We do not fight against flesh and blood

 

Eph 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

We’ve all heard or quoted this verse countless times, usually as a reminder to avoid carnal reactions to specific situations; and not to take things personally but to focus on the powers of darkness manipulating people around us instead.

The classic example is that of the Lord and Peter. Jesus had just informed the disciples of His forthcoming death and resurrection but this didn’t match with Peter’s vision and projects; so, he took the Lord aside and rebuked Him saying: "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you."

Jesus turned back and replied in a very harsh way: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (Mat 16:21-23)

He didn’t say: "Get behind me, Peter," but "Get behind me, Satan!"Peter was not the real issue at stake and it was pointless picking on him. Jesus knew the origin of his words was a power of darkness and He confronted it.

A short while ago, the Lord reminded me that ALL that is visible first WAS… in the invisible; WAS in the spirit. Whether we realize it or not, what we see and do always has a spiritual origin. Since God breathed His Spirit in us, we became living souls: spirits living in a body of flesh. We are spiritual beings and can therefore be easily influenced by what happens in the spiritual world. Satan inspired to Peter the thoughts that Jesus condemned; but just before that, the same Jesus was praising the very same Peter for some other thought and words: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 16:17)! So, on one occasion God was behind the words of the apostle and on the other occasion, the devil was; but in both cases, it was neither flesh nor blood which had driven him to speak like that.

I’ve also realized that we do not only fight against the powers of hell; but we frequently fight against the angels of light as well. Unfortunately, because we often fail to tell the difference, as soon as things don’t go in the expected direction or as soon as we encounter some fierce resistance, we are usually very quick to blame it on the devil or our neighbours. Yet, the Bible presents a man who thought he was fighting against flesh and blood whereas he was wrestling with an angel of the Lord. Indeed:

Gen 32:24, 28, 30, “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.... 28 "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."… 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."”

If such an experience had happenned to us, many would have said that a wizard or a witch visited them at night. But Jacob did not wrestle against flesh and blood (i.e. against a sorcerer) or against a demon; he fought against a spiritual entity of another kind. Who is resisting you today? Whom are you fighting against?

Paul told the Ephesians that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (1:20). He also said that we have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:6), so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (3:10). Christ is seated with us in the heavenly places; and the powers of darkness can also be found there: EVERYTHING thus takes place in the heavenly places and the cause of EVERYTHING is first and foremost spiritual.

If we decide to remain seated in the heavenly places instead of spending our time coming down in the physical/carnal realm, we'll quickly notice that on one hand we’ll soon be out of the reach of the dirty tricks of men -flesh and blood- because we’ll be in a place where they have no access; and on the other hand, the attacks of evil spirits will not touch us because we will be hidden in Christ and they’ll have to go through Him to get to us.

I ask again: Who is resisting you today? Whom are you fighting against? If you are dealing with agents of darkness, you have some powerful weapons at your disposal to defeat them; but if you are dealing with God’s envoy, are you certain you can be as strong as Jacob? What is the origin of your struggles? I pray that God enlightens you on these questions.

Have a great week!

Good for you but bad for me

 

Gen 24:2ff, “And Abraham said to his servant… 3 I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac." 5 The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?" 6 Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your offspring I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there."… 29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban.”

After reading this passage, we can understand that for some reason depending on his alliance with God or perhaps because the Lord had sternly forbidden it, Abraham was scared stiff to see his son going back to the land of his fathers, even if it was just to take a wife. There was no going back to Mesopotamia as long as God had not yet given the land of Canaan to his seed.

A poorly informed observer could have erroneously concluded that God had forbidden Abraham and his descendants never to set foot again in his homeland; but he would have been very wrong. Indeed, many years later, “Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, "You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.” (Gen 28:1-2) So, this same Isaac that Abraham would not let return to his home country, was now asking his son, Abraham’s grandson, to go there in person!

This reminded me of how important it is to walk by the Spirit instead of following fashion. We are all different from each other and we all have our individual callings. It is not because someone did this and nothing happened or it even worked very well, that I must also jump on it. And it is not because God has clearly said ‘no’ to my neighbour, that He will necessarily say ‘no’ to me for the same thing: the terms of our covenant with Him are not the same.

God asked prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute; does this mean that pastors and Christians in general should tour the brothels when they start looking for a wife? Of course not!

God asked prophet Isaiah to walk around naked and barefoot; is it enough for you to get up tomorrow and do the same?

Jesus healed a blind man by rubbing a mixture of mud and saliva on his eyes. Are you going to do the same without thinking if you have to pray for the blind? (Hos 1:2-3; Is 20:2-3; Jn 9:6)

These examples merely help us understand that the Lord can sometimes ask us to do things that seem absolutely insane; but it is rarely to set a precedent or start a new doctrine; hence the importance of walking by the Spirit.

Closer to home, I'll take my own example. I don’t and I will never put human hair based extensions or wigs on my head. This is something that God has placed in my heart; I cannot tell you exactly how I received it, but there was a time when I just knew they were not for me. I remember the day when I decided to have my heart set and went to the market to buy a particular kind of extension after asking the Lord that if it was really not His will for me to put this sort of hair, then I should not find what I was looking for. I went with two young ladies who were used to buying such products. We went round in the market for about 2 hours, going to the sellers who usually always had them, but found nothing. As I was ready to leave, one of them asked that we still try some other shops elsewhere. I stayed in the car, saying: "It's pointless; God doesn’t want it. I will not be marching in vain. You can go but you will not find anything." They actually came back empty-handed and could not just believe how a relatively common product had suddenly miraculously disappeared from the stalls. Later on, somebody to whom I had recounted the event said: “But there is nothing wrong with wearing such extensions: Pastor so and so wears them.” I replied: "I don’t know what their contract with God is; and there are certainly things that they are not allowed to do but which are lawful for me. Those extensions might be good for them, but they are not for me. I just cannot put on human hair products. This is somehow part of my vow of a Nazirite."

Thus Samson could not cut his beard or his hair and could not drink alcohol. Compliance with these prohibitions guaranteed the manifestation of the anointing of God on him as a supernatural strength; and the day that the razor blade went in his hair, the presence of the Lord departed from him with the disastrous consequences that we know.

We must learn to be very careful with trends and fads and pay attention to the terms of our covenant with God: not all mouths and stomachs can take the chili.

 

Have a wonderblessed week!

The darkness of deliverance

 

Gen 15:1ff, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" …4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." 5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 7 And he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." 8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years… 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…”

I re-read this passage a short while ago and it gave me a lot to think about. God first promised Abram to give him a child and an innumerable posterity at an age where he no longer expected to have any; and Abram believed Him. Then God promised him the country he was living in as possession; but this time, Abram found it a little hard to believe and asked for a sign.

It is a bit surprising because I would have thought that in his situation, it was easier to believe in the miracle of the land than of the child’s. But then, Abram had more need of a child than of lands and was even wondering perhaps, what he was going to do with all the wealth that he already had and could not leave to a son of his own. Perhaps as well, his desire for a child was such that he was ready to believe in everything that went in that direction. It was sweet music to his ears.

Nevertheless, Abraham wanted a sign, a proof that he would possess the country, especially as so much time had passed since he had first obeyed and left Ur of the Chaldeans. The Lord asked him to get some animals ready for a sacrifice. Abram did so and laid them on an altar. That was the start of a weird series of events to say the very least:

· Birds of prey came down on the carcasses. If you are familiar with wildlife documentaries, you know that it is not easy at all to chase off vultures lurking around a carcass: they’ll keep coming, and sometimes in increasing numbers. Abram had to be extremely vigilant, especially as a deep sleep had also fallen on him. But he managed to get rid of them.

· Then, a dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. The KJV speaks of a horror of great darkness and the Good News Bible says that fear and terror came over him. Then, the sun went down and it was even darker. One French version says it was total darkness. The scene must have been absolutely terrifying.

· Finally, a smoking furnace appeared from nowhere and a flaming torch passed between the beasts and consumed the sacrifice.

This story reminded me of other darkness:

Before the crossing the Red Sea; it is indeed written that, “the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.” (Ex 14:19-20) Before the waters parted to let the children of Israel go through the Sea on dry ground, there was a night during which the Israelites almost died of terror, not knowing what would happen to them.

Before the resurrection of the Lord. Indeed, on the day of His crucifixion, about the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk 23:44-46) There was a great shock for all those who had followed Him and put their hope in Him. They were lost, frightened and trembling at the thought of what might also happen to them; they were hiding and even denied having been His followers. Yet this gloomy darkness was ephemeral: three days later, Jesus came out of the tomb, free and victorious! 50 days later, the fire came down from heaven and transformed them forever into torches of the Gospel.

God could have acted during the day, but He waited until the sun set and let Abraham go through all kinds of emotions. Maybe you feel like you are in a situation similar to that of Abraham, the children of Israel or disciples of the Lord. Perhaps you have received some promises and when you thought they were about to be fulfilled, everything suddenly started to go wrong and you are now deeply anxious and uncertain about your future. It may also be that this is not your case; but if you were to go through it one day, you must remember this: the darkness surrounding you right now is the darkness of deliverance. Indeed,

“There'll be no darkness for those who were in trouble... 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken … (Now, this is what I call deliverance!)” Isaiah 9:1-4 (MSG vs. 1; ESV vs. 2-4)

 

Have a wonderblessed week: God is Good!

The power of vision

 

Gen 30:25ff, « As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country… 31 He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages… 34 Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said." 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock. 37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks… 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.”

To build his herd up, Jacob used a trick: branches on which he had laid bare the white beneath the bark in streaks. He then took those sticks and set them in the troughs so that the flocks would constantly have them before their eyes when drinking or breeding and thus bring forth striped, speckled and spotted sheep. I could have written an article on the power of prophetic acts; but it is not today’s topic. According to the customs or superstitions of Jacob’s days, whatever had made a strong impression on the mind of a female at the time of conception and gestation, would have a corresponding influence on the mind or body of the fetus and coincidentally, this was frequently noticed in the case of sheep.

Even though this has not been scientifically proven, the fact remains that mere sheep, animals that have not received the Spirit of God as we have, were able to give birth to that which they had been fixing their eyes upon. What are you looking at?

If God has made you some promises, you can consider yourself pregnant with the Word of the Lord. During the time of this “pregnancy”, what are you beholding? Do you realise that whatever you are focusing on will have a profound impact on what you will give birth to?

Before the pregnancy, at the time of the conception, whenever you are about to receive the Word of God that will become flesh in you; what do you look at?

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint; or, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov 29:18, ESV/KJV). When we behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image (2Cor 3:18): vision is powerful. That's why we are exhorted to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. What have you fixed your eyes on? What are you gazing at?

Jesus said: “The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing…” (Jn 5:19-20). What do you see Jesus do? You can do likewise for He will show you how to.

After talking to Abraham, God told him: Lift up your eyes and see… Lift up your eyes like him and see your seed multiply and fill the earth.

Fix your eyes on Jesus walking on water like Peter and also walk on water.

Fix your eyes on Jesus healing the sick and you will do the same.

Focus on Him as He multiplies the loaves and the fish or as He finds money in the belly of a fish and you will never lack of provision.

Don’t lose sight of Him as He casts out demons and destroys the works of the devil; and you will happily trample on all the power of the enemy as well.

See Him alleviating human misery and you will understand that you too have all the necessary resources to do like Him and relieve suffering around you.

The vision of God has the power to bring forth your future. What do you see? What are you looking at? Don’t be distracted by things that can only bear nothingness. Open your eyes; look up and fix your eyes on Jesus.

 

Have a “wonderblessed” week!

“The One Who sees and Who hears”

 

From the time she was able to pray to this day, one of my daughters has always started her prayer with: "Lord, You are the One who sees and who hears..." She even often repeats this several times when she speaks to God. The strangest thing is that no one else prays or has ever prayed like that at home. Furthermore, I do not know anyone else who prays it in this way and have no idea how this came to her; but that's how she seems to better perceive the Lord: He who sees and hears.

Re-reading the 16th chapter of Genesis, I met another woman for whom God also became ''The One who sees and hears.'' Unable to bear children, Sarai had convinced Abraham to go to her servant, Hagar. When she became pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. I guess she now felt superior and more of a 'woman' than her. But Hagar was not long to eat the fruits of her arrogance and had to flee to escape Sarai’s mistreatment.

Gen 16:7ff, “The angel of the lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert… 8 And he said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?""I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the lord told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."… 11 The angel of the lord also said to her: "You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery… 13 She gave this name to the lord who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi (the well of the One who lives and sees me.)”

You shall name him Ishmael. Ishmael means ‘‘God hears.’’ In the desperate situation in which she found herself the LORD promised to hear her and asked her to give her son a name that would always remind them both that God hears. He also promised to make her offspring innumerable (vs. 10). It’s important to keep in mind that Hagar did not choose the name on her own; God Himself gave it to her prophetically. In other words, even if Isaac is the child of the promise, even though he is the one who is born of the Spirit whereas Ishmael is born of the flesh, God still hears and listens to Ishmael and the Ishmaelites…

After all these revelations, she gave this name to the lord who spoke to her: ‘‘Atta El Roi’’, "You are the God who sees me." For she said, “here I have now seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.”

I don’t know what situation you find yourself in today; I don’t know in what situation you’ll find yourself tomorrow and I don’t know either what kind of situation someone you love is in; but I know one thing: Jesus is alive, God sees and hears. You can address Him like my daughter, "Lord, You are the One who sees and hears..." This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1Jn 5:14-15) In other words, if God has seen and heard you, stop worrying and be assured that you will soon see Him as well. It is a certainty.

 

Have a fruitful “wonderblessed” week!