The following is quoted from Morris Cerullo’s book titled:

YOU CAN KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT SATAN

It is a shame that so many natural warfares are waged in the name of spiritual causes… the Christians and Moslems fighting in Lebanon, the Catholics and the Protestants fighting in Ireland, the so-called Holy Wars of the ancient crusades.

The real battle of the true church is totally, purely spiritual in scope. The battles in your home or on your job, anywhere in your area of involvement should not be fisticuffs, guns, knives or even railing. Our battle is not with flesh and blood. It is not with a wife or a husband. It is not with our children. It is not with a boss or a fellow employee.

Our battle is with our spiritual enemy, Satan.

Just as our defensive armor which we have already studied is totally spiritual, our offensive weaponry is totally spiritual.

We can save ourselves a lot of hard lessons, we can save our testimonies a lot of criticism, if we keep this clearly in view. Many “messes” have been made, even in the ministry, by people who have taken matters into their own hands to try to “set things right”. Often violence has occurred because of this.

We must be violent, all right, but not violent to people. We are to do violence to Satan’s forces in the spirit world. Certainly his foeces seek to do violence to us and to the kingdom of God.

To seize the keys of dominion back from Satan we must be violently determined in the spirit.”

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

“Our violence is never in the natural arena at all, and neither are our weapons.”

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ:” (II Corinthians 10:3-5).

Spiritual Warfare

While I was reading that book, I was able to get a hold of a truth that I never had grasped before. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time and a season for every thing. Spiritual warfare can never be won in the flesh, yet a fleshly warfare CAN be won in the Spirit!! We must get a firm grip upon the word of God for ourselves. We cannot depend on our pastor or Sunday school teacher to do it for us.

I was having a warfare in my home with rebellion. You know you can punish rebellion, and you very well should; but it must never be done in anger with a contentious spirit. You will never affect someone for good by treating them spitefully. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth always genders strife. A soft answer turns away wrath but grevious words stir up anger. It is oh so hard for me to return a soft answer for a sharp one, especially from my children. I have given them my all and to have them rise up and challenge me is very difficult. It has taken a whole lot of battles, frustrations and tears to come to the real, heart knowledge that I absolutely CANNOT fight fire with fire or railing with railing. One day while my teenage son was slamming around (and I was slamming right back) a scripture came to mind, we war not against flesh and blood. BUT LORD, it sure seems like my battle is against flesh and blood!! The Lord said to me, he may make you unhappy by his actions but inside he himself is much more miserable. He is the victim as well as I am but even more so, because he really doesn’t “know” the answer like you do. When you fight against him you get side-tracked from the REAL enemy, Satan.

Direct your prayers against your real enemy, Satan. Bind him in prayer using God’s word. That is what Jesus himself did. This spiritual warfare must be waged in the spirit realm.

”Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever things you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).

We must learn that we cannot take our aggression out on the flesh that’s coming against you, take it out on the spirit that is coming against God’s Spirit. Read some good old bible stories & get yourself a real glimpse of God’s power. Repent where you need to repend, change where you need to change, correct what needs correcting, forgive where you need forgiving, pray with faith believing Jesus WILL help you. KNOWING that He will help you. There are a lot of situations that seem impossible, believe me, I have faced and will face more of those; and certainly they are impossible in our finite flesh… ”BUT with God, NOTHING shall be impossible” (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, 18:27).

We must realize that refusing to accept or show love to someone until they completely conform to our expectations of them is wrong & will only alienate that person. What if God treated us that way? What if He turned a cold shoulder to our prayers until we got all our issues resolved? We’d be in big trouble. He, being a just, perfect and sovereign God, would actually have the right to do that; but we, being imperfect ourselves, are totally out of line putting ourselves up on some pedestal and having the mentality that we are the standard by which others should be judged. It is by the grace of God that we have what we have, that we have made it as far as we have made it. Hear it, but the GRACE OF GOD, the goodness, forgiveness, and mercifulness of the creator of the world, who does ALL things well and yet still reached down to us, wallowing in sin and confusion, and had mercy on our rotten soul. When we accept God’s forgiveness for our wickedness and run out and start grabbing others by the nape of the neck telling them how they need to straighten up their acts, we are in big trouble with God. Read the story of the wicked servant who did this same thing in a parable Jesus told. Obviously we’d love to see others find what we have found, we can and we should testify to them about the goodness of God and the salvation that we have found, but that’s a far cry from being judgmental and self-righteous. Beware of the leaven of the Scribes and the Pharisees, this is another fine line that we can find ourselves crossing. We must judge ourselves that we won’t be judged. Are we being motivated by pure love? We considering one another, to provoke unto love and good works? Are we finding ourselves tripping over various issues that the Lord himself spent little or no time at all in his ministry focusing on? Consider the following account in Matthew 12:1-8:

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold (LOOK!), thy disciples do that which is UNLAWFUL to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For ALL the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love they neigbour as theyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest (obvious), which are these;

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things will not inherit the kindgom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is:

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirious of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

—Galatians 5:13-26

What are you professing?

We must learn to stop saying negative things, no matter how things look in the physical. Remember that old saying we heard when we were kids? “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me?” I quoted that to my son when he was little and he looked at me and said, “that’s not true mom. Words do hurt”. I pondered that and said, you know what, you are right. Words most certainly can and do hurt us, and healing actually is more difficult. Even our own words hurt us.. our negative words. Realize that the devil is not able to read your mind or know what you are thinking, he can only read us by our actions and our words. Again I ask you, WHAT ARE YOU PROFESSING? WHAT AM I PROFESSING? Am I merely quoting positive words and scriptures with a long face of dread and foreboding? If so, I’m not fooling anybody. Take it to a higher level; believe and you shall receive.

Guard Your Thoughts

In the old testament a person actually had to commit a crime for it to be a sin. In the New Testament Jesus changed took this to a higher level of accountability, He said when you ponder the sin in your mind, you committed it in your mind, and it’s just the same as if you actually committed it physically. We must guard our thoughts and consider the source of them. The prayer of our heart must be as David’s was:

”Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

We must know God’s word well enough to be able to tell if a thoughts or a feeling we have line up with God’s word & ways. We cannot depend on our own feelings to guide us. It doesn’t matter what we think about it, no matter how adamantly we feel concerning an issue-it only matter what God says about it. People go off on tangents based upon their own likes or dislikes with extreme, vehement emotion. How much focus does God’s word place on the issue? What does the word say? Carefully consider God’s word with regard to your issue. If your feelings don’t line up-change them. Ask Him to change them. If the enemy is warring against you, consider your ways, repent, seek the Lord’s peace and guidance, read His word, meditate upon it. Say positive words, submit yourself unto God, be not moved in your faith no matter what trial you are facing, resist the devil and he HAS to flee from you. It is God’s word! Do you believe it? He will make a way of escape from every temptation to sin-and doubting Him is a grave sin.

Time to Sit at His Feet

Take time in the word, time to learn of Him, and time to fellowship with Him. This used to be a real problem for me, finding the quiet time. I’ll never forget a couple years after I was saved I was getting up really early to read and one of my sons woke up, all smiles and brightness, and I was very disgusted with him because it was MY quiet time. The hurt look on his little face convicted my heart to the core and a scripture came to mind, OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE. You may not always be able to schedule this time of meditation, study and prayer; surely if you have children and especially if you homeschool them, it will be difficult to find “alone” time. The Lord allowed me to know that He would supply the times; when daddy takes them to the pond to fish, or runs to the store with them, or they go on a trail ride, I would feel the quickening, “go pray”. Read a scripture here and there, think on the things of God, the promises of God, the goodness of God all through the day. Devotions and prayer with the kids before school, singing hymns and praise songs, listening to Christian music, talking about Him as you walk by the way. It is a life you lead, not a few minutes at a prescribed time, but all the time. Now that they are older it is much easier than when they were small to find that “alone” time, so it does get better.

The Necessary Option

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary, as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t want to have to live without it. I need the fellowship that only the baptism in the Spirit can bring. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is like having a direct line to the heart of God. I remember after I received the Holy Ghost I felt literally as if God was walking right beside me everywhere I went. Like when I prayed I knew He was listening and many times He has spoken back. It is real, it is for us TODAY, don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.

”IF ANY OF YOU LACK WISDOM, LET HIM ASK OF GOD WHO GIVETH TO ALL MEN LIBERALLY, AND UPBRAIDETH NOT, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN HIM. BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, NOTHING WAVERING. FOR HE THAT WAVERETH IS LIKE A WAVE OF THE SEA DRIVEN WITH THE WIND x%x TOSSED. FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANYTHING OF THE LORD” (JAMES 1:5-7).%

Be Settled in Your Faith

Your faith must be settled, you must know in whom you have believed in and be fully persuaded that He is able to keep every single thing you commit unto Him until your final day on this earth. I love to read Psalm 104 & consider exactly who God is. Is there anything too hard for God? As difficult a case as I am, He knew it & he took me on anyway. He saved me, He picked me up out of the miry clay and planted my feet upon a rock and established my goings. He put a new song in my mouth. He delivered me because He delighted in me. All man could see was a troubled girl with a big attitude-with more issues to work through than your average individual. Did He bring me this far to watch me fall flat on my face? Will He forsake the work of His hands? Settle it right now in your heart who God is! How great and how powerful He is. He has ALL power in heaven AND in earth! Satan is not in control of your life if you serve the Lord, no matter what bad things may happen.

”We know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

”My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times: ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah [think about it]” (Psalm 62:5-8).

You are God’s, You love Him (that’s why you’re reading this right now) & He loves you. As much as you love your own children, God loves you more than that. You must believe that He is there, He is in control. Your faith must be strong. ”Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is AND that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Don’t be like the children of Israel & die in the wilderness when your promised land is over the next horizon— HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU KNOW.

”And when you’ve done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…” (Ephesians 6:13-19).

Bitterness of Heart

”Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:14-15).

”Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given hiself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).

There are many more scriptures like the ones I chose above. We realize, as Christians, that people in the world are going to offend us, or we should. We are going to be misunderstood and avoided by people who don’t really know Jesus as their personal saviour. It’s nothing personal against you, their beef is with God. We must be careful not to purposefully offend people in the world; it’s a fine line to tread. We should have a certain amount of fellowship with these people, but we can’t really let them past a certain point in our lives. I have found it much easier to forgive people who don’t possess true salvation because they really don’t understand what we understand.

Christians, on the other hand, people you consider your equal spiritually speaking; they have been saved, forgiven, changed forever and you have let them in your heart. You have opened up the very most vulnerable parts of yourself to them and they have offended you. Maybe you were spitefully treated, misunderstood, unappreciated, wrongfully accused, wrongfully judged, or ignored by them. David felt the same way:

”False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or my brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. But in my adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:” (Psalm 35:11-15).

”Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).

The Bait of Satan, by John Bevere, is a must read if you are struggling with offense. Locate and study God’s word on the subject. I love my Thompson Chain Bible, it is excellent for topical study. And pray, pray, pray. That is the key. If we were capable of “fixing” ourselves, we wouldn’t need the Lord, would we? We can deny it, we can pretend it isn’t there, we can pretend we’ve dealt with it, but until we really do, we are at a standstill in our spiritual lives. Whether it is a real or perceived offense, it is there in our hearts and it will absolutely bring us to ruin left undealt with. Bitterness is a cancer that destroys.