"If Jesus said the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, well, then, why don't we think the thief ever actually comes to steal and kill and destroy? Good grief...the things people just roll over and accept as 'God's will.' ....The Enemy wants to kill our hearts and destroy our faith and all that flows from it....The particular attack is not the issue; he'll steal anything to kill and destroy.
During an assault like that, you must remember: MAKE NO AGREEMENTS. The Enemy will suggest all sorts of things. 'You see...God doesn't care. You're not worth fighting for. Your heart doesn't matter. You can't trust him.' He is trying to kill you heart, destroy the glory of your life. It will feel hard...really hard, almost impossible....but whatever you do, MAKE NO AGREEMENTS. You have to start there.
'Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.' (Eph.4:26-27)
People make choices, and they are responsible before God for those choices. But through those agreements the Evil One secured a beachhead (a "foothold" in Paul's words), then waited for an opportunity to take even greater dominion. The whole plan is based on agreements. When we make those agreements with the demonic forces suggesting things to us, we come under their influence. It becomes a kind of permission we give the Enemy, sort of like a contract.
Maybe half the stuff people are trying to 'work through' in counseling offices, or pray about in their quiet times, is simply agreements they've made with the Enemy. Some foul spirit whispers, I'm a stupid idiot, and they agree with it; they they spend months and years trying to sort through feelings of insignificance. They'd end their agony if they'd treat it for the warfare it is, break the agreement they've made, send the Enemy packing.
Let me ask you this...have you had this experience?...something bad happens, and you start telling yourself what a jerk you are. Do you really think the source of that is you? Or God? Think about it this way: Who would take most delight in it? you...God...or the Enemy of your heart.
If you deny the battle raging for your heart, well, then the thief just gets to steal and kill and destroy. If you dismiss the assaults as just hassles and mis-understanding, it will get worse. If you refuse to fight it for the warfare it is, you'll get taken out.
There is an evil religious spirit in the church today. It has turned discipleship into a soul-killing exercise of principles. Most folks don't even know they can walk with God, and hear his voice. It has stigmatized counseling as a profession for sick patients, and so the wounds of our hearts never get healed. It has taken healing away from us entirely so that we sit in the pews as broken people, feeling guilty because we can't live the life we're supposed to live. And it has taken warfare and has mocked it, stigmatized it as well, so that most of the church knows almost nothing about how to break strongholds, and set captives free. And it makes it almost impossible for a person to break free by spreading the lie that there is no war.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again with the yoke of slavery." (Gal.5:1)
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and...he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him." (Acts 10:38)
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1John 3:8)
Spiritual warfare was essential to Jesus' life and ministry. It follows that it must be essential to ours if we would be his followers." ---John Eldredge, Waking the Dead
DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH THE ENEMY
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