Spiritual Authority

Joyce Meyer @ Lakewood

Love is the highest form of spiritual warfare.

The greatest deficit in the evangelical church is teaching about the devil.

The devil can attack us through peopke who actually love us because the enemy knows that we want our loved ones' approval. Like with Jesus and Peter. 

But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. "Heaven forbid, Lord," he said. "This will never happen to you!" Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."

Matthew 16:22‭-‬23 NLT

But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works."

Matthew 16:23 MSG

Your enemy may not be who or what you think it is.

The only way to overcome fear is through faith.

Fear is a spirit that creates feelings. When the Bible says fear not it means to stand firm and keep moving forward. Courage is actually forward motion in the face of fear.

Be willing to be wrong just to find out whether you might be right. Everytime you try to make progress, the devil will try to frighten you. 

Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.

Galatians 1:10 NLT

Do it affraid.

"Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?"

Zechariah 4:10 NIV

If the Devil isn't bothering you then you're not bothering him. 

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.  The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.  The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.

Deuteronomy 28:7‭-‬9 NIV

A lot of people sacrifice joy when they make mistakes. The devil takes stuff hoping that your joy is attached to it. 

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord , and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.  The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

Deuteronomy 28:10‭-‬12 NIV

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Deuteronomy 28:13‭-‬14 NIV

If God all of that was available under the law then what more is available under grace?!?

When you're in a battle tighten the belt of truth. Hold on to it.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Ephesians 6:14 NKJV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35‭-‬39 NIV

We are more than conquerors when we handle trials correctly.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:26‭-‬28 NIV

We focus too much on what we don't know than on what we do know.

Stop trying to figure everything out.