Having a relationship with Jesus certainly doesn’t mean we will be free of problems or struggles. Life can be tough, and even as Christians, we will face many challenges.

Before we were saved, we were no threat to the devil. But when we accepted Jesus into our hearts, something changed. We took up a new residence in the spiritual battlefield and immediately became an enemy of Satan.

We live in two worlds—the natural world and the spiritual world. Both are going on around us, yet one we can see, and the other we cannot. When we find ourselves faced with battles or temptations in our lives, we must realize there’s much more going on than what we see with our natural eyes. Many of our battles, struggles, and trials are rooted in the spiritual realm. As a result, war must be waged on the spiritual battlefield and fought with spiritual weapons.

Equipped For Victory

God is a good God and would never leave us defenceless or send us into battle unequipped. He has given us the most powerful weapon in the world: His Word. But too often we wrestle with strongholds like depression, addiction, sickness, poverty, loneliness, or relationship conflicts in our own strength instead of utilizing our spiritual resources in Christ.

The Bible is referred to as “the sword of the Spirit” for good reason (Ephesians 6:17). God’s Word is the ultimate authority over the lies of the enemy. Something happens when we put the Scriptures in our heart and mouth and begin to point them at the enemy. God’s Word will dethrone principalities and release the power you need to stand your ground.

Remember, you are not in a fight for victory—victory is already yours. You’re just enforcing it! But the only way to gain true victory over the enemy is through the truth written in God’s Word. The apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “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 strongholds.”

Your spiritual weapons are mighty in God to overcome the strongholds of the devil. Through the truth of God’s Word, you have been given dominion over the strongholds in your life. In exercising this authority, you let the enemy know he no longer has permission to harass you.

Defeating Satan’s Lies

The devil is a liar. That’s his nature. Scripture tells us he is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). From childhood, we learn to believe his lies: lies about God, the world, other people, and ourselves. Yet God wants to uncover those lies in order to replace them with His truth.

Jesus promises us as His disciples: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). If you ask the Holy Spirit, He will reveal any of Satan’s lies you’ve believed. You don’t have to go through a long ritual. Simply pray, open your heart, and ask Him to show you.

The answer might not come right away. You may need to be patient and persistent. But if you will wait on the Lord for your breakthrough, He will bring you the answer.

Patience is not a virtue that comes easily for me. I have to work at it, and maybe you do as well. But if you don’t grow frustrated or give up, you will be able to face the lies and replace them with the truth—and the truth will set you free!

When God reveals the root of any strongholds or lies, it’s time to confront Satan’s lies with Scripture and allow God’s Spirit to heal you.

Going On the Offensive

Remember: If you’re a child of God, the devil has no rights in your life. But you must move into an offensive position and take back anything the enemy has stolen. Speak to your circumstances as a child of the King and joint heir with Christ. Your words create your realities, so don’t take them lightly.

Don’t stop pressing in until the victory comes. As a Christian, you have power over the devil, but he’s not going to give in without a fight. You must realize the authority and the spiritual weapons God has given you! He also wants to empower you with wisdom and discernment on how to use those weapons.

May God awaken the mighty warrior inside of you! Through His anointing, you can pull down strongholds in your own life and go to battle on behalf of your loved ones.

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. — Ephesians 6:12

Let's take our stand and see what God can do

It’s pouring down rain today. I love loud, wet, serious rain. I despise wimpy, slanted, spattering rain what they might call in Cornwall mizzle. If you’re going to take the sun away from me, be a force. Show the garden you mean business. Don’t take all day to make the grass damp! Soak it. Give it your best thunder, lightning, wind… the works.

I know that there are facts to support the view heavy rains don’t nourish the ground the same way that slow, steady rains do. The force sends it off the clods and into the streets and byways, down drains and into ponds and puddles. It doesn’t stick around long enough to really travel down into the roots, deep where the plant begins thriving, down below the surface. 

I often want forgiveness to be like a good, hard rain. I want it to just do the thing. Give a quick apology. Make amends. Kiss and make up. Put the issue behind us. 

But it’s the slow, steady, every day, minute-by-minute forgiveness that nourishes deep into the soul, that mirrors the forgiveness our heavenly Father gives us. The real, true, refuse-to-leave kind. The kind that overlooks huge, nasty wrongs and minuscule, annoying offences. The kind that doesn’t turn a blind eye but instead loves in spite of all the ugly misshapen habits. The kind that sees each thought preceding the biting words, each motive behind the cruel actions, and still stays for the long haul. 

I’m not good at this kind of forgiveness. I’m best at the kind that forgives once and then tries to forget about it. It’s the things that require continual, faithful, not again forgiveness that grate on me. The ones that have lies attached to them. The ones that make me feel unloved and disrespected. The ones that put a chip on my shoulder. The ones that make me question the righteousness of another person, forgetting how unrighteous I myself am. The enemy loves to take our eyes off our own unworthiness and put it on the wrongdoings of others because, in our view, that diminishes the seriousness of our own sin. 

The Bible tells us that if we don’t forgive, our Father in heaven won’t forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15). I’m not here to theologically debate that to its very core, but it demonstrates how high a priority the Lord puts on this instruction to forgive one another. One of the marks that we are Christ’s is the brand of forgiveness. When we wear forgiveness humbly, we show the world that He is powerful enough to forgive them. 

Listen, I realize this is a high calling. Peter thought forgiving someone seven times was a high standard, one worthy of commendation. Yet, seven times seventy times (in other words, infinitely) is the standard followers of Jesus should maintain. There are so many books and discussions circulating that debate this issue. There are things that will seem unforgivable. Aren’t there? Aren’t there things that will seem like they shouldn’t be forgiven? Truthfully, we don’t get to determine that. Jesus levelled the playing field at the cross. Every sin, no matter how heinous or trite, is covered by the blood. If that jars us a little bit, it should. Because that’s how wide grace is. 

We keep extending forgiveness because we keep needing it. 

When we ask Jesus to erase our sin, He extends forgiveness like a downpour, washing away all of our past sins with one fell swoop. And He simultaneously extends it in the form of a slow, steady, constant, loving drip, interceding for us at the right hand of the Father each and every day for the rest of our lives (Romans 8:33-35). To the extent that we have experienced this saving grace, we gift it to others. And the miracle? As we extend forgiveness, we receive nourishment down to the root of our very souls (Luke 6:38). 

And life-giving nourishment swims up above the surface, producing a beautiful crop of redemption. 

Keep choosing to forgive....