Slay Your Enemy Through Daily Divine Downloads: Easy Read with Pictures

SLAY YOUR ENEMY

NITI KRISHNAKUMAR

Slay Your Enemy through

Daily Divine Downloads

Niti Krishnakumar

SLAY YOUR ENEMY

© Copyright 2021 Niti Krishnakumar - All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright law. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request.

Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version. The illustrations used are from freebibleimages.org.

I thankfully acknowledge both sources heartily. Please note that certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are capitalized. However the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

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Dedicated to…

This book is dedicated to our Heavenly Father, GOD, our beautiful lord and savior Jesus Christ and the wonderful Holy Spirit of God! It is only because of them that we are able to do and accomplish all things. Amen.

SLAY YOUR ENEMY

Table of Contents

Author’s Preface .............................. 5

Section One ....................................................................... 7

The Ways of God ................................................................ 8 Soaked in Revelation… ......................... 9 Hearing God’s Voice for Yourself ................. 15 The Purpose of Trials ......................... 23 Is Hell a Real Place? .......................... 29 How to Display God’s Glory .................... 41 How Does God Train Us? ...................... 54 Faith Requires Action ......................... 70 We Have an Enemy .......................... 74

Putting it All Together ....................................................... 78

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Author’s Preface

Slaying the enemy is about strategy in warfare. We lean into God who is our ever-present help so that He can equip us against the enemy. The Bible states that He teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight. The reason He trains us is so that we will have victory in the battles that satan starts. This requires wisdom and insight into the ways of God and the ways of satan our enemy. We must not be ignorant of the schemes of the devil but be aware so that satan cannot catch us off-guard. In fact, God the Holy Spirit can alert us at the onset itself and if we are well-tuned with the Holy Spirit, we can easily detect satan early on and thwart his evil plan immediately. Amen.

Peter writes, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

SLAY YOUR ENEMY

By learning about strategies to overcome satan, you will be able to succeed in warfare. Most Christians are in a place of defeat because they do not know or understand how the devil works. He is a subtle enemy and he is a master at deception.

He always works against God and speaks evil against Jesus our Lord. If we are not careful, we can become offended with Jesus (Jesus said, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble (or is not offended) on account of me.” Mat 11:6 NIV)

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Section One

SLAY YOUR ENEMY

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The Ways of God

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Chapter One

Soaked in Revelation…

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oseph gathered himself daily in the dark pit of his obscurity and shook the shroud of darkness that tried to permeate his being as one would shake off a snake that was trying to wrap

itself around one’s arm.

“Not me devil! I am a child of great promise,” he lunged at the devil.

The dream lingered in his heart and he would not let anything in his life touch his dream—that vision that God sealed in his heart in the bright sunny days of his life was intact even when the devil made him into a destitute and hurled him into the caverns of darkness to bind him and keep him bound.

On that fateful day when Potiphar’s wife caught hold of him, he asks her, “…How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9) God was always on his mind, and His

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Name was constantly on his lips. He was constantly mindful of the goodness of His God who he knew cared deeply about him.

This was a relationship he was very careful to maintain and no temptation was big enough to make him think twice. How could he sin against God his Father? How could he act as if he was not touched in the greatest depths of his heart? How could he let a silly temptation destroy years and years of caring relationship?

When her false witness put him into prison, Joseph told himself:

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“This is not real. The dream is. This will pass but not God! I will suffer but I will not let my God suffer. My heart is made up.

All these things the devil does doesn’t matter. I will rise out of this. My face will shine when I am through. I will walk into my Father’s glory. No enemy can bind me nor keep me bound for my God can break these shackles. He will set me free because I trust in God and His power that is working in me. My Lord God is my brother and friend and keeper. God is for me and I can be certain that He is working out all things for my good. I trust my God. I dedicate myself to my God who knows my hardship. He knows and cares about me. I am assured of His great love. Thankyou God…thank you for everything. Amen.”

In prison, Joseph would recollect those days he was with his father and brothers and life was good. He had two dreams and was excited with what he saw. His dreams kept him occupied. He had visions of grandeur and honor that invigorated his simple heart even when all was darkness around. He seemed to be able to see even when there was no light—when there was not even a streak of light on any side.

God’s love bloomed and blossomed in Joseph’s heart and God’s goodness kept him strong, so unforgiveness was unwelcome and so was bitterness or self-pity or disorderly thinking or a sense of powerlessness or plain sadness. None of

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these gained entrance into Joseph’s heart because God Himself guarded Joseph’s heart and kept him from being sidelined by the enemy. Joseph was special and mighty in God. No evil could make its way into his heart, for it was always guarded by the Lord Himself who watched over Joseph’s wellbeing.

So Joseph spent hours and hours talking to God his friend telling him how much he loved him and how much he wanted to live for his glory and how much he longed to be with God! God showed His great love by letting Joseph stay ever so close to Him in prayer of great longing and desire for God and God alone—to stay separated for God and be chosen for a mighty task.

“I’m special,” said Joseph. “God has put a dream that gives me hope and life. I am made for something bigger than me.

I know this is God. I don’t care what voices I hear. Those are just plain lies. I know this is what I want—to be with God and to know Him deep down. I want to be so intertwined with God that I can deal with anything; even all darkness that has laid its hold on me has no power for I don’t need light to see. I can see perfectly clearly in the dark. My eyes have become well trained to see even when it is pitch dark because I serve a God who is light and who has no darkness in Him. Oh if only I could see you Lord.

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How dear you are to me. How I long to be with you…I have no desire but to be with you God and to live before you.”

Joseph trusted God knew the exact timing.

“Perhaps God will reveal His Glory to everyone tomorrow or the day after that—I know the day of the Lord is near. It is time for God’s glory to be seen throughout this land. I am ready Lord, send me!”

“I am strong and mighty to walk out the purposes of God because God has put His strength in me. I am strong and powerful because God loves me. Wow! I am so delighted in God’s love for me. I so love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Am I privileged to know God! I wish I could tell my family all that is mine now. I want to tell Papa how much God loves me. When I meet him, I will tell him everything that God has done for me. I love God! He’s so good!”

Joseph walked strongly before God as he received divine downloads from heaven and always saw God’s mighty purpose through all that he endured. Not even once did he think that the hardship was unnecessary or unbearable. He always kept a pleasant face and an upright spirit before God. Soon God lifted Joseph out of prison and made him second-in-command (Gen 41:43). God thus enlarged his territory to the expanse of the

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whole land of Egypt. Indeed God’s glory was evident on Joseph.

The Pharaoh saw it and so did all the bystanders. All this when Egyptians would not even eat with Hebrews (for it was detestable to them - Gen 43:32), yet no one spoke against Pharaoh’s decision to make Joseph second-in-command.

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Chapter Two

Hearing God’s Voice for Yourself

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o in the life of Joseph, we see him constantly communing with the living God. The enemy must have known Joseph’s destiny was huge and tried to detour or side track

him. Yet Joseph saw the unseeable one.

God reveals in John 10 how He relates with us. As a child of God, you will not listen to a stranger’s voice. And moreover, you will only want to hear God speak—and you will be quickened in your spirit when you hear the voice of the thief or robber who has sneaked in some other way. (verse 1) The gatekeeper opens the gate only for the shepherd. (verse 3). Isn’t it awesome that God our Father is the gatekeeper? He keeps the gate of our pen.

He watches over who is allowed to enter and who is not. He only allows Jesus the good shepherd into the pen to take care of His flock.

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We read in verse 5 that “they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Wow! God assures us that we as the sheep of God are able to discern the voice of God from that of the enemy.

He has given us the knowledge of the evil one. So we can be assured that we will run away from the thief who tries to come in to steal, kill and destroy! Hallelujah!

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Verse 8 says, “8All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.” This means that the enemy has tried to steal from the sheep several times. The enemy knows that the gate will not be opened for him.

So he must sneak in some other way and what happened when he sneaked in? The sheep did not listen to the thief (verse 8) So we have the assurance that God has given us the innate ability to know intuitively when the enemy is speaking and when God is speaking to us.

As soon as we hear God’s voice calling us by name and leading us out of our limitations and confinements into the open

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pasture, we will be fed to grow and be strong for our lives (verses 3,9).

When we eat the food offered by the Lord, which is His Word and drink the wine of the Holy Spirit, we will be refreshed and gain strength to endure. This is how we can go about our lives happily and fully.

When the wolves come in to attack the sheep, the good shepherd will not run away and abandon the sheep like the hired hand but defend the sheep from the wolves even if He Himself

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has to lay down His life to protect His sheep. He truly cares for the sheep and loves them.

We must follow the good shepherd of our souls to have life and have it to the full (verse 10). Having a good shepherd in Jesus ensures that we can proceed confidently in life’s battles. He will protect us from the enemy who wants to steal from us. The good shepherd takes loving care of His sheep day after day. We have assurance that as we are led by the voice of God, we will find more and more pasture and become fat in our spirit.

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The Lord kept Joseph safe from the attack of the enemy.

God knew His destiny was bright and colorful. So when the devil tried to sap out all the colors and vibrancy out of his life so that Joseph could never hope that the color and vibrancy would ever return, God gave hope and strength and encouraged Joseph to dream. Though he was in the darkest cave where the darkness was so thick it could be felt (much like I have heard it is in hell), God kept the devil from speaking to him.

I wonder how we would react if we were in a similar situation. Would we not say, “Lord, I trusted you through and through. But what have you given me except pain and sadness and nothingness? You have left me to rot in this hell! I am totally disappointed with you God. I wish I had never followed you in the first place.” And turn offensive and rebellious against God making our hearts like stone and being justified in thinking so because our situations are such a slap in our faces. We in our flesh would only react in such a manner.

How can God get our attention when everything around us screams, “There is no God. Don’t be a fool. Look at Joseph.

He believed in God and he rots in prison”? His witness would have been so despicable to all. Everybody who heard about

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Joseph would have lost all faith thinking, “This is what happens to those who draw near to God. God takes out his wrath on them and punishes them through and through. God is no friend to sinners. He just knows punishment—“If you want to live comfortably, stay miles away from God….”

Aren’t these the lies that the enemy of our souls tells us when we are in a difficult situation like Joseph was in? Isn’t this how he deceives us from following God wholeheartedly? I think this is a fork in the road we all face at some point or other.

When we come face-to-face with all our trials and cannot find a way out, we shift all the blame on God instead of the devil who is constantly playing hide and seek. When things go wrong, he will deceive us saying, “God is sovereign. He has total power.

If you are suffering today, it is God’s will for your life. You deserve this for trusting Jesus. Serves you right!”

But the reality of the situation is that you are not in a situation that God cannot redeem you out of. It is true that trials come and look like they will dissolve us with their fury and intensity but God is the Lord of the storms and the difficult times. He is not watching over His sheep without offering comfort but He is teaching them how to press past the hard times

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and gain mastery over life. He wants you to know how to rule over your mind and gain victory over negative thoughts that negative situations present by reposing your infallible faith and unassailable trust in Him—God is only pleased by our faith and not by our tears—so that no matter what happens you will always live life to the FULL.

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Chapter Three

The Purpose of Trials

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emember His promise to lead you to the fullness of life in John 10:10? This is how He leads us into fullness by taking us into impossible situations and providing

guidance until we are fully prepared. Jesus too was led into the wilderness by the wonderful Holy Spirit to undergo His training, which would enable Him to publicly start His ministry (Mat 4:1).

His training is very good. He knows how much you can take and trust me, the training will help you gain access to the next dimension of living full.

I am sure all of us agree that we need a real challenge to be happy. When we face challenges, we must be prepped up and enthused because we know our God is training us to take higher ground. He did that with Joseph and He does that with all whom He loves. This is not punishment as the devil would like us to

believe. He will paint a sorry picture of you and lead you to think, “Oh what a hard life!” But Joseph did not think it was hard. He

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was happy and full of tender love toward his folks who were with him. He smiled at everyone and greeted them merrily. In every cell Joseph entered, the atmosphere of heaven pervaded the folks and they too saw the great hope and vivacity that beamed out of Joseph’s face. They could see he was blessed and indeed he was.

God entrusted him with much even when he was in prison (can you imagine that?). Child of God, no matter where you are, you can be assured that God knows how to promote you.

He can lead you with signs and wonders. He can give you favor and bless your heart with hope and joy and this dear friends is much more valuable than any earthly blessing because the

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blessing of the Lord makes rich and He adds no sorrow to it (Prov 10:22).

You can be assured of great peace and joy within and you will be carried forward into divine knowledge and understanding like no one else can give you because you have trusted in the Lord of Hosts to train you and prepare you not only so that you can be blessed but everyone else along with you. Wow! Imagine how happy and confident you will be when you have endured and become strong in your spirit. God can now trust your character and entrust much to you. You will be an honorable vessel that God can use. Isn’t that exciting? Does that make you happy? I bet.

It is indeed a mighty privilege to know God and be known by Him. It makes me extremely happy when I get a new taste of heaven when I have endured my trials and become stronger on account of it. How about you? Do you feel like some chains have been loosed and you can be free atlast from those smirks that people gave you that stiffened you and made you cry?

Isn’t it freedom not to have to be at the mercy of people or situations? Thank God for He sets us free. The Son of man set you free indeed. As a free man and woman, you will enjoy great

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peace and have joy bubble up within you that will spring up to eternal life. You will look forward to having more trials so that you will also be able to enjoy more of Christ Jesus in your life.

You can smile at adversity and laugh at trouble because you know God uses trouble to shape us and make us into His image.

Hallelujah!

What else could make you happy than to know God is with you in every situation? If He has given you an area of trouble, He will also deliver you supernaturally in the same area.

Joseph was poor. God made him rich. Joseph had no home. God gave him a royal home. Joseph did not have a family – God gave him a wife called Asenath, who was the daughter of Potiphera (priest of On) and two children, Manasseh and Ephraim.

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Joseph did not receive the love of his father and siblings and God led them all back to him. Most of all, Joseph had no face when He was in prison.

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His God lifted up his face and brightened up his countenance so much that he was unrecognizable to his own family! He shone in his royal clothes and splendor, being driven in chariots of gold and receiving the highest honor unimaginable to Hebrews!

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Chapter Four

Is Hell a Real Place?

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ometimes we wonder if our trials will ever end. We can become anxious because we are being served up more than we can take. God is ambitious and offers you many

trials to ensue one after another. You can feel like you have an overdose and you will die from it. But trust me (as the song goes), He knows How Much We can Bear. Let’s dwell on some of the lines in this song: We are our heavenly Father's children And we all know that He loves us one and all Yet there are times when we find we answer Another's voice and call If we are willing, He will teach us His voice only to obey no matter where

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And He knows Yes, He knows Just how much we can bear Isn’t it lovely how people who have known the cross of Jesus always look cheerful when the work is done? Yes, we hear His voice and follow in obedience because He knows how much we can bear.

God’s Word says that the heavens and earth will pass away but He who does the will of God will remain forever. Why does He say so? Because one day, the heaven and the earth will pass away. God will then recreate Heaven and earth and the new heaven and new earth will join to become New Jerusalem. This is the City of God mentioned in Revelation 21:9-27.

We know that those who have received Christ will come into the City of God (New Jerusalem), whereas those who have not received Christ to hell.

God did not create hell. The first verse of the Bible says, “"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1) Hell is a reality because humans have created hell on earth.

God hates hell and sent His Son to heal the world and get hell out of earth.

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Why does God hate hell? Because hell is the result of humans unleashing qualities that degrade them and break them down to being selfish and evil as we read the story of the Fall in Gen 3-11. God loves His good world where humans who are made in His image hear the good news of Jesus Christ and allow heaven to pervade the earth. He confronts evil and its disastrous effects on all humans. So He casts out evil and confronts the breakdown of human relationships. Jesus leads us onto a path that takes evil out of our lives and replaces it with good.

Child of God, if you have not received the Lord Jesus in your life, please be aware that salvation is only possible in the Name of JESUS CHRIST, our Lord and Savior (Acts 4:12).

There is no other name or way to heaven except to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in your life (John 14:6). If you do not accept Him for any reason, you can be certain that God’s protection will not be available to you and the devil will take hold of your soul and you will be taken to this place called hell. So be informed and do not believe any lie that says, “God is love. How can He send His children to hell?”

He is not a God who will ask you more than you can give.

But He does ask for our commitment to His cause and desires for

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us to be oriented to His grand purpose of bringing all into His kingdom. He waits patiently for each one to turn to Him and receive His free gift of eternal life because there is a very high cost to not receiving Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins—eternal damnation.

It is a fact that those who do not receive God’s free gift of eternal life will be cast into hell which is a real place for it is mentioned several times in the Bible and we ought to believe God’s Word.

This is what separation from a loving and yet righteous God means. It is living hell where the fire does not go out and the worm does not die. The fire does not end because of the depravity of humans, which never ends.

Jesus removes the very qualities that cause evil such as lust, greed, rage and so on. Pastor Tim Mackie shares how Jesus’ approach to remove evil from the world is one that ensures that racism and genocide and sex trafficking is curtailed; pride, contempt and scorn is removed from the human heart. Because the raging hell that burns is ignited by the small spark of these deep-rooted distortions in the human heart and mind. Jesus wants to get the hell out of his world and he wants to get the hell out of you and that's good news.

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But getting rid of the evil in us is an intricate job because it means having to use the Word like a scalpel to get rid of our evil without getting rid of us. The devil is intent on mowing us down but it is different with God who wants to cut you open to take out those life-threatening things that poison your body and cause you pain.

Jesus the Great Physician has come to heal us and to get the hell out so that we can actually be the kind of humans that we are all made and called to be but perpetually failed to be in this repulsive and scandalous system that has religious hypocrites filled with pride who in their anger, call the Gospel a paradox.

But God so loves and is committed to his broken world ruined by the hell that we've made here that He actually allows the hell that we've created to overwhelm him and to destroy him right here and he allows the hell that we've created to exhaust its power on him and we call this the moment of the cross.

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The moment of the Cross is the healing; it's the paradoxical death and resurrection of Jesus and the death and resurrection of our world. We know this is true having seen the whole wreck of human history and its consequences of evil and of sin exhausting its power in Jesus's death but because this God is so in love with his world and with these compromised fractured image bearing human beings, He will not let go but have the last word.

The resurrection of Jesus is this moment of new life. It's a moment that speaks of God's love and eternal commitment to our good world and the resurrection of Jesus represents this offer

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and an opportunity to repent and believe the good news that God wants to get hell out of you and that's the best news. (Mackie, 2017)

WHY THEN DOES HELL EXIST? As we have seen, hell is the result of rebellion (which is as witchcraft). People who do not receive Christ are enslaved by dark forces which keep them in bondage. There is only one way to break free and that is through believing in God’s solution for our sins—our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. Pastor Lewis says, “It was not so much that we are possessed and controlled by demons from which we must be delivered; rather, it is that we are constantly and quietly influenced by hellish creatures, all day long, every day! It’s a battle all the way from here to eternity.

The doctrine of hell displays not merely the justice of God, but His grace as well. In hell, God makes room for those who are not interested in God. I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” (Lewis, 2018) It's God's mercy to contain human evil and not to let it eternally ravage his good world and his good image bearing humans and for those who refuse to participate in God's re-

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creation of heaven and earth. He honors their decision that they want to remain outside the city of New Jerusalem.

Only when Jesus comes into our lives is our heaven restored. We live in this world and experience heaven when He transforms us to be like Him.

WHY

DID

GOD

WIPE OUT ALL THE PEOPLE EXCEPT THE

EIGHT PEOPLE IN

NOAH’S HOUSEHOLD ?

The fallen angels came into the daughters of men and thus they became biologically corrupt. God’s promise to redeem mankind through a man would have been compromised. Noah’s family was righteous and uncorrupted in their bodies. So God chose them to repopulate the earth.

God is keen to execute His plan for salvation. So it is important to reverence God through His Son and follow in His footsteps so that we may not be influenced by negativity in society and moral upheaval against God because Jesus came to show us the way and give us eternal union with God, which would not be possible otherwise. Unlike the people who will rebel and reject God, we must receive the knowledge available in Christ to enter through the narrow gate to life. For indeed broad is the road to destruction and many are on it. God does not want

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us to choose the broad road for it leads to destruction and we will never enter the place that God meant for us to be in—paradise where everything is perfect and there is no sin or unholiness. We as the people of God are privileged to have a Savior in Jesus who took our sins on himself.

If you think about why Jesus died for you and me, would you not be willing to take up the punishment due to your son or daughter if they committed a crime and were sentenced for punishment? If you would rise up to take their punishment on yourself because you love them, how much more would God who loves us infinitely more not take our sins upon Himself? Of course He will because He is love and knows nothing else to do but to love us.

This explains why He took up the most horrendous punishment of God to be crucified for our sins because there was no other way to fulfill the righteous requirements of a holy and righteous God. He gave Himself as the ultimate sacrifice and assures us that if we call upon His Name, we will be saved.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9-10). Time runs out. Do not wait any longer

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to receive Jesus into your life. But accept Him right now. Say the prayer of salvation: “Lord Jesus, I recognize I am a sinner in need of your mercy. Lord, forgive me my sins and come into my heart. I love you and would love to receive you as the Lord and Savior of my life. I give you praise and thank you for dying for me on the cross.

Thank you for saving me from hell. I delight in your goodness and want to live for you.

You are my God and I am your child. I long to know you and to follow your example. Teach me your ways O Lord, I will be your disciple forever and ever. Amen.”

When we start living for God, God the Father will prune us, who are the branches, as we stay in the vine of Jesus Christ.

This is the main subject of John 15 where Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches. God the Father is the gardener who cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit while He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear even more fruit. If we desire to bear more fruit, we must be willing to be pruned.

As we are pruned in different areas of our lives, we will bear more and more fruit. It is important to understand that no branch can bear fruit if it is separated from the vine. It is the life of the vine flowing into the branches that gives life to the

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branches and makes the branches bear fruit. So it is impossible to bear fruit unless you remain in the vine.

Another wonderful benefit of remaining in the vine is that you can ask whatever you wish and it will be given you (John 15:7). The next verse reads: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you may bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Isn’t this awesome? When you become a believer, you will receive the Holy Spirit of God (we are engrafted into the vine). He is the Spirit of Jesus and He speaks for the Lord. He teaches us the truth and helps us to attain godliness even when we live in a broken world full of sin and injustice. Don’t worry how corrupt the world is because God (the greater One) lives in you. His life in you will transform your life as you remain in Him. He will create a pure heart in you as you listen and obey. His Presence in you will transform you into His glory. He will make you like Him in every way. He will help us bear fruit in Him. We will be a fruitful vine for the Lord. And the world will know that we are His disciples to the glory of our Father! Hallelujah!

God is interested in us bearing fruit so that His glory will be seen. We are to be the light in a dark world so that everyone

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who sees us will be drawn to us and come also to partake in the light.

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Chapter Five

How to Display God’s Glory

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ife must be lived out before God for He is watching to see if you are obedient and doing His will. If you are obedient to His Spirit and do as He says, you too can

receive your promotion and have an elevated purpose. You too can be used mightily by God. If you are led by the Spirit of God, you are children of God. It pays to be obedient and do exactly as the Spirit says. He will speak to you in a small voice and let you know what you need to do each day. In fact, if you pray to God in the morning, chances are your day will go much better than if you did not pray. He downloads His strategy to you for what is coming.

He will quicken a verse or illumine a parable to help you find new meaning and insight. This will dispel confusion and fear or worry etc. Advancing and gaining new ground is easy when we have the Word of God to teach us godly ways and the Spirit of God to illumine and quicken scripture to us. The

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moment you sit in God’s presence, He opens your mind to greater knowledge and understanding. Daniel was a wise man and he prayed three times. The Bible says in Daniel 6:3 that “3Now

Daniel

so

distinguished

himself

among

the

administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Daniel prayed regularly and asked for insight and wisdom into God’s ways. This was the reason God honored him and gave him good things. The more you ask from God, the more you will be given. Ask and you shall be given is a wonderful verse that reminds us how generous God is. Those who ask alone

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receive. Why? Because it is a matter of priority. Do you really value the things of God? Are you hungry and thirsty to have more of Jesus in your life? Then prayer is the way forward. satan is the accuser and he prevents God’s answers from reaching us as was the case with Daniel. When Daniel prayed, God sent Michael His angel to fight the enemy that was opposing Daniel’s prayer. Similarly, He sends His angels to attend to our call and arrange the circumstances to bring forth the promises like He did with Mary the mother of Jesus. Before the angel came to Mary, Elizabeth was already pregnant with baby John for six months. Gabriel knew that telling Mary that Elizabeth was six months pregnant would give Mary the faith she needed to wrap her mind to the omnipotence of God. Suddenly she was awakened to the knowledge that nothing was impossible with God. So God saw all these things beforehand and prepared the way for Mary to enter the fullness of faith so that she could now be the mother of Jesus. She needed this extra dose of faith without which it would have been impossible for her to tide through everything that was coming. She could have been stoned to death; Joseph could have broken off the engagement. But none

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of these happened according to the will of satan who was constantly raising one attack after another to destroy the God child. He used Herod to kill all the children below two years. All his plans failed even his final plan to crucify Jesus. Scripture says he did not know Jesus was the God of glory; otherwise he would not have crucified him (1 Cor 2:8).

Certainly the devil does not know it all. We know it all because we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). We are children of God. God has given us himself as a part of our being and He lives in our Spirit and intercedes on our behalf that we may walk into all the precious things of God and receive everything that we need from time to time.

When you pray, you too can receive insight and revelation into His Word, your mind will be illumined and you will be better able to execute His purpose for that day. All days have been set before you to do His will and the more aligned you are with heaven, the greater chances you have for real success because unlike the world’s definition of success, God’s definition of success is to abide in Him and to learn from Him—to be submitted to His Will, which can only happen when we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.

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This light will dispel darkness so that our world will be filled with the glorious light of Christ. We are privileged to go through the experience of being transformed back to the glory of God that Adam and Eve had when they were with God. They were clothed in glory. But when they chose separation from God by not obeying, they lost the glory. But the glory of God is restored in Jesus our Lord. We are allowed to partake in God’s goodness and mercy each day, and enjoy His love and companionship by trusting in His Son and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

You may not see the victory right now but inside you, you are assured of a divine peace and the confidence that comes because God inside you tells you that this is already done. It is already yours and it will show itself as real as your faith becomes complete.

Make your mind up though to stay away from corrupting influences in the world. Do not go the way of the world or you will also end up in doom. You have the knowledge of right and wrong amplified to you through the presence of the Holy Spirit, so we have no reason to live like worldly men and women do.

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We are called to be separate from them and consecrate ourselves to living wholly for God. This dear brothers and sisters requires single-minded focus. It requires diligent prayer and scripture reading. We must have sound knowledge so that the devil cannot sidestep us and bewilder us with his perverted lies.

We have a God of all grace to side with us through every hardship but God is not unaware of what we must face because the devil’s time is short. He has been creating havoc since long and God is patiently awaiting his time to plunder the evil one. In everything, God waits for His plans to be made perfect and complete. We do not understand timing but God is perfect in wisdom. We flounder when we question a perfectly knowledgeable God. We run into error like Job who repented in dust and ashes. He could not understand and there are times when our understanding is incomplete. This does not mean that God’s word is not true.

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The Word of God offers advice on how to lead the new life in Christ. We are blessed with great instructions and examples for holy living. They who went before us provide us a worthy example and even if some were not worthy, we can learn from their mistakes. So we can get more and more knowledgeable in the things of God by reading and meditating on His Word. It offers so much peace in a peaceless world to know that we are drawing closer to a God of peace and order and divine intelligence that is unmatched. We can totally trust in His goodness to lead us along the narrow way that leads to life that Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount. We have all the

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resources we need to rise up into our divine destiny and nobody and nothing can stop it because God works on our behalf to create heaven inside us. We can detach ourselves from all the sin and calamity around us by seeking Him daily in our lives. Be connected to the vine so you can receive divine downloads each day to lead a moral life that pleases God. We do better to obey God and turn away from the evil one. Louie Gilgoi wrote a book called “Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table.” It is about warfare too. The enemy is an unwelcome guest but he does not stop coming no matter how often we ignore him or dismiss him from the table. He is a deceiver and wants to do his best to deceive us and turn us away from God. So if you decide to serve God, you will come under attack from the enemy. He will hate everything you do for God's glory to be seen. He will bring more attacks but as a child of God, you must pray to God for strategies to plunder the enemy and turn the tables on him.

He sneaked into the Garden of Eden and he still sneaks into our homes and disrupts our thinking and changes our insight of God by asking us futile questions, which takes us away from God’s perfect plan. What did God do to Zacharias when he

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doubted? God had to make him silent. God needed for John to prepare the way for the savior of the world but one man’s doubt was standing in the way. Thank God that the angel made him silent or our destiny in Christ could have been pushed back by yet another thousand years. God knows what’s best for each of us.

Accepting all that He offers paves the way for victory.

Be patient under the mighty wings of your Almighty and do not doubt that He will come through. He fought through hell to come back for us. Will he not take you out of your grave to usher you into your promise? With God, we need to die to ourselves.

We won’t be able to do our own thing and get God aboard. It never worked that way and will never. God always takes the lead. We must just follow. If we stagger like Peter who saw the waves and the storm, we too will drown in our ocean of despair. We need to only look to Jesus. This is simple enough and would have been easy and doable if not for our subtle enemy who is hard to detect early on and uses our weaknesses to get a hold of us. If only we were sinless and guileless, fully surrendered without any form of corruption, satan would find nothing in us to take us for a ride.

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But this is not true with us. We fall prey to temptation for money, fame and a better life. satan can use all that we fail to guard our hearts against. This is how our feet slip and we end up in the grave. Sin corrupts. Obedience to God’s word edifies us.

We have the wonderful truth laid out before us constantly calling us toward it. But satan the tempter keeps us in our personal struggles because we lack prayer and insight into what God is saying over us.

Joseph received divine downloads since he was a young child at his father’s household. God was preparing him through all his trials. God lavished His splendor on Joseph when he had successfully undergone his training to stay humble and loving and forgiving and kind and sympathetic and understanding and loyal to God. He was promoted every time he did better than before. He had open eyes to see God right from the beginning.

He sided with God recognizing that God was his friend and not an enemy. Joseph knew better than to think like ordinary humans. He was a man with a renewed mind. He could see God laboring by his side and teaching him how to think and how to perceive and understand what God was doing in his life. God was watching over him daily to give him wisdom and strength to become wise as royalty. It was only when he became royal in his

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thinking that He could be deemed as PASSED WITH HIGH GRADES. Yes God does give great grades and you could receive high grades too for high performance.

I used the word ‘performance’ to indicate being obedient to the voice of God in you. I am not suggesting that any of us go overboard and do what the Holy Spirit is not asking us to do. Just do what the Holy Spirit and Lord of your life is asking you to do.

Keep listening and doing. He is the guide and teacher and a student can only be as good as his or her teacher. So don’t tell the teacher, “I know what is best for me.” Even good things like prayer and fasting and doing good can all become worthless if not

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done in accordance with the Holy Spirit. He attends to every detail of your life. For example, He tells me how much to cook.

Often on days I make extra food, we have a visitor or two. I could not have foreseen it except through the Holy Spirit. This is what I mean by being in tune with the Holy Spirit and leaning into Him while doing life. Be attentive and listen carefully. Write that letter, call that person, buy that gift, check your mail and do whatever the Holy Spirit tells you. Don’t step out of His timing but be closely oriented with the leading of God so that you will not have to be in trouble because of being slow to respond or not responding at all. This way you can err and do what you are not supposed to do. This may cause the teacher to become upset and give you less scope to advance delaying your life and destiny.

God loves us and is pleased when we walk in faith. We are to walk only by faith and not by sight. The enemy will try to confuse us in our faith. He will present doubts and pose questions that you can only silence through knowing the Word of God. So it is important to know the Word of God that you may walk into the promises of God. Do not let obstacles along the way stop you from growing stronger as they are meant to build your faith just like you must

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work out your muscles in order to build them. Don’t let the empty threats of the enemy deceive you or lead you astray.

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Chapter Six

How Does God Train Us?

T

o train successfully, we must be careful to maintain our relationship with the living God for Christ has paid a huge price to draw close to you. You must also do what

is in your power to stay close to God. This is only possible when you are soaked in God’s love.

I want you to know—you are the cherished one of God— the very apple of His eye. He sings over you sweet one of God and He cares deeply that you be in a good place in your life. You may be in a difficult position and not know the way forward. Fear not dear one, but remain stable and relaxed for the mighty Lord is working to bring everything under your feet. You just need to open your eyes to see the wonderful works He is doing in your life and remain steadfast in His love. Would you join hands and thank Him for His help?

He is able to keep you in perfect peace in the midst of

your storm. He gives us His peace—not as the world gives us. His

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peace transcends understanding. It allows our hearts and minds to be steadfast in His love. No wavering, no wondering, no doubting—just plain fixated on the unchangeable fact that God loves you. Period. That is it. All you really need is relationship with God to fight your battles and be victorious. Christ did not die for nothing—don’t think He can’t help you. Of course, He can! You are special to Him. He is so close to you and yet most often we do not realize how close—closer than your very breath— that’s how close He is.

When you get to experience the vicissitudes of His love through the words in His book the Bible, you will be delighted to wreck the enemy’s life and send all his minions to hell, haha. You are a conqueror, you have nothing to fear or be worried about.

You are the mighty one of Christ—a glorious gem and a sweet fragrance to Him. You bring great joy to the Father’s heart…there is no one else in the whole world like you. You are His beloved.

God loves to receive our prayers. We read in Revelation 8:4-5 how our prayers ascend as incense on the golden altar before the throne:

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4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

The scripture above reveals how when you pray, your prayers rise up to God who catches your prayers in a golden censer, hands your prayers to an angel, and one day mixes your prayers with His fire and hurls them back to earth. His answers to our prayers appear as lightnings and thunderings, rumblings and roarings from heaven. So you can be assured that prayer really does work. It's the most powerful weapon we have.

So look not to things that did not work in the past. Today is a new day and you are going to experience God at a new level.

You are going to find more peace and more joy in your heart because God opened up your eyes a little more to see into the real thing—not a hazy cloudy view—but a clear and vivid view of His greatness. You too will see and be delighted—your God is for you. You are His and He is yours. Together you will sail into unknown lands, unconquered domains, and unchartered territories. All your failures will become your raving success!

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Yeah! This is your inheritance in the Lord. So start rejoicing and lifting up high praises to the Lord God who is perfect in beauty and wisdom.

His love extends to every dimension of your life. You are not alone. You will find your God to be a stable rock who wants to have a solid relationship with you. Unlike people who regularly disappoint us, God does not disappoint us. He trains us to think like Him and see like He does. He makes all things work together for our good (Rom 8:28) You can be assured that as you gain insight and understanding into the most wonderful things of God, you will enjoy building a solid friendship, which will answer all your questions and help you figure what God is really like. It will help you embrace Him like a friend you have always wanted to have—a special someone you could talk to whenever you wanted to and be sure of being heard and what’s more—He is an active partner—someone who really loves to help out! Wow! Each one of us is deeply loved by God. Not one of us is forgotten in the Beloved.

Instead, our loving Father longs to gather us into Himself and give us a tight cuddle.

Yes, it’s true and it’s in scripture—only that

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he uses the simile of a hen to state exactly what is on His heart. Our Lord Jesus looked longingly at Jerusalem and said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Mat 23:37 NIV.

WHY DOES JESUS REFER TO A HEN? It appears mother hens are very protective of their chicks and fight against dogs and snakes well beyond their strength. They cherish and protect their chicks under their wings. When she receives them, she makes joyous and affectionate clucks while the others mount up on her back or run up to her from every direction. (Davis, 2018) Karen Davis, PhD, President of United Poultry Concerns writes: “At the first sign of a predator, mother hens will immediately gather their chicks under the shadow of their wings, and with this covering put up such a fierce defense—striking fear into their opponent in the midst of a frightful clamor, using both

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wings and beak—they would rather die for their chicks than seek safety in flight.”

Our Lord Jesus too died protecting us from the evil one who wanted to consume our lives but the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead so that He lives to make intercession for us. He is seated on the throne at the right side of the Father and He makes prayer for us. We too are seated with Him in heavenly places and are entitled to all the blessings the cross made available to us. He put up a brave fight and conquered satan, so that we have freedom in Christ and heaven’s blessings are ours because of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!

Yet another aspect of a mother hen is she is very devoted to the wellbeing of her chicks and constantly monitors them. To make things easier, she establishes a communication network early on so that embryonic chicks respond to soothing sounds from the mother hen and notify their mother when they are experiencing any distress such as cold or abnormal positioning.

Page Smith and Charles Daniel describe in The Chicken Book, “The chorus of peeps goes on virtually uninterrupted, the unborn chicks peeping away, the newborn ones singing their less muffled song.”

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She is sacrificing and will only eat after ensuring all her chicks have eaten their fill. Thus, mother hens present, in every way, “a noble example of love for their offspring.” No wonder a hen exemplifies motherhood, capturing the very essence of it!

How awesome! Our Lord Jesus is much the same way with His children. He is very protective and painstaking in meeting all our needs. He too wants us to constantly communicate with Him as chicks do with their mother when they are experiencing distress.

A mother hen with her chicks in the Florida Everglades. Photo by Davida G

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Another important fact about hens is that after the first four to eight weeks, the mother hen flies up to her perch or a tree branch, signaling to her chicks to become independent. Jesus too wants us to learn to be strong and fight for ourselves knowing that His help is close. She will return to fight for her chicks for she is watching closely but she needs to let go so that the little ones will take responsibility for themselves and become mature hens taking care of their own brood.

God sent Jesus because He loved the world and wanted to restore His relationship with us that was lost through sin. He gave His Son that whoever believes in Him may not perish but receive eternal life (John 3:16). Eternal life is the person of Jesus Christ and to know Him. When we enter into a relationship with the Father, we get to know Jesus in all His power and potency.

He alone is able to remove the hell in us to establish heaven in us.

Through the cross of our Lord, we are brought near to God. We have the opportunity to experiences Jesus’ beautiful and glorious life in us. He saw we were needy and came to give us what we needed. Isn’t that awesome? Do you feel delighted that you have a God who loves you so much? We often do not feel worthy of such great love. We are special to God. It makes me

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wonder what is so special about me. But God delights in us and loved us because His Son made us right with God and we have every blessing on account of Him. Praise you Jesus!

God is greater than us. He set all our sin on Jesus and took out all His wrath and holy anger for our disobedience on His son Jesus. So He is pleased with us having borne our sins in His Son. Indeed we are so privileged to have such a gracious friend and savior in Jesus. He truly cares for you.

So you can rest in Him. God's grace is a free gift to bring us ever so close to God that we may now partake in Heaven’s blessings even while on earth. Forgiveness means all our sins are forgiven totally, those we committed, are committing and will commit because He blotted our sins in the past, present and future. Let us delve a little deeper into the heart of our loving Father in heaven as we can recount the story of the prodigal son.

The son left his home with his inheritance, squandered it all on lavish living until he had no money left even for food and water. Finally when he was starving, sense dawned and he returned to ask his father to forgive him and employ him as one of the servants in the household. How did the Father respond?

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We know that he ran toward his son even when he was at a great distance, hugged and kissed him with great love. He asked his servants to put on the best robe, ring and sandals and also ordered a feast with the fattened calf. What wonderful grace. It is such wonderful joy to behold the loving grace of our father, who made us in his precious image and likeness. But it was all lost in the garden of Eden— to the debilitating effects of sin. The lost image is restored in our Lord Jesus Christ. God knew only He could bring total and complete restoration but God had to wait for everything to line up to His perfect will so that He could send Jesus in the flesh to redeem all that was lost.

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We have a grand Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ who knew no sin and yet became sin for all humanity to be made whole and righteous before a holy and incorruptible God. Sin could not touch him even though he was tempted to the greatest extent imaginable and unlike the prodigal son, he could not sin against his own father.

Thus God the Father has forgiven us all our sins. We just need to come before the Throne of grace and have our conscience cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. We are the righteousness of Christ. We come before him in the full knowledge and understanding that Jesus has gone before us and prepared the way. God does not see us as sinners anymore but as righteous saints, who do the will of the Father.

So we are not guilty before God but are free men and women who have been called ever so close to God in great love and rejoicing.

Jesus in his short life on earth gave us several teachings, which form the fundamental basis for our life in Christ. We are asked to obey because there is much fruit in obedience and this is the only way to keep away from satan's schemes. Only the truth of God can protect us from the evil one.

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Isn’t it awesome that we can pray to God and have our prayers heard by Almighty God? Isn’t it a wonderful privilege we can enjoy every day? Prayer is communion with God— the word communion can be broken into two words— common and union.

When we come before God, we have a common union. We enjoy the togetherness and the joyous moments of partaking of each other. God hears you and you hear Him. You love on Him and He loves on you. You sing a song to praise Him for His tender love and you rejoice in your awesome God. He too tells you how awesome you are to Him and how much He loves you.

Our prayers rise up as incense into the Father’s nostrils and He is pleased with the expressions of our hearts as we acknowledge how good He is. We need a sound understanding of His nature— which is love. Indeed He is love and it is a joy to behold Him constantly in front of your eyes. He is the loved one, the most cherished Being of all.

In your prayer time, seek to hear God. Ask Him questions for which you need answers. Knowing God’s perspective helps a lot. It opens up our minds to what God is doing so that we can cooperate with Him. It is common to see

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offended Christians who have lost all their passion and fervor for God because most of them do not understand what God is doing.

They ask God for something but He might say, “Wait. I am making something better than that for you my precious One.” But they don’t hear or pretend they did not hear and go about life feeling miserable and forgotten. Of course they are loved by God but they fail to understand how He loves them in their situation and circumstance they are facing. They feel they are being punished and turn away from a perfectly loving God who has the best in mind for them. God knows when to help us and when to let us fight our battles. There are times when God does let us fight on our own. This does not mean that God does not love us or is not concerned about us.

The fact is we cannot limit God with our tiny little plans and ask God to tag along.

God is too wise to waste time in letting us wallow in tiny plans. He wants us to enlarge our vision and see beyond ourselves like He did with Abram when He showed him the stars at night and told him how he would be the Father of many nations.

Abram must have found it difficult to believe. In Gen 15, we read how the Word of the Lord appears to Abram in a vision saying,

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“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” (v. 1) 2But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Abram asked God, “All my inheritance will go to my servant Eliezer; whenever will you give me one child?” He was grieving but God reassured him saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (vs. 4-6) In other words, God was telling Abram not to be distressed. For His plans would come to pass.

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Shortly after, God made a covenant with Abram and changed his name to Abraham. Abraham was 99 and he still saw none of God’s plans come to pass. But then one day, God came to Him and Abram paid homage and invited them to eat. Then the Lord said, “Next year same time you will have a son.” So, the promised son Isaac was born and all was fulfilled just as the Lord had spoken.

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We too must gain strength and courage from what we read and not worry about earthly matters such as, “Oh, my time is running out. I will die soon but I have no heir.” None of these things we worry about will matter for Elizabeth too had John in her old age. Surely, nothing is impossible with God but if we hold back, chances are we will never see. Because God requires for us to be in faith in order to receive His promises into our lives. He requires faith to bring His promises to pass. We must have simple childlike faith and God is able to work with that.

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Chapter Seven

Faith Requires Action

W

hen you have a problem, ask yourself, “Am I in faith?” What actions am I doing that prove my faith?

About four years ago, I had a little problem with my skin turning white in several places. Initially I tried using my faith to receive my healing. However when the white patches started spreading, I panicked. So I went to a doctor and tried the medicines along with diet restrictions. However in spite of my best efforts, the disease was advancing. I believe God was increasing my faith during this time because I was wondering all the time why my faith was not working until I made up my mind that I was going to be healed or stop treatment. When I made this decision and prayed for healing, I trusted that I was healed the very moment I asked to be healed.

To prove that I was healed, I started doing everything contrary to what the doctor had told me. He had asked me not to

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eat several vegetables. I had good portions of them, washed with more soap water, and went about living as usual.

I had no fear but only a confident expectation that I was healed and soon enough, the white patches started filling up. I happened to see that the white patch on my left forearm had totally disappeared and the other patches too had been totally filled up. I was pleased knowing that Jesus the Master Healer had healed me of my skin condition! I cannot even express to you what it did to my unbelieving husband because he did ask me to show him several times and he too was struck with wonder (shortly after, he was saved).

So it is only a matter of having faith and believing God. Healing is the bread of the children of God. We have a right to it.

The devil cannot touch our bodies. We stand strong in the promises of God day by day and that is how we have our victory.

We conquer by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony and not loving our lives even unto death.

Jesus is the master of your life. The faster you give your life to Him, the more blessed you will be each day. He is a friend you can trust through and through. Even when you know that the devil is working against you to block your faith and stop it in its

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tracks, you can be assured that your faith is all you need to overcome the obstacles and usher yourself into victory. God gave us faith as an instrument to fight and be victorious. It is so important that we use our faith so that we can bear fruit and live victorious lives in Christ. Amen.

By staying close to God, you can develop your ability to hear His voice and receive guidance to live victoriously in Him. You need to start with a relationship with your loving Father.

God’s loving and kind presence in our lives transforms us, and our minds as well as the many members of our body. Worldliness and self-love are hindrances to prayer. God requires of you to grow and be strong in Him and deepen your relationship with Him. As you read further with an open mind and let the Holy Spirit teach you the things of God (which are simple and easy to learn), you will receive wisdom for a grand life.

His wondrous qualities make Him so pleasing and desirable. He is the foundation of our lives and when we draw close to Him in prayer, we experience the elixir of joy bubbling up within us and transforming our beings— changing and molding us into His grand image and helping us grow from being smallminded to having true largesse. Amazingly, His touch is magical.

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It is transformational— it is unique and liberating. It transcends expression because He is sweet and loving— so loving that you want to constantly be drawn into His great love…wow! Prayer is so much joy and it is so liberating to be in the Presence of God… I wish you a wonderful journey ahead foraging you ever so closer to God in His goodness and benevolent love.

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Chapter Eight

We Have an Enemy

G

od will train us and offer us all the support we need.

He will give you new eyes to see your world with but if you see the wrong programs on the internet or

television and have the wrong kind of friends, chances are you

will gradually lose your sight and darkness will return.

He knows what our hidden thoughts are. So if you feel the devil is pouring his wicked thoughts into your mind, repent and ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) and ask God to help you train your mind and gain wisdom to do all the tasks assigned to you well and to give him glory.

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right.

But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Gen 4:6-7) Of course you will be. God will honor you too just like He honored Joseph and lift you out of

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your old life so that you will no longer remember what you had to go through for a short time. He is able to give you the proper mental framework you need to be victorious in your current assignment and move into greater realms with God. All power and authority has been given to you by Jesus who is Lord over all.

The devil doesn’t understand what God is doing with you. He is only a hired hand. How will he know what is your destiny? He may think it is all over like he did when Jesus was crucified.

Imagine what a shocker it would have been for him to see Jesus rise again from the dead. All the forces of darkness could not hold Jesus back…glory! Hallelujah! He did try his hardest best to keep Jesus in the grave but God the Holy Spirit brought him back to wreck the kingdom of darkness. Hooray!!!

This is how great our God is. The devil is no match for him but God doesn’t do away with the devil because he likes to have a hearty laugh. He likes to have a good time and give second chances. The devil is God’s sports opponent. How can you run a race without an opponent? The devil runs miles ahead and smirks, “I will make it to the grand finish line,” as God pretends to slumber and laze around and play with his toys and look totally inactive and uninterested.

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God waits for the opportune moment and in a flash, the devil is way behind. Little does the devil understand that God is playing sport with him and having a good time at his expense as he lets the enemy see dreams of ‘empty’ grandeur because they will never come to pass.

He never seems to learn that in just one step, he will be outwitted. In a sense, the devil is deceived and never learns that God is making sport out of him, haha! He keeps giving the devil a hard run and knocks him out unexpectedly.

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Why does the devil never learn? Because the devil’s pride and foolishness has deceived him so that God can make good sport out of him. He loves a good match. Do you not? Looking at the vast numbers of people at cricket and football stadiums, it is safe to state that God is a great sportsperson. He loves to take the devil for a ride.

Luther says, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.”

Jesus shooed the devil away as one would shoo a crow that was trying to snatch your biscuit for itself. Jesus said to him, “Away from me, satan! (Mat 4:10) Again and again the crow would return to caw and make a noise.

Jesus was unbothered by what satan could do. But Jesus was God and could easily overpower satan. However, He taught on the enemy and we as the rising army of Christ must train ourselves in the ways of the enemy so that we will not be outwitted. He is dangerous and sneaky, and subtle too.

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Putting it All Together

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There are four stages in effective spiritual warfare. While trusting God is the first step, the second step is to know your enemy. The third step is to rise up in combat and the last step is to win the battle. I have only elaborated the first step as part of this free book. For the remaining steps, please use the link below: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FLG6YFF Let me leave you with some thoughts on the nature of the enemy. When John baptized with water and the Pharisees and Sadducees came to where he was baptizing, John addressed them as a brood of vipers! (Mat 3, v. 7) Jesus also referred to the Pharisees by the same name in Matthew 12:34 where Jesus says to them, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?” and in Mat 23:33, He says, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

WHY ‘BROOD OF VIPERS’?

A viper is a scientific name for a venomous snake with large hinged fangs, a broad head and stout body, with dark patterns on a lighter background. They bite people and inject

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venom through the hollow fangs. They also describe a spiteful, disloyal or back-stabbing person. (Vocabulary.com) Another translation says a viper refers to a spiteful or treacherous person. Clearly the religious leaders bore satanic qualities in that they were “deadly sons of serpents.” satan enters people to possess them like he entered Judas and worked out his evil plan through him: “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.” - Luke 22: 3- 6 From the above verses, we understand that Satan is able to control human minds to do his will. He was able to infuse them with his wicked qualities so that they became corrupt, spiteful, and hateful toward the Lord of Glory and eventually were responsible for crucifying the Son of God. A final thought before leaving: Study the Word diligently as I have been doing for hours each day. Unless we study the Word, we will not have the strength to

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fight the enemy who is always shaking our confidence in God. I wish you the very best!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR An author at heart, Niti loves to share her thoughts about life to spread sunshine and offer new hope. She loves to elevate people by showing them the road map to where they are going and getting them enthused about the wonderful opportunities to make a difference to their lives as well as that of others by spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and making Him accessible in a precious way to all. She loves the Lord deeply and intimately and has a gift of teaching the Word. She is also a word prophet who speaks what she hears and it comes to pass. She has a deep connection with the divine and loves the spiritual dimension where God and His angels are real to her. She writes what she hears and shares what she knows will help. So take the time to read and surely you will have a warm place in your heart to live out all your days on earth. Amen. If you would like to connect, you can email her at nitikrishnakumar@gmail.com.

The

kindle

link

for

this

book

on

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FLG6YFF Read her blogs at https://hellolife540927433.wordpress.com/

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