The Battle Is The Lord’s?
'The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 'and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.' Deuteronomy 1:30-31
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:18-20
Victory is given in battle, not outside of battle, for those who trust solely in the Lord like a shepherd boy David did when he came up against Goliath and stated “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17:45-46) Mind you fearful cowardly ones like King Saul never go into battle but run away from it! But God’s word is unchanging:
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:9-12
It is true that for each battle that we’re engaged in and all the conflicts that we’ll face in the future we can be encouraged by an ancient promise the Lord made through King Jehoshaphat when Judah was facing the possibility of an enemy attack. “Thus says the LORD to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).
Yes, the Bible is filled with life-giving promises about how God comes to our defense against the enemy. Paul (the apostle) said, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies . . . . Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:33-34). But there are a few battles in the realm of the flesh and spirit that are insidious which we must fight ourselves or we will be taken captive by the enemy and even destroyed by Him for lack of knowledge about the filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
Demons or fallen spirits inhabit bodies of people even Christians especially spirit of lusts, infirmity, pride, arrogance, lying etc. These fallen spirits cause people whom they have in bondage to react in a certain way such as being puffed up with pride or continually telling lies. Christ saves and redeems our spirit but we rule over our emotions and our minds which are the play ground of the devil and results in strongholds. A stronghold in the life of a Christian is not a demon. A stronghold gives demon a place to live in a body. Demons can only access a person if he gives him room. A stronghold is a house of wrong thinking. But through Christ the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled. A stronghold is a thinking pattern, a stronghold of error that gives the enemy a place to reside in our lives. And one of the easy ways for a Christian to create a stronghold in his or her life is not to walk in righteousness and holiness. God’s word is unchanging:
But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:20-32
Wrong and improper words and actions or the lack of them, produce strongholds in our lives that give room to the devil and then demons come in and create havoc in our lives that is even destructive. It’s a fact that not all wrong and improper words or actions are intentional. Many times they just happen because of the enemy who walks about like a roaring lion looks for whom he may devour. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10).
In a day of computers that we live in, even the most expensive and powerful computer can end up being full of unwanted viruses and junk. But there are programs that will get rid of them and keep them out? Similarly Jesus Christ, Himself, the Lion of Judah, who is in us, is greater than the devil who is in the world. Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil and that we may have life and have it more abundantly. He is more than able break every chain and gives us the victory again and again and enables us to pull down every stronghold. God’s word is unchanging:
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:5-11
And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Matthew 10:1
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
A paradox of modern day Christianity is that it has become a religion of words by men who have a form of godliness and deny its power rather than a demonstration of power by a mighty God! Yet God’s word is unchanging:
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. Acts 8:5-7
"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38
We see in these passages of scriptures that sickness and diseases are oppressions by the devil whom anointed ones like Philip and Jesus healed! And modern day Christianity knows very little about demons and casting them out? God’s word is unchanging:
'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:31
'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Leviticus 20:16
“Familiar spirits”[i] is the designation of a specific type of evil spirit. It is so classified because of its chief characteristic: namely, familiarity. It is a relationship, a familiarity, with a person or personality. For example, a woman, whom Paul encountered in Macedonia, had a familiar spirit which gave her powers of divination and Paul dealt with it. God’s word is true:
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. Acts 16:16-18
Familiar spirits are common amid the practices of spiritism and witchcraft, but their activity is by no means limited to persons and practices so obviously occult. Evil spirits are personalities. They can reason, decide, express emotions and communicate. Personalities have the capacity to relate to one another. Two human personalities can form a relationship; and, through communication and communion, that relationship can be enhanced. Likewise, a person can form and develop a close relationship with an evil spirit. When a person forms a relationship with an evil spirit (which can be done either willfully or through ignorance), he then has a familiar spirit.
Satan assigns one of these spirits to an individual or family. The basic idea is to determine whether or not a particular party is susceptible to spiritual things. If the person is the least bit susceptible, the demon spirit starts watching the individual closely from the outside spiritual realm. The spirit "starts a file", you might say, and watches the intimate things that an individual does, making notes on everything. The spirit may not have the legal right to demonize the individual, but it accumulates detailed information as to everything personal and intimate that takes place in their life and their family. After a while, the demon spirit learns exactly how the victim will respond to various stimuli. The spirit can actually determine patterns of thought by using the power of suggestion.
In this file the familiar spirit collects details of things like: the person's talents, habits, neighbors, resources, friends, enemies, mental abilities, educational abilities, responses to many varied situations, etc... He becomes "familiar" with everything in that individuals life, without being noticed, because he is in the spiritual realm. Once the familiar spirit becomes very familiar with the "do's" and "don'ts" of a person, he works the best he can to manipulate that person and to influence him in certain situations.
Communication is the chief characteristic of a familiar spirit. The spirit responds quickly to the summons of the medium. A medium, such as the witch of Endor whom Saul consulted (I Sam. 28:7), is a go-between which forms a communication link between the earthly world and the demonic realm. Thus, anyone who becomes a channel of communication for an evil spirit is a medium. He has a familiar spirit.
A familiar spirit is something that a person has, because it is a personality identified with a certain individual. Most people are blind to the existence of spirits such as Fear, Stupidity, Rebellion, Epilepsy, Superstition, Blasphemy, Bitterness, Murder, Anger, Lust, Pride, Gluttony, Death, Infirmity, Bipolar Disorder and more! Additional topics include: Mind Control, Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), Hearing Voices, Dissociate Identity Disorder, False Memory Syndrome, unclean sexual-spirit manifestations. In the same sense that one has a book, a friend or a cold, one can be personally identified with a demon spirit. God’s word is unchanging:
In the same sense that one has a book, a friend or a cold, one can be personally identified with a demon spirit. God’s word is unchanging:
These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19:
These seven abominations in a person life are usually inspired by familiar or unclean spirits. A particular evil spirit carries an attitude of superiority, haughtiness, boasting, and arrogance and tries to draw believers into these negative attitudes. He targets individual believers as well as groups with the temptation to be prideful. Although the bible says not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to (Romans 12:3) this promotes self and self-serving agendas. Those who don’t watch out for a false confidence and keep a humble trust in the Lord when God uses them can fall prey to this spirit and puff up their pride and deceive them into placing their worth and identity on what they think they are rather than who they are in Christ.
As a result many Christians are seduced by familiar spirits and depend more on their giftings, charisma, finances, traditions, programs, or favor with their denomination, than on the Holy Spirit. They forge ahead by their natural talents and abilities, losing sight of Jesus. Rather than depending and trusting the Voice of God they are operating in the flesh doing things by the flesh, not by the Spirit. As a result all their works are just empty devoid of love and are just wood stubble and hay that will be burnt in the big bon fire in the sky. God’s word is unchanging:
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15
[i] Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, ‘Confronting Familiar Spirits’,
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