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Spiritual Warfare – How Does The Shield of Faith Help When the Attacks Come?
Spiritual Warfare – How Does The Shield of Faith Help When the Attacks Come?
Discover How to Take the Power Out of the Attacks by Putting on
the Shield of Faith!
Spiritual warfare requires responding to attacks with the Shield of Faith.
Sometimes the attacks come at our thoughts with the power of suggestion. Other times it may be in the form of sickness, accidents, poverty, or tragedy.
In all cases, we must react immediately to the attack with faith.
A Battle to Fight: The Enemy
Don’t be fooled, lest satan should get an advantage on you.
Throughout the Bible, in verses such as 2 Corinthians 2:11, we are told not to be fooled of his devices. This is important to be aware of, because if we are not conscious of the true source of trouble, we may fall guilty to blaming God.
“Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.”
– C.S. Lewis
Attacks are going to come. That is part of life on earth regardless who you are. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the enemy is regularly throwing his fiery darts at us.
Do we really see the enemy hand behind the attacks?
There is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of our lives than the majority of us have been led to believe.
Keep in mind: As believers we have the image of God reflected in a us. This does not please the enemy. My greatest battles in life have come after purposing to step out in some way for God.
A Battle to Fight: Power to Overcome
The Lord wants to protect us from attacks. That is why He provided us His Word and tells us to put on the whole armor of God.
The Shield of Faith is part of the armor and designed to render harmless the fiery darts that come our way. Be aware that we cannot stop the attacks from coming, but we can stop them from having a lasting effect.
Regardless of the type of attack, we must stand ready to repel the enemy plan with the Word of God spoken in faith. Remember, we are to live by faith.
Stand in the Battle: You are Not Alone
Jesus is a great example of how to stand against the enemy and overcome.
He was tempted by satan through the power of suggestion. Notice that He was not passive about the attacks in His thoughts. He always took immediate action and repelled the suggestions with the Word of God. This caused satan’s darts to quickly become extinguished. Christ aggressively answered each barrage with faith.
“If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven.” – Thomas A Kempis
Shield your heart, mind, and body. Our faith should be in every promise God made to us. We all have different levels of faith in different areas.
If your faith is weak in an area build it up by listening to the Word of God on that subject. Meditate on verses that will help your faith in that area.
Examples of Responding to Attacks in Faith:
For bad thoughts, fear, and negative suggestions:
Resist by saying God has given me a spirit of power, and love, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
For sickness and physical attacks:
Resist by saying Jesus took my infirmities and bore my sickness, and by His stripes I am healed. (Matthew 8:17, 1 Peter 2:24)
For poverty attacks:
Resist by saying my God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
For persecution attacks:
Resist by saying no weapon formed against me shall prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)
Case in Point: The Shield of Faith repels not only attacks on our minds, but circumstances as well. Stand strong and have courage knowing that all the attacks are rendered harmless when we rise to meet them in faith.
May you walk by faith and continue to experience a life of growing prosperity!
God bless you –
Brenda
Growing Prosperity – Why Do the Wicked Prosper While the Godly Suffer Lack?
Growing Prosperity – Why Do the Wicked Prosper While the Godly Suffer Lack?
Put Yourself On The Road to Growing Prosperity!
What profit is there in serving God? This is not a new question. People have been asking this for thousands of years.
When challenging times come, unfortunately God often gets the blame. Are you going to be found guilty of bad mouthing God when trouble comes your way?
I know I have had to repent for this. I also know that while I was busy feeling sorry for myself and questioning God, my situation only grew worse.
Once I decided to adjust the attitude of my heart, stand steadfast, renew my faith in the Word of God, and cry out to Him for help, things started to improve.
How’s the Attitude of Your Heart?
We really need to take inventory of our own lives, especially the condition of our heart, before we dare even think to step out in arrogance and pride to judge God; which we should never do.
Look at some of the people complaining about not prospering back in the book of Malachi. They were found speaking harshly against God; claiming to obey His law and yet failing to profit, but saying the wicked disobey and prosper.
The people said they were obeying God’s laws. Yet were they really?
If we take a look, we see they would go through the motion of what was required, but it was not out of love and honor for God with the right heart attitude. For instance, if they did give their tithes and offerings it was not the first and the best; it was the unwanted, rotten and moldy.
Their giving was not with a cheerful, thankful heart out of love, honor, and respect to God; who all provision comes from in the first place. They were just going through the motion.
God is after your heart. Where’s yours?
It may look by the appearance of some people, as if they have it all together and are prospering, even though they are living a sinful life and don’t honor God. A certain measure of success can be reached by following natural laws, however, without God it is impossible to truly prosper.
You Qualify for Prosperity
You have the opportunity to experience a full and complete life with God and prosper in every area. He wants you to experience an abundance of life on earth and in Heaven. In Matthew 6:10 Jesus told us to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.” There is no poverty in heaven.
God’s will is that all his children prosper spiritually, physically, and financially.
“Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” – 3 John 2
The abundant prosperity of God comes to those who obey His commandments. As long as your heart is right, God doesn’t have a problem with blessing you. If you have greed in your heart or poverty thinking in your mind, let God clean it out.
Renew your mind to God’s Word concerning prosperity and let Him reveal the mystery of sowing and reaping. God gives you the ability to gain wealth so that you can help establish His covenant.
Get your heart, thoughts, words, and actions lined up with the Word of God.
A Special Book in Heaven
In Malachi we also see the Lord make a book of remembrance for those who fear Him and who meditate on His name. He then reminds us that there is a day coming, that the righteous will be lifted up as jewels, and the proud and wicked will be put down.
Serving God brings rewards in this lifetime and in heaven.
Don’t let yourself get distracted with what the unjust are doing. Stand steadfast and don’t give up, because your labor is not in vain.
Prosperity comes through faith and patience. Don’t throw in the towel just because your prosperity has not yet fully manifested or because trials come your way. Adjust your life as needed as you continue moving forward.
The bottom line is this: We’ll never know all the answers in this lifetime, but we know enough to keep us busy a lifetime. It takes faith to please God and the just live by faith. They don’t just ‘try-it-out’. So now go get busy doing what God says, because my Bible says if you do, blessings will come on you and overtake you.
May your heart chase after the things of God and your life be full of growing prosperity!
Be blessed to be a blessing,
Brenda
How Do You Overcome Spiritual Attacks with the Powerful Authority Provided You?
Spiritual Warfare – How to Overcome with the Powerful Authority Provided You?
Fight Spiritual Attacks with Spiritual Weapons!
Spiritual warfare is real and it is important to understand this raging battle between the Word of God and the forces of darkness. Once you acknowledge the battle at hand, you’ll understand the need for the authority Christ gave to His believers.
What Authority Do We Have?
“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.”
— Jesus Christ (Luke 10:19)
Keep in mind, poisonous reptiles and insects were something that the early church leaders regularly encountered. They had to battle this type of attack from the enemy, while spreading the Gospel, and they also had to deal with demonic spiritual activity.
Today, as believers, we may not regularly face serpents and scorpions, but we do face fear, rejection, persecution, hatred, sickness, poverty, and such. But we are not powerless, because Jesus gave us power to overcome all the attacks of the enemy.
Who is the Battle Against?
First let’s look at what we are up against. Spiritual warfare is a battle against unseen demonic spirit beings that use people. Our real enemies are not people. And because they are not flesh, we cannot fight them physically. Unfortunately, because they are unseen, many people don’t believe they even exist.
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
— Ephesians 6:12
Spiritual attacks are fought with spiritual armor and weapons. The Lord tells us to put on the whole armor of God, which He provided us, so that we will be able to stand against the evil one. (Ephesians 6:13) The armor helps defend us from the enemy’s fiery darts that come at us.
How Do We Use Our Authority?
God gave us an offensive weapon that will penetrate the spirit world. It is called the Sword of the Spirit. This is the Word of God.
“The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.”
— Hebrews 4:12
A sword used to be the most powerful weapon and was compared to the Word of God to represent the power available in the Word. Today we have much more powerful weapons available, but you get the idea.
The Word of God, when spoken by a believer, can penetrate the spirit world and cause harm to the enemy and stop him in his tracks.
Most of the attacks of the enemy are aimed at filling the minds of people with lies so that they cannot think clearly about God’s truth. Jesus told us that the devil is the father of all lies and there is no truth in him. (John 8:44)
Specific Instructions
We exercise our spiritual authority in Christ by speaking the Word of God directly to the enemy. There is no instruction in the Bible to pray to God to stop the devil. Nor are we to just ignore him.
The instructions given say to resist him and give him no place. (Ephesians 4:27, James 4:7). Believers are also empowered to cast him out. (Mark 16:17)
We are to use our authority and speak directly to the enemy, like Jesus did, and command him to stop. When satan attacked the thoughts of Jesus, He immediately responded by saying ‘It is written’, and spoke the Word of God. (Matthew 4)
Work the Word and watch it work!
Now that you are armed with this information; use it. We are not powerless to resist outlaw spirits that challenge us and our mission. Power is available in the Word of God to overcome evil. It is our responsibility to use the authority Jesus has provided. If we will take authority over the enemy, we can cause his plans to backfire on him every time.
May you put the power of the Word of God to work in your life daily and continue to experience a life of growing prosperity!
God bless you,
Brenda
Dare To Prosper – Blow The Limits Off Small Thinking!
Dare To Prosper – Blow The Limits Off Small Thinking!
Discover How to Kick Your Life Into High Gear and Prosper With Abundant Thinking!
Prosperity requires knowing what you want. Do you want to prosper, yet expect someone else to figure out what you want and drop it off on your front door step?
Before you can receive anything in life, you first have to know exactly what you want.
Think about that for a minute.
You need to know exactly what you want, then boldly declare it to receive it.
GET FREE FROM SMALL THINKING
Are you like many people who pretend they don’t want the things they think they can never have? Small thinking keeps you from having growing prosperity. You can be free to be all that God has created you to be and free to have all that He said you can have.
It is liberating to know God through His Word. John 8:32 tells us that in His Word you’ll know the truth and it will set you free.
Truth is, the desire of God is to bless His children and see them prosper. He made us the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. We are blessed going in and blessed going out, and everything we set our hands to will prosper (Deut. 28:1-8)!
PUT ON ABUNDANT THINKING
Follow the law of attraction and keep your thoughts focused on what you believe to receive and attract. God wants to abundantly supply what you ask for and bring you into a deeper level with Him. Just be obedient to follow His ways and be determined to receive everything He has promised to you in His Word.
“I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” – Jesus Christ
Open your eyes to some powerful little phrases. You’ll often come across words in the Bible like: what things soever you desire, whatsoever you say, all things, anything, and what you will. These should impact and challenge us to always say exactly what we want and blow the limits off our small thinking!
NOW GO PROSPER
Come to the point where you are determined to get what you want. Fight off any negative or small thinking that will keep you down and willing to settle for less than God’s best. No matter what you need and desire in life, learn to depend on a God that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think. I dare you to prosper. 😉
May you put on abundant thinking and continue to have growing prosperity in your life!
Be blessed to be a blessing –
Cheers,
Brenda
Cry Out to and Trust in the Living God – Psalm 84 Video
Cry Out to and Trust in the Living God – Psalm 84
Blessed is the Man whose Strength and Trust is in the Lord
“My soul longs … my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God …
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You …
They go from strength to strength …
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer …
and look upon the face of Your anointed …
The Lord will give grace and glory:
no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly …
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in you.”
Psalm 84
These are some verses taken from Psalms chapter 84. I highly recommend cracking open your Bible and giving the whole chapter a read. 😉
This video is about a minute 40 and includes some beautiful piano music by Kevin MacLeod. Enjoy!
God bless you – cheers,
Brenda
P.S. Please comment and let me know if you have a favorite verse you would like put to video …
What Gives Us the Right to Enter God’s Presence?
What Gives Us the Right to Enter God’s Presence?
We enjoyed guest ministers, Mark and Trina Hankins, last night at our church. They’ll actually be ministering to us three nights in a row.
They taught on what seems to be a taboo message that freaks people out a little. And frankly, I think the only reason that is, is because it’s not talked about enough. The blood of Jesus.
Mark Hankins taught on the things connected and associated with the power that is available in the blood that Jesus paid on the cross. His main reference was in Hebrews 10:19-22 and how because of the blood we can boldly access the throne of God.
We have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 10:19
The price Jesus paid covers more than forgiveness & our salvation. The blood also pays for freedom from a sin consciousness and freedom from the curse (such as poverty, sickness, and depression). Our faith in the blood is the currency that pays for these freedoms.
What Christ did is perfect and the blood alone has done everything. Perfect.
But our access to it (which is by faith) can be imperfect.
In the Old Testament only the high priest was able to enter the throne room and he did it in fear. We now have a better covenant and not only have access to the Holiest, but we are told to go boldly.
Our conscious (inner voice, reminding us of past sins) can shut down our heart and keep us from entering into the presence of God. Our heart needs to be open to fully move into His presence.
It’s the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working together that opens up our heart and has a magnetic like pull to take us into the presence of God.
Hebrews 10:22 tells us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
Have unshakeable assurance that God, our Father, is eager to see us. When we show up He is happy to see us. :0) He wants to fellowship with us!
God wants us to draw near to him, but we have to do the “drawing near”. Mark Hankins reminded us that God has not moved. We are the ones who have drawn back.
We are to go boldly to the throne of God to obtain mercy and grace for help in time of need (Heb 4:16). If we don’t get bold and go, we’ll continue to carry our own burdens. And we have to be bold; because the devil is doing everything he can to distract us!
Like any will, that is only available to the inheritors after a death, God’s will in the New Testament became available after the death of Jesus.
The apostle Paul says that as believers we have a massive inheritance! Everything He gave to Jesus is ours. Equal possession with equal position.
If the enemy can hinder us to take our position, he can take our possession.
You have to take your position to take your possession and prosper. Open your heart to the fellowship of the Father. And don’t be satisfied with an intellectual relationship.
God is our Father. He wants and desires us to come to Him. He wants to fellowship and have a close relationship with us. And because of the price Jesus paid we have the right to be in the presence of God.
How do we know if we have been in His presence? If we have joy.
You cannot access His presence without being changed and come out with joy. In His presence is the fullness of joy!
I pray that we all may purpose to spend more time in His life changing presence!
God bless you,
Brenda
P.S. The Mark Hankins Ministry is online at www.MarkHankins.org. A large selection of Mark Hankins Resources can also be found on Amazon. My mom is a big fan of Trina Hankins music ministry.
How to Prosper by Overcoming Anxiety with Abundant Favor!
How to Prosper by Overcoming Anxiety with Abundant Favor!
God Gives an Abundance of Favor for Your Confidence to Prosper
Our minds often get conditioned to accept a low level of confidence because of past experiences we’ve had as far back as our childhood. The stresses, pressures and daily attacks on our minds can have us living in fear, anxiety and depression. However, that does not have to be the case.
God’s love and favor heals insecurities and anxieties!
Begin to realize the divine favor you have with God and man and learn how to put it to work in your life. God’s blessing of favor flowing in your life is not based on your background, talents, or anything you have learned. Ephesians 6:24 says that grace is with all those that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Grace means favor you do not deserve.
Start the favor of God flowing in your life by daily confessing what God promises. Then you will see yourself walking in His favor in every area of your life. Speak words of favor over and over during the day until your spirit is revived. When the truth of God’s love and favor get planted into your spirit, it will replace the insecurities and anxieties you have.
Many people confess doubt and failure over and over during their lifetime until their spirit is depressed and broken. Do not be one of those people! Within just a few days you can experience a very dramatic change with God’s abundant favor.
Get started right now with these confessions on favor and confidence:
I am blessed with God’s grace. God pours out on me a river of favor with God and with those around me.
You, Lord bless me with favor and You surround me as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12)
I have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16)
The Greater One lives in me. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
I am being filled with God’s fullness. I am being rooted and grounded in love. God is doing exceeding and abundantly above all that I ask or think. His mighty power is taking over in me. (Eph. 3:17-20)
I grow strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace and favor of God is upon me. (Luke 2:40)
The truth of God’s Word makes me free. (John 8:32)
Thank You, Lord, that I have favor with You and man and people go out of their way to bless me and do good to me today.
Favor flows by standing on the living Word of God in faith. Reject the negative things you have been feeding into your mind. Accept only what the Lord has told you. Repeat the above confessions until doubt disappears.
Learn to walk in God’s favor. It is for you today. Speak favor. Live favor. Be prosperous. Live life expecting something great to happen daily and it will. Remember, with God nothing is impossible. Let His truth take root in you. Favor is God’s promise to every believer from His Word. All you have to do is receive it and prosper.
Enjoy growing prosperity as the favor of God flows in your life!
God bless you,
Brenda
Prosperity – Only If You Think So!
Prosperity – Only If You Think So!
Are Your Thoughts Holding a Vision for Growing Prosperity?
Living a prosperous life and attracting those things that make it abundant and fulfilling require directing your thoughts. General concepts, vague desires, fuzzy or wishful thinking do not have the power to create a specific result because they are not specific thoughts.
The following three keys will help you prosper by directing your thoughts correctly:
#1 Have a Clear Mental Picture
You must form a clear vision of what you want to do, have, or become. It is key to know specifically what you want, before you can ask for it. It is not enough to have a general thought of desire for wealth, health, or a loving relationship. Most people wish for these things. A clear, specific, mental picture of what you want must be formed in your thoughts in order to put the creative power of your mind into action.
#2 Keep a Clear Mental Picture in Your Mind Continually
A clear vision of what you want must continually be in your thoughts. If your mental picture is clear and specific with details, the more you’ll think on it and the more you’ll desire it. Your desire must be strong enough to keep your thoughts directed toward that thing continually. The stronger the desire becomes the easier it will be to keep your focus on what you want. This in turn acts like a magnet drawing that desired thing to you.
#3 Unwavering Faith is Required to Take Possession of the Thought
A clear and concise, constant mental image also requires an unwavering faith to materialize and take possession of the vision. Live in the mental realm with full enjoyment of what you desire until it takes form around you physically. Take possession of it in your mind with the full power of faith that it is actually yours. Do not waver in your faith for even one instant that it is real.
Jesus told us in Mark 11:24 “Whatsoever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.” Also note that in verse 22 He said “Have faith in God.” Then in verse 23 He also said “Do not doubt in your heart.”
Grow prosperity in your life by formulating your thoughts into specific, clear, mental images of what you desire. Take mental ownership of the desire in your vision and keep it continually in your thoughts. Keep the vision with unwavering faith until you obtain it and prosper.
May you experience growing prosperity in your life as you direct your thoughts daily in faith!
Cheers,
Brenda