Tag: What the Bible says about spiritual warfare

Bible Verse of The Day – 10-5-20

Matthew 11:12 (NKJV) 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

This verse has always intrigued me. Something about it caught my attention the very first time I saw it, and it still holds my attention now.

Because this verse isn’t your “usual” gospel fodder, we wanted to dig into it a little and shed some light on what it means, since it’s a bit confusing on the surface.

Jesus spoke very little about violence or warfare, yet He chose to make the statement above, which refers to both.

Nobody really ever thinks of violence when they think of heaven. As one of our readers recently said to us when inquiring about this scripture, he wrote that he “thinks of angels singing, peace and happiness”.

And while heaven is indeed a place of great joy and non-stop worship of the Almighty, there is much violence taking place against it.

This violence doesn’t take place in heaven, so to speak, but against it. It is an ongoing onslaught in an effort to keep as many people as possible from entering the kingdom.

Our eternal destiny is at stake in this never-ending battle.

Behind the scenes, away from the human eye, there is constant warfare taking place in the spiritual realm. It is brutal and very, very violent.

Heaven and the followers of Christ (future residents of heaven) are under constant attack from the enemy and his demons.

Although the Greek text for this particular verse was very hard to translate, the overall meaning is this:

John the Baptist preached and spoke very strongly. He wasn’t afraid to call out the religious leaders and label them as hypocrites and vipers.

Because of this, he faced very strong opposition and attacks from his enemies. He stirred things up in a way that produced hostile reactions from the religious and non-religious leaders of that day.

Because of this, he died a violent death.

Jesus did the very same thing. He spoke words that caused violent reactions in the natural, and in the spiritual realm.

He also died a violent death because of it.

As followers of Christ, we are also under constant attack in the spiritual realm.

Our growth as a believer, and, ultimately, our entry into the kingdom of God (our destiny), is opposed forcefully by evil forces who operate out of sight of the natural eye.

But as believers, it is our duty to react radically and relentlessly to oppose these forces who would stop at nothing to kill us (spiritually) and prevent us from entering in to the kingdom of heaven.

This is all part of spiritual warfare. It’s a necessity. It’s not something we can simply overlook because we can’t see it with our natural eyes.

And as we move deeper into the last days, this warfare intensifies, as is evident in the events of the last several months.

Press in to Him, church. Be strong in your faith. Be relentless in your pursuit of Him.

And on that note, we would strongly encourage you to read this blog post we wrote a while back. Pursuing God Relentlessly. We believe it will help you even further.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-28-20

Matthew 11:12 (NKJV) 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

We live in a natural world. We can see it, touch it, hear it and smell it. It is tangible.

The world we do battle in, however, is not natural at all. It is spiritual. 100% spiritual.

We fight battles for a spiritual kingdom. It is God’s kingdom, unseen by natural eyes.

As time has gone by, we often spoke of the coming kingdom as though it was a long way off, far into the future.

Recently, though, we have started realizing that it may be closer than we had thought. Recent events have shown us that darkness has been greatly on the increase.

Don’t get me wrong. It has been there all along, working behind the scenes. But now it is more visible than ever, not even trying to hide any longer.

It is now bold, in our faces and no longer trying to disguise itself.

So, what does this mean for us, as believers?

It means that we do battle. We fight. We meet attacks with attacks.

These attacks, though, are not physical. They are not natural. They are spiritual. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yes, we still live in a natural world. We see things with our natural eyes that can sometimes clue us in as to the intent of the enemy. Our biggest weapons, however, are what we see and discern in the spiritual realm.

The verse above says that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. It is hit with violent attacks. It is under a constant onslaught of the enemy and his evil forces. Some of those forces are unseen. Others are people that we see operating day to day, right before our eyes.

What do we do with that?

We do battle! We fight back. We meet violence with violence.

But this is a different kind of violence. This is not violence against people. It is violence against our invisible enemy and his armies.

Our reaction has to be radical, forceful and relentless.

There will also be things that we do in the natural that help expose the enemy and break down the defenses they have setup here in our natural world.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean that we should just lay down and submit when we see evil being played out.

On the contrary, it is because we are a Christian that we need to stand up and fight when we see this evil.

We fight it with truth. We fight it on a spiritual level, using discernment that doesn’t come by way of intellect or natural thinking.

Discernment is of the utmost importance, lest we end up like Peter, cutting off the ear of one of the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus.

We need to know when to speak, and when to be silent, when to attack and when to pull back.

We need to know when to “wield a sword” in the natural and when to wield a sword in the spiritual realm.

The battles are intensifying, so it’s important that our understanding and ability to see and hear what the Spirit is saying also intensifies.

Press in to Him.

As one disciple did, we need to lay our head on the chest of Jesus, so we can hear His very heart beat.

Revelation 3:22 (NKJV) 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-8-20

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We all know people that we might call wicked. You know. Those who are conniving, hateful, unethical, thieves, immoral, and the list could go on. Wickedness can come in many forms.

And while none of us really likes to deal with wicked people, there is a far more terrible form of wickedness that we need to be concerned with; spiritual wickedness.

While we are fixated on the wickedness we can see, there is far worse wickedness going on behind the scenes that our natural eyes have no clue is happening. The only hint our eyes get is the outward manifestations of evil that are visible in some of the acts carried out by the carriers of this evil.

As believers, it’s important that we not spend our time wrestling with people, looking at them as the source of the battles we face. Yes, they can be used as pawns and tools of the enemy. But we need to remember that it’s the enemy that we wrestle against.

And no matter how wicked someone might seem, any time that we spend fighting with them is time wasted that could be spent fighting spiritual battles through prayer and fasting.

It’s important to note also, that wrestling in the natural often involves moves of trickery and fake moves, or deception, to fool the adversary into thinking one thing will happen, while it’s really something completely different that hits them and knocks them off their feet.

The enemy works this way in the spiritual realm, constantly at work to deceive the saints and derail our walk with God.

Lastly, it’s important that we take note of the 4 different levels of spiritual rankings; principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness.

It was only by the spirit of God that Paul came to understand these things. And it is only by the spirit of God that we can recognize them and do battle against them effectively.

It’s time, church, for us to gird ourselves up for this battle and stop running. It’s time for us to learn to recognize the enemy that we wrestle against and take up the weapons of our warfare.

2 Corinthians 10:4 (NKJV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-8-20 – Under attack

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings in the name of Jesus! 

Have you ever felt like you were under attack? Have you gone through periods of time where it seems like one bad thing after another keeps happening? 

In today’s video, Under Attack, we discuss how to discern these attacks and then how to deal with them. 

We have an enemy who is out to destroy each and every one of us, if possible. This means that it’s very important for us to understand how to deal with his attacks. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes and watch it so you can develop a better understanding in this area. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

Be on your guard! 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-6-19

Nehemiah 4:17 (NKJV) 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.

The wall surrounding Jerusalem had been destroyed. King Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for this, as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and everything in it.

Nehemiah made it his mission to rebuild the wall, so he did whatever was necessary to secure the materials and manpower to get it done.

But there was a problem. They were opposed by many who wanted to see them fail. And the people who opposed them didn’t just speak out against them, they pledged to stop them by any means necessary, including attacking them.

Nehemiah and his people didn’t let it deter them. Instead, they worked together, not only to rebuild the wall, but to defend each other while doing so.

As mentioned above, they taught themselves to work with one hand, while holding a weapon in the other hand.

We can learn so much from this!

Many of us are guilty of letting enemies deter us, even with just their words. We hear them mocking us and we give up. We find out that they are gathering against us and we tremble with fear. We see them moving against us and we turn and run away.

But God wants us to learn how to work with one hand, while holding a weapon in the other.

Does this mean that we walk around with physical weapons in our hand? Not at all, at least not for this kind of battle. We need to learn how to fight spiritually and decimate our enemy with weapons of spiritual warfare!

God wants us to learn to watch and listen while we work! We have to learn to be discerning and potent as warriors who can work and defend ourselves at the same time.

It’s not easy to do at first. But as we press in to Him and let Him lead us by His spirit, we will get the understanding we need. And He will teach us the ways of warfare that only He knows.

2 Corinthians 10:4 (NKJV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…

And as we develop the skills to work and defend at the same time, we will accomplish what He sends us to accomplish.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-8-19

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

In the verse above, Paul is helping believers to know that we need to be ready for what we will battle against.

He wants us to understand the importance of knowing that we are going to be faced with a fight. Things aren’t necessarily going to be easy for us just because we are God’s children. We will wrestle against wickedness at times. We won’t always understand why things are happening to us.

But God knows. And if we go to Him and stay in His word, He will keep us on our toes and on guard to the things the enemy would love to destroy us with.

This is why we pray and we read His word. We get as close as we can to God, through His precious Son. Why? Because we need to be able to stand, and keep standing.

When rulers of darkness come around and try to hit us, we can’t take them on our own. But with God, now that’s a different story.

Ephesians 6:13 (NKJV)13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

With God’s word in us, and as we stayed prayed up, we will be strong and ready for the battle. The armor is on and we will walk out of the battle with the victory!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) 17 pray without ceasing…

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-15-17

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We live in a tangible world. We see, we touch, we smell.

But the vast majority of things that affect our lives are not tangible. They are spiritual.

We don’t see the activity that takes place. But we see the results of that activity each and every day. We just might not always recognize it.

As humans, we tend to try to fight everything carnally, with our logic and our intellect. We try to figure things out in our heads.

But as believers, followers of Christ, we need to understand that most of our battles need to be fought in the spirit realm, using spiritual weapons.

God has given believers authority in the name of Jesus. He has given us prayer. And He has given us His word.

And He has given us a mandate to fight and defeat the enemy of our souls using those weapons.

It takes some time to understand this and to develop skills fighting battles this way. We will usually get better at it as we mature in our walk with God.

At first it might feel foreign and strange to us. And as we learn and grow in it, we will undoubtedly fail a few times.

But if we keep at it and we seek God’s counsel in prayer and the wisdom found in His word, we will become mighty warriors in the spirit and a formidable foe for the enemy and every demon in hell.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-9-17

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…

God has supplied us with weapons for warfare. These weapons are not carnal or natural. They are made for fighting spiritual battles, for the sole purpose of defeating those things that would exalt themselves against God.

And we need to remember that our battles are not fought against carnal or fleshly enemies. Our battles are fought against spiritual adversaries that cannot be seen with the natural eye.

Oh, there will be many people who will be used by the enemy, to come against us. But they are merely pawns. They are not our true enemy.

And there will be times when we feel outnumbered and we might even feel defeated at times. But we need to understand that we can’t rely solely on our natural strength when fighting these battles. If we do, we will never win. Our strength alone is not enough.

We need to learn to rely on God. His strength never falters or fails. And His weapons are more than enough to defeat the enemy and have victory.

And as we do this, as we fight these battles using the weapons God has provided for us, He will strengthen us and deliver us in His timing.

2 Samuel 22:2 (NKJV) 2 And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-19-16

Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV) 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

People are upset and angry over the killings, the shootings and other violence going on in the world these days. It’s happening so often now and it seems like nothing is being done about it.

Talking about it and getting upset will not change it, stop it or turn things around.

We want you to know today that there is HOPE and POWER in the name of Jesus Christ!

There are some things we can do that will help thwart the enemy’s plan and it is our responsibility as God’s children to do it. WE don’t need a sign from heaven. It’s in our face every day and He has provided for it and wants us to take action.

Maybe we think that prayer or spiritual warfare is a small thing. But we assure you today, it’s no small thing.

That’s why the devil fights to keep us busy and not having time for it. He tries to keep us sad, downhearted, discouraged, depressed and complaining. Why? So we will be distracted and not do what we should be doing. If he keeps us caught up and busy in the wrong things, it makes his job easy.

The enemy knows that when we take responsibility and do what we need to do, we will change things and make a HUGE difference everywhere.

As we look around and we see what’s taking place, we need to ask God for wisdom and let His spirit guide us in prayer and in taking action. It takes both, praying and physical action to win.

The devil will try to tell us it’s over, or there is no use in fighting. He’ll try to tell us that we are only one person and we won’t do any good or make any difference.

WE have God’s authority in us to do what it takes and get the job done.

Luke 10:19 (NKJV) 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

When we walk in God’s authority, believe us when we tell you, it makes all the difference in this world. It is the ONLY thing that will make a difference!

When we all walk in it together, it makes even MORE of a difference.

Let us rise above all the talk and take back what is ours and destroy his plan.

We don’t need to look at it and talk about it anymore. We all see it for what it is. We need to go after it. We don’t wait and let it destroy us or those things around us. We get in the face of it and we say, NO more!

In  the name of Jesus Christ, we stand together. We put on the armor of God, walk in His authority and we take action. We are His Army and together we stand!! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-5-16

2 Corinthians 10:4 (NKJV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…

God has equipped us with weapons. These are powerful weapons of warfare.

But these weapons of warfare aren’t natural or carnal. They are spiritual weapons that give us everything we need to defeat the enemy of our souls.

Warfare is never easy. It carries a high price tag on many occasions. And it can leave some nasty scars at times. And, most times it changes our lives forever.

And there can be times when we’re in a battle, that we feel like laying down, curling up into a ball and wishing the world would just go away. This is natural and normal for our flesh to react this way.

But there is one thing for sure. And that is that God wants us to have victory in our lives. And He has given us exactly what we need in order to have that victory!

But it’s spiritual warfare and spiritual victory that we pursue. We are not in a battle with man. We are not at war with governments or anything tangible.

We are at war with demonic powers and principalities. These are the things that lash out at us. These are the things that claw at us, trying desperately to take us down. And these are the things that we are commissioned and equipped to attack and destroy, with the authority that God has given us, through Jesus Christ.

So let’s fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), finish the race and keep our faith strong, in the name of Jesus! Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-1-15

Hebrews 3:4 (NKJV) 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

Sometimes it may seem like the world is nothing more than a mad ball of chaos.

There is a constant, ongoing battle between good and evil. And many times it seems like evil might be winning, as we see what appear to be victories for the enemy all around us.

But we live here on the earth. And the earth was built by God, our heavenly Father. This is His house… His project. Therefore it has to abide by His word and His rules. So nothing that happens here shocks Him or causes Him to abdicate His throne.

We are the inhabitants of His creation, this earthly kingdom. As His children, we are also present and future inhabitants of His spiritual kingdom, here, on earth and later, in Heaven.

As His children, we have a responsibility to oversee what he has entrusted to us, in the natural and in the spiritual realms.

In the natural, we need to care for the earth and the material things He blesses us with.

In the spiritual realm, we need to do battle with those unseen forces of evil. Sometimes this will require us to stand and speak out, and be seen and heard by others.

But other times it requires us to do warfare in the spirit, without anyone else ever seeing or hearing from us. The only exception would be the devil. When we engage in spiritual warfare, he should feel the repercussions.

So with everything that’s happening in the world these days, if you’re not sure whether to speak out or not, the very least we should do is pray; rebuke the powers of darkness, bind demons and loose God’s freedom in the earth. Pray in the Spirit and push the enemy back with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Let’s use the weapons that God has entrusted us with.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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