Invisible War Part 1-4
By Kirby Robinson
 
Our daily struggle here in this life is just not with worries about careers or meeting a deadline or following the crowd, or even being around loved ones. In many ways I wish it was but it is not. We are not simply a physical body with no soul or spirit whose existence comes to an end when our body dies. We live on past that point and we must be held accountable for our actions and deeds in this life. Did we show love and compassion to our fellow man? Did we truly have faith in the spiritual path that we followed or claimed to follow? And did we engage the forces of darkness in battle when and where we were called on to do so in Chip Ingram’s great “The Invisible War: What Every Believer Needs to Know About Satan, Demons and Spiritual Warfare.” In it, the concept and reasons for and the how to of spiritual warfare with the triad of darkness is laid out and much of my teaching will be coming from Chip Ingram’s book at the same time I will throw in my view point as well when we talk about spiritual warfare we cannot get away from the number 1 passage of the new testament and one of the corner stones of Paul’s message the other is the grace of our lord is Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 12.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole amour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There are 3 commands that Paul gives us.

1 Let God be God for He is great in power and His power will be limited only by you thinking He is weak. Then He can only be weak but know He is strong and cannot be defeated then you have unlimited power surrounding you.
2 Remember the saying, “Do not go off half cocked.” Never enter battle unless you put on every piece of amour that the Lord offers you.
3 We struggle not only with the flesh but with the spirits of the world.

There are 5 truths when it comes to spiritual warfare that we must understand.
 
Truth #1 There is an invisible world that is just as real as the physical world we live in that “spirits” inhabit just as we do this world. Take note in the following passages: 2 Kings 6 verses 15 to 19 Daniel 10 and Ephesians 6 verse 12. These are all examples of man being told there are spirits of light and darkness at war with each other.

Truth #2 We are part of this struggle whether we want to be or not take a close look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 to 5. We are told we are living physical bodies. The weapons that we fight with are not of flesh but of spirit. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 that the God of this realm has blinded people to the concept of God who He is and His power. So we see, in my opinion, that here we are not talking about Lucifer for he is a angel and not a God for a angel cannot be a God but we are talking about the second member of the unholy trinity, Satan, the god that seeks to rule this planet.

Truth #3 Our foes are formidable. And in a future blog we will focus on the tools that they use against us.

Truth #4 We are to respect our foe but not fear him. When we use this term “respect” we are not talking about a positive respect but one stating we know he is cunning, does not give up, and is skillful in the art of temptation and lies.

Truth #5 The final truth is that we do not fight with victory but from victory. I myself get labeled as being cocky or coming off all macho when I say I promise to people that the demons leave when I leave. It’s not cocky. I do this but the Bible states that Christ’s death and His resurrection defeated the forces of darkness a defeat that they can never recover from. Take for example 1 John chapter 4 verse 4 and chapter 5 verses 4 to 5.


Invisible War Part 2
By Kirby Robinson

Now we’ll discuss the tricks of the dark forces and the four cornerstones to having knowledge that with the armor of God around you the dark forces will flee. Again in many ways I am sharing from the great book “The Invisible War” by Chip Ingram as he derives far more credit than me. Also, please don’t get the idea that I am trying to instill fear into anyone about the power of the dark side. That is far from what I am trying to teach here.

What I am trying to do is let you know that you need not have any fear if you walk in the light and understand that you are constantly under the protection of God. You go everywhere and do everything with Him. God is not only standing by your side, He is always to the left of you, and to the right of you. He is in front of you leading the way. And He is at your back watching where you have been. He is above you as well as He is in the ground you walk on. God is just like a big shell of protection around you that the darkness can’t enter. Understand as I advance in my work the power of love is the greatest weapon to use against demonic forces. They can’t utter the word love. They can’t stand to hear the word or be told that they are loved because the source of all love comes from God. The forces of darkness follow a 3-prong attack against the forces of light and those who express a faith in God.

Prong #1. The False Front/False philosophies. The dark side takes good sound thinking and creates hollow philosophies. If a person attempts to follow these false teachings they find that the ideas being taught are worthless, and they abandon hope and turn against seeking love.

False Religions. Mr. Ingram would say that Buddhism and the Muslim faith would be examples of a false religion. I would disagree. The false religion that the forces of darkness will use is a false Christian doctrine. For example, Jim Jones or one of these “identity” churches that teach that God’s message is only for white people. These types of false religions are what Satan and Lucifer will employ to convince those who have faith in God to walk away from it or to convince folks into not trying at all.

False Ministers. Jim Jones is a prime example of being the sort of person NOT to follow. How many people got turned off to the Christian religion by “Minister” Jones? He was responsible for the deaths of more than 900 people and the term don’t drink the Kool-Aid is a direct reference to his deadly cult. Or the Branch Davidians? More than 70 people, many of them children, followed David Koresh to their fiery deaths. A false Minster is like a cancer that quickly spreads.

False Doctrine. Back in the 1980s and 1990s two false doctrines made the rounds of many churches.

1 We can become like God.
2 Just by giving to the church you’ll become rich.

You hear them all the time they come and they go but when they go they take many with them who have been hurt by the lies they where taught.

False Disciples. You know the type -- sin on Saturday, go to church and ask forgiveness on Sunday. Or, I am better then you, I sit on the church board.

False Morals. A moral code that is either so lax that anything goes or one that is so strict that no one can live up to it, so they feel like a failure.

Prong #2. The second front of their attack is working outside of the church and directing society to turn their backs on religion.

How many nations today that you can think of are places where religion is outlawed or there is only one religion that is allowed?

Deceiving people directly. Hearing that little voice in your head telling you it’s 7 am Sunday morning stay in bed and forget about going to church. Or, why bother going they don’t like me at that church.

Destroying lives. If the forces can keep your life in turmoil you never have time to think about seeking help and often he destroys others lives. Just the other day I heard a man say “If there is a God how could he allow moms to kill their own kids?”

Persecuting the saints. If he can make a strong believer’s life a poster for the disaster of the month club, then new followers, or those yet to follow, will quickly give up.

Planting doubt into people’s minds. How often have you heard “He was born of a virgin, no way.” “He rose from the dead, come on nobody does that.” If doubts linger then a faith cannot take hold.

Prong # 3 Sin: Anger, pride, worry, self reliance (this one is a struggle for me I hate to ask help from others), discouragement, worldliness, lying, and immorality. If you notice from this list there as many that are rooted in mind only activity. If you can defeat the mind first, the body becomes an easy prey.

Lastly, the 4 Cornerstones to a faith that leads to victory over the forces of darkness and will keep the demons at bay.

1 You must know that the unholy three are a defeated force.

2 Jesus destroyed the works of the unholy trinity.

3 We are victorious in Christ.

4 We have all the powers and resources that we need to resist any demons or dark forces we encounter.

Invisible War Part 3
By Kirby Robinson

You are now reading Spiritual Warfare 201, and since we have the basics out of the way, let’s move on. You now know you have the power and the weapons to stand against the forces of darkness whether it is facing a demonic entity in your home or life, or the powers of darkness are just trying to test you and pull you off your path a bit.

Let’s start by taking a look at Ephesians 6:13. “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

We are told here to take up the full armor. Every single piece of protection that God offers we are to put to use. We are told that by doing this we will be able to withstand and hold off our foes within the darkness: not maybe or might but we will resist the evil forces. The term “in the evil day” there are many different ways to enter the meaning of the phrase. The one I am most comfortable with is these are evil days we live in. This is an evil world that we live in. Lucifer cursed Adam and Eve to fall, thus he turned this world that was meant to be ruled by the heavens to a world ruled by the ancient spirit. Satan who now is in charge of things here with limitations we must be ready to resist in this evil day, evil world that Satan seeks to become “the” ruler of. Lucifer seeks to rule heaven, and the devil seeks to rule in hell.

If we have done everything to stand firm, meaning we have a prayer life, we study, we meditate, we talk to God, we talk to angels, we talk to Christ and Mary, as well as the saints, and we reach out to our fellow man and woman and offer love, compassion, and kindness verse 14 says, “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, do not think of losing and having to fall back. There is no falling back there can be no losing.”

Earlier in the week I got an email from a lady who said I had to be a fake when I said that when I come in the front door the demon flees out the back. This is a point in spiritual warfare that I personally differ with the church on. Satan and Lucifer do not like to lose, it drives them more insane then what they already are. They take each and every spiritual confrontation seriously. And so does God and His angels. We do not lose, we cannot lose, and we cannot go into battle thinking we might lose. Show me one place where Christ said anything other then if we command in His name the spirit of darkness will not flee as he has to. Finally, verse 15, “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.” The powers of darkness hate the idea of peace. They cannot utter the terms love and compassion. This is our tool -- a gospel of peace, a gospel of love, and a gospel of compassion.


Invisible War Part 4 – Four Big Deceptions
By Kirby Robinson

Who we think we are, what we think we are we happy with, what we have, where we live what we are -- these are all keys to applying what we talked about last week. Most, if not all, spiritual battles between God and His Son vs. the unholy trinity would be over prior to the start if we simply stop and take a close, hard look at how we live our life and stop looking for happiness and peace in any place other than within ourselves.

Watch TV for any length of time and what do you see? Advertisers telling you that you do not look good enough unless you get plastic surgery. You have to be thin and the only way to be thin is to buy our products and follow our rules. Follow those rules if you want to drive fast cars or wear the latest designer brand of clothing. Follow those rules and you’ll be the most popular person on the block -- all of which are lies. Don’t forget, we are dealing with the king of lies. Lucifer lied to the other angels and had them convinced he was a “new” god. He lied to Satan that he would be the ruler of the earth over Christ, and he told the devil he would be the lord over the dead. He began to lie to Eve and has continued to do so throughout the history of mankind.

The American Psychological Association reports that personality disorders like narcissism rates are soaring. Why? Because we are being told a repeated lie of me me me me, whatever I have to do be happy is all right. If we are deceived then we are open to be ruled by the king of deceivers. This is from the book “The Invisible War” by Chip Ingram upon which this blog series is based. It gives four great deceptions that we are under right now.

Deception #1 ~ Take care of yourself first and foremost. My happiness is so important that I have to lie, cheat and steal to get ahead, then this justifies that I had to do it.

The Truth is we should take care of others first and rewards will come to you, maybe not here on earth right now but in lives to come.

Deception # 2 ~ The bible is just a old book and way of life and the world is so different now than it was back then.

The Truth is that this world is the same as it was when the Bible was written. Man has not changed; we just have more bells and whistles. The same issues that faced mankind in biblical days are still with us and will always be with us.

Deception # 3 ~ Truth is relative. What is true for you is not true for me. Your values are your values but they may not be mine.

The Truth is this looks great on paper or can sound rational when discussed. But if you play this type of thinking to the end you often do not like it. Right is right. Right cannot become wrong today and then flip back over to right tomorrow.

Deception #4 ~ We love each other. Whether we’re married or not married to that other person, all that matters is that we love that person, so it’s okay.

(Special Note: I am not talking about homosexuality here. At some point I will do a blog or two on that subject, which, in my opinion, many within the church distort the Bible when it comes to this controversial issue.)

The Truth is you should commit to the one you love and keep that commitment.

Next week -- getting into sync with God.

Invisible War Part 4 – Four Big Deceptions

By Kirby Robinson

Who we think we are, what we think we are we happy with, what we have, where we live what we are -- these are all keys to applying what we talked about last week. Most, if not all, spiritual battles between God and His Son vs. the unholy trinity would be over prior to the start if we simply stop and take a close, hard look at how we live our life and stop looking for happiness and peace in any place other than within ourselves.

Watch TV for any length of time and what do you see? Advertisers telling you that you do not look good enough unless you get plastic surgery. You have to be thin and the only way to be thin is to buy our products and follow our rules. Follow those rules if you want to drive fast cars or wear the latest designer brand of clothing. Follow those rules and you’ll be the most popular person on the block -- all of which are lies. Don’t forget, we are dealing with the king of lies. Lucifer lied to the other angels and had them convinced he was a “new” god. He lied to Satan that he would be the ruler of the earth over Christ, and he told the devil he would be the lord over the dead. He began to lie to Eve and has continued to do so throughout the history of mankind.

The American Psychological Association reports that personality disorders like narcissism rates are soaring. Why? Because we are being told a repeated lie of me me me me, whatever I have to do be happy is all right. If we are deceived then we are open to be ruled by the king of deceivers. This is from the book “The Invisible War” by Chip Ingram upon which this blog series is based. It gives four great deceptions that we are under right now.

Deception #1 ~ Take care of yourself first and foremost. My happiness is so important that I have to lie, cheat and steal to get ahead, then this justifies that I had to do it.

The Truth is we should take care of others first and rewards will come to you, maybe not here on earth right now but in lives to come.

Deception # 2 ~ The bible is just a old book and way of life and the world is so different now than it was back then.

The Truth is that this world is the same as it was when the Bible was written. Man has not changed; we just have more bells and whistles. The same issues that faced mankind in biblical days are still with us and will always be with us.

Deception # 3 ~ Truth is relative. What is true for you is not true for me. Your values are your values but they may not be mine.

The Truth is this looks great on paper or can sound rational when discussed. But if you play this type of thinking to the end you often do not like it. Right is right. Right cannot become wrong today and then flip back over to right tomorrow.

Deception #4 ~ We love each other. Whether we’re married or not married to that other person, all that matters is that we love that person, so it’s okay.

(Special Note: I am not talking about homosexuality here. At some point I will do a blog or two on that subject, which, in my opinion, many within the church distort the Bible when it comes to this controversial issue.)

The Truth is you should commit to the one you love and keep that commitment.....

Next week -- getting into sync with God.