Written by: Sanda Allyson
myrtleministries.com
July 30, 2018
When reflecting upon just the past five years, I’m rendered speechless at where our nation is today. There has been such a dramatic change, a fundamental shift away from all things godly and biblical. It becomes increasingly clear that we have entered a new season on the End of Days timeline. As a nation, we just ran headlong into the Days of Noah iniquity with the recent bold declarations made by science of hybrid creatures and CASPR 9 technology, splicing DNA of both humans and animals together in combinations forsaking any allegiance to God’s blueprint, with no concern for the consequences. These scientists boldly and nonchalantly state that they have moved evolution forward.
They are and will continue to sell this as a benefit for mankind, that they will eradicate diseases and disabilities. But I’m no longer in my twenties and I’ve heard this before. The benefits to mankind never seem to manifest in the way they had proclaimed but we usually seem to reap other problems, such as with genetically modified foods and the corresponding increase in immune and digestive diseases and disorders as a direct result.
In the bag of door prizes this shift has brought to us, we also have the utter mental breakdown of a disturbing percentage of young people in colleges who no longer have the ability of critical thinking, who were never taught to deal with emotions in a healthy way, who were taught that up is down and down is up in school systems that openly preach socialism and hedonism.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” -Isaiah 5:20 NIV
In this setting, believers in Yeshua Jesus are hated like never before. Does the following scripture sound like it was written today?
“They [the pagans] are surprised that you do not run with them into the same riot of recklessness, and they vilify you.” 1 Peter 4:4 TLV [emphasis mine]
As we read that scripture in chapter four which has the heading of How to Live in the Last Days, believers in a country that has never experienced open Christian persecution must respond to the scripture’s caution in ways that have been forgotten or removed from the church’s teaching. Among these lost skills is spiritual warfare.
“Stay alert! Watch out! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, searching for someone to devour. Stand up against him, firm in your faith, knowing that same kinds of suffering are being laid upon your brothers and sisters throughout the world.” I Peter 5:8 TLV [emphasis mine]
This is the point I want to make: How do we do that? How do we stay alert? Exactly how do we “watch out”?
I’m so glad you asked!
Since spiritual warfare is my area of ministry, I can help you with these questions!
To begin with, lets start with the most basic of these questions, “How do we do that?”
You can’t stand firm against any spiritual attack if you aren’t saved.
Have you given your life to Jesus? Have you truly given him your heart, turned away from all sin, and set upon a path of walking in holiness?
You’d be surprised how many people go to counseling and the counselor discovers that they have never actually given their lives to Jesus! They may have gone to church with family since they were young, but they never actually said, “Today, right here, right now, I’m giving my life to you Jesus. You are the foretold Messiah. You died and rose again for me. Please forgive me of my sins, cleanse me with your blood, and fill me with your holy spirit, and I will serve only you for the rest of my life.”
This is ground zero for both the supernatural and spiritual warfare! Salvation is a supernatural event! You cannot defeat the dark side if you are still aligned with them.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 NIV
“All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Acts 10:43 NIV
Salvation is comprised of a few things often referred to as The ABCs of Salvation: acknowledge you are a sinner unable to pay for your own salvation in need of a savior who can, believe that Jesus alone is God and that he died and rose again, and confess with your mouth that he alone is Lord. We are then commanded to be baptized which is both obedience and a declaration of our faith.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Have you done that? Do you know the date you got saved? Are you able to tell the story of being at Vacation Bible School and answering the call on your heart? Or of meeting someone in college who said something that shook you to the core and resulted in a tear-filled prayer on your knees in a dorm room?
If you don’t, I encourage you to pause for a moment to think about whether or not you actually gave your life to Jesus or if you conveniently never got around to it. Are you an introvert who nearly had a panic attack at the thought of getting baptized in front of people and just never followed through to get it done?
This is the center point of spiritual warfare!
I must say it again: Salvation is a supernatural event! It means everything! The Lord of Darkness has been evicted from the throne in your heart and the King of Glory now sits there! This is the center point of spiritual warfare! For, without the authority of His name, you have no power over the forces of darkness and therefore no hope to break free from them.
There should be a date or event you can point to when it was official. We don’t get saved by association or by doing charity work in a church. Salvation is a very different thing! And, there should be visible fruit from the experience that begins to grow, fruit that others can observe such as turning around from sinful behavior, no longer hanging out with the same people who pushed you to take the drugs that got you busted, or a sudden desire to read all the scripture you can.
After we make sure it is only Jesus Christ on the throne of our heart, then we can get about the business of learning both how to live in The Days of Noah and how our Lord has instructed us to defeat the forces of darkness.
