When Persecution Comes Calling

For anyone that has been following the news there are a growing number of stories that speak of the persecution of Christians. For many, such articles seem surreal, they remain so far removed from our current peaceful existence that we find no reason to try and relate, let alone guard ourselves from similar violation. But what if trouble does come near our door? Must we fall victim to the plans of a corrupt and tyrannical world system? Should we yield ourselves over to those that would gladly bring harm to us or to those we love?   Of course the answer is “no”, but we must also gain some perspective on how Jesus saves us from such unwarranted trouble. Only when God’s people stand in Christ do we let Jesus be the one that decides our fate. Let’s consider a few valuable truths that make victory possible.

Dwelling with the Most High

Ephesians 2:6-7 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Seated with Christ means two things;

It means we have ceased from our own works in order to live our Christian life through Him. Jesus has provided us a full and rich alternative to a life once subject to corruption.

It means that we have gained a spiritual position of authority raised above the dictates of a fallen world.

Now that should encourage us to want to remain in God’s favor. However there is one thing that stops us from living in that place of total victory; it has to do with our dependence on our old man’s ways; let me explain.

At one time humanity received a commission from God to be fruitful and take dominion and this was a good thing. The intent was for man to be a steward of God’s creation which gave him freedom to be a sovereign over the physical world (Sovereign meaning that no one stands between him and his earthly rule). However as man sinned and lost connection with God, his natural ability to take dominion became corrupt. Left to his own devices he lost his sovereign status and became a slave to the god of this world. This transference of dominion is outlined in the Devil’s dialog with Jesus in Luke 4:5:

The devil led him (Jesus) up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

As believers this should concern us for one reason. Even though we have been invited to rest in the kingdom and partake of all that is victorious in Christ, the dividing line between success and failure often depends on the choices we make. The Apostle Paul helps us understand what we should be choosing; he says;

Romans 8:5-6 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Now don’t get me wrong, we are still creatures born of the flesh and live out our days while deciding what’s best for body, soul and spirit. However when we received the free gift of God it was an invitation to be governed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. In that environment the flesh responds to righteousness and our sinful ways begin to fade; that is if we want them to.

When the flesh still rules it is then deciding our fate. Natural wisdom and sinful actions reveal an open door to unwanted control and dominance by other masters. Think of it this way; those that pick up the sword die by the sword; or more to the point; those that pick up the flesh are prone to suffering because of the flesh. So quite often the thing we call persecution is simply a matter of having created an open door to an outside influence. That open door can include:

• Our love of the world.
• Our personal indiscretions.
• How we were raised by the family.
• Our obligation to conform in service to worldly kingdoms.

All of these events are part of an Adamic way of life subject to the fall and it is still making us fall. For effect let’s delve into the subject of family.

First and foremost we learned to trust authority for better or for worse. When parent’s feared God we prospered while in their care and learned to trust authority implicitly. Yet a troubled home life taught us an unnatural fear of authority and we naturally came to measure success by how well we could dodge the abuse. Surprisingly our learned skills keep us in survival mode, even after we become adults. This is true for three reasons;

• We were actually dodging real demons and never thought to send them away.
• We became used to the abuse and are drawn to the same in relationships.
• We learned to succeed in the face of confrontation and still use those learned skills.

This is why trouble is still following us.

In another article I tell the story of how at an early age I was attacked by a dog. From that time forward I have been hyper sensitive to the presence of barking dogs that show signs of aggression. In this light,

• I’ve been dodging real demons related to my dog attack.
• I tend to attract similar types of aggressive dogs if not people.
• My spidey senses are on the alert to what dog maybe hiding around the next corner.

This last point is worth talking about. Unlike body and soul, the natural spirit of man, “his human spirit”, isn’t limited in its reach. Being of a spiritual substance it has the ability to project beyond the flesh to capture certain wants and desires. Scripture gives us some examples of how the spirit of man is working independently of the body;

1 Corinthians 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present…

2 Kings 5:26 But Eliisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?

What I have personally discovered; a dog’s aggression can be responding to my natural human spirit’s defense mechanism. If I am seeking to thwart a potential threat then I actually” become” the next threat; this offers us another sword analogy. By passing through a neighborhood and spiritually surveying the streets some dogs were picking up on my projections.

Yet if you need an easier explanation as to why we keep falling into similar patterns of trouble; then the short answer is, we have a spiritual sign on our foreheads that says kick me, bite me or persecute me! You name the unwanted encounter; it’s a sure thing that it rides on the coat tails of some past tragedy.

Cast but a glance at a familiar danger and you will find it looking back at you.

Resolving past physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual issues that once defined us is a valuable first step in limiting unwanted persecution. How do we break such contracts? We come out from under the abuse.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

As the story goes; Jesus passed through death, burial and resurrection to provide us a new existence in Christ. But what makes this change so real is our own participation in that same death, burial and resurrection experience. No, we didn’t die physically, but rather we supernaturally passed through Jesus’ death in order to know His life. This is why all the old conditioning that once defined us in Adam can now fall to the wayside. Colossians offers us some counsel;

Colossians 3:5-6 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Since Paul the Apostle knows the true power of the Cross in these matters he is also telling us to rely upon the Holy Spirit for change.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For future reference, keep in mind everything we can interpret as a “misdeed” is worth challenging.

These are acts of the flesh that deny us true life and liberty in the Holy Spirit. So it should be obvious that a misguided freewill choice to remain subject to the strength of our old man is a straight shot into conflict.

Jesus based on what you did on the Cross and by the Holy Spirit;

Put to death where I retain a mindset still subject to past family physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual abuse. (Name it).

Put to death where I’m still subject to those family demons, and have learned to drawn near to others wearing the same.

And put to death where I retain skills by the strength of my body, soul and spirit to engage future violation and persecution.

Judge by the Cross the spiritual realm associated with these issues.

Jesus, You are the resurrection power that now saves me and makes me new.

Subjection and Submission

Another side effect of early upbringing may include retaining a mindset of compliance. If circumstances in life were once hard on us we may be quick to role over whenever a similar encounter demands control (subjection). But even in a healthy home we still learned to conform (submission). In both cases any form of compliance needs to mature with age. In this way we can properly take the initiative in life or faith when it counts. However without away of escape in Christ we wear a passive sign on our foreheads and remain vulnerable to violation.

Application

Jesus based on what you did on the Cross and by the Holy Spirit;

Put to death where I retain a damaged family pattern of subjection and submission that is still immature in me.

Put to death my need to subject or submit myself to family demons, or wear the same abuse that was once imposed upon me.

Put to death by the Holy Spirit were I have created skills to defend myself apart from your salvation.

Judge by the Cross the spiritual realm associated with these issues.

Jesus, You are the resurrection power that now saves me and makes me new.

The principles I just shared also help counteract persecution; if we say goodbye to a past obligation to conform we gain a new way to live and a new awareness of our authority is established.

We should also add some understanding how random circumstances in life or faith can place us in harms way. I mentioned “a love of the world” but nowadays we get so much of the world just watching television. For instance I might point out that if media offers us a heavy dose of violence it doesn’t mean it’s spiritually neutral. After all media attempts to mimic reality and draws upon real spiritual evils to sell its story line. So give thought to how media may inspire rape, murder, suicide, theft, male or female dominance or victimization, or impose upon us sexual perversions leading to future abuse. Add to the list what ever captures your attention and come to realize that;

If an image of world depravity is set before us, circumstances of life may eventually want to test our resolve by making us a victim of the same.

application

Jesus based on what you did on the Cross and by the Holy Spirit;

Put to death where I retain a learned pattern of lust, pride or greed from media’s example even from an early age.

Put to death my need to wrestle with these same media demons inviting potential rape, murder, suicide, theft, male or female dominance or victimization or sexual perversions.

Put to death by the Holy Spirit where I remain conditioned to respond as either a victim or violator.

Judge by the Cross the spiritual realm associated with these issues.

Jesus, You are the resurrection power that now saves me and makes me new.

What we are learning is a threat has the power to enslave us. However we are now in the Spiritual life of our God and King and Jesus releases our feet from the snare. It is for this reason we learn that victory over darkness often benefits from a spoken word.

What do we know of the spoken word?

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

From a historical point of view the written biblical record is known as “the LOGOS” (Greek for WORD). In this light an agreement with God’s Word can be a valid defense in the face of trouble.

Matthew 4:10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

But at such times we require the LOGOS to come alive with authority in Jesus and by the Holy Spirit. In this way words written thousands of years ago, can effectively come to life and arrest spiritual foes. In such a time as this the LOGOS becomes what is known as a “RHEMA word” or one made alive by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word (RHEMA word) that comes from the mouth of God.’”

We also find that a RHEMA word is offered to us when recalling a portion of scripture that fits well within our study or within Christian fellowship. It can also be helpful when someone is in need of a timely word from above because we are relying upon the Holy Spirit to breathe life into it. But Rhema is also an active form of inspiration and response when confronted by danger.

For example; I tell the story of once having gotten out of my car to go into a store when a large dog in another vehicle started to bark at me. In frustration I yelled at the dog to shut up. Just about that time the owner of the dog was coming out of the store and he took offense at me yelling at his dog. With an angry and violent attitude he proceeded to intimidate me by getting in my face. In that moment I thought I was about to get hit by a guy half my age, but then the Holy Spirit prompted me to bind the spirit that was so violent in this man.

“In the Name of Jesus – I bind the violent spirit at work in this man!”

Within seconds the man went passive like a little boy, backed off and in protest lightly brushed against me as he left the confrontation.

When evil men seek to violate our space we retain authority in Jesus to tell such powers to stop. Notice I said “We tell POWERS TO STOP”; we don’t have power over the tangible flesh of man or over even a tangible world. For this reason true authority in Jesus is simply based on an agreement with God and His victory over spiritual foes. We “declare” our way to victory.

Romans 10:9-10 That 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. For with the heart a person believes and so is justified, and with the mouth he confesses and confirms salvation.

In the Greek, the word “confess” is “homologeo” and is defined as: saying the same thing as another, i.e. agreeing with; conceding to confess, declare; professing to declare openly, speaking out freely; praising and celebrating. Other scriptures that bring forth the same truth are: Matthew 10:32, 1 Timothy 6:12, Hebrews 13:15, 2 Corinthians 4:13.

What we discover is so much of our faith relies upon a spoken word. Prayer often remains spoken, many of the gifts of the Spirit get spoken, and certainly the ascension gifts deliver a spoken message. But not every thing we say represents the will of God. Even scripture remains crippled until we gain a right perspective in the Holy Spirit.

What is the Holy Spirit saying when in the throes of worldly conflict?

A simple example of victory over demonic foes was shared above. But let’s add some insight by saying that men don’t play with evil without being resourceful in body, soul and spirit. So if man is evil in his intent and aggressive in his attitudes such influences can also train an animal to be evil, violent or aggressive?

In another dog encounter from my past I tell the story of riding my bike past a park. In that moment I observed a man with a pit bull and the dogs master began to provoke the dog to react to my presence. I then realized I had seen this “dog and master” show before. Last summer this same man was adding violent promptings to his dog’s response even then. This man was actually encouraging the dog to be aggressively violent towards people and the only restraint that kept humanity safe was the owners grip on a leash.

Coming back to the present day; this same scenario was unfolding before my eyes. To makes things worse I noticed a young mother with her baby and her own family pet entering the park. Seeing how this violent dog threat became even more intense, the Holy Spirit prompted me to verbally step in to thwart a potentially deadly outcome. In an instant the Holy Spirit unctioned me to declare a spiritual severing between the pit bull and its master. Secondly it was to sever the demonic realm that road along on the man’s evil intent. I said:

“In the Name of Jesus, I sever the spiritual link between the dog and its master and I bind the demonic powers that reinforce that link.

Within seconds this big dog let out a demonic scream and proceeded to go hide itself like a wounded puppy.

Our authority “in the Name” and “in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit” is our weapon when confronted by similar evil. But let’s not limit ourselves to such minor forms of persecution. Dog and master principles are at work within everyday life. Take a corporate agenda as an example.

A unified people committed to a specific goal tend to create bonds of trust in physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual ways. In this light beside memos coming down from leadership’s corporate desk we have been known to plug into them spiritually. In this manner we too have a sixth sense regarding leadership’s motives. If a leader is benevolent then people tend to prosper under their wing, but an evil leader can reveal hidden motives through spiritual links. Though we may have at one time agreed with their philosophy, persecution arises when we now push away from their plans. Evil men and spirits alike may then respond with threats and attitudes that make us vulnerable to reprimand and ridicule.

Where there is a pecking order there is a hierarchy demanding allegiance or a piece of us.

This is where we get to the meat of the subject. When control and dominance comes from corporate kingdoms, governments or even nations, do we suffer persecution? History would say that death and destruction follows any evil plot. As for wars they are often fought to feed egos and pocket books rather than seek for peace. Humanity will suffer for it, but who ever thinks to neutralize the threat?

I surmise as we come to the end of the age we will get our chance. Then again I am also thinking of generations that will stand with Jesus Yeshua within the millennial reign of Christ. His rod of iron over the nations will curb that behavior by giving the believer a place of assignment. The word shows us within the Old Testament a valid strategy of how such enemies will fall.

Deuteronomy 7:23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

1 Samuel 14:20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.

The New Testament has its own version of the same when we hear Jesus say:

John 17:11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

1 John 3:8 … The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

This may seem a little cloak and dagger, but what we are seeing within the world of today is a power united against the Christian faith. We are not just imagining such attacks and this is the reason for our involvement within “spiritual warfare”.

Authority that Confronts Evil

Here’s the catch; is God calling us to the battle? I would say that we were called the day we got saved. In that moment we saw a difference between two kingdoms and the darkness was no longer prevailing over us. Surely Jesus did the hard part for us; yet a continued walk of faith has been training us to resist the Devil ever since.

Can the Christian then stand against an army or some other evil restraint? Why not? Whether its one demon or a hundred, they still fall by the power of the Holy Spirit. However based on our tendency to be natural in our thinking we want to charge the fray with guns blazing. Yet safe passage and effectual prayer requires that we remain tucked away in Christ.

Ephesians 4:16 NKJV From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the MEASURE of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The word “measure” as it is used above, is describing not only our place of victory but also the extent of our authority and reach. The Greek word for “measure” here is “metron” and denotes “a vessel for receiving and determining the quantity of things”; it is a parameter or a portion measured to us by God. So as we identify persecution and come out from under it, we then ask the Holy Spirit to rule within the moment and determine our measure of success. Such prayers have been known to encompass the earth if not set generations free as men trusted God. Just think about the prayers of the saints of old and how their message is still impacting our lives presently, because God wants them to.

1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

The key then to securing safe passage when seeking to topple any demonically ruled kingdom is to allow Jesus by the Holy Spirit to decide “our measure”. To resolve spiritual abuses I often say a prayer like this;

Jesus based on what you did on the Cross and by the Holy Spirit;

Put to death where I am owned by this corporate monster in physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual ways.

And AS FAR AS MY METRON OF AUTHORITY GOES, judge by the Cross the demons that hold that kingdom together.

Psalm 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

You’ve got some prayers to pray!