Spiritual Warfare: Recognizing Spiritual Attack

Rick Yuhas: 0:01

Today on Renewed Mindsets. Life can be hard. A life obedient to God can be even harder. The devil wants to thwart God's plans and is not above bullying you to get his way. Spiritual warfare and how to recognize it. Right now let's go, boys. Hey, welcome to Renewed Mindsets, where we study the basics of the faith through the lens of our middle-aged experiences. I'm Rick. Welcome to the show where I help you, gen Xers and millennials, navigate spiritually through a world that looks nothing like we expected Back, when cars were square and mullets were totally awesome. I am so glad you're here. So if you've been listening for any amount of time, you know that I've talked a bit about my life, the good and the not so good. To God has blessed the efforts of this show and it's made an impact for God's kingdom. I'm getting to do God's work. But the enemy is not pleased with the work that I'm doing and lately he's been thrown whatever his desperate hands can grab ahold of to knock me backwards. A few days ago he pulled out the mother of all bombs, which knocked me sideways but not back, and recognizing it for what it is is great confirmation that I'm doing God's will Ain't easy. This warfare, this spiritual warfare, it's like this big battle that's happening in our world and even though we might not always see it or remember it, here's the thing the enemy wants nothing more than to fill our minds with discouragement and defeat. It's not cool. If you're a believer, living as a positive force in the world a world that can be dark sometimes you're going to encounter spiritual warfare. It's obstacles and it's attacks that get thrown your way. But there's good news we don't have to let the enemy win. God reminds us in his word to stay aware of what Satan's up to, to be alert and to stay close to him. God gives us everything that we need to stand strong in life and have victory over these battles that go on in our minds, the battles that go on in our heart, the battles that go on in our soul. But here's the thing we get caught up in our busy days and we end up very ill-prepared or even unaware of what we're facing or who the real enemy is. The forces of darkness don't wait for us to be ready for their attacks. They're sneaky and they're determined. You got a free demon possession with every exercise. You can't beat that. And the devil doesn't care if we feel prepared or prayed up for the day. Actually, he probably prefers it when we're not. But don't worry, we're going to tackle this together and we're going to come out stronger on the other side. In this broken and dark world, it's really hard to tell the difference between regular difficulties of life and the true spiritual warfare attacks from the enemy. Now, jesus told us that we'd face troubles in this life, and don't we know that's true. Sometimes it's not easy to figure out who or what is causing all the struggles. But here's the thing God has equipped us for battle and he tells us to stay alert. Spiritual warfare isn't about giving the devil more attention or getting too caught up in his evil ways. It's about being attentive to what God's doing and standing strong while letting him fight the toughest battle. There's power in God's spirit, in his word and in prayer and we as Christians can be confident that he's always with us, leading the way and protecting us from behind. But how do you know if it's spiritual warfare or just the fact that life is sucky sometimes, because man life can get really tough right. It's like all of a sudden you have this extreme onslaught of troubles and losses and trials that just hit you out of nowhere and it feels like one thing after another and you left feeling just overwhelmed. Look at Job's story in the Bible. It's a perfect example of this. It's Job, chapters one and two. The devil went to God to ask permission to torment Job, thinking that all the struggles would push Job away from God. But you know what? Job stood strong and even though he was losing everything that he held dear, he knew that God had him secure, even in the middle of all the loss and hardship. Here's the thing God will never let the devil have full control. He doesn't get to have the final say in our lives. Now we're going to face battles and attacks, but we can trust that God will be our shelter through all of it. He's got our backs, I'm telling you. He does have your back. It's crazy to think about how much the enemy wants to mess with our lives. Sometimes the attacks are physical illnesses, life threatening loss. The devil's like this thief, a roaring lion that's ready to pounce on God's people and catch us off guard, and his ultimate goal is to steal, kill and destroy all that we hold dear. That's from John 10. It's really sad to think about how he wants to silence our voices and extinguish the light of God's love and hope, because that's what we are we're God's love and hope, the light of Christ in this world, and the devil can't stand it. I'm sure a lot of you out there have had experiences where you were close to death or where they're. You or someone in your family faced a sudden and terrible illness, but you know what. God intervened. He kept you here for a reason, even when it seemed like everything was falling apart. The Bible's filled with stories of God's people facing great danger, physical attacks, and yet God performed miracles to bring them all through it. Because it doesn't even make sense. That's just how amazing God is. Remember Daniel facing the lions His attackers thought that he would be done for, but God shut the mouths of every single one of those lions, from Daniel six. And he's still shutting mouths today. If you're going through attacks and you feel like your life is being threatened, don't worry. God is a miracle worker. The Bible tells us that our time is in God's hands and he knows exactly how long we're supposed to be here on this earth and he'll keep us and our loved ones safe in his care until it's our time to go home to heaven. So here's the deal. There's no need to fear. Stand strong in prayer and in his word and you'll overcome that spiritual warfare. So you got my back and everything it's got your back Dang. Now here's another problem that we have If you, if you are under attack by increased temptation or a lure towards sin or wrong choices. Life is full of struggles and temptations. Right, here's the thing sometimes we face these spiritual attacks and it puts us at a great risk of going astray, of backsliding. It's like this battle, a really tough one, and the enemy fights hard against us, and Satan doesn't just want to bring us down, he wants to bring everybody around us down too, and he gets all excited when he sees news stories of believers who have fallen or made terrible choices. He loves when there's disunity amongst Christians. Get on Facebook and just see what's happening. It used to be. It used to be Christians against everybody else on some of these posts, and now the everybody else is off doing their own thing and Christians are just fighting Christians on some of the dumbest things and on some of the most important things. The devil's ultimate goal is to break up families and relationships that mean the world to us. It's not a pretty picture, but guess what? We can stand strong and stay aware. We don't have to give the enemy any room to wreak havoc in our lives and we can shut him down completely. Because let me tell you, if we let him in even an inch, he's going to take that and run with it and try to make us backslide faster than we can even realize what's happening. And you know, when we're already weary, when we're already tired and feeling weak, that's when we really get on the enemy's radar. Jesus himself is our greatest example of this. In the wilderness he faced the devil's temptations In Matthew, chapter 4, 1-11,. He was fasting, he was hungry, he was physically weakened and he was tired. And you know what? The enemy jumped on that opportunity to throw temptations at Jesus like never before. He was waiting for just one slip up, one wrong move, one yes to sin. But Jesus stood strong. He resisted the attacks, every single one of them. He spoke God's word out loud, he held fast to the truth and he stepped over Satan's lies and attacks. And you know what he leads us to do the same thing. So here's the deal Don't be caught unaware when those temptations in spiritual warfare come knocking at your door. When you feel those strong pulls away from God's truth and God's ways, you can be sure of who's behind it. Just don't give in. You gotta stand strong and keep your eyes on the prize. God's got your back. The next thing is when you have feelings of oh man, just overwhelming despair, darkness, fear. And I get it. I totally understand that life can be tough Anxiety, fear, depression, mood disorders they're no joke. But you know what? Sometimes those attacks from spiritual forces can make things even more intense than just a regular struggle. Sometimes it's ruthless, it's unrelenting, and that battle can leave us feeling completely alone and overwhelmed. It's like being stuck in deep fear or deep, deep despair, and it's not a fun place to be. But here's the thing we need to recognize this darkness for what it really is and stand strong, because sometimes Satan's going to try to push us over the edge. He'll make us contemplate, taking our own lives or making choices that we never thought we would. It's a cruel, cruel trap, but you can't lose hope. We have Jesus and he's the one who can lift us out of that darkness. He's the one who can calm our fears and give us strength that we never knew we had. Do you know about Elijah the prophet? He was an amazing man of God who led the battle against the false idols and stood strong against those who opposed God, and everybody saw him as a hero. He was respected and he was honored. But right after this great victory, he went through some extreme warfare and he ran for his life. He was gripped by fear and despair. It's like he forgot everything that God had just done for his people. You can find that in 1 Kings, chapter 19. But you know what? God met him right where he was. He provided for him and he took care of him and he gave him strength. He showed him great, great mercy and grace, and he didn't stop there. He called Elijah to action and he gave him a plan to keep moving forward because there was still work to be done. God does the same for us today. If you ever find yourself running scared or stuck in despair, take a moment to think about who you're really running from. You can't let Satan's pursuit and attacks get to you. He's got no power over you. He's got no lasting power over you, that's for sure. God will hold on to you and he's got amazing things planned for you down the road. So you've got to stand tall and let your light shine. You got this and God's got your back every step of the way. The next thing that you need to recognize for a spiritual attack is confusion, feelings of guilt or just very dull spiritual awareness. And this last sign is a spiritual warfare that can be sneaky and hard to spot. Sometimes it's like a slow, constant pull away from God's truth, and it can happen so gradually over time that you don't notice it. But if you stop and take a closer look, you can call it out for what it really is. When this kind of attack happens, you start to feel confused or irritated or conflicted. Now we carry around this generalized sense of guilt and condemnation that just won't go away. When this happens, our desire to pray or to press into God's word diminishes. There's the word I'm looking for. We get busy, we got tons of things to do Sometimes they're even good things and we neglect God's word and we find ourselves isolated from other believers, thinking that we can handle life on our own. But this dark cloud of confusion and guilt, it follows us everywhere and bitterness can creep in. Conflicts, broken relationships. We start doubting what we used to believe and listen more to what the world says is right. Now, friend, you got to break free from that trap. You need to wake up and take action. God's power is stronger than any condemnation and confusion thrown your way. In his word, he reminds us that he is not the author of confusion, but of peace. In the Bible he says Corinthians 14-33,. He tells that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8-1,. When God's spirit convicts us of sin. It's not meant to be a ruthless and condemning voice. It's not about piling on guilt and shame, which is what the enemy loves to do. Instead, it's filled with hope and grace. So you need to just step away from that dark cloud and step into God's light and truth. Let his peace wash over you and guide you back to where you belong. God's truth is powerful and it's always going to lead you back to the path of peace and freedom. Like I told you earlier, I've been thinking a whole lot about spiritual warfare lately because our right smack dab in the middle of a firestorm. When I think about how I need to react to spiritual warfare, you think about putting on the whole armor of God, which there are several steps. You pick up your shield of faith and you put on the helmet of salvation, and when you're under heavy spiritual fire, you can't always remember each individual peace because you're distracted by the enemy's flaming arrows. Right, the greatest single way you can engage in spiritual warfare is to obey whatever God is telling you to do. It's very simple. You don't need to remember multiple things. You only really need to remember one Do what God says to do. The encompassed in that one command is all the individual pieces that we were talking about the helmet of salvation, which is aligning your thoughts with God's thoughts. The shield of faith is remembering that God was faithful before and believing that he'll be faithful again. It also encompasses the other commands that lead us to put on the armor of God, like rejoicing and praying and giving thanks. One reason that soldiers run drills is to automate their reaction when there's a firefight, they don't have the luxury of time to think about doing A, b and C as the bullets are whizzing by their heads and the bombs are going off around them. In the heat of battle, they need to know what their role is without having to stop and think about it, and that's what we have to do as Christians. We need to prepare for spiritual attack before it happens, so we do what we need to do without having to think about it. I find it very helpful to have to remember only one marching order Obey God, oh my God, roger, roger. Now, next week we're going to go a little deeper into God's battle plan for us when we're facing spiritual warfare. Introduce it a new daily podcast, written and produced to jumpstart your day with wisdom from God. Wisdom for the day. This daily meetup is a way you can learn everything about wisdom from a biblical perspective. The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom from the wisest man in the Bible, king Solomon, covering one to a few verses a day. Each episode is around three to five minutes A quick fill up of your wisdom to start your day or end it, and by the end of the year, you will have heard and understand the entire book of Proverbs. Visit wisdomforthedayorg and listen there, or hit follow for your favorite podcast app. And now Deep Thoughts by Rick U Haas. I was at the grocery store the other day and saw a sign that said vegetables 50% off. I thought, well, that's a great deal, but what am I going to do with half a carrot? Hey, I hope you're enjoying these shows as much as I do. I love providing value in the way of conversations and interviews and content. 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