I have been thinking about the spiritual , warfare we face as Christians and how the enemy is relentless, but it comes as no surprise because we see the same thing throughout scripture. But the good news is no matter what the enemy throws at us we know our God is bigger! It doesn’t mean that we will not walk through difficult situations, but when we walk through them we can still have peace of mind (God’s peace), hope, joy, and victory. Each battle we face can either make us or break us in our walk with God and we are the ones who decide which it will be.

The Bible never says storms will not come, but it does prepare us for those difficult situations. I am reminded of Paul. He was doing everything for the Lord. He was called to minister to the people and that was exactly what he was doing, but along the way he faced many difficulties. His journey was never smooth sailing. It included beatings, being put in jail, being bitten by a deadly snake, being shipped wrecked, being hated for casting a demon out of a girl to set her free, and the list goes on and on.

So many times I think we have the wrong view of spiritual warfare. We think once we know how to respond to it that it just goes away—that suddenly the enemy just gives up and moves on, but that is not the case at all. I do not see that in the Bible anywhere! I see the exact opposite. I see the demons targeting those who are walking with God and doing what God has called them to do. I see the demons targeting the move of the Holy Spirit. I see demons trying to steal the identity of God’s creation so we will not walk in the callings given by God to further His kingdom. We are told to wear the full armor of God for battle. Armor is not for skipping through a field of roses. Our victory is the peace of mind we can carry through every situation. Our victory is when we submit to God, resist the devil, he then must flee. And then there will be another attack and we do the same thing until the next time…and there will always be a next time. The enemy does not give up.

Just because we are being fought against from every side does not always mean we are doing something wrong. It does not always mean there is an open door to the demons. It could simply mean we are facing warfare and we need to weather the battle, learn from it, stand firm as we face it, run to God, and not let our faith waiver. Look the enemy straight in the face and say you have to go in the name of Jesus and believe the demons will flee because they have no choice! We have authority over the enemy through Jesus Christ, and it is time we start living our lives that way! 

I often talk/message with people who seem to be shocked that they still face spiritual warfare after deliverance and because they still have warfare they feel like they are not totally free. That could definitely be the case, but it is not always the case at all. Some fall into the bondage of constantly looking and obsessing over what doors they may possibly still have opened or why they have demons attacking them. I fully believe that we will not be to a place of never being attacked until we get to heaven. I don’t think the warfare ever stops and it gets stronger and stronger as the world gets more and more evil. We as Christians are not exempt from the battle. We are called to battle because we carry the Spirit of God within us. We do have authority over the enemy, and we can (and should) walk in that authority, but that does not stop the enemy from trying to torment us.

Our mind is our territory and we can have freedom in our mind, but the enemy will still try to whisper lies to us. We must learn to recognize those lies and pull them down 100% of the time. That is where the biggest battles take place—in the mind. That is where the wars are fought and won. As soon as that lie is whispered it must be replaced with the Word of God and His truth. We cannot allow the lie to linger for even a moment. We have the authority to pull down every single lie whispered by the enemy, but it takes work, time, and consistency. It must be done every time!

I also want to make it clear I am not saying that God is not bigger than the enemy or that we should ever fear the enemy—at all! We do not walk in fear. I am just making it clear that we will face battles and the Bible makes that clear. We can allow the battles to draw us closer to God or we can allow them to make us doubt God and His character. What we do in the valley is so important. When we are on the mountain top and everything is going great it is easy to praise God and talk about His goodness, but how do we respond when we are in the valley? He is God in our valley as well as our mountain top, or He is not really our God at all. There are things in this life that we will never fully understand, but we must have it fixed in our heart the character of God and our relationship with Him or our relationship with Him will be easily broken during trying times.

We must be ready for battle at all times, allow difficult situations to mold us into being more Christ like, surrender to God fully, walk in the authority given to us by God, and never give up! We are more than conquerors though Jesus who gives us strength! That thing that the enemy is using to try to destroy you—use it to grow in God and become a warrior for Christ! Use it to become a beacon in the dark places to lead others into the light of Gods truth. Allow it to build spiritual endurance and stamina. Make the enemy sorry for messing with you!

Blessings,

Nichole Henson

Fullness of Joy Ministry

fullnessofjoyministry@gmail.com