Terry Casales - February 17, 2020
I feel the Lord is saying to all of you who feel like what the Lord has called you to build has been slow going due to onslaught after onslaught of spiritual attacks from the enemy, “Do not give up, get in the fight and take what’s yours!” I know exactly how it feels to know what God has called you to do and to feel like you are spinning your wheels, because, I too, had been experiencing this very thing recently. It seemed that every time I would make an effort to build, I was met with resistance which said, “You are doing too much! You don’t need to do that! Just do the bare minimum! You cannot do that! You can't go outside the box! You do not have the authority to do that!”
On one particular day when the spirit of intimidation was shouting at me the loudest, I asked the Holy Spirit, “What would you have me to do Lord?” He responded, “Praise and worship Me dearest one! Your praise is your best and strongest weapon! Declare what My Word says about this situation and about who you are in Me! ”When I began to do as the Holy Spirit said, the Peace of God entered me and it wrapped itself around me! Even in the midst of the spirits of witchcraft and intimidation attacking me with such force, I remained in God’s perfect Peace because, in those moments, I was operating in my true identity as a daughter of the Living God out of the secret place, seated in Heavenly places with Jesus! I was standing as the righteousness of God in Christ! I was living as the new creation that I am in Him!!
We must be sure to keep in mind what Paul had to say about spiritual warfare:
Now I plead with you that when I come, don’t force me to take a hard line with you (which I’m willing to do) by daring to confront those who mistakenly believe that we are living by the standards of the world, not by the Spirit’s wisdom and power. For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. ...
2 Corinthians 10:1-6 (TPT)
It wasn’t until I was on the other side of the situation that I realized the Lord was using this as preparation to strengthen my faith in God and to establish me in the authority that He has given me in Christ. I experienced, just like Nehemiah and the people of God, what it was like to try to build something the Lord called me to build with one hand, while, the same time, taking worship and the sword of the Spirit - the Word of God - in my right hand and using it to fight against and defeat the enemy.
This is why it is so important that we put on the full armor of God daily:
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
Ephesians 6:14-18 (NKJV)
It is just like the spirit of intimidation, as the outside force that it is, to attempt to create confusion. We can clearly see this operating as they were trying to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem:
7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the [a]gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
Nehemiah 4: 7-9 (NKJV)
As an answer to Nehemiah’s prayers God gave him a strategy:
11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
13 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. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Nehemiah 4:11-14 (NKJV)
Not only did the Lord answer Nehemiah’s prayers by giving him His divine strategies on how to deal with their enemies, He personally stepped in and defended them:
15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders [b]were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18
Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
Nehemiah 4:15-18 (NKJV)
It is important to note that even in that situation of constant onslaught from the enemy, God never left them and He empowered them to finish the work!
I heard the Lord saying, “Hold on, stay the course and press through because I Am breaking through!” “Praise is your weapon and the walls I have called you to rebuild SHALL be built! I Am not a man that he should lie! I, who promised, Am faithful to complete the work that I began in you!! NOTHING can stop My purposes for your life from being fulfilled!!
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
Take heart dearest ones because I Am with you and I Am not going anywhere! I will help you! I Am bringing all of the enemy’s plots against you to nothing!!
I have all of Heaven fighting for you dearest ones!!
Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’!!!
Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)
And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.
2 Chronicles 31:21 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)
Stay in your lane dearest ones, do what I have called you to do, keep your gaze on Me! Your victory is assured!!
Opmerkingen