And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39 NLT
What has been your most helpful piece of information when it comes to spiritual warfare?
For me the most helpful piece of information when it comes to spiritual warfare is that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ alone. Christ Jesus has authority over the unseen realm as is evident throughout His ministry in the New Testament. As shared previously, “Although Satan opposes God and seeks to destroy his people, Jesus came to destroy Satan’s work” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible). The Scriptural truths of God’s Word helps me immensely when it comes to spiritual warfare. I know that on my own I cannot overcome without Christ and that gives me strength and peace knowing that in Christ I am made whole in God’s eyes. That in Christ’s victory and through his death on the cross and resurrection, Satan is powerless before the throne of God.
How do you know if something health related is spiritual warfare or not?
This is a rather good question. In the first blog of this series that I have written thus far, I shared on “What does spiritual warfare look like?” One of the direct examples I gave was the following. Physical sicknesses/health can also be a result of spiritual warfare as we see this in the story of Job. Jesus believed and taught that the enemy can at least cause some illnesses. He did not teach that all illness is from Satan, but that some may find its source in the spirit world.
During Jesus’ time in ministry in the New Testament we see him heal many people. Those who had illnesses or sicknesses as a direct result of spiritual warfare and others that did not result from spiritual warfare. Let’s read Luke 4:38-41.
After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.
Luke 4:38-41 NLT
In verse 39 we see that Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law by rebuking the fever which had made her very sick. It is noted that the same Greek word used when Jesus rebuked the demon in Luke 4:36. This tells us that Jesus has full authority over the physical and spiritual world. Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever that was not a direct result of spiritual warfare and in the next few verses we read of how Jesus healed many people and many of those were possessed by demons in which Jesus cast out. Meaning spiritual warfare was happening in causing the illnesses of some of the believers in this village. It was case by case as it were as Jesus healed those throughout the village.
This is a question that I want to be careful in how I answer because when it comes to health related illnesses or sicknesses it can be a sensitive topic. In order to know if something health related is a result of spiritual warfare or not, it takes prayerful discernment to distinguish between the two. Prayerful discernment involves God in the situation so that he may move through the Holy Spirit to bring about the needed discernment regarding a sickness of whether or not it is a physical or spiritual caused illness.
I believe the way to go about this prayerful discernment is to (1) talk with God about the sickness whether it is you yourself who is experiencing the sickness or a close family member or friend and see how he leads you. (2) Gather with a few church leaders, a small group or several brothers and sisters in Christ who are aware of our unseen enemy and have them pray over the person who is sick. In the midst of praying for healing of the person “in Jesus name” can result in a spiritual disturbance for lack of better wording. For example, while praying for healing of someone it could become apparent through the prayer that spiritual warfare is at work in causing the illness of a person.
When my wife Mikaela was sick back in February with urosepsis (a serious infection that can be deadly), a group of friends and believers were praying for her and in the midst of their prayer it became apparent that it was a spiritual attack on her health. They began to pray against the spiritual attack and for healing over Mikaela’s body. While in other rare instances that we do not find so much in the western hemisphere, while praying over a sick person, they may begin to act irrationally or you a hear a voice while praying over the person that is dark and demonic in nature that is evidence that the person who is sick can be possessed by a demon. This is noted more in the African and east Asia Christian culture, but can happen in America though it’s not as common.
It is difficult to give a direct black and white answer to this question because it takes prayerful discernment in guiding believers today whether the sickness someone is going through finds its root in the spiritual or physical world. In other words an illness brought on as result of spiritual warfare or an illness that is simply a physical one. We as Christians are called to pray and heal those who are sick by the power of the Holy Spirit as he is to be our guide when it comes to discerning whether or not sicknesses are as result of the spiritual realm.
How do you know if something is a distraction by your own doing or by Satan’s?
Ah, I touched on this in last months blog so let me share the following here and expand a bit further on it.
In this illustration I have changed the left side to being “Areas in Your Life.” Now some of these things may not apply to you and that is fine, this list is an example for illustration purposes. In this list we can see that generally speaking these are areas of life that are significant parts of a persons life. Satan seeks to break into and affect these areas of your life and unfortunately many believers and unbelievers are unaware of this and so when life goes sideways we are unaware that at times it can actually be the enemies doing.
Now after saying this I want to give a simple example that I regular give after making this statement. For example, if your alarm on your phone doesn’t go off because your phone died and now you are late for work this is not an “Aha! It was Satan that did this!” No, you simply forgot to plug your phone in before going to bed to charge it and now your phone is dead because there is no battery charge left. Common sense is needed because sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot putting ourselves in a bad situation and it is natural to play the blame game just as Adam and Eve did versus taking responsibility for our own actions when things in life go sideways.
As Christians, we have to be rather weary of playing “the blame game” as it is human nature to blame the situation on someone or something else. The example I gave above was rather simple because we have to exercise what I will call spiritual common sense and wisdom on the situations in life that we find ourselves in. The Bible invites us to examine ourselves in light of God’s Word and by that same token we are to examine our own actions whether they be big or small actions. Keeping God involved at the start means less of a chance of something becoming a distraction if God is involved from the beginning versus finding ourselves in a rather poor situation and then invite God to be involved while the boat is sinking. Note: He will still gladly come rescue you while the boat is sinking ;)
In inviting God in to be a part of our everyday life we will find ourselves less and less in situations of becoming distracted from a goal or purpose in life rather than going it alone only to end up in a difficult situation of our doing because we didn’t exercise spiritual common sense or wisdom. Scripture, especially Proverbs talks about the importance of gaining wisdom. So much so that Proverbs 4:7 reads…
Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
Proverbs 4:7 NLT
If we are wise and including God from the beginning that when a distraction comes along that is by Satan’s doing, we will be aware and know that the distraction is of our own doing or by Satan’s doing. Satan’s nature is to oppose God’s work and if the distraction is in opposition or leading away from God then that can result in the invisible enemy working behind the scenes. Again, we have to practice spiritual common sense and discernment when distractions come our way to examine and ask, “What is this distraction about? Why am I becoming distracted? What is the source of this distraction? Is it a result of something I did or acted upon recently? Or is this a spiritual attack?”
Do other religions struggle with spiritual warfare?
That is an interesting question and I am not entirely sure how to answer it at first glance so lets explore some Scripture together. This question makes me think of the book of Job in the Old Testament which there is a heavenly council meeting that occurs in the first chapter and there is an interaction between Satan and the Lord.
One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answers the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
Job 1:6-7
There is a lot to unpack when it comes to the book of Job and why Satan comes with the heavenly court, but I want us to focus on these two verses. When God asks Satan, “Where have you come from?” This question was of God’s sovereign demand for a report from a subordinate as nothing is above God and Satan could not avoid answering the question. In Satan’s response he tells of how he has been patrolling the earth and watching everything going on. To be clear Satan was not a part of the heavenly court, but that he came with them. Satan was not patrolling and watching the earth to implement God’s judgments, but to oppose God’s purposes as that is Satan’s nature.
The apostle Peter affirms this as being Satan’s nature as in the New Testament in 1 Peter 5, Peter writes the following.
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.
He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.
Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT
This is a passage that we have seen several times thus far in this blog series on spiritual warfare and here Peter writes of how Satan “prowls around.” In other words, patrolling and watching.
I point out these two verses because it points to nature of Satan that he is involved in worldly affairs. Whatever God is for, Satan is against. God desires for people to come to know Him as the Creator of Heaven and earth. John 3:16 tells us, “This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son (Jesus), so that everyone who believers in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Naturally, Satan does not want people to come to know of the saving Gospel message and so he uses many tools to keep us a part from God that may for example take on the appearance of another religion.
In last months blog The Battle of Spiritual Warfare, we discussed the many tools Satan uses as well as discussing Satan’s nature in patrolling and watching the earth so that he can oppose God and God’s people (Christians). So when it comes to the question of “Do other religions struggle with spiritual warfare?” I would in general say yes, because I have seen how Satan has used other religions to attract, trap and tear down people. I have seen how Satan has used his many tools in pulling believers away and out of the body of Christ in giving them false hope in taking up another religious faith. In my mind I think of this question more as, “Is spiritual warfare involved in other religions?”
In being our unseen enemy, Satan is involved in many things and he can use different beliefs that oppose God to distract and pull people away from God. As highlighted in last months blog the part where I shared “Overcoming the Devil” from my NLT Illustrated Study Bible, it highlights the following. The “entire unbelieving world is subject to the power of sin and the devil (Eph. 2:2; 1Jn 5:19). As the ‘god of this world,’ the devil can blind the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor 4:4; Matt 13:19)” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible). No one is promised an easy life in this world as we all struggle and experience many challenges whether that takes place in the Christian faith or other religions.
Does putting scripture on your walls protect you from spiritual warfare?
I believe it would depend on the thought process and reasoning for doing this because I would say there are two sides to this.
1. Is it by faith you are putting Scripture up on the walls in your home to remind you and declare the truths of God in protecting you from spiritual warfare?
2. Do you believe the act of putting Scripture up on the walls of your home is like rubbing a rabbit foot (bringing you luck) and that alone will protect you from spiritual warfare?
There are two different heart postures to each of these approaches. The first comes by a heart posture of faith in that you are acknowledging God’s Scriptural truths that He, Jesus Christ, has conquered the grave and overwhelming victory is ours through Christ alone. The second comes from a heart posture where faith is lacking in the sense that you are treating Scripture, God’s Word, like a good luck charm and that I would argue is a worldly approach rather than a faith approach. I do want to affirm the act of putting Scripture up on the walls of your home as it is always good to remind ourselves throughout the day of God’s Word and promises as He often calls us to remember what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do in the days and years ahead.
Blessings