Christian Living

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It is Time For the Christian to Come Up To Bat

Dec 11, 2003
By: Rick L. King

Years ago I read a book where the Church was compared to a baseball game. The devil was winning because the Christians had yet to come up to bat. They were busy on the sidelines arguing over doctrine.

Today, I sensed the Holy Spirit revealing to me that another reason that we have not come up to bat is that we have been busy fighting fires the devil has started. We have been trying to clean up his mess rather than going to the root cause and preventing the mess. The devil has kept the church busy in works so that they get worn out. Yes, we must deal with the mess, but greater than that, we must start getting to the root cause if we are to ever get rid of the mess. We are told in scripture that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). We have been wrestling with the problems of the people without going to the root source of what has them in the problems. We must start dealing with the origin of the problems if we are to win this war. God equipped us with power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all of the power of the devil, and nothing by any means can hurt us (Luke 10:19). We must take up our weapons of war and deal with the spirits and the strongholds behind the problems (2 Cor 10:4). We need to take an axe to the root of the tree so that the tree may no longer grow and bear bad fruit (Math 3:10). We must quit concentrating so much on the bad fruit, and just cut down the tree so it will not be possible for fruit to grow on a tree that does not exist.

One of the problems we face is that the world is so inundated with war and death. What is the reason for this? The wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23). Death has had a hold even on the Christians where they are worn out and giving up. God does have an answer. I realized today that people whom are under this spirit find themselves feeling hopeless and discouraged. They may know the Lord, yet the battle has raged and they are giving up.

Psalms 18:5 states that the snares of death prevented me. Being under the spirit of death prevents us from getting free. We get stolen from and beat up, not knowing the reason. We feel powerless to fight as nothing seems to work, so we just give up. Many people are dealing with this. I have seen first hand a friend that battled it for years. He couldn’t even pray. He was constantly stolen from and drained. His heart wanted the Lord, yet he gave up as this spirit had him so bound he didn’t know how to fight. The sorrows of death totally encompassed him. The devil was determined to get him into suicide as the deception was so strong it seemed that this was the only way out.

Yes, God is and has an answer. As people are set free from the sorrow of death and snares of death that prevent them (Psalms 18:5), they can then cry out and the Lord will answer them. He desires to speak to people. He spoke to Lazarus when he was dead and said come forth from the grave. As Lazarus was obedient, the grave clothes were then removed. (Read John 11:1-44).

We cannot continue in fighting the mess that the devil has created, but we must start dealing with the one that has made the mess. We have been fighting the fires the devil started instead of fighting the one that started the fires, the devil, the root cause. We have never come up to bat. This is no different spiritually as we must quit trying to work the word and get to know the one that wrote it. We must become intimate with the Holy Ghost and learn how to fight in the spirit and defeat the devil. In scripture in Isaiah 30, it refers to waiting on the Lord for His counsel. The message is clear that when we don’t wait to hear but just get impatient and do what we think will work, we fail. God waits until we once again cry out to Him and seek His will and power. He then answers and heals and delivers. Also, in Psalms 18 we find the same remedy for when we are engulfed with death. We cry out and God answers. People have so been under the sorrow of this world and the sorrows of death that they have been unable to cry out to the Lord for help. For people to cry out, they need sorrow, but it must be godly sorrow. This kind leads to repentance (See 2 Cor 7:10). As intercessors we need to deal with the spirit of death and the sorrow that people are under so that they can find the godly sorrow that will bring their deliverance.

Several years ago I read about Charles Finny. This book had a great impact on me. I never forgot what God did. I believe that he was the one that stated that he stayed outside a city for one week and did prayer and warfare. Once he came into the city, the powers of darkness were broken and the power of God fell. People were slain in the spirit even on their job. Businesses closed as God’s power was manifested so strongly. God has not changed. If He did this once He can do it again. We need to get back to the reasons it happened. Prayer and warfare prepares the way of the Lord. Our focus must change from fighting the fires the devil has started to dealing with the devil and telling him what he may or may not do. We must get on the offense. Scripture says that the violent take it by force (Math 11:12). We must go in as an army of God filled with the Holy Ghost power and possess our land back from the devil. We have the authority in Jesus name to do this. We have the power of the Holy Ghost to anoint and lead us. The only way that we will ever win a war is on the offense. We cannot take ground on the defense.

Years ago the Holy Spirit spoke this word to me. “Passive Christianity is a thing of the past. Unless you through My Spirit take it by force, you will never get it”. It will not be dumped in our laps. We must fight for it.

Are there any that are willing to fight? Are there some warriors left in America that will do battle in the spirit and run the devil out so that people can cry out once again? If we do not start dealing with the root problem, the devil, we will spend our lives fighting fires and have many, many more casualties. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (Greek-beyond measure, exceedingly abundantly above). Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”. It happens according to the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. It is the devil that kills, steals, and destroys (John 10:10). If we are to realize life abundant, then we are going to have to deal with the devil and fight in the Spirit of almighty God, and see the strongholds of the enemy come down over cities, nations, and countries.

Ephesians 6:12 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.

There are ruling spirits on assignment over houses, cities, countries that must be pulled down off of their demonic thrones. Notice how certain areas of the world have specific problems? How also in cities some problems are worse in that city over another? The reason is that there are demonic strongholds ruling in the spirit realm over these places. We have authority over them. As we deal with these rulers, we will find that the people will change. They will find freedom to cry out to Jesus as the Holy Spirit convicts them. The hand of God will have freedom to move in these areas. God, I have found, usually does not go where He is not invited. If people want the devil, then the devil they will get. But they need to find what it is like without the devils influence so that they make a conscious decision.

May God give us a strategic plan of action to bring the troops together and plan our attack so that the enemy will be immobilized.

Look at some of the fires the devil started that we are fighting.
1. homelessness
2. death
3. suicide
4. murder
5. abortion
6. lust of all kinds
7. greed
8. unforgiveness

The list is endless. Instead of dealing only with the wounded, we must start dealing with the one that is responsible for the wounds. Sin is of the devil (1 John 3:8). He is the one tempting and blinding eyes. He is the one that is blocking and hindering the outpouring of the Holy Ghost that will bring repentance and salvation, and deliverance. When hearts change, what the people do will change. Man cannot save nor deliver himself. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit. Warfare will allow men to be free enough to cry out and repent. Many that have gone through so many struggles may jump at the chance to change if they can find hope in something that works. Religion does not work. The law does not work. A warring church filled with the power of the Holy Ghost does work. Jesus never fails. His word never fails. He is faithful to deliver those that will come to Him.

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