Daily Bible Study – Immanuel experience…
LEARN and PRACTICE the WORD of GOD
How to overcome Pride?
(Continuation from yesterday)
V. Pride belongs to evil spirit so defend against Spiritual Attacks
Pride is easy to slip back into after you have repented. You can even become proud of your humility! Be certain that the world, the flesh, and the Devil will do all they can to pull you back into your sin of pride.
- The values of the world system are topsy-turvy, including promoting pride as a positive thing. The world system gives us messages like “You should think highly of yourself” and “Try to keep yourself in the spotlight.” Overcome the world by inviting God to transform your thinking so that you come to agree with Him about the importance He places on humility.
- Your flesh (sinful nature) craves the good feeling it gets when you inflate your ego and selfishly seek attention from others. So remind yourself that your sinful nature is actually already dead. Cooperate with the Holy Spirit, who seeks to magnify God, not God’s creatures.
- Satan will lay opportunities in your path that will make it easy for you to exercise your pride. Resist his schemes by putting on the whole armor of God. Especially use the “belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14) by reminding yourself that God is the one who deserves honor, not you.
Spiritual attacks will never cease. So remain alert. The power of God is more than enough to defend you against spiritual attacks so that you may continue to live in a way that is consistent with your repentance.
A few practical ways to protect yourself from spiritual attacks
- Be Alert. We must be alert to its reality. If we aren’t, we are vulnerable. Peter said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). To be clueless is a great disadvantage in spiritual warfare – ignorance is not bliss!
- Apply the blood of Jesus
- Keep body holy and allow Holy Spirit to reside in us
- Renew the Spirit
- Ask for Holy Arch Angel’s protection
- Be a witness for Christ and share personal testimony to others
- Close all demonic gateways
- We must put on spiritual armor, which is a metaphor for being spiritually prepared. The armor is found in Ephesians 6:14–17: Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GodaSaturate yourself with truth – the belt of truth.What it means to put on each piece of armor includes:Belt of truth: “I accept the truth of the Scripture and will follow it with integrity.”Breastplate of righteousness: “I will not harbor known sin and I will strive to be like Christ.”
Shoes of peace: “I believe God’s promises, and count on them to be true for me.”
Shield of faith: “Whenever I feel like doubting or sinning or quitting, I will reject those thoughts and feelings, and tell myself the truth.”
Helmet of salvation: “I rest my hope in the future, and live in this world according to the values of the next.”
Sword of the Spirit: “I will use the Scripture to fend off attacks of the enemy and to advance the cause of Christ.”
- Resist the Devil. If we are alert to spiritual attack, and if we have our armor on, the Bible makes it clear, as we saw last week, that we can resist the spiritual attack. In three different passages of Scripture, we are told to resist the enemy. James 4:6–8 “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” 1 Peter 5:8–9 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resisthim, firm in your faith.”
- Maintain a clear conscience: Ephesians 4:26-27 instructs us not to let the sun go down on our anger because it gives the devil an opportunity. This would seem to apply to any similar sin. We are to repent/confess quickly. Otherwise, it gives the enemy an advantage in our lives.
- Resist temptation: 1 John 2:15-17 instructs us to resist the lure of the world, flesh and devil.
- Control sinful thoughts: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely powerful, and that we are to destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and that we are to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
- Meditate Holy Scripture: In Luke 4 and Matthew 4, we see Jesus resisting the devil by quoting Scripture to meet his every temptation. Read the Word of God regularly. This step is imperative. The Word of God is your roadmap from the Father’s heart. By reading and meditating on God’s word you bring light and life to your circumstances. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
- Pray: In the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying before His arrest, He urged His disciples to “pray that you may not come into temptation” – Matthew 26:41.
- Prayer Walk. This is one of the best ways to focus and hear from God. There is something about motion and prayer that help me to connect with Holy Spirit. As I walk and cry out to God my spirit bares witness with His Spirit and before long I have clarity and perspective for my request.
- Fast. Fasting has become a regular part of my life. Once I understood the power of fasting I began to see my prayer life go to a new level. Think of fasting as warfare. Every time my stomach begins to growl I go into a time of intercession and conversation with God. I am doing battle with the enemy and reminding him of the power of my prayer. Jesus said something’s only happen by prayer and fasting.
- Get Counsel from a reliable source. Having someone to talk with and give you godly counsel is key in managing spiritual attacks. Often we get overwhelmed and side tracked by the ploys of darkness. Having wise counsel will keep you focused on how to move into the realm of the Spirit of God.
- Fill your mind with truth. Listen to biblical teachings , worship music, and podcast. With all the online resources we have today this is an easy step to take. Fill your heart and mind with the Word of God and good instruction.
- Don’t give enemy a space We are by nature “stinking thinkers.” Our mind naturally goes toward what can go wrong. But when you put on the mind of Christ you begin to see your battle thought the eyes of God. The bible tells us in Philippians 4:8 that we are to ….THINK on certain things. The list goes like this. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think on these things. THINK ON THESE THINGS: God wants to rewire your mind to think as He thinks. When you begin to think your warfare is bigger than your victory…it’s time to take the Philippians test.
- Get enough rest and exercise daily. This may seem odd as a defense against the enemy but in truth it is very important. When Elijah was running from Jezebel, the Angel of the Lord told him to rest and eat. Often we are so physically and emotionally exhausted that we can’t fight off the lies of the enemy.
- Participate Holy Sacraments and receive Holy Communion regularly
- Be active in a good fellowship
- Divine Light – Constantly visualize yourself surrounded by Divine Light, regardless of how crazy things may seem, or may get.
- Show and live without Fear – Fear is one of the biggest access points of a spiritual attack. One must enter into these settings or situations knowing evil and negative energies want to create fear. Reaffirm yourself that you are stronger than it is. Try to remain composed at all times.
- Stay Positive – Do not give-way to fighting, bickering, or the negative behaviors of those around you. This too, is one way in which darkness and evil work. Their goal is to divide and conquer.
- Refrain from use of alcohol and recreational drugs – Save the party for later. Drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs before, during and immediately after an attack spells trouble.
- Rest & Recharge – This especially applies to investigations and readings. Try to space investigations so you can obtain decent sleep before and afterwards. Dark forces and energies suck the life out of the living.
- Walk in the Way of Jesus Christ.
- Work to gain double back your joy and peace in the Lord. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Ps. 51:12).
- Declare your identity.
God’s Word tells us to “Endure suffering, as a good soldier of Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3). There will be seasons in life when we simply need to endure, and we can stand strong by stepping up our prayer life and deepening our trust in God and his goodness. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Ps. 27:13)
Prayer: Abba Father, I believe in Jesus Christ one who died for me and rose for me and seated at the right hand of the Heavenly Father for me. He has defeated the head of the serpent and destroyed the work of the devil. If there are any demons prowling around looking for the souls of my family, I bind and cast them out in the name of Jesus Christ. I sprinkle the blood of Jesus upon me and my family. I believe the divine exchange of Jesus Christ. I pull down all demonic strongholds from my family by the name of Jesus. And I break all demonic covenants in the name of Jesus Christ. I seal my family with the blood of Jesus and reclaim all of its territories for Christ in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. I pray by the name of Jesus. Amen