Let the Army of God Be Prepared

   Let the Army of God Be Prepared to Fight

                 Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am Your Host Dayla Smith. I am so glad that you could join me today. I want to talk with you today about warfare. I know. You joined the family of God because things were supposed to be different. What do you mean warfare? Well, when Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-26 to take up our cross and follow Him, we enlisted into His army. Why do we have to be in His army? Why do we have to participate in warfare? Because of the Name. His Name. Since Lucifer and ⅓ of His angels were thrown out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-17,  Ezekiel 28:12-19, and  Revelation 12:9 ) there has been a battle for the Name. Please go read this stuff for yourself. We have to know our enemy. How he thinks, walks, and talks. FBI agents are educated in criminal profiling. The Lord  wants us to be educated in criminal profiling when we are  dealing with our enemy. And just like there are laws, rules, and regulations for our judicial counterparts with engaging our enemy. There are laws, rules, and regulations in the Word of God for the body of Christ with engaging our enemy. Satan and his cohorts.

              I had a sister in Christ question me, “Heaven suffers violence? Why? What for? How could heaven suffer violence?

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. It’s a logical question, since the LORD is Sovereign over everything He has created. In Ezekiel 28:12-19 it says,  12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

                       He created Lucifer. He was a covering cherub. He chose to exalt himself above the Name of the Lord. Even before the garden of Eden, he wanted to be god. He wanted the throne of God. He wanted to be lord. He is not Lord! So therefore, this is where the battle lies. For the Name of the Lord. Satan is relentless. We need to be just as relentless. We need to know who we are in Christ. We need to know that we belong to Him and Him alone. I love this scripture in John chapter 17. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

                      You can not fight the enemy on his own turf. In and of ourselves we are no match for him. 2 Chronicles 20:15-17  15 And he  said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

                   We have to know who we are in Christ. That requires having a relationship with Him. The apostles and disciples had a relationship with Him. The 7 sons of Sceva did not and look what happened. Acts 19:14-16  14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

               Spiritual warfare is very serious. It is nothing to play around with. And way too many people do this ignorantly. They don’t comprehend the danger. It is very dangerous territory, that is why we must have a relationship with Christ. So that he doesn’t eat our lunch and like a sweet sister in Christ says, “pop the bag in our face.” But, know this, after you surrender to Christ. Become saved, the battle begins. 

                  I just had a sister in Christ call me up because she was in a battle. The enemy wanted to get her out of the church all together. Especially where he called her to be. She responded correctly. She called a sister in Christ and gained wisdom, knowledge, understanding  to make prudent choices, and above all, she gained encouragement to continue to run her race. How do you like? 

                     Ephesians 6:10-18  10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

                           The Lord just spoke to my heart. He wants me to break down this passage for us. We are going to learn about warfare from this standpoint. Isn’t He good?! He is oh so good! But, pray for me. Because the homework can be something to go through. I want you to know that I work hard to get these done and out to you. I don’t earn any living concerning this. It is just a joy to be able to do it. I really enjoy helping the Body Of Christ be all that it can be in Him. I live and breathe to do this. I love His outlines in the Word of God. And, there are so many of them. My pastor would call it bullet points. Hahahaha. Funny He would call it that. Because when He goes through his bullet points, it’s just like that. He sometimes doesn’t catch a breath before he goes to the next bullet point.  Well, the Lord is giving me bullet points. Hahahhahaha I will try not to go off like a machine gun. 

                        Back to the subject at hand. We must know who we are. Blood bought children of Jesus Christ. We must know that at all times, not sometimes, the battle belongs to the Lord. King David knew this, even as a young man. 1 Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. David brought the enemy to the Lord of Hosts. He knew the battle was about the Name of the Lord. He knew where the battle was and brought him to the Lord of Hosts. It was the Name of the Lord on those 5 smooth stones. It was the Name of the Lord on David’s sling. It was the Name of the Lord on the stone in the sling. It was the Name of the Lord on David’s hand that slung that stone not only at the giant. But, it was a sure shot at the forehead of the giant. And, if you in that chapter, the stone not only hit the giant in the forehead, it went into his skull! Now, that’s some supernatural power, if you ask me. 

                 We must take all of our battles to the Lord. Let Him shine His beautiful love, light, and life on it. Why? So, that we can see clearly how to fight. Jesus the man fought the enemy on the Lord’s turf. Every lie was met with the Word of God. How can we fight the enemy if we don’t read the Word of God? Our Holy Bible. Then, we gain supernatural strength to keep declaring the Lord’s beautiful Word. Then, we are standing on Holy Ground. The Lord’s ground. How do I know this? Because of this scripture. Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.

               This is just the intro. I can’t wait to find out what He has for us in this series concerning Ephesians 6:10-18. I’ll be honest. I have always wanted to do this. But, had no idea that He was reserving this for now. I don’t know about you. But, I am so excited over this. I can’t wait. Are you ready to learn with me? This is going to be oh so powerful. 

             So if our steps are ordered by Him, that means He is allowing it. And, if He is allowing it, you are already on victory ground. Because if He brings you to it, He will be faithful to bring you through it. I think Ron Kenoly and his pastor said it perfectly. “If you catch hell, don’t hold it. If you’re going through hell, don’t stop. Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. We have authority over the enemy. We have authority in the Name of Jesus.” 

               When we are going through something, and these days they are relentless and oftentimes, horrendous. Don’t hold on to it. Don’t hug it. Don’t go to sleep with it. In other words, don’t let it have a foothold on your spirit and soul heart. Bring it to the LORD Jesus Christ. He knows what to do with it. 

               Remember the Exodus? How the LORD led them through the wilderness. Before they left Egypt, He had laid out the complete plan. And like all good commander and chief’s, He told them even what to expect when they got there, and how to deal with it. That is all in the book of Exodus. The wilderness was not supposed to be a punishment. It was a land of deliverance! He wanted to teach His children that He could be trusted. He wanted to teach them who He was. He wanted to teach them of His character. Above all, it was about worship. What did Moses keep telling Pharoah? Let my people go to the wilderness. To the mount of God. To worship Him. There it is in black and white. To worship Him. To lift up the wonderful Name of the LORD. Pharaoh thought that he was god. So if he is god, what need was there to go to the mount of God to worship Him? Remember, we worship Him for who He is. 

                             You see, worship comes with a price. The cost is total surrender of one’s entire self, mind, will, and emotions, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Worship is a battlefield in and of itself. We are worshiping Him for who He is. The only way to truly worship Him is in total surrender to His will for your life. John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

                   So, the wilderness was a place of deliverance. Deliverance from the world (Egypt), the flesh (Egyptian appetites), the devil ( the Name of the Lord). It was supposed to be one victory after another. They were supposed to follow the Lord through it, not stay there. Not to stay defeated, like they were in Egypt. They were supposed to have the mind of Christ. Not the mind of Egypt. Not the mind in slavery. There should be nothing in our past to go back for. Doing so can even kill you. Spiritually and/ or physically. Looking back turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt. 

                  He has even given us the power to deliver ourselves from the snares of the enemy. How? In His Name. Luke 10:19-21  19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

                    Why did Jesus tell the disciples not to rejoice in the power and authority He had just given them? Because, He saw the trap the enemy had already laid out for them. The easiest snare he has set for all of our demise. Why? Because he knows it all too well. It was his own trap that he fell into causing him to fall from the Lord’s grace. PRIDE. We have to constantly remember where the authority comes from. That if it weren’t for Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we would have no authority. We would be the enemy’s breakfast, lunch, and supper. All glory belongs to God. We can’t take any of it. We can do nothing apart from Him. Especially spiritual warfare. The enemy knows this and is always trying to get us to fight him on his turf. Making us lambs for slaughter.

              So, after hearing this and now you want to join His army. If you are wanting a victorious life in Him. It is quite simple. First you must acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Ask Him for His forgiveness for all of your sins and call them out to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Then, forgive those who have sinned or transgressed against you. Then, repent. Repent means to change your mind concerning sinful habits. Change your choice making. Let Him influence your choice making decisions as you get in His Holy Word. Ask Him to be Lord over your life. I want to pray this prayer with you. But, this is just another outline. The real work begins after I pray with you. 

                    Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

               Welcome to the family of God. So glad that you have chosen to respond to His call to join the family of God. Be sure and comment. Let me know of your choice so I can pray for you personally. 

                I sure hope this message has spoken to your heart today. Hoping you realize your place in the army of God and take it. May you have a blessed week. Can’t wait to meet with you again to discuss Ephesians 6:10-18. Once again, thank you for joining me at My Little House of Prayer.