Troubles or Triumphs

Under Siege

Have you ever experienced an attack from the enemy? I mean really experienced it? A close friend of mine has. About 4 years ago I was on holiday on my own as my wife had just died. I was staying pretty close to the lord at that time but was surprised one morning when the Lord said to call my friend. “Ask him if he will come deeper with me.” was all the Lord told me.

So I called and passed on the message. My friends reply caught me by surprise because instead of saying an immediate ‘yes’ as I anticipated, he said, “I’ll have to think about that. There is a price to pay for that and I have to consider whether or not I want to pay it!” How’s that for an honest response? However, about a week later he called me and said, “I just said ‘yes’ to the Lord.”

Within 24 hours my friend was under a very severe attack to his health. In fact the hospital thought his life was in quite serious danger. I won’t go into detail but suffice it to say that he is still under attack to this day and it truly is demonic.

You see, when we get serious with the Lord, Satan fully realises the danger to himself and to his princedom here on earth – and he resists us with every weapon at his disposal. He will attempt to take our life, our home, our finances, our family, our marriage – everything we hold dear. If you think I am joking, then ask those who are involved in deliverance ministry, or healing, or the prophetic. The numbers of Christians currently under prolonged and sustained demonic attack is truly amazing, and so many of them do not realise or even recognise the demonic influences. There is still a huge number of Christians who believe that, once they were saved, they were immune to demonic attack because “a Christian cannot have a demon or be possessed” !!

A Christian cannot have an evil spirit, or demon, in their spirit as that is where the Holy Spirit resides within us. However, a Christian can have an evil spirit, or demon, in the flesh – be it the mind or the body. This is how Satan attacks us and deceives us into making, quite honestly, stupid decisions which go disastrously wrong and cost us dearly. Pain and sickness are not from God. He may allow them but He does not give them. The Bible tells us very clearly that Satan comes to us to rob, to steal, and to destroy – ‘like a thief in the night’ or ‘like a prowling lion’.

So how can we fight back? The Bible, God’s Word, tells us in Isaiah 54:17 that, “No weapon forged against you shall prosper.” As in any battle situation, an enemy cannot be repulsed until he attacks. So there is no avoiding Satan’s attacks. However, by realising our authority and just who we are in Christ, and by utilising the weapons God has provided for us, we can triumph over the most serious attacks of Satan.

The on-going attack on my friend has been very largely nullified and he continues to travel the world in ministry despite every effort of the enemy to either kill him, to silence him, or otherwise to completely disable him. As the Word of God says, “He that is within us is greater than he that is in the world”. (1 John 4:4) or the Holy Spirit is greater than Satan because the Holy Spirit is God and Satan is a created being who was thrown out of heaven.

To bring all of this full circle – that was when the Lord asked me to come closer and to come higher in Him recently, and I said ‘Yes Lord’. I am fortunate as I have already witnessed at first hand the power of the enemy. I have been prepared and armed by the Lord - although I am ready for a siege if necessary. I have a lot of dying to self to do but with God’s grace and my wife’s help and prayers, I will do what I need to do in order to go higher and get closer to God – and my wife will come with me as we are a team. Prophecy is like being on a trampoline – the higher you go, the further you can see. If God is willing for me to get higher and higher, then who am I to say no to God?

Boing, boing, boing – I’m trying to get higher Lord. :-)