15 Common Mistakes in Warfare, Part I
Hello All! It’s been forever and my profuse apologies for that. I’m in a very interesting season, and I’ve been doing some teaching in Facebook Live formats, but I don’t want to completely neglect my blog. Hence this post.
This was something that just dropped in my spirit, so I wanted to share it with you all in hopes that it will bless you. In this post, we’re examining common mistakes in warfare.
1. Not knowing you’re in a battle.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
Fight the good fight of faith… (I Timothy 6:12)
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (II Timothy 2:3)
The biggest mistake a Believer could make in warfare is not realising you’re in warfare. Now, if you’re a newbie to the Kingdom of God, and haven’t really had the chance to delve into your Word yet, then I totally get it. However, you should be at a good Bible-believing and demonstrating church that lets you know the pleasant things in Scripture as well as the grim.
Being a Christian isn’t about having a happy-go-lucky life where it’s all unicorn kisses, warm fuzzies, and cotton candy. Jesus presented us with a balanced perspective on the Christian life:
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The apostle John backed this up as well:
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (I John 4:4)
Many of the references used to describe the Christian life in the New Testament have a warfare aspect. So just in case no one’s told you, YOU. ARE. AT. WAR.
If you counter by telling me that you’re life’s just great, continually great, and that you never experience warfare, then I would say that either you’re in a gilded cage and don’t know it or you’re not accomplishing anything worthwhile for God. Because if you do great things for God, the enemy will target you long before anybody knows your name. He’s not omniscient, but he’s not stupid either.
2. Warring from a position of ignorance.
...Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (II Corinthians 2:11)
When men and women join the military, they aren’t thrust to the front line immediately. No. They have to go through intense training to even make the cut; and then after that, they still are not generally placed on the frontline. The military does not want ignorant people fighting its battles.
And the military is not all physical combat. In order to attain higher ranks or have special skills, you must qualify through classes as well.
If the United States military doesn’t want ignorant soldiers, how much less God?
Ask for Wisdom & the Gift of Discernment
You don’t have to know everything upfront, but we can pray and not only ask God for insight (systems and strategies), but we can specifically ask God for wisdom.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)
In 1 Corinthians 14:1, the apostle Paul told us to desire spiritual gifts and one of those gifts is the discerning of spirits. Not just discernment (keen wisdom) or good judgment that every Believer should have (I Cor. 2:15), but an actual supernatural ability to discern who and what is around you (I Cor. 12:1-11).
You can discern the Spirit of God, heavenly spirits, demonic spirits, human spirits, atmospheres, times, seasons, cycles, and yes, types of battle. There’s really no cap on what one can discern. Words of knowledge and wisdom also factor into this gift as well as the gift of prophecy greatly.
Pray in the Spirit
Praying in the Spirit is also a marvelous eradicator of ignorance. When you utilize your prayer language, then the Holy Spirit can reveal various things to you. He can also pray through you in a way that is 100% non-discernable to the enemy because they don’t understand the language. It also assists us when we don’t know what to pray.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)
3. Not closing open doors.
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (John 14:30)
When Jesus was preparing for His greatest battle of all, He knew He would be contending with the ruler of this world, but He also knew that there was no way the false ruler could win. Why? Because they had nothing in common.
I ALWAYS think of the song “Something in Common” by Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston because their marriage was a sad example of what can happen when you have something in common with the wrong person or in the case of this post, the wrong spirit. We must make sure that we are continually being washed and purged by the water of the Word, the Blood of Jesus, true repentance, and godly living so the enemy cannot say he has something in common with us (Eph. 5:26, Psalm 51, II Cor. 7:10, Acts 2:38, II Peter 1:2-4).
The Lord told Cain,
“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)
We must deal plainly with sin and iniquity (a pattern of intentional sin), repent of it, and put it under the blood so we revoke the legal rights of the enemy.
So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” (I Chronicles 21:8)
Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes. (II Chronicles 19:7)
Generational Curses, Spiritual Inheritances
The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. (Numbers 14:18)
You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah. (Psalm 85:2)
We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.
(Psalm 106:6)
Iniquity can be found in a person as well as a group of people. For a moment, I’d like to speak about generational curses or as I call them, spiritual inheritances. I call them inheritances because an inheritance can be good or bad and you can choose whether or not you want to accept it.
There are many evil spiritual inheritances created by iniquity. Some may be sexual sin, false religion/idolatry, Occultic practices, secret society involvement (e.g. Masonry) involvement in/profiting from the slave trade, corruption, and others. The problem is whether or not we have personally participated in these iniquities, they are still in our bloodline if no one before us has dealt with it. So our job is to personally or symbolically identify with the iniquity so we can renounce it on behalf of our bloodline, close the door(s) in the name of Jesus, and seal that door forever with the blood of Jesus. We can also employ binding and loosing as well as the Key of David (Isa. 22:22; Matt. 16:19, 18:18). (I really need to do a full post on the Believer’s authority.)
Removing the sin and iniquity, closing the doors to those things, really ups the ante when it comes to spiritual warfare because there’s no hidden entryway the enemy can use to access, harass, or overcome you. It stops him from using you against you.
4. Not warring from the proper position.
And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them. (II Chronicles 35:15)
Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. (Nehemiah 4:13)
Any man or woman of war knows that your position can make or break the battle. Your position is also a revealer: it displays how well you know the enemy and their plans. Furthermore, position is not just literal; it’s also a spiritual, mental, and emotional posture. Each of the below aspects are imperative to understanding your position in this war.
I Am a Son!
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:14-17)
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6)
Scripture is extremely clear that when we believe on Jesus and are born of the Spirit of God, then we become sons of God. Sonship is not about gender, but about a concept; a posture. So even though I’m a woman, I am a son of God. There is neither male nor female in Christ (Gal. 3:28).
While I aspire to be a friend of God, authority does not come through friendship, but through sonship. I’m not a servant, I’m a son. Servants may only have delegated authority; this is why children are identified as no different than servants from an authoritative standpoint (Gal. 4:1-7). It’s only when we grow to full stature in Christ that we not only have but understand our full authority in Christ - and all the blessings and weight that comes along with it.
I Am a Joint-Heir!
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16-17)
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)
...That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel… (Ephesians 3:6)
...That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7)
The second aspect of understanding who we are in Christ is understanding that being a son of God makes us a brother/sister of Christ and specifically, a joint-heir, meaning we inherit all the promises of God.
Scripture is full of SO MANY promises and we can appropriate those promises because of our status as heirs of Father-God.
I Am Seated in Heavenly Places!
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ… (Ephesians 1:3)
The third step of understanding our identity is understanding that not only are we sons, not only are we joint-heirs with Christ, but that we are seated in heavenly places IN Christ!
Being seated in Christ in heavenly places is our spiritual position. So if this is where we are and that’s what the Bible says, then our thoughts, emotions, and words should align with that position.
And note, that this means we are seated above the second heaven where much of our warfare takes place or is derived from. After all. Lucifer is the Prince of the Power of the Air. Sin, the abdication of our spiritual identity in Christ, forfeits our spiritual authority and gives place to the devil to have his way instead of allowing God to have His way in the earth.
Ah, but when we recognize that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ and everything about us aligns with that position, then we can begin to order our cosmos (systems) and command things to come into alignment with our word.
Never forget that God created the world and its cosmos from a word, and if we are made in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-28), then we can create things that tangibly manifest too!
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:19-22)
The final factor regarding our heavenly position is that WE DO NOT COME DOWN to fight battles. Only people who don’t understand their position or the authority that comes with it get down off their throne to fight petty squabbles. Don’t be that guy.
I Am VICTORIOUS!
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:57)
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (I John 5:4)
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
Finally, what we need to understand about our Christian identity is that we war from a position of victory. The final battle is already won! We are battling for our souls, but Christ has already overcome the enemy and when we remain in Him, we cannot help but overcome the enemy along with Him!
Ephesians 4:8 tells us that Christ has led captivity captive! What a victorious, alliterative phrase!! He takes captive the thing that desires to make us its captives. Another AHHHMAZING picture is painted for us in Romans 16:20 when it says, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” We are NOT defeated! We are NOT overcome! We are not failures! We are more than conquerors and we will go on conquering in Him.
5. Not knowing the Word.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God… (Ephesians 6:17)
This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
(Psalm 18:30 ESV)
Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (Proverbs 30:5)
The Word of God is our sword! A double-edged sword! So if we don’t know It, then we go to war without our primary weapon. The Word of God is proven and It issues forth from a God Who is perfect. So if we don’t know It, then we are shooting in the dark as far as knowing the mind of God is concerned. The Word of God is pure. So if we don’t know It, then we can’t fight this war with clarity.
We need both the logos (written Word) and the rhema (Spirit-infused Word) to make it in this battle called life. The apostle Paul backed this up stating,
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare… (I Timothy 1:18)
Knowing the Word of God is invaluable and non-negotiable in the life of the Believer. If you expect to learn and grow and mature...and wage good warfare, then you NEED to know the Word of God.
STAY TUNED FOR PART ll..!
