This Means War
Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am your host Dayla Smith. I am so very glad that you could join me today. Let’s open in prayer. You know I believe that this is a very convenient timing of the Lord for this message. I’ve had this title since January of 2022. But He has chosen this time when we are entering the fall months to present this message. So, let’s begin.
Let’s look at John 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
ye be my disciples.9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
The Lord has really been changing my thoughtlife. His word is, has, and always will always do this if we allow the truth of His Holy Word to make these changes. We can not be hearers only, but we are to be doers of His truth as it is revealed to us. This world is changing around us. Changing in so many ways.
I don’t know about you and where you are at, but lately when I go to places like the store, doctor’s offices, etc.. . People are in a hurry, impatient, unkind and angry. Normally we want to react. And,not always react as Yeshua would. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:10-18 educates on how to approach spiritual warfare as Yeshua would have us approach it. “Spiritual wha..?”, you ask. You heard me. The Lord taught on Spiritual warfare all over His wonderful word. I mean if the Lord thought that there would be no spiritual warfare we would come into contact with, why is there the full armor in Ephesians? Why did David talk about it in Psalm 91. Why is the word of God called the sword of the Spirit and our faith a shield?
Spiritual warfare is very dangerous. I should know. I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime. People don’t want to understand what they are afraid of. But, ducking our head in the sand and saying it doesn’t exist is like saying there is no heaven or hell. Fear and ignorance concerning spiritual warfare is the easiest trap of the enemy. But, the Lord doesn’t want us to be afraid or ignorant. He has given us a sword and a shield. Look up Matthew 11:11-15 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
1 Kings 17 tells a story of how the enemy comes to us loud and boastful to steal our confidence in the Lord God almighty. But David, as a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords, never lost his confidence in the Lord. He went up to the enemy and stood up against him in the name of the Lord.
In John 4 it says, 4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
David did not fight Goliath on his earthly turf, but took the battle back on to the LORD’s turf. He stood in the confidence of the Lord and knew that he was victorious before the fight even had begun. You see, we cannot associate ourselves with fear, doubt and unbelief. We have to denounce our association with it, ask the Lord for forgiveness of our association with it, and then repent. Begin to use our shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. We must know who we are in Christ Jesus, Yeshua Hamashia. Hallelujah! We must develop a relationship with the Most High, Jesus Christ! I really can’t express this enough.
We must seek His face and not His hand. Just a side note: He is tired of this kind of Christianity. “I’m saved and that’s all I need.” If this is what we are doing, we have no salvation at all. You can’t have salvation without a real living relationship with Yeshua. He is our lifeline to keep our salvation. How do we seek His face? PRAYER. Not just you talking to Him about your wants, desires and needs. I emphasize the word wants because this is usually how we come to Him. “Lord, please give me healing, prosperity, etc.. amen.” And then we just walk away. Not willing to sit and listen for Him to speak with you. We need to deny our flesh and sit and wait on Him. If all your children and spouse always came to you asking for this, that and the other and never did anything else. They didn’t even begin to hold a conversation with you, how would you feel? Me, I would feel totally dejected.
We must read our bible. Not some of it. Not just pick and choose what we will read. Not just a verse or two. How desperate are we to have Him be real in our lives? How desperate are we for miracles, signs and wonders? How desperate are we to have a real relationship with the one true and living God? You can’t have a real relationship with Him if we don’t care enough to learn about Him. This is one of the many reasons He kept telling His people that they love Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. Do you know that if our hearts are far from Him on this side of eternity, that will determine our destiny on the other side of eternity. I am realizing that this is a complete word for all of God’s people. His Word changes us and how we see and respond to others and our surroundings. This is how dangerous it is for us not to have a relationship, or even a partial relationship with the Lord.
Let’s look at Acts 19:1-18 19 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.7 And all the men were about twelve.8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.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.17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
The apostle Paul had a relationship with the Lord. Therefore all the authority, rights and liberties afforded Him in His relationship with the Lord, gave Him the victory over all of the enemies. The seven sons of Sceva are a prime example of our failure to be active in our desire for a real relationship with the Lord Yeshua. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. He even gives us a road map of what He desires out of us in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-11 5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. I truly believe that this is how we seek His face and not His hand.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Let me introduce you to Him. It is really simple. First you must acknowledge that He was born of a virgin, lived as God among us, was crucified, died, buried and rose again on the third day for the salvation of all creation. That you are a sinner in need of a savior according to the mirror of the law of the Lord. 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 decisions. 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 an outline. The real work begins after I pray with you because it is a very personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. I acknowledged that you were born of a virgin, you lived as God among us, was crucified, died, and buried. You rose again on the third day for the salvation of all creation. 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.
If you have made the decision to give your life to Jesus, let me be one of the first to welcome you to the body of Christ. All of heaven is greatly rejoicing over your decision today. Please let me know of your decision today. I want to pray for you. If this message has brought up any questions or spoke to you in some way, or if you have any prayer requests; please let me know by commenting below, private messaging me, or you can email me at my1littleafmp@aol.com. I would greatly love to hear from you. Remember I love you with the Love of the Lord but Jesus will always love you more.
(close in prayer)
