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Stepping Up Security in Our Spiritual Lives

By Darlene Osborne
ChristianMagazine.org

The Christian Online Magazine -

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Since September 11, America has stepped up security considerably, especially in and around the terrorists’ "would be" targeted areas. Our country was placed on heightened alert, and I’m not sure if that status has ever changed. This scripture comes to mind:

"Be sober, be vigilant; (alert) because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith…." I Peter 5:8-9

I have said this before and I am going to say it again: As children of God, we should remain on heightened alert. We should never let our guard down. If we do, we will become vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.

When America was attacked by the terrorists, we were vulnerable in many areas. Sad to say, we didn’t take this seriously until after the fact. Now that we have hindsight, it is clear to us where we let our guard down as a nation.

In the Christian community, satan is a terrorist. There is no doubt in my mind that he was behind the attack on America. His targeted areas on September 11, 2001 were the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a third intended target may have been the White House.

The devil targets areas in our Christian lives as well. We’ll get into this a little later in this article.

An Attack on the Church

I remember watching the news after September 11 and reading this headline: "Attack on America." Later, after we went to war, it read: "America Strikes Back."

Perhaps lately, you have been feeling especially under attack. If so, you are not alone. For the past few weeks, I have seen an "Attack on the Church," and it is time to strike back at the devil. It seems everyone I know is sick or has been sick recently. The devil is attacking minds and bodies. Ministers and just the church community in general, seem to be recovering from different types of illnesses and/or injuries.

As I was in a battle myself during this time, discouragement tried to cloud my mind. It wasn’t so much that I thought we weren’t going to overcome, it was how long will it take to overcome? I came to this conclusion: It doesn’t matter how long it takes to win… as long as we win!

I remember President Bush saying something like this, "The war in Afghanistan won’t be easy, and I don’t know how long it will take to finish what we need to do." Since then, our military has fought a well-thought out plan to break up the Taliban. They have done it strategically and with mighty weapons of warfare.

There is a battle ahead of us to get people in our churches healthy again. It won’t be easy and it may take a while. And, after we do get everyone well again, we will need to step up security to keep the devil out!

Mighty Weapons of Warfare

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4, KJV).

We must have strategy and weapons to win the war against satan. When I think of strategy, my thinking quickly turns to the Word of God. We can’t win if we don’t use our most dangerous weapon—the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

I have also found that praying in the Holy Ghost is a mighty weapon against the enemy. The power of God pushes the devil back so we can walk on through.

Jude 1:20

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,"

Stepping up Security in Targeted Areas

Just as the terrorists hit targeted areas on September 11, sometimes the devil will chart out targeted  areas of our Christian life he’d like to hit. Let’s discuss those and how we can strike back.

Here are the top three targeted areas the enemy may try to hit. If he’s attacking these areas of your life, claim the scriptures and tell him it is written…

 

Mind:

The devil would love to drive us all crazy, but the Word says,

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind." 2nd Timothy 1:7

Body:

I think we know the devil wants to keep us all sick. One of his most effective weapons is sickness, but we don’t have to stay sick. We can call for the elders of the Church to pray and we can be healed in the name of Jesus.

"Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:14-15

Financial Needs:

The devil may be attacking your pocketbook, but you can attack him right back with this scripture:

"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Of course, these are only a few of the many areas the devil will target. Just as the military, we must stay on heightened alert in every area of our Christian lives. Leaving nothing belonging to us unprotected and vulnerable. This includes our homes, family, workplace, and churches. Anything and everything that is ours.

I have prayed and thought long and hard about how we can stop the devil from hitting us with sickness, disease, heartaches and problems. The only thing I know we can do is step up the security. How do we do that? By speaking the Word of God over every area the devil is fighting us in, running him off and keeping him run off through and by the Blood of Jesus!

We must live holy lives, and we must claim, speak, and enforce what is rightfully ours. That is how we step up the security. This is how we need to live our lives. Our church depends on it!

Prayer

Father, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that every yoke and every bondage is broken from the Church right now. That we will go forth and serve the One that has made us healthy and whole!

Copyright 2002 by Darlene Osborne

__________________

Darlene is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Online Magazine.




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