Ain't No Giant Gonna Walk On My Land!
I encountered one of my giants today.. One super big one dat used to intimidate me alot back then. He nearly provoked me into a rage and worse into a fight. It happened so quick dat at dat moment, i felt a strong urge to retaliate.. super strong urge. I can imagine the amount of spiritual warfare dat went on there and then.
It happened while i was listening to music at the bus interchange, earphones plugged in at a volume dat sorta cut me off from wat was happening around me. So yeah, i sat on one of the railings in the queue, waiting for my bus to arrive. I was deep in my own world listening to music and reading a mag i bought earlier on. So i didnt notice wat was happening around me.
Then the bus of the queue beside mine came first and ppl were moving in. So i sorta was obstructing others becos as i was sitting on the rail, apparently my bag was sticking out into their queue see.. and i didnt realise it becos i was so deep in my own world. And then came this fat fella who sorta shoved me from behind quite on purpose and at dat moment i just got pretty annoyed and i got down, closed my mag and stared straight at him. He looked back and replied something which i couldnt vaguely make out becos of the music.
At dat moment i felt a super strong urge to just let loose my tongue and lash back at him with mean sarcastic comments about his weight and shape. And yeah i pictured in my mind dat if dat situation got ugly, i'd just boot him in the face a few hard times, yes and my boots mind you are pretty hard. Yeah.. wow.. super violent ah.. HAH! i kinda shocked myself too.. But it wasnt a surprise because i used to be dat kinda person - vulgar, mean, quick to anger, violence-oriented.
Yea, at dat very moment was a clash of spiritual warfare i believe. And if you have giants in ur life like this for example, you'll know wat i mean when they suddenly come round and attack you. At dat moment, a spiritual battle takes place in the heavenly places out there. WHatever temptation to sin, whether it is to unleash ur anger, violence, temptation to cheat, to view pornography, to lust, to do watever.. Dat's why it's true when Pst says dat whatever happens in the natural realm here on earth is true in the spiritual realm as well.
See, when we become borned again in Jesus Christ, God doesnt take away our feelings, our abilities to do good or to sin. Ability is given by God to do the right things dat He wants us to do. But becos we live in a fallen world, dat ability dat He gave us is now a corrupted thing. Every beautiful thing made by God is corrupted by sin. So dat's why Man would use his talents and gifts and abilities to sin against God. But because these abilities are part of what makes us human, God doesnt take them away! So, dat means to say dat if we were once full of vulgarities, it doesnt mean dat we automatically stop cursing and swearing once we get saved in Christ. No. The difference is dat we now have the Holy Spirit to renew us slowly, day by day, as we allow Him into our lives to change us. He gives us the strength to OVERCOME.
Now if we have to overcome something, dat means dat dat thing is not taken away from us yea? Dat is why were are still imperfect creatures who are capable of sinning even after we have become borned again in Christ. God doesnt make us perfect and blameless when we accepted His Son Jesus Christ. The only difference is dat after beng borned again in Christ, we become EMPOWERED!
This supernatural empowerment is wat enables us to overcome evil and temptation! Therefore i can stand firm on this promise in the bible - 1 Cor 10:13 -> "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
And in James 4:7 -> "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." I always feel dat both these verses go hand in hand.
AMEN! And praise God, He gave me the self control to keep my tongue in check and my urge to use violence. At dat point, i could feel my heart inside beating very fast, preparing for 'fight or flight', the adrenalin rush. And i could feel a force fighting, clashing. Like a strong spiritual force between the demons and the angels which God sent to take me out of dat temptation. And praise God because His angels ALWAYS defeat the demons of satan WITHOUT FAIL!
We must realise a few things about the devil namely,
1. He is a big time loser.
2. He has no power over the faithful Christian because Jesus Christ has given us victory over him!
3. The devil can only TEMPT us to sin.. but he cannot MAKE us sin. (see the difference?)
4. He CANNOT make you sin, UNLESS you allow him an opening to let him work his evil in you.
Then how can we resist the devil and make him flee before us? How can we escape temptation? The answer can be found in the book of Ephesians 6:11 -> "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Verse 14 -> "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;"
Brothers & Sisters in Christ, put on the WHOLE armour of God! How? Here's how,
Firstly, in verse 14, gird ur waist with TRUTH! Wat is truth? The bible says dat Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life! Gird your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness! The word 'gird' has a few meanings but there are three meanings here which i would like to point out. 'Gird' here means 'to fasten or to secure', 'to equip or endow' and 'to prepare for action'. When we gird ourselves with truth, we secure this truth to ourselves, we equip ourselves with this truth AND this truth prepares us for action! Gird yourselves therefore, with the promise dat Jesus Christ has already won the victory! Gird yourselves with the living Word of truth - the Bible! So dat in the day when you have to face the 'action' of temptation, you are SECURE, EQUIPPED and PREPARED to deal with it!
Secondly, put on the breastplate of righteousness to GUARD AGAINST your heart! We gotta always be constantly guarding our heart! Why?? Because Matthew 15:18-19 says "18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Therefore, we MUST guard our heart against these things which the devil tries to place in our way.
Thirdly, in verse 15, shod ur feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. The New Living Translation of this same verse says "For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared." Notice, dat this verse again reinforces verse 14! And in verse 17a, put on the helmet of salvation! Be secure in the fact dat you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God! You have been bought with a price and dat price did not come cheap :) Jesus died for you so dat you might live! And dat you might live to show the world dat He lives in you! So GUARD YOUR MIND against all evil, lustful and wrong thoughts! Do not let the devil have a foothold in your mind! Romans 12:2 -> "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Fourthly, in verse 16, "above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."
RESIST THE DEVIL WITH FAITH! Above all above all above all, FAITH is wat you need to activate all of these :) This verse says dat with faith, you will quench ALLLL the temptations dat satan will target you with! Submit to God, place yourself in His hands by faith! With faith in the truths of the Word, with faith in God, you WILL resist the devil and he WILL FLEE FROM YOU!! AMEN!!
Notice dat all these while, we've been talking about things dat are defensive/protective in nature -> Helmet, shoes, belt, breastplate, shield. But now you're facing this huge monster of a giant in ur life dat is threatening to eat you up whole. You can only defend yourself with those things above and nothing else.. wat do you do? Now, this is what you do.. pick up the sword of the Spirit AND SLAY THE GIANT!! Immense yourself in the Word of God. Read it! Study it! Quote it! With this word, you'll not only be better at defending yourself, you will be on the offensive as well! Now go out there and SLAY THE GIANTS! Build yourself up strongly in the word of God, and when each time the devil corners you with temptation to sin, take out this sword and SLAY him WITH IT! Hallelujah!
It happened while i was listening to music at the bus interchange, earphones plugged in at a volume dat sorta cut me off from wat was happening around me. So yeah, i sat on one of the railings in the queue, waiting for my bus to arrive. I was deep in my own world listening to music and reading a mag i bought earlier on. So i didnt notice wat was happening around me.
Then the bus of the queue beside mine came first and ppl were moving in. So i sorta was obstructing others becos as i was sitting on the rail, apparently my bag was sticking out into their queue see.. and i didnt realise it becos i was so deep in my own world. And then came this fat fella who sorta shoved me from behind quite on purpose and at dat moment i just got pretty annoyed and i got down, closed my mag and stared straight at him. He looked back and replied something which i couldnt vaguely make out becos of the music.
At dat moment i felt a super strong urge to just let loose my tongue and lash back at him with mean sarcastic comments about his weight and shape. And yeah i pictured in my mind dat if dat situation got ugly, i'd just boot him in the face a few hard times, yes and my boots mind you are pretty hard. Yeah.. wow.. super violent ah.. HAH! i kinda shocked myself too.. But it wasnt a surprise because i used to be dat kinda person - vulgar, mean, quick to anger, violence-oriented.
Yea, at dat very moment was a clash of spiritual warfare i believe. And if you have giants in ur life like this for example, you'll know wat i mean when they suddenly come round and attack you. At dat moment, a spiritual battle takes place in the heavenly places out there. WHatever temptation to sin, whether it is to unleash ur anger, violence, temptation to cheat, to view pornography, to lust, to do watever.. Dat's why it's true when Pst says dat whatever happens in the natural realm here on earth is true in the spiritual realm as well.
See, when we become borned again in Jesus Christ, God doesnt take away our feelings, our abilities to do good or to sin. Ability is given by God to do the right things dat He wants us to do. But becos we live in a fallen world, dat ability dat He gave us is now a corrupted thing. Every beautiful thing made by God is corrupted by sin. So dat's why Man would use his talents and gifts and abilities to sin against God. But because these abilities are part of what makes us human, God doesnt take them away! So, dat means to say dat if we were once full of vulgarities, it doesnt mean dat we automatically stop cursing and swearing once we get saved in Christ. No. The difference is dat we now have the Holy Spirit to renew us slowly, day by day, as we allow Him into our lives to change us. He gives us the strength to OVERCOME.
Now if we have to overcome something, dat means dat dat thing is not taken away from us yea? Dat is why were are still imperfect creatures who are capable of sinning even after we have become borned again in Christ. God doesnt make us perfect and blameless when we accepted His Son Jesus Christ. The only difference is dat after beng borned again in Christ, we become EMPOWERED!
This supernatural empowerment is wat enables us to overcome evil and temptation! Therefore i can stand firm on this promise in the bible - 1 Cor 10:13 -> "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
And in James 4:7 -> "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." I always feel dat both these verses go hand in hand.
AMEN! And praise God, He gave me the self control to keep my tongue in check and my urge to use violence. At dat point, i could feel my heart inside beating very fast, preparing for 'fight or flight', the adrenalin rush. And i could feel a force fighting, clashing. Like a strong spiritual force between the demons and the angels which God sent to take me out of dat temptation. And praise God because His angels ALWAYS defeat the demons of satan WITHOUT FAIL!
We must realise a few things about the devil namely,
1. He is a big time loser.
2. He has no power over the faithful Christian because Jesus Christ has given us victory over him!
3. The devil can only TEMPT us to sin.. but he cannot MAKE us sin. (see the difference?)
4. He CANNOT make you sin, UNLESS you allow him an opening to let him work his evil in you.
Then how can we resist the devil and make him flee before us? How can we escape temptation? The answer can be found in the book of Ephesians 6:11 -> "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Verse 14 -> "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;"
Brothers & Sisters in Christ, put on the WHOLE armour of God! How? Here's how,
Firstly, in verse 14, gird ur waist with TRUTH! Wat is truth? The bible says dat Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life! Gird your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness! The word 'gird' has a few meanings but there are three meanings here which i would like to point out. 'Gird' here means 'to fasten or to secure', 'to equip or endow' and 'to prepare for action'. When we gird ourselves with truth, we secure this truth to ourselves, we equip ourselves with this truth AND this truth prepares us for action! Gird yourselves therefore, with the promise dat Jesus Christ has already won the victory! Gird yourselves with the living Word of truth - the Bible! So dat in the day when you have to face the 'action' of temptation, you are SECURE, EQUIPPED and PREPARED to deal with it!
Secondly, put on the breastplate of righteousness to GUARD AGAINST your heart! We gotta always be constantly guarding our heart! Why?? Because Matthew 15:18-19 says "18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Therefore, we MUST guard our heart against these things which the devil tries to place in our way.
Thirdly, in verse 15, shod ur feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. The New Living Translation of this same verse says "For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared." Notice, dat this verse again reinforces verse 14! And in verse 17a, put on the helmet of salvation! Be secure in the fact dat you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God! You have been bought with a price and dat price did not come cheap :) Jesus died for you so dat you might live! And dat you might live to show the world dat He lives in you! So GUARD YOUR MIND against all evil, lustful and wrong thoughts! Do not let the devil have a foothold in your mind! Romans 12:2 -> "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Fourthly, in verse 16, "above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."
RESIST THE DEVIL WITH FAITH! Above all above all above all, FAITH is wat you need to activate all of these :) This verse says dat with faith, you will quench ALLLL the temptations dat satan will target you with! Submit to God, place yourself in His hands by faith! With faith in the truths of the Word, with faith in God, you WILL resist the devil and he WILL FLEE FROM YOU!! AMEN!!
Notice dat all these while, we've been talking about things dat are defensive/protective in nature -> Helmet, shoes, belt, breastplate, shield. But now you're facing this huge monster of a giant in ur life dat is threatening to eat you up whole. You can only defend yourself with those things above and nothing else.. wat do you do? Now, this is what you do.. pick up the sword of the Spirit AND SLAY THE GIANT!! Immense yourself in the Word of God. Read it! Study it! Quote it! With this word, you'll not only be better at defending yourself, you will be on the offensive as well! Now go out there and SLAY THE GIANTS! Build yourself up strongly in the word of God, and when each time the devil corners you with temptation to sin, take out this sword and SLAY him WITH IT! Hallelujah!
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