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5).
We are in a spiritual war and the quicker we come to terms with this fact and act accordingly, the quicker we will come out of this season. We cannot apply physical tactics on spiritual attacks. Our Spiritual authority is critical at this hour and for this season. After we have done all we know to do, the Bible says that we should stand our ground. There are times when we have to go to God and ask Him to deliver, protect and cover us from the enemy. Nonetheless, God expects us to also pursue the enemy till he is put under our feet with God’s power. This is our rightful spiritual authority over the devil and his demons and principalities. He understands authority and rights and backs off when these are exercised from a covenant position.
Friend, it is time we rise up and take war to the enemy’s camp; we cannot accept all he has done in the form of a passive spirit and we have to become aggressive and unstoppable. After we have secured our rightful place in God and are clothed in his righteousness we then rise up and defend ourselves against the enemy. This must happen after we have done all God as asked us to do. We have realized where we fell as a family-church and Nation; we have repented and God has forgiven us and He is not holding us responsible of anything. The problem is therefore from the devil; so we need to pursue the Devil and his demonic forces. Our battle plan must shift from addressing the Father to addressing the enemy in the authority of the Father in Jesus’ name. As this pursuit intensifies towards the enemy, he will surrender. The Bible says to resist the devil and he will flee away from us (James 4:7). We will not wait till he shows up with his deceiving spirits in heaven with his fallen angels defeated by Jesus’ death at the cross and his resurrection and now he sits at the right hand of the father interceding for you and me. The devil has to be made aware that you know your authority in Jesus Christ and that you know your position with the God who made the heaven and the earth and purchased you with the precious blood of His Son.
Why is it important to pursue the devil? We have to pursue the devil because it is our spiritual responsibility to do so and if we do not he will pursue us. He will pursue us to destroy our marriages and to kill and destroy our children. Go after him therefore on the plans he has over your children before he attacks; stop him before he acts, stop him before he aggressively comes after you and steals your promises and your God-given destiny. The devil is so much used to bringing war to our lives, but if we reversed this and started to go after him before he shows up, he will flee away. Go after him and cancel his assignments over your family, job, or country before he shows up. Pursuing the enemy weakens his power towards us because he flees when we do so. That is, you disorganize his plans and he has to go back to the drawing board to plan another attack. Pursuing the enemy makes him aware that we know who we are in Christ Jesus.
When should we pursue the enemy? All the time, but most importantly when we have done all God has asked us to do and yet we continue to experience defeat. When we are sick or facing an attack in an area in our lives and have asked God for healing or deliverance and it is not manifested, then we should we know that the enemy is resisting our healing or deliverance in our jobs, marriages, businesses, and ministries. At this point we need to go after the devil.
Well you might say I am not called to attack principalities or kingdoms, but what about attacking the demons that attack you, or your loved ones? What about the spirits that bring confusion and arguments in your home or marriage? Spirits of anger, self pity, lust, and self rejection. What about those spirits that lie to you that no one loves you and no one cares about you? What about attacking generational curses of lack and want, spirits of sickness, and premature death before they attack you? Before we can get to a place where we can exercise our spiritual authority we need to know what the word of God says about our position in Christ. First, we have to secure ourselves in God. Why do we need to secure ourselves in the Lord first? Because the devil does not play games, he knows about rights, so we have to be totally on the Lord’s side to defeat the enemy.
We are a church generation that only puts on the God-given uniform, but does not carry our spiritual authority. Remember David’s brothers were in the battle field, but they and the entire Israelite’s army was afraid of Goliath? They had all weapons on their hands, but afraid. They feared for their lives every time they looked at Goliath’s height and strength. They gave up on winning even before the battle began; they wanted to surrender. When David showed up, he realized that someone has to aggressively attack Goliath. He was righteously angry and decided to take the battle to Goliath. The Bible records Goliath saying "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? (1 Samuel 17:43), which means that David did not wait for Goliath to attack him, instead David did. In fact the Bible says that "Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:40). Goliath was so accustomed of going after his enemies and killing them, so when he saw David’s came toward him, he mocked him. David had realized that Goliath had made it a habit of attacking and killing the army of the Lord, so he ran to the battle and attacked Goliath and killed him. We should follow David’s example; he was a worshipper. Before he attacked the enemy, he had secured himself in God, he had been anointed. We too need all these before we pursue the enemy. God is looking for a woman or man who is going to be righteously angry and run to the battlefield taking the battle to the devil’s kingdom. Are you sick and tired of the devil defying the armies of the Lord? Then do not stand still and listen to stories of what the devil has done; refuse to be dressed in uniform without acting in your spiritual authority.
We have to make God our only refuge, helper, hiding place, strong tower and our help in time of need. Once your safety has been secured in God then you can engage in the spiritual battle with the enemy. How do we make ourselves secure in God: by allowing God to make our ways blameless. David prayed and said "thy word oh Lord have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11). "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. It reaches its roots down into the moist soil, draws food from the soil, and stands strong by the riverbank. That brings forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psalm 1:1-3). This is the fruit bearing Christian; He doesn’t turn one color one day and another color the next. May we be worshippers of God and always taking the battle to the Devil.
If you are in the San Jose area, we invite you to come to our weekly meetings every Tuesday night. For more on these meetings and other ministry information visit: www.vesselforhonor.org
By Evangelist Isabella Mwango