Overcoming the Enemy Part 1
Many people today are dealing with spiritual warfare and if you don’t know anything about spiritual warfare it can lead you to a path of destruction. Most importantly you need to know that the battlefield is in your mind. Most of your decisions come from your mind and once you make up your mind you act on it. The battle that is within your mind is between good and evil. Know that you have two forces fighting against each other. If you are a believer in the messiah Yahshua then you will begin to experience some tough times. If you ask why, then it’s because you now have an enemy. Who is the enemy? It’s the devil and all wicked forces. The first thing that you need to know is that you have an enemy and his forces will always try to come against you. In order to gain victory you must know how the enemy operates and you must have faith in Yahshua because through him you will gain the victory. You can’t win this battle alone so therefore you need Yahshua and his angelic army to fight against Satan and his wicked army. Once you know the enemy’s tactics you will gain the victory. We are dealing with some strong forces and they will always try to come against you if you are a believer.
Ephesians 6:12 states for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Brothers and Sisters it is imperative that we have accurate information about our enemy because he wants to destroy our daily walk with the Most High. We have the ability to overcome all the things that are going against the Most High and that is sin. If you don’t realize by now that you are a sinner than Satan has already tricked you. You must know what sin is to be able to overcome it. People sin all the times but don’t even realize it because they are fulfilling their OWN desires. The goal is to overcome the enemy, to overcome the sinful nature so that you can be pleasing to the Most High. The commandments were given so that we can know what sin is and it will always be a guide for the wise. Those who reject the commandments have no true wisdom.
Now I want to provide Genesis 3:1-7 so that we can understand some basic things about the enemy.
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
From reading the scriptures above what have you learned about the serpent, his character and his tactics? I will list 5 things about the serpent.
- He’s a liar
- He’s very tricky and knows how to manipulate you
- He’s a deceiver
- His main goal is to get you to go after what looks good and desirable to you
- He wants you to go against the Most High
So how did the woman respond to the serpent and what action did she take? Well first we need to understand that she knew what was commanded by the Most High. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to eat from a particular tree in the garden. So the serpent knew what the Most High told her not to do but what did he say? He told her that she wouldn’t die if she ate from the tree now keep in mind the Most High said that she would die if she ate from the tree. So now we can clearly see the deception is taking place at this moment and this is how the devil tricks people. He goes against the Word of the Most High. He goes on to tell her that her eyes will be opened and that she will know good and evil. Eve was pure and without sin before she came in contact with the serpent, she was good. As soon as she listened to the serpent sin entered into her mind. She knew what was right and what was commanded from the Most High but she messed up when she listened to the serpent.
She was deceived and she made the decision to please herself and to fulfill her own desires. The worst part of it is that she gave her husband some fruit to eat and he ate also. Adam knew of the commandment that was given from the Most High but he didn’t even reject the fruit he went along with his wife and they both became disobedient. That’s sad because we see that Eve wanted to gain more knowledge to become wise but she didn’t really understand that the tree was corrupted. If you don’t know by now that the tree was an actual living being then it’s time to truly seek wisdom of this. It was an angelic being that was in the garden that knew good and evil. But also we see that Adam clearly followed after his wife without questioning anything. Hmm. That makes you wonder how the mind really operates. If they had listened to the Most High they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with but they had to learn.
Now what happened as a result of their actions? Their eyes were opened up to the truth and they knew that they were naked; they knew they had sinned or went against the Most High and that’s why they felt ashamed. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. What does that really mean? They actually tried to cover up their sin. Brothers and Sisters that is the same thing that happens in the lives of many people today. Growing up you are taught to do the right thing then when you get out into the world or leave your parent’s house you start to hang around certain groups of people who may not be in the truth or who have gone astray. Sometimes you may get caught up in certain worldly activities and you begin to join in on these wicked acts because you are curious. People tend to be influenced by the things in this wicked world and not knowing where it can really lead them. People do things without even questioning some things. People don’t take time to reflect on the decisions that they are about to make. But after you sin you realize that you went against the Most High and that you shouldn’t have done it. Many of us feel guilty and feel ashamed and most people try to cover up their sin. So overcoming the enemy here would be to simply listen to what the Most High has commanded us to do and don’t listen to what other people have to say. Don’t take pleasure in your desires which are earthly desires. Everything that looks good is not always good for you. Everything that tastes good is not always good food for you. Everything that sound good is not always good for you to listen to. Everything that you study is not always good knowledge or true wisdom, there is some knowledge that has been corrupted. So always discern these matters at all times so that you won’t be deceived.
Now to continue on we will take a look at Genesis 3:8-13.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
So what did you learn in this passage? According to the verses above the Lord God walked through the Garden and Adam and Eve heard his voice so they decided to hide themselves. So the Lord God was trying to find them and Adam came out and said he was afraid. Now come on now why would he be afraid? You know he did something that he was not supposed to do. Then he said he was naked and hid himself. So we see these different behaviors that are coming from Adam. Well it’s because he is guilty. How did he learn all of this to begin with? How did he know he was naked? Obviously he gained some knowledge from someone in the garden. So immediately the Lord God knew that he ate from the tree or talked to that person in the garden who he told not to eat from.
How did Adam and Eve respond, both in their behavior and conversation? Well first Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. So what do we see here? The blame was put on the other person. Did they take responsibility for their actions? No, they blamed someone else. Were Adam and Eve warned in advanced? Yes and they were told the consequences for eating the fruit from that tree (learning the knowledge from that person). We can also start to see how Yah’s doctrine was in the garden and how false doctrine were there also, why else would Yah tell them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? We need to seek wisdom on these matters. False doctrine have half truths mixed in it and it consists of lies. Adam and Eve went against Yah’s commandments and they were both deceived. Brothers and Sisters we need to be careful who we talk to, what doctrine we are being taught and who we bring into our lives because other people can influence you and you could very well be deceived. If you know what you are not supposed to do then simply don’t do it. The fear of Yah will prevent you from sinning and that’s true wisdom.
Continuing on to Genesis 3:14-15 it states and the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
In the verses above the Lord God was speaking to the serpent and he cursed him forever. What did you learn about the serpent and his future? He will always have enmity against the woman. So the serpent will always have hatred or show hostility towards the woman and her seed. I wanted to break it down for you so that you can have a basic understanding regarding spiritual warfare. It was established in the beginning and I will provide verses in the Book of Revelation which pertains to spiritual warfare in the end. The devil or Satan will always hate Yah’s chosen people and this is the ongoing relationship between the enemy (Satan) and his seed and the woman and her seed. In Revelation 12:7-10 it states and there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Here is the deceiver once again and he is described as the dragon. He was fighting against Michael and his angels. Well it’s the same thing that is happening on the earth; we are battling Satan’s army right here on the earth. You may not think so but it goes deeper than you can imagine. Remember you are in this material world/realm where you can only see the physical. You can’t see the invisible forces and the enemy has many skills. If you were able to see behind the veil and get a glimpse into the unseen world you would probably be terrified at what you see. There are many evil spirits that are roaming the earth and they constantly seek people who they can devour. This goes more into demonic forces influencing you. These forces are attached to you and if you give power to these demonic forces they will grow and become very powerful and it will begin to manifest in your life. You will be in bondage to sin and these sins become strongholds over your life.
Today we see an increase in sin all around the world and people are possessed by these demons and they are trying to destroy you. Some people don’t think it’s a big deal but it’s very real and in the spiritual world Satan or Lucifer or whoever you want to call him; he has angels that are working for him and they have certain ranks in his army. Some of those leaders are assigned over certain groups of people and their goal is to influence you behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. When you see war, this is the time to think with a spiritual mind. Let’s use ISIS for example. That group is very wicked. Think about this for every person that’s in that group there is an angel and probably several evil spirits attached to that one soul. So think about how many evil spirits and angels are leading them. Just for one moment, if you can imagine putting all of the members that’s apart of ISIS in a desert and then the veil was opened to the unseen world or unseen dimension. Just imagine how large Satan’s army would be surrounding them. Probably thousands upon thousands.
So with that said that’s just one terrorist group. Now imagine the whole world for a moment and think about all the sin in the world, once the veil is lifted and you are able to see into the spiritual realm you will probably begin to experience fear. That is why there is a veil between this physical realm and the spiritual realm. If you were able to see these demonic forces it would probably terrify you. Everything is going on behind the scenes but we can see the manifestation of these powers on the earth. Satan wants to deceive the whole world. He has been operating for a long time and he tries to trick you by making things seem good or look good to the eye or even feel good. Remember everything that appears to be good is not always good, everything that tastes good is not always good food, and everything that feels good is not always the right feeling. Jeremiah 17:9 states the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
We need to understand that everything that we read may contain some corruption even the different translations of the Bible and the missing books of the Bible. Knowledge has been corrupted in so many ways. Everything that Yah made good know that the devil has found a way to corrupt it. We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and we will be able to discern the things that we read or hear.
Now we are coming to an end to Spiritual Warfare: Overcoming the Enemy Part 1.
What have you learned?
So when you are trying to overcome the enemy what are some of the things that you must know about the enemy?
- He’s a liar, a deceiver, and full of corruption
- He is evil and wicked
- He seeks to destroy mankind by manipulation of the mind
- He wants Yah’s people to be disobedient
- He is our enemy and he hates the truth
- He has a heavenly government of angels and demons
- He was our enemy in the beginning and will be our enemy in the end
From the beginning the devil was tricky in all his ways and he will get thrown down according to Revelation 12. The devil questions Yah’s Word, cast doubt over Yah’s character and deceived Eve into eating from the tree which Yah said not to eat from. The devil was a murderer from the beginning and there is no truth in him. We can’t ignore these facts about the devil. He exists and we must have a strong foundation in Yahweh and his son Yahshua. Yah is our rock and we must seekHIM daily to conquer our enemy. We must have a strong mind and we must cleanse out all evil and wicked thoughts that leads to sin. We must repent from our sins and be made a new creature in Yahshua. Yah has equipped us with everything we need to defend ourselves against the devils attacks. Determine today to be a Mighty Warrior in Yah’s Kindgom. We have a lot of work to do and we need to study to show ourselves approved. Seek the Most High all the days of your life so that you can have all the tools that you need to walk in righteousness. Spiritual warfare is happening all over the world and we need to pay attention to the evil forces that are coming against us.
In Part 2 I will be discussing the different types of demonic spirits and strongholds and how to get rid of them. Identifying and removing these strongholds in your life is the way to freedom. Shalom brothers and sisters. Love you all.
Written by Sister Carter