Prayer: Father, oh the bullies who try to invade our life or our nation. May I always place my faith in You. Amen.
Reading: Isaiah 36 key: vs. 13-18 “Then the Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of the Jews and said: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you! Nor let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in Adonai by saying, “Adonai will surely deliver us—this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ “Don’t listen to Hezekiah! For thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.’ “Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘Adonai will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” TLV
Attention: One of the greatest illusionists of our time is David Copperfield. His popularity has come from his ambitious list of things he made disappear and reappear. “His illusions have included the disappearance of a Learjet (1981), the vanishing and reappearance of the Statue of Liberty (1983), levitating over the Grand Canyon (1984), walking through the Great Wall of China (1986), escaping from Alcatraz prison (1987), the disappearance of an Orient Express dining car (1991) and flying on stage for several minutes (1992) (source: Wikipedia).”
Understand, David Copperfield is an “illusionist.” His craft is to make an illusion appear real. Satan too is a master illusionist. His descriptions are many:
- Genesis describes Satan as a deceiver, liar, tempter (Genesis 3)
- John describes Satan as a liar (the truth is not in him) and murderer, and the father of lies (John 8:44
- Matthew describes Satan as a deceiver, liar, tempter (Matthew 4:1-10)
- Luke describes Satan as a deceiver, liar, tempter, counterfeit, a coveter (Luke 4:1-13)
Satan wanted what was rightfully God’s. He coveted worship and power.
We are constantly at war and the contest is not between nations or men, it is a contest for the souls of people. Stand back and take inventory. Paul tells us who our true fight with. To the Faith Community of Ephesus he said, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).” When we are focused on the battles on earth, we are errantly focused on the wrong place as the source of the conflict.
Sennacherib sends an envoy to the “fortified cities of Judah” and harassed the delegation which king Hezekiah sent to them, by doubting their God, Adonai. Do you really think your God is going to deliver you? Look what we have done to other gods and their nations? Do you see what was in play? It was not a contest of armies, but of God versus gods. It is a spiritual battle which was manifesting as a physical battle. If you will submit to us and our god, we will give you “2,000” horses.
We must be able to see which forces are in play. Paul tells us explicitly, our struggle is not against “flesh and blood” but against the “rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” If we keep our eyes focused on the earthly manifestations of war and wickedness, we are being deceived by the master illusionist, liar, and deceiver. Are we fighting the war with Adonai’s angels in the heavenly places? If we join the battle with the weapons given to us in prayer and scripture, we will see changes here on earth.
Action: I choose to see and acknowledge a spiritual war in the heavenlies manifests with war and wickedness on earth and I will engage in the battle with prayer and scripture.
Yield: I choose to submit and utilize the authority given to us by Yeshua.
Engage: I choose to engage in the battle in the heavenlies.
Relationship: I choose to live a life of obedient submission to Adonai.
Prayer: Father, we have been guilty of only looking at the depravity of man and war and thinking we have no power. We have authority given to us by Yeshua. May we begin today to use the authority given to us to break down strongholds, by engaging in the war in the heavenlies. Amen.
Memory Verse: Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” TLV
Music Video: Phil Wickham—Battle Belongs https://youtu.be/johgSkNj3-A?si=ly_0d3mxfW0R3y5S
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”