Mighty Men of Faith

Ephesians 6

16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Men of today,we need to amour up, pray up take up the sword of the spirit and become the men God has called us to be. The prince of this world is after our families, our churches and our lives. Its time to take them back for Christ that they might be a light to the world to the Glory of God. God has ordained us as the high priests of our homes, so we much work to draw closer to God and to seek His heart and will for us and our families.

We hope you will be able to join us for one of our upcoming retreats , watch here for dates to be announced

Do the Demons Know Your Name

Now at this time Paul had been in Ephesus for about 2 years.

The City of Ephesus was notorious in the ancient world not only for its Idols but for its abundance of magicians and other occultist.
The wondering Jews were among those that claimed to be able to invoke the name of God over those processed of evil spirits.

Acts 19
11. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12. So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16. And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

Are you even a blip on the demonic radar screen?
Are they at home at your house and in your life?

Many of today’s Christian homes are havens for demonic powers; they are filled with occult materials, and demons run freely without restraint.

Why? Because many Christians don’t even believe they exist, and even worse if they did they have no idea what to do about it.

Many, use the excuse that if there is any small sin in your life it will make you venerable to the demons. That is why as Bro. LeGrand is fond of saying you keep short accounts, there is no time that there will not be some sin in your life, you haven’t arrived yet, and you wont till you stand before your Lord in Glory.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 11-18
11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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.
13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Paul tells us in 2 timothy 4: 7
7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

2 Corinthians 10

1. Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
2. But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4. (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds
5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

We are not here to sit ideally by; we are here to do battle, to do battle for the souls of men, for the souls of our families, to bring down the strongholds of Satan.

This week we celebrate this nation’s independence, but I say we need declare the independence of our homes and our lives from Satan’s grasp.

That we draw close to God and move on to higher ground move to the next level in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, so that the demons may know our names, that we might be found in the ranks of those that were found faithful in the fight, that finished their course, that fought the good fight.

Taking it to the Next Level Are You Gaining Higher Ground

Something has happen in the Christian Community and in Churches all around.
Somehow people forgot to get on the elevator.

You might ask just what I am talking about; it seems that many of us just forgot to move on to the next level.

This is nothing new as Paul addressed this to the Church at Corinth.
1Cor 2:
6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1 Corinthians 3

1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3. For ye are yet carnal:

Never got off the ground floor:

They just got saved sat on the pew, listen to the preacher on Sunday maybe on Sunday night; surely that was good enough after all they are saved.

These are those that Paul calls carnal, carnal as the world is carnal never obtaining the wisdom of God as ignorant as the world to the deep things of God.

The perfect ones that Paul refers to here are the mature ones in Christ. Those that have fed the Sprit man those that have spent time in the word of God not just a little time but daily in the word of God. Searching out the truth of God’s word, wearing out their knees in prayer, seeking out Gods presence.

Matthew 6
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We must seek God in order to obtain the things of God:

Moses had to seek God before he could go to the next level.
Elijah had to go get out of his comfort zone before he could go to the next level.
Every time we see those in God’s word that were greatly used of God we see that they had to seek God, they had to move out of their comfort zone.

So we must seek God if we are to go to the next level

The next thing we must do is to Move forward

Philippians 3
12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Moving forward to what?

To do battle with the enemy

Ephesians 6
13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

To do this though we must do something else:
We must lose our minds

Philippians 2
5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
We must become servants in order to accomplish our tasks for God.

Romans 12:
2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

We must loose our minds and take on the mind of Christ in order to move to the next level.

We must loose ourselves:
Philippians 3
8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Philippians 1
20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

I die to my ambitions
I die to selfish Pride
I take up my cross and cast my will aside
My life upon the alter as a sacrifice I lay
What joy to die another day.

We must stir up the gift of God

2 Timothy 1
6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

We must stir up the power of the Holy Spirit in us Holy spirit have more control in our lives they our flesh we must let the power of God work though us that we would be the bold witness for Christ that we are called to be. That the.

We must love not the world

1 John 2
15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Finally if we are to ever reach the next level to stand on higher ground we must learn to depend on God.

We must know that after we have done all we can that the power of God will lift us to new heights, propel us to new levels if we just get on the elevator.

Isaiah 40
31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

As the power of the wind lifts up the eagle to soar among the clouds so will the power of God lift us to new spiritual heights in our relationship with Him.