authority | Revelations From The Road

Battle Plan!

April 26, 2019 by Bill 2 Comments

As we sang the praise song, “Surrounded”, in church recently this lyric gave me another Spiritual reminder of how we’re supposed to do things: “This is how I fight my battles.” When hearing this, I was reminded of something God showed me years ago relating to fighting our battles. I called it my Scripture Steps. As I got up in the morning and walked around my bed, I would make a declaration with several scriptures as I took my first steps:

“Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
“I submit to God and resist the devil” (James 4:7)
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)
“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
“I am more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37)
“I put on the whole armor of God,” (Ephesians 6:11)
“No weapon formed against me will prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17)
“I have the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means harm me.” (Luke 10:19)
“God, thank You that You never leave me, and You are with me always” (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20)

By the time I got to the next room, my faith was strengthened, I had on the full armor of God and I was ready to face the day! The Word of God is how we fight our battles! It’s the same way Jesus fought in the wilderness when He told the devil three times, “It is written!” (Matthew 4).

What’s your battle plan? Do you have one? We ALL face temptations from the enemy every day and if we don’t have a battle plan, he’ll lead us astray and drag us down. The verses above work well for me, (when I use them…yes, sometimes I mess up. Can anyone identify?) So, my suggestion is to look up several verses that pertain to your problems or temptations, memorize them and declare them with authority to the devil when he comes around. That is our Battle Plan!

One Nation Under God

February 21, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

Our country is divided. Our belief system has gone erratic and many have gotten far away from, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). Some who say they believe are gathering with those whose words, actions and lives do not reflect our Christian beliefs and values. However, when we recite the Pledge of Allegiance, we will say, “One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

Awhile back, I got a vision of what that phrase might look like. I saw our country in the form of a map and, above the center of the country, up in the sky was a circular, shining cloud of power representing God hovering over the United States. There were some citizens who had gathered under the cloud which meant they were, “under God”, and joined with Him. However, others were outside the cloud doing their own thing not willing to fully commit. The message was that if ALL people in the USA or even a great majority would come under the cloud of God, it would expand and we would be “one nation with liberty and justice for all.” There are enough professing Christians in this country to get under that cloud, under God, and make a difference in our land. Sadly though, most Christians have not made the effort to get out of their comfort zone and commit to joining others under God’s power cloud.

I once heard a preacher say that if all Christians would make demands as a whole, that we could have Bible verses on cereal boxes. We could be a powerful force! “If My people…” (2 Chronicles 7:14), if you don’t know the rest of this verse, look it up. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32). Can you “see” that cloud? Do you feel a drawing from God? Let’s make a commitment to get under it today and do great thing for the Kingdom of God!

Fight Back!

September 29, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given September 2018

I know that many of us are facing difficulties. Habits, addictions, relationships, past sins, whatever it is, we feel the effects of the attack. And it is an attack of the enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy us, (John 10:10).

This week, I got three “pictures” of what it means to fight back and I want to share them with you, hopefully, for your encouragement. The first one was from a praise song we sang at my church, Zion Family Ministries, “My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love.” (Stand in Your Love by Josh Baldwin). I saw my dark fear surrounding me which came from the devil but then, there was Jesus with the bright, shining aura of His love and I moved over into His love and stood there with Him. My dark fear dissipated. Move over beside Jesus.

Then another praise song, Living Hope by Bethany Wohrle, had this lyric, “Out of the silence, the roaring Lion declared, ‘The grave has no hold on me’!” This is what I saw: The devil standing outside Jesus’ tomb laughing because he thought he had won. But then, here comes Jesus, like a roaring lion, out of the grave and stomps the devil into the dirt! “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20). Notice that? Under OUR feet. “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19). You have the power…fight back!

And finally, James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Picture this: The devil is harassing you, you feel the weight of his attack as you face him. Then you turn around and see Jesus, He’s holding His arms out to you. You turn and walk over to Him and bow down, submitting to Him. He reaches out and touches you on the top of your head. As he does, power like a lightning bolt flashes all around you and enters you. Wow! Then, infused with the power of God, you turn and face the devil who sees this power all over you. As you take one step toward him in resistance, he, with a terrified look on his face, turns and runs away quickly!

You have the power! Fight back!

Anti Bullying

November 5, 2016 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given October 16, 2016

We all know about bullying. Many of us have been bullied in school, at work, in public or even in families. Research suggests that bullies are insecure, feel unworthy and need attention and they usually attract a following who want to see what they’re going to inflict on someone. Bullies don’t pick on the captain of the football team but some, supposedly, weaker kid. Experts suggest many ways to stop a bully, one of which is to stand up to them. I saw a video of a large kid who was being bullied and finally had had enough. He turned, picked up the smaller bully and slammed him to the ground and walked away. End of that bullying session.

So now you’re thinking about how bad it is to be bullied and how you don’t want to be in that situation. Well, most of us are! We’re being bullied by the king of bullies, the devil! And the sad thing is, we keep letting him do it. But there are a few differences in the devil’s bullying: 1. He’s all talk. He can’t hit you but will talk you into hurting yourself. 2. He knows there are some people he can’t bully. 3. There’s a sure-fire way for you to be bully free.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The devil is a deceiver; he talks you into hurting yourself. He makes it look so good, you fall for it. He’s looking for someone to scam.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11) He’s looking for someone to pick on but when he sees someone fully dressed for battle, he just moves on. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been issued that armor, do you have it on or is it somewhere in your closet?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) If you try to stand up to the devil without God backing you, you’ll get whipped! So, give yourself to God, get in the devil’s face and tell him to “Git!” You might say, “I’m submitted to God and I resist you devil.” And, “Greater is He who is in me than you are.” (1 John 4:4) Don’t let the devil bully you anymore!

The Devil Is A Bully! – Part 1

September 10, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given September 8, 2011

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy;” (John 10:10). Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18). Lucifer was like the head worship leader in Heaven until he wanted to be equal to God and got kicked out. Along with him went 1/3 of the angels who were sympathetic to his cause. They ended up on earth where Satan began by lying to and tricking Eve and Adam, (oh Adam was there and should have stopped his wife from listening), into giving up the blessing of God. They did and sin and death entered the world. Noah found favor with God and was chosen to help set things straight again but two of his sons blew off the blessing just like Adam did which set the stage for Jesus. Jesus came and took us back to square one with the devil’s defeat at the cross but even though he’s a defeated foe, he is still lying to and deceiving God’s people. He can’t stand us because we created beings look like God and sing praises to him like Satan used to. But the only way he can steal, kill, and destroy is to bully us.

The Bible says we are to, “Resist the devil and he will flee from us.” (James 4:7). But what does the first part of that verse say? “Submit to God…”. Yes, submit to God, get close to Him, learn His word and , “Put on the full armor of God..”. Why? “..so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11). We’ve got to know our rights and authority which are stated in the Word in order to resist the devil. Otherwise, we’ll get bullied.

I had a vision once of a little demon harassing me telling me all these lies trying to get me to doubt and fear which was beginning to work. I put my hand to my forehead and said, “Oh Jesus.” Suddenly, the demon’s eyes got big, he stepped back trembling with a look of fear on HIS face. I turned and saw Jesus standing behind me who said, “Son, I’m always right here. I’ll back you up.” We can’t be bullied if we have Jesus with us. Is he with you? Are His words in your heart?

We’ll look at some more about this topic and some offensive strategies in the next Revelations From The Road. Be blessed!