Part II Is the conclusion of the Identity Crisis series….
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Identity Crisis
Please view this video that I recorded that address why people may be dealing with an Identity Crisis.
Which Cup do you Choose?
What is sex? What is the point? Why is there such an emphasis by God to keep it within marriage? Why is it so hard to do just that? I’ve heard many times over the years, these very questions. The question to me all these years has been, why? What is so important about sex that God wants it in marriage and the Devil fights so hard to keep us blind? These are some of the questions I will attempt, by the Grace of God, to explain.
*** There are some very deep, spiritual truths within this article. Please ask God for help with discerning what his Word says about the topic and how he wants his Word to reign true within our lives.
Sex is a gift that God gave a husband and wife to remember the agreement made. Let’s begin to break this down.
In its basic form it is reminding a couple of the agreement made to follow God’s Will and design in each others lives for the purpose of advancing the kingdom. When was that agreement made? On their wedding day.
On a couples wedding day, they express their commitment before God and Man that Christ is over the husband, the husband is over the wife. The husband will love and cherish his wife the way Christ loves the church and the wife will support, honor, and cherish her husband to lead her as Christ leads the church. Think about it, Jesus sacrificed his life out of love for us. A husband is to sacrifice their everyday lives the way Christ did for the church. (Getting deep on that requires another blog post.) When done the way God had ordained marriage to be, it activates a mandated blessing that was given at the first marriage.
Genesis 1:28
Be fruitful and multiply; increase in number and subdue it.
Now anyone who heard me speak knows that I don’t look at this command as simply have as many babies as possible. The action of having kids in and of itself is not multiplying. That’s adding. Also how do you explain, ‘Be Fruitful’ and ‘Fill the earth’? God doesn’t say things just to say things. Also if Jesus never sinned, how did he live out this blessing over man? To understand this, we must look at it from a Spiritual standpoint. [Galatians 5]
What is the fruit of the Spirit? God originally said be fruitful. The fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Goodness, Faithfulness, & Self-Control. God said to multiply your fruit. Fill the earth and subdue it. It is our destiny to take over our garden’s with keeping to living by the spirit. Doing that will cause us not only to take over but to subdue the earth.
Ephesians 6:12
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.
It is a blessing given at the beginning of creation. Marriage is the beginning of becoming one flesh. Jesus was very fruitful. Though many fell away as he got closer and closer to his death, when he resurrected, the church was birthed and we are the product of what Christ began. Every time there is beginning of life, we are to be fruitful and multiply it. In other words go in the name of Jesus among all nations. In the context of marriage, on the wedding day, you are making an agreement in front of God and Man that the husband and wife are willing to do just that.
How do we know this is an agreement?
Well… to understand the significance, we have to look at how Christ is with the church….
When Christ shed his blood and died, the veil was torn and we the church now have access to the father. We remember this through communion. As such the same with sex. We remember our commitment with God. Jesus calls for all to die to ourselves and circumcised our hearts for Christ. The first time a husband and wife has sex the veil is broken and blood is shed. Jesus broke the veil to heaven with his body and his blood. The original blessing given will have the ability to flow from heaven into your family, into your kids, and into as many generations who continually put their trust in Christ. Very quickly, let’s look at Abraham.
In Genesis Chapters 12 and 13 we see that God called Abram and told him he would bless Abram and make him into a mighty nation. All he had to do was leave his country, people, and his father’s household behind. He was faithful and followed God. Hearing the Word of God and following God into the unknown shows something about his Faith. He was being fruitful in the spirit and God multiplied him. Genesis 13:2. Long before he had Issac his first son.
So now we should have a greater spiritual sense of the importance of sex, why it’s important and the blessings that come when we follow his Word. Let us not end this post without addressing the curse. The curse is, however, what we fall into when we go outside his will. If we do not see sex the way God views it and go outside his purposes, we will no longer be in alignment. Another way to say this, we won’t be under God’s covering. It’s taking a cup that requires you to sacrifice your blessing and you come into a union alignment with demons. With Christ it is God, Husband, and Wife. Without Christ it is Man, Woman, and Demons.
Sexual Purity is one of the most talked about, hot button issues in the Word of God. In Noah’s day the son’s of God (Angels) saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. God was not pleased. [Genesis 6] Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for their sexual sin being so bad, the men tried to have an orgy with the two angels outside in the middle of the city. [Genesis 19] Baalam couldn’t directly curse the Israelites, so he got the Midianite women to seduce the Israelites to invoke God’s wrath on them. [Numbers 31:15-16]
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 that sexual immorality is the only sin that we sin against our own body. Christ dwells in us and we in Christ. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are to be holy, set apart. Why would Christ do all of what he did for us with his body? So that we can do whatever we want? Putting what we want above God is idolatry. When we sacrifice to God we are saying, “I give my own understanding for you”. Jesus was our sacrifice for our souls. He did the hard work. When you sacrifice to demons your saying, “I give up God for you [Anything other than God]”. That my friends is demonic.
1 Corinthians 10:20-22
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
What is the bottom line?
If you made it this far in this post and realize that you may be in a relationship that does not honor what Jesus did on the cross, it’s time to allow him to realign your heart. If you are a brother or sister in Christ and you are stuck in sexual immorality, know that there is hope. God has more Grace than we can mess up. Make the decision today to Acknowledge, Admit, Repent and Stand Firm in knowing that Jesus forgives all those who turn from their sin. Sometimes it’s not that simple. There are groups that address and fight sexual sin using the Word of God such as the Conquer Series. If your in a relationship that is out of alignment, talk to someone for counseling and guidance as quickly as possible and make an agreement to get in alignment with God’s Will asap.
Let us not be ignorant to what God has in store for those who love him.
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May God Bless you to be fruitful and multiply!
Spiritual Boot Camp
We have to change the perspective of our lives. Instead of living life by sight like nothing is happening, it’s time to see our lives correctly in the spirit. The lives we live are our battlefield.Hebrews 5:11-14
To be able to fight and win the greatest battle of our lives, we have to be at our highest potential. Our highest potential means we are experienced with power, strength, skill, courage, and discipline to overcome and win. That would require us to practice using our weapons and armor. In order to follow the flow of a battle plan, you have to train in offensive and defensive tactics. No soldier can follow orders, use strategy, use armor and weapons effectively if they do not have the will to fight.
When we take a look at the United States Military, we can agree it is a formidable force. The United States Military can address most situations worldwide at a moments notice. Whether to support, defend, or attack, they serve to protect the people and interests of our country. Our modern day warriors live by a certain ethics code. This code helps enable a soldier to serve and fight. How does the military produce such disciplined warriors? It all starts after making the decision to serve. No one signs up to serve without understanding what happens once you sign up. You get shipped to Basic Training.
There are people from all over the country who join the military. Think about that for a second. That means all walks of life with their own individual thoughts, hopes, and dreams. All kinds of attitudes, opinions, and experiences. Imagine if within basic training, a Drill Sergeant were to cater to every individual recruits needs? There would be chaos in the ranks. Progress would be slow at best. When becoming a protector, warrior, a servant, you must learn to be able to follow orders in a professional military manner. How is the military able to transform a person from normal civilian mentality, to the mentality that that soldier is an elite fighting force? As one team, they break soldiers down with discipline, fitness, and drills. One by one people get on board until around half way through the program, every soldier is beating to the same drum. That’s when they build everyone back up as one team into a military warriors.
Brothers and sisters, the Bible is clear he has already provided everything we need in the Spirit. That means that all God has for us is already done for us. He already answered every prayer we have and will pray according to his Word. The problem is we fail to recognize how to access all God has for us. To do that you have to understand, we are in a Spiritual Boot Camp. Excepting Jesus into our hearts, started the process but the only way to mature is to go through Boot Camp.
When a civilian inquires about the military, they talk to a recruiter. The job of the recruiter is to help you gain information about the military, military jobs, and how it will impact your future. If you meet the qualifications, they will help facilitate a smooth transition from civilian to military. Eventually you get screened and given the run down on how the military works. They educate you on the job you will perform and roughly were you will end up. For a Christian this is the same process we go through. The Holy Spirit recruits us and guides us to accept Jesus into our hearts. He will use various ways to explain how the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus himself showed that by connecting with him you connect with the Father and have life everlasting.
My recruiter used to tell me if I joined the Army, it would take an act of God to be let go. When I asked him why, he simply said because you would then belong to the United States Army. Signing the dotted line is the point of no return. A soldier at that point is officially a United States Soldier. The day you publicly take the oath is your declaration of what you signed to become a soldier. What is the difference between a fresh recruit and a soldier that reports to their first unit? A fresh recruit still needs to go through Basic Training. A recruit is a soldier with civilian habits that needs to be transformed into the image of military professionalism.
The same is true for a Christian. Making the decision to ask Jesus into our heart puts us into the greatest kingdom in all eternity. When you finally accept Christ into your heart, you are officially a Child of God. You are born again. Our public declaration before God and Man is water baptism. What is the difference between a Newborn Christian and a Mature Christian? A Baby Christian needs to go through the Second Sanctification Process. A Baby Christian needs to be transformed into the image of Christ the Son. How does the process start? 1 Peter 2:2.
There are many trials you have to overcome in Basic Training. Breaking a soldier of bad habits includes learning self- discipline with every task of your daily military life. Every task is the same, at the same time, in the same way everyday. You have to know your Creed, know your Soldiers Handbook, rely on your battle buddy, and workout to stay fit. You have to be able to qualify with your weapon, get comfortable wearing your armor, and succeed at drill that reinforce using your equipment. This is learning to conform to the program so that through discipline, you fall into step. It’s harder for some more than others but eventually by the time you get half way through, everyone has resolved to follow the program.
This is the same for Christians. God allows us to experience many different trials to teach us the basics of being in the image of Christ. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, Hebrews 13:8. His Kingdom program is not going to change. You have to know who you are in Christ, read your Bible (1 John 2:27), rely on Kingdom minded Battle Buddies, (Proverbs 27:17) and work your salvation out, (Philippians 2:12). You have to be able qualify with your weapon or in other words, know how to use the Word as a weapon, Hebrews 4:12 You have to know how to put on the Armor of God, Ephesians 6:16. Wolves in your territory are used to teach you how to use your weapon and armor, Proverbs 16:4. Some of us are have been stuck in Basic Training for so long because we still try to tell God how the program should be, or we wait thinking it will change. The truth is the only way to get through Basic, is to conform to the program through discipline and fall into step.
Keep in mind, a soldier is told what their job will be before they ever step into basic training. I was told that I would be a 31R Multi-transmissions Systems Operator and Maintainer. When I signed the dotted line, I became a soldier and my job title became a 31R. I didn’t know what that meant but I was excited. I was told my new identity and what I will be doing. Though my training hadn’t began, I began to believe in my heart that I am a Soldier and I am a 31R Signaleer. Why? I signed the dotted line.
Every Child of God has been given a certain job skill. God calls them Spiritual Gifts, Ephesians 4:7. These gifts are what we are to learn to use to help advance God’s Will for his Kingdom, Ephesians 4:12. However before learning your gifts, you have to be proficient at the basics. Understand that you are a Child of God and he has called you to a specific purpose. Start telling yourself who you are in Christ and that he made you for something special, Jeremiah 29:11. The more you do that, you can move on and graduate.
On graduation day, a soldier stands before a crowd full of family and friends. Many like minded supporters are in the crowd. That is the day the fruit of the struggle is publicly displayed and you officially are no longer considered a brand new recruit. After a small period of rest, you then are taken to a new location where you learn your skill set.
Graduation for a Christian comes when you learn to no matter what the situation is, call on God and use the Word of God effectively, Ephesians 4:13-16. You have a good understanding of Baptisms, Laying of hands, Resurrection of the dead, and Eternal Judgement, Hebrews 6:1-3. When this happens and you know how to effectively use the Word in all situations, God will put you in your skill set training, John 21:15. He will teach you how to use your Spiritual Gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.
Hebrews 5:11-14
A Call to Spiritual Growth
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Changing our perspective helps us to learn how see in the physical, what is being done in and around us through the Spiritual. Being able to Identify the enemy, study the enemy, and change our perspective, will allow us to have the right mentality and motive to become rooted in God.
From Weeds to Strongholds
When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.
At this point, I am assuming that if you are reading this article, you are familiar with the story of Joshua and how God brought down the walls of Jericho. Further research brought me to an interesting article by Bryant Wood that talks about the Walls of Jericho through archaeology.
Many Pastors over the years have preached about Faith being used as a vehicle to get Heaven to move here on Earth. The Faith the Israelite’s displayed to watch God collapse the Walls is absolutely remarkable. However this Blog is not a piggy back off of those messages. This message is addressing the stronghold itself.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 – ESV
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
There are some strongholds in our lives that can’t be addressed simply by saying, “Stop doing that.” There are some strongholds that have walls so thick and high (lofty), the only way to overcome them is through divine intervention. How do we know we are dealing with a stronghold? Paul defines them in the fifth verse; arguments and lofty opinions against the knowledge of God. This could be in the form of drugs, alcohol, or sexual addictions in nature. Strongholds can also be built upon fear, doubt, selflessness, selfishness, wrath, jealousy, covetousness, revenge, malice, etc. Anything that is against God can be built into a stronghold.
Think with me for a second, the word stronghold or fortress. A fortress can be a building or buildings that can be used for fortification purposes. It can also be a military fortification. It can be a city. No matter the type, a fortress has multiple entities working simultaneously to create an atmosphere and culture where the stronghold can maintain and grow. How can an entire culture stem off of one sin? I would like to use myself as an example.
**No part of my testimony is a shot against any person(s) in my life.**
I remember when I was seven years old my brother and I were going through some of the family VHS tapes . . . (Take a moment and think about that) . . . so we could watch some cartoons. One tape in particular we called The Joy Tape. It had a Christian Singer as the first thing on the tape and it always had our parents jumping up for joy when that watched it. Hence we dubbed it, The Joy Tape.
**Many reading this may not remember how VCR’s worked back then but when you put a tape in the VCR, you had to touch manual buttons to make it do certain things. There was no memory recall, there was no on demand. If you wanted to recall something you recorded previously, you stood up and walked to the VCR. You put your finger on the Fast Forward button and hold it there until you got to the part of the tape that you were looking for. My brother and I were young back then so our fingers could hold down that button for as long as it took without any pain, arthritis or anything. Glory be to God.
We decided one day to hold the button longer than normal to see what else was on the tape. We saw some cartoons, we saw some shows that didn’t make sense. Something was pulling at me, at seven, like I really needed to stop messing with it. The problem was I was seven. My brother and I were being overly curious. All of a sudden, towards the end of the tape, we caught a glimpse of a pornographic movie. We saw a flash of it before we shut it off. We were scared because we couldn’t have our parents come from the back of our apartment realizing we found this. I was so sure we would get in trouble.
That was unfortunately the day Satan planted the weed seed in my life. [Matthew 13:24-30] Every now and again since that day we would sneak a peek at the end of The Joy Tape but little did I know that the seed would bloom heavy in my life later.
Six or seven years later I saw the weed bloom in my life. Around the same time, our youth group went to a youth conference which I had an encounter with Christ. I remember I heard a lady preach a message about Baal and Jezebel. I can’t remember all she said to this day but that was what God used to save me. I knew the weed was an issue in my life and I wanted God to save me from it. I accepted Jesus in my heart. That was the day he put the wheat in my life but I really didn’t know what to do after that. I tried to ask for help from the church but my ability to sit still and be obedient continued to diminish as I got older. This was about the time I got into West Coast Rap.
Let’s understand something about music. Look at the way God used Music in the Bible. If you look at the purpose behind the music, you notice a prophetic connection. For example David was so in tune with Prophetic Music, he was able to prophesy the thoughts of Christ in his music. That is evident in a lot of his Psalms and remember, this was before Christ came to this earth. How wonderful it is when we embrace Christ through music. David was very close to God and would frequently prophesy through song and dance. Music connects us to Christ which inevitably is another way God can connect and flow through us. If this is the case, we can become closer to the mind of Christ. How much more would the enemy use music that doesn’t glorify Christ? That kind of music would disconnect us. The question is how?
Remember, Paul said anything that is contrary to God’s Word. Listening to music is supposed to allow us to prophetically connect to God for purposes of strengthening, encouraging, and comforting us. [1 Corinthians 14:3] Essential a way to help build up of the church. In other words, us. Satan uses music to disconnect us from God and tear us down as an individuals and as a community. Think about it. God hates pride. Yet the number one thing we hear in any song is what did “I” do. Where “I” have been. How “I” treat people. “I” don’t have to explain anything but make money. Why listen to the law? “I” can have things my way. It’s someone elses fault. “I” need someone in my life. Etc.
If we dwell and abide in an atmosphere that is conductive to the allowance of disconnecting from Life, over time we learn to embrace our selfish desires and pleasures. Simply put, the perfect environmental conditions for the weed the enemy planted in our lives to grow.
My purpose for going into detail about these things is to show what God has laid upon my heart to explain to God’s chosen. If today you are dealing with
strongholds in your life that has you saying and believing things like, “I am an addict”, “This is just who I am”, “Nobody is perfect”, “I’m not Jesus”, “I’m just not there yet”, among many others, you have got to first and foremost realize that God is greater that the lofty thing. There is no structure that can be built within our minds that God can not break down. The walls of Jericho were impenetrable and because Joshua had enough faith, God intervened and brought the walls down. That means you must believe that God can tear it down inside of you. Sometimes that takes admitting things to Godly people who have Biblical intentions to help us. Sometimes we have to enter programs that is based on the Word of God. Admit to God what is going on and ask him how to get to the point were you can shout the walls down.
Thank you for reading my Blog. Please leave a comment and let me know how God has been Blessing your Life. If you need prayer for anything, we currently have a group called Christ Seekers on Facebook. Just type Christ Seekers in the search bar. We have prayer warriors that will not only pray for you but help if you need help even if just to point you in the right direction. God bless you and yours. Amen.
Wolf in Sheep Skin . . . Part II
1 Peter 5:8
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Children of God, we have more power within us than we realize. My mother told me once that she heard a Pastor teaching online and he made a crazy eye opening statement. Having one foot in the Kingdom of God and one foot in the world is like saying,
“Father God, I acknowledge you as my Father but Satan, I acknowledge you as my step-dad.”
Exodus 34:14
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
God is Jealous. His name is Jealous. Why? He is the One and Only Creator. He created everyone and everything. If we choose to exalt his creation over him (Idols), we are saying his creation is greater than him. If we choose to exalt our feelings over him (Idols), we are saying our feelings are greater than his. Where is our Faith in he who created the World? How are we showing him Honor by proving we hold him over all in our lives? If we are having a hard time exalting Christ over our situation and feelings, then our ability to fight against the wolves in our lives diminish.
What is the big deal though? It occurred to me, we need to have a general awareness of how wolves hunt. Why did the Bible use a wolf as the example of how dangerous it is to not be spiritually aware and cautious? Well let’s begin by figuring out how wolves operate.
A wolf will hunt in a large area within it’s territory and within packs. Most of the time a wolf will hunt for large prey but they are known to go after weaker prey. If they go after larger prey, they do it in packs. Once a wolf or a pack finds prey, it stalks it by manipulating the environment while staying out of sight. Eventually wolves will then confront the prey to which some animals will run and larger ones will stand and fight. If the animal stands and fight, the wolves will continue to pressure the prey to find it’s weaknesses. Wolves employ strategy when chasing prey by either chasing them into other wolves or having some wolves hang back so that if the prey circles back, they can take it down. Wolves for the most part will go for the nose or the back side of an animal to take it down. A lone wolf is very formidable against it’s prey and can take it down quite easily. The prey will usually die of blood loss of shock.
This came as a shock to me because this spoke to me on a very spiritual level. The actions and characteristics are the same in the physical realm when we allow people in our lives who produce bad fruit.
A wolf will hunt in a large area within it’s territory and within packs.
Right from the very beginning, pay attention the the company a person keeps. Who are their friends, their enemies. Who do they confide in? Who do they stay away from? Don’t allow yourself to be single minded when trying to figure out if a wolf is in your presence. A person’s friends give you an indication of the guidance a person follows. A persons enemies can show you where their true allegiance lies, Proverbs 18:24. Don’t think that a person having many friends in their life won’t affect you. The wolf will push you into their circle and will corrupt you, 1 Corinthians 15:33.
Most of the time a wolf will hunt for large prey but they are known to go after weaker prey. If they go after larger prey, they do it in packs.
Having the Divine Nature that God placed inside of you when by Faith you accepted Jesus in your heart, made you a target. If you are weaker in the Faith, you can be taken down by a lone wolf. The more you learn to identify yourself with Christ in the mist of your troubles, the more that wolf will have to change its strategy and bring in other spirits, or other “friends”. This occurs for two reasons, to try and make you feel like being in your life is worth it and to keep you down having you think you need them. Don’t be dismayed though, the Bible is clear, learning to stand your ground in the Word is what makes the Devil flee, James 4:7.
No more Devil, no more wolf. You will live to fight another day.
Once a wolf or a pack finds prey, it stalks it by manipulating the environment while staying out of sight.
A wolf will make you feel as though you are comfortable. It seems like all the right things are being said and done. They work their way into your home, and around your family. Your home is the physical representation of your temple. Our bodies is our temple. If we are quick to let people in our home who do not have a root of Love in/for God, what do you think will happen? Once they make it in they will convince you they belong and will go nowhere. They will try to make you comfortable enough to execute their hidden agenda which is to divide you from the truth, Romans 16:17. That agenda is not hidden from The living God, it’s just hidden from the prey. This process could take awhile sometimes because dividing a person from the inside out has to be done in a way that is discreet and imperceptible, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Eventually wolves will then confront the prey to which some animals will run and larger ones will stand and fight. If the animal stands and fight, the wolves will continue to pressure the prey to find it’s weaknesses.
Now the key to this is understand that you have to know that if your used to running from your problems, your situations, your wolves, the reality is your only truly running from yourself. Learning how to stand and fight is greater than running. If you stand and fight with the Armor of God, you win. If you stand and fight without being covered, it’s just a matter of time before your flaws are exposed. Trust and believe, wolves will find your weakness. What is weakness to God? Anything that is without him, 2 Timothy 1:7, Ephesians 6:10 , Proverbs 24:10 , Proverbs 3:33-34.
The only way to stand firm is stay rooted in the Word of God, Galatians 5:1.
Wolves employ strategy when chasing prey by either chasing them into other wolves or having some wolves hang back so that if the prey circles back, they can take it down.
A wolf will make calculated assessments, steps, and risks to keep you on the run from God. To keep you from chasing God. To keep you divided from God, Luke 11:17. A wolf knows how to push a person into more wolves, more sin, more division. You can try to turn and run away from the wolf. Without calling on Christ you find yourself in a situation where no matter which way you turn you feel helpless with no way out.
Wolves for the most part will go for the nose or the back side of an animal to take it down.
Once they go in for the kill it will seem as though it is too late and the kill shot will be blatant and in your face, or it will be costly and sap your strength for a while. That type of kill shot will follow you where ever you go. Either way, it may hurt bad but it kills slowly.
A lone wolf is very formidable against it’s prey and can take it down quite easily. The prey will usually die of blood loss of shock.
It only takes one wolf to try and kill you. We can not ignore the fact that these formidable enemies may be within the camp of our lives. There are some of us who has a camp with children. Why are we playing with that? Why are we claiming two daddies? If we are letting wolves roam free in our camp, what do our children see? Do they know there is only one True and Living Father? We are supposed to only have one and he is more than willing to forgive us, redeem us, save us, heal us, and teach us how to fight the enemy. Satan can not make that guarantee. The guarantee that comes from Satan is that he will trick to steal, kill, and destroy you.
John 10:10
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Who will you put your trust in today?
Wolf in Sheep Skin . . . Part I
Satan’s schemes and tactics are running insane across our country, our world. These days, sex is no longer personal or taboo but has become a public, dishonorable commodity to say the least. Man’s anger has become so rampant, we have sufficed to allow it to become the air we breathe. We can barely get through a day without hearing someone lose their mind over any type of situation available for man to go through. Man has delighted in allowing their tongue to become so comfortable with slashing at the souls of each other, it has become nightly entertainment. All you have to do is turn on your TV or go outside and drive ten minutes in any direction. Our world is grotesquely spinning out of control. Where are the Christians who stand up against injustice? Where are the Christians who believe enough in God to stand in the gap for their family, their friends, and their community? Where are the Christians that push for revival and healing in our land? Why are we so comfortable with choosing to stay so distracted? The reason is simple. We are living with wolves in sheep skins.
Matthew 7:21-23
True and False Disciples
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The problem we are facing is that we are now divided at a greater level then ever before. We are no longer living just with division in the family. Our once great nation, pulling together as a country under God to ward off tyranny, is more divided now than ever before. Cultural differences are still being used as a form of division in many parts of the country and around the world. We are living in a day and age where being divided is now our atmosphere. This is true to such a degree that we now have learned to be divided within ourselves. We waste a lot time as Christians by busying ourselves, (Avoiding God), or self medicating our pain, (Lack of Faith), or by just being defiant and disobedient. True life is through Jesus Christ. Not Facebook, not buddies, not alcohol, drugs, sex, or anything else that defies the Righteousness of God.
If you recall, the above verse said, “Many will say Lord did we not prophesy in your name.” What does that mean? Read the following verse.
Matthew 7:15-20
True and False Prophets
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
It does not matter at all how much a person says Lord or how much they say they are all about God. If you read the Word you see, even the Devil knows the Word and will twist it to have you second guessing what God says is true and doubting your own self. The reality is he trying to get you to allow one of his wolves into your midst, Genesis 3:1-6.
The truth is we are seeing less and less life giving fruit. Jesus is very clear, anyone who does not bear good fruit will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. That doesn’t mean you will not enter the kingdom of heaven, but it means you won’t stack your treasure. You won’t be anything more than a shoe-in the door. Why be content to be regular in heaven for all eternity, when there is so much reward to gain?
The question now becomes, how do we test if there are wolves in our lives? Well if we truly believe that Jesus is who he says he is and exists now, before, and forevermore, then we should believe that what he says is true. We must test each and every spirit that comes our way. In other words, test every single person in your life. The Bible is clear, just because a person says they love God doesn’t mean they love God. Just because a person seems to have him in their hearts, doesn’t mean that is the case. How do you test them? Matthew 7:16-18. Well, what kind of fruit is the person in your life bearing? Good fruit or bad fruit?
Good fruit spirits will acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. They will acknowledge that he lived a perfect life so that when we accept him we can have that life credited to us. How is this possible? Jesus took it further and died a gruesome death as a sinless man taking on our own individual sin, in our place so that we may be free from the power of sin and death. Then he forgave us. Taking it a little further, a good fruit spirits will acknowledge that Jesus then rose from the grave on Sunday morning as our victorious King, 1 John 4:1-3. Good fruit spirits are rooted in Love. True Love. God’s Love. If a person understands God’s Love they will bare it’s fruit. Loving God with all their heart, soul, and strength. As well as loving their neighbor as themselves. Not picking and choosing who to love. Good fruit spirits have nothing to hide and is transparent. They encourage you to follow God’s Love commands therefore to love everyone. They encourage joy in your life. True joy, not happiness. It’s good to be happy but you can be happy and not be in God’s presence. The Bible says when you are in God’s presence, you experience Fullness of Joy, Psalm 16:11. You experience Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control with a good fruit spirit.
2 Timothy 3:1-7
Godlessness in the Last Days
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
A bad fruit spirit is from the start prideful, selfish, and unholy. To be Holy means you are set apart and unique. Not afraid to be different, or to be seen as different. You are blessed, revered, sacred. To be unholy it to be immoral, corrupt, wicked. Don’t think for a second that a wolf will never enter your home. It can always start as a trial, but without knowing God’s Word for how to deal with wolves, it can quickly turn into bad business. Our lives are meant to be Holy. Our bodies are meant to be Holy. Sex is meant to be Holy yet we as a generation have failed to figure out why it’s better to follow God’s command, than to follow our eyes and feelings. A bad fruit spirit loves pleasure. To be slanderous, without self-control, and many others. Worse of all they lead people away from God preying on the weak who have already been suffering with various passions. The weak people that the bad fruit spirits prey on are always learning but never put two and two together which is that the healing, and deliverance they have long searched for has been with Jesus all along.
If you are reading this and the first thing that pops in your head is someone you are in a relationship with, test that person. Don’t make another move that would facilitate any bad fruit and start asking questions. It’s easy to fall but hard to get up. Quickly ask God for strength to pick up your Shield of Faith. Your relationship with God is greater than any other relationship in your life and I will attempt to explain why later on. Make the decision today to believe God over your relationships and test them today.
It is time to recognize that there is something very spiritual with the situations in our lives. God is causing a stir in his children. He is placing us in a position where we are to mature in Christ, James 1:2-4. Some of us has been stuck in the sanctification process for years and some of us aren’t even aware it’s happening. If you believe that God is calling you to something greater, I challenge you to ask him to open your eyes, your ears, touch your heart, soul, and strength to recognize the wolves in your life. Do not put God off. The warning is clear in verse six, “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions”
