“This is not a dress rehearsal — this is the real deal. This is reality. Get in the game. God is saying, it’s time for my people to shine and show who I really am.” — Bradd Neidhamer, Meeting Place, 03.07.17
Reality is defined as that which is real to you. Sound pretty obvious, doesn’t it? The Greek word for reality is alétheia which, simply put, is truth. It means the opposite of illusion, and truth — not just spoken words, but in truth in practice. One aspect of reality that Paul speaks about in Ephesians 6 is the reality of spiritual warfare. This is an area that the church often doesn’t really like to recognize because it is a little ethereal and it has to do with the invisible world — out of sight, out of mind perhaps? Regardless of whether or not the church wants to deal with it, there is a battle raging in the unseen realm.
Bob Deering spoke about spiritual warfare recently. He said, “Warfare is centered around the church being in a place of agreement with God’s word. The enemy wants you to think that the way church is going right now is ok. It’s not. There is a war in the church against the reality of spiritual warfare. There’s an example where the world takes three steps to the side, and the church follows with a step and a half. So it’s not quite “as bad” as the world, but still moving closer to the world as the world moves closer to hell. It’s not how it was meant to be!” If the church is truly founded on the immoveable, unshakable rock of Christ, she should not move at all, despite how far the world slides into comprise and moral decay. “It’s obvious that the plans of the enemy are to get us to accept divisions, sin, apathy, and lukewarmness as a reality. But we must come into agreement with God’s plan. His church will be brought to holiness; His bride will be made ready. This is the victorious church which will be a massive witness in the days ahead.”
The reality for us is that if we don’t get trained in spiritual warfare, we will be overwhelmed by the enemy. He is all around us – in culture, in relationships, in our work, schools and even homes – trying to take us out. Bob defined it: “Spiritual warfare is when we come into agreement with the word of God and then we move out those things that do not agree with His word. This is called displacement – moving something out of it’s former place. Doing this is what moves the enemy off his axis.” We have to be willing to get aggressive about this stuff! It’s our life following the narrow path. It’s not easy and requires constantly vigilance. Bob said, “If you live like hell; you’ll live in hell. Aggressive agreement is the will of the word of God that displaces the influence of hell on earth. When the church is passive, the power of hell increase it’s rule over their affairs!”
John 8:44 states that the devil is the father of liars. We know that if we allow lies to have influence over us, they will destroy us. We lie because we want to look better in front of other people. Sometimes we are afraid of being who we are, for real, so we try to pretend to be something we are not so that we can be accepted. Bob sTate’s that “the enemy wants us to live in the illusions of what man has created and one of his biggest lies is that the way this world operates is the way we should live.” The truth is the opposite. It goes back to the principle of the inside, outside, upside-down kingdom, where we die to live and lose to gain. The essence of our reality must be established on the bedrock of truth. Then he said, “The substance and meaning of every word spoken Christ spoke was the essence of reality. His words = reality. The Word and the Holy Spirit brings us into the reality of who God is. When we fall into sin, it can quickly become our reality. It’s not so much we fall, but more like we are seduced into sin because we are not grounded in the reality of His kingdom. To return to that reality, He asks us to repent which brings us into the place of light — and out of the darkness where deception, sin and illusion dwell.”
Bob said, “If you are to wage a successful battle, you must stand upon and know the Word of God. The knowledge of the word will allow you to stay in a place of gentleness, meekness, humility and favor.” One of the pieces of armor that is given to use in Ephesians 6 is the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. Both David and Solomon beseech their sons to write the words of God on the tables of their hearts. When I was a child, I learned many scriptures and it is amazing to me how in places of temptations, those simple verses will immediately be brought to my mind. They are written on my heart and the Holy Spirit uses those powerful words to remind me of who I am and the authority that I can use. Bob said, “Jesus has give us authority over ALL of Satan’s power. So we can stand in agreement of the reality of who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us!”
The enemy wants to wear us out and cause us to shrink back. Spiritual warfare, regular fasting and continual prayer causes us to turn the flame up and say “No way! I am moving forward in Jesus name. I will seek holiness and righteousness. I will press in and press on!” He has given us the armor and tools to use to fight the battle. Knowing that we are surrounded by fellow kingdom warriors and the cloud of witnesses above, gives us hope and faith to keep trekking up that narrow path that few discover. It assures us that “with Jesus you can not fail. You may stumble… but you will not fail.”
Notes taken from Bob Deering’s message on 02.28.17