Spiritual Warfare

Bible Verse of The Day – 4-7-12

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(Acts 16:16-18 NKJV)  Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. {17} This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” {18} And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

Have you ever heard of a religious spirit? Whether you have or not, please pay close attention to these words.

Religious spirits come to us to deceive us. They look, sound and act like the real thing (the Holy Spirit), but they are not of God. They will speak words that are true in order to convince us that they are from God, but they are evil in their purpose.

In the scriptures above, this woman was inhabited by a religious spirit… a demon. This demon spoke words that were true. He proclaimed that the words Paul was speaking were true and that Paul taught the way to salvation.

Was this true? Absolutely. But why did it annoy Paul to the point where he cast it out of the girl? Because he discerned that this was not the spirit of God, but a spirit of divination and he knew that it had to leave if he told it to do so.

Many of us come into contact with religious spirits on a regular basis but never realize it. They speak to us from various sources. Many of them are even in the church!

This is not meant to freak anyone out or make you paranoid, but it’s high time for the body of Christ to get razor-sharp discernment and understand the realities of the spiritual world.

Much of what we see each day is the result of something spiritual, whether it’s God’s spirit or a demonic spirit. It’s up to us to distinguish between the two.

If a religious spirit was to come before us right now, would we be able to discern it correctly? Just some food for thought!

We wish each and every one of you a very happy resurrection day!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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

Your Daily Bible Verse – 2-20-12

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(Heb 5:14 NKJV)  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

As followers of Christ, we are part of a spiritual realm that so few people know so little about.

There is a world of activity that goes on behind the scenes and the only way we are aware of it is through the discernment that God gives us through His spirit.

As believers, we need to let God sharpen our discernment and teach us what to be aware of in the invisible world around us. Getting this understanding can make a huge difference in the direction of our lives, as we learn to discern and confront the powers of darkness.

This is not optional if we want to be effective as part of God’s army. We are here on this earth for a purpose and if we don’t let God train us and raise us up in the way He needs us to be, we will fall short of His goals for us.

Ask God today to give you sharper discernment and to begin to reveal the spiritual realm to you in a new light.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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

Your Daily Bible Verse – 2-3-12

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(Eph 6:12 NKJV)  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.

As we go through life and face many trials and struggles, it’s critical for us to understand that much of the negative stuff that happens in our lives is not due to simple human behavior but is directly related, instead, to spiritual battles taking place behind the scenes.

Although we live in a natural world, where much of what we do is based on our five senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting), there is a whole world that we never physically see, that plays a huge part in what goes on around us, and even in our own lives.

There is a constant battle that is going on behind the scenes, in the spiritual realm. It’s what was here before the earth. It is made up of angels and demons. The carnal person will know and understand nothing of this realm, but children of God need to know and understand this.

Now let me speak bluntly for a moment. There is much that we struggle with as humans that we try to explain away as purely physical. But much of this is purely spiritual. Many incidents, situations and circumstances in our lives and the lives of those around us are a direct result of spiritual attacks. God’s word is clear about this, as in the scripture above.

As children of God, we need to develop a sharp sense for spiritual warfare and a sharp discernment, to recognize these attacks, in order to be able to combat them effectively. God has sufficiently equipped us to do battle and have victory.

We just need to do the training and hone our skills, in order to be effective warriors.

More to come on this in the coming days… stay tuned.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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