Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Shifting Atmospheres Chapter 3

My Study Buddy and I continue our review and discussion of the book Shifting Atmospheres by Dawna De Silva.  We believe everyone can benefit by applying the principles found in this book to their life and we hope you will consider your privilege and responsibility to partner with God and shift the atmosphere around you to expand His kingdom here on earth!

Chapter 3 – Tactics of the Enemy

The primary tactic of the enemy is lies or Deception.  The extremes of disbelief or obsession with the demonic are noted as being equally destructive.  I think this is an important understanding as we consider that the enemy gets the upper hand under either scenario.  It is not important to the enemy what we believe, so long as it hinders our relationship with God.  If this is true then our primary focus should be our relationships over our beliefs!

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  (John 8:44)

Having a balanced perspective is important.  The following quote from the book about churches can also apply to the individual.  “When churches focus too much on the enemy, undercurrents of fear and suspicion spread throughout their congregations.  Churches that remain ignorant of the spiritual realm corrode internally as their blind leaders stand by unaware of the underlying spiritual attacks.” 

“By tricking us into believing their mindsets, demons get us to partner with their schemes.”  Agreement over time develops strongholds.  This causes us to act against God’s original design for our lives.  These lies typically exist at a subconscious level, possibly from birth.  This makes us often unable to identify their presence.  We need to ask and allow the Holy Spirit to point out any ungodly mindsets we may have.

Yeshua (Jesus) has full authority over the enemy.  Fighting harder, longer, and louder does not compensate for a lack in authority!  “When we know who we are and who is covering us, we can stand firm in the midst of any spiritual assault.”  I loved the point Dawna made about how identity is linked to authority, no matter how much fighting we do, if we aren't living out of the identity of Messiah Yeshua then none of our efforts work because we are not living out of the authority Messiah has: he conquered, so we are also conquerors. 

I had never connected Romans 8:19 to identity.  Creation wants humanity to be living and operating out the identity of Messiah; creation doesn't want a bunch of caretakers that are deluded and powerless or stuck in mindsets of lies!  How can we be good stewards of this earth if we can't even take ownership of ourselves?  As Dawna mentioned, "Make sure you take ownership over yourself and bring any issues before God."  And it's not complicated: it's a simple declaration, "I don't partner with that lie (thought from the devil), this fear, etc."  Then move on and live out of the freedom God has given you!  This is so liberating!

To combat the darkness we need to partner with God and release His opposite.  A really good point about how when we are faced with enemy activity we should always approach it from God's perspective.  I want to keep learning more and more the heartbeat of God so I can partner with Yahweh (God) in all situations and actually be effective!

Fear is a common tactic of the enemy.  Being fearful keeps the enemy in play.  “Renouncing partnership with fear is one of the quickest ways to disarm demonic attacks.”

Temptation is another tactic of the enemy mentioned in this chapter.  Being tempted in a way that is not normal is a good indication of a spiritual attack.  Submit to God through worship and prayer and don’t give in to the temptation. 

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  (James 4:7)

To do this we must take every thought captive.  When God is speaking in our thoughts, we will feel His character of love coming through.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (1 John 4:1)

Sin hinders our communication with God.  Partnering with sin gives the enemy access into our life.  Four main areas the book mentions of ways to partner with sin:  Fear, hatred / bitterness, sexual sin and dealings with the occult.  I might also add pride to the list.

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.  (John 9:31) 

For success in spiritual warfare make sure to take ownership over yourself and bring any issues before God.  This is not a passive or defensive stance, but an offensive one.

I love how simple spiritual warfare is when we walk in our God-given identity.  I know that the enemy can't bother me because Messiah in me has crushed the enemy; so even if the demon sent to disturb me comes back I have command over him.  I am not subject to the powers of darkness: they are subject to Messiah in me!

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