Step #2 > “Entering Hosea House”

SUBTITLE: “FIGHTING OUR DEMONS”

(You should read Step #1, if you have not, before reading Step #2. Article: “Fighting Our Demons”

I have asked the question: “Is it possible to grow up in Sodom, and not fight demons?”

This is a very important question because many of us have received Christ as our Savior, and all went well for a while as we were in that “first love” time with the Lord, but then, perhaps months down the road, we have become a little careless, and we find ourself struggling in our Christian experience. Not only that, but for some reason an old temptation has come back on us.

Many habits of our pre-Christ days have passed away so easily, but now this thing has reappeared, and we wrestle with it, we realize it is contrary to our walk with Christ, and we put it down again, we think it is beaten this time, only to have it jump out at us again, a little further down the spiritual road. This thing just won’t go away! This is a “strong-hold”, and there are demons attached to it. That is why it has a “strong hold” on us, and it must be broken.

This “temptation”, this “weakness” may have happened several different ways. This could be a generational weakness. A  “desire” that has passed down through your parents, grandparents, and so forth. It does not mean you have to give in to this, it just means you may have a weakness in this area. A harder battle. It requires extra awareness on our part, to guard ourself. It could be alcohol, drugs, pornography, materialism, love of money, homosexuality, gluttony, stealing, cursing, anger, or many other things, but whatever it is, it is your greatest foe!

It might not be generational, but it is something you were exposed to and now you can’t seem to get rid of it. Perhaps you did jump into it head-first, full well knowing it was wrong, but you did it anyway and now it has you. Perhaps you played with fire and now it burns, but however it happened, now it needs to be broken and you may not know how? Someone may have prayed and you were sure you had deliverance! Freedom! But then you went back out into the world, back out into Sodom, and you did not know how to fill the void and STAY FREE, and now the battle is back.

One of the devil’s best strategies is if he can get us to “fail” enough times, then we feel so guilty, he can convince us that God no longer wants us, and that he will no longer help us. So we run from God and try to hide like Adam and Eve. In Step #1 we talked about running TO God, and so, now, we look at Step #2. What happens after we run TO God?

First of all it is time to get very serious about this real danger to our soul. We know if we persist in this lifestyle, this sin, we know it will kill any spiritual fruit in our walk with God. We know it will cause distance, drain us of God’s anointing, harden our heart, burn-out our conscience, ruin our witness, and perhaps hurt people we love. Whether we believe we can lose our salvation, or not, we know this is very serious, and we are at a place where we are DESPERATE to finally beat this thing!!! And so we have run to God for the umpteenth time, and we are broken. We are ready to do whatever God tells us to do. We are ready to be his SHEEP and let him be SHEPHERD. We HUMBLE ourself to whatever will work, and in our brokeness we are ready to SEPARATE OURSELF UNTO HIM.

BUT SEPARATE OURSELF HOW?

WE ARE GOING TO ENTER THE HOSEA HOUSE.

Once we are in there, there is something we are going to do, but that is Step #3. First, I need to explain what it means to enter the Hosea House.

You are broken. You have been beaten by your sin again, and realize you are out of control, this thing is bigger than you and if God don’t save you then nobody else can!

Hosea was the Prophet that God told to marry a prostitute. (Hosea 1:2 NLT)

“When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshipping other Gods.”

We are ashamed and broken because we feel like a spiritual prostitute. The woman Hosea married was named, Gomer. One meaning of her name was “failure”, and to come to an end. If we have been fighting a losing battle with a demonic stronghold, then we know what it means to feel like a failure, and believe we are going to come to our end as a failure. This was Gomer. Hosea married and had 3 children with her, but by chapter 3, we find she has been unfaithful to him and has another “LOVER”.

You see, the reason we have such a struggle with whatever this weakness is, there is a part of us, a part of our flesh that “loves” this thing, even though another part of us, (our spirit man), may hate it, still, we give in to that craving of destruction. Yes, we know it is a craving that will destroy us, but we do it anyway! We have a fleshly love for a craving of destruction, and we need to be rescued! But will God still save us? Does he still even like us, let alone love us? Have we gone too far? All these questions and feelings haunt us, but are we ready to let God rescue us, AND PUT US IN HOSEA HOUSE?

You see, Hosea bought Gomer back for 15 pieces of silver, 5 bushels of barley, and a measure of wine, even after she had cheated on him. BUT THEN! HE GAVE HER VERY SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS!

THE INSTRUCTIONS OF HOSEA HOUSE!

You see, we need a little time. Our mind is filthy with the sins we have been indulging. There is something that is going to happen in the Hosea House that is like unto Samson pushing the millstone.

There is something that is going to happen in Hosea House that is like unto Samson pushing the millstone!!!

First of all, after Samson had his little fling with Delilah, (the thing he could not resist), that went on for a while before his sin really caught up with him. First his eyes were poked out, (after his hair was clipped), his eyes were poked out and he was separated (in his case) into prison, but it was a separation, and it was a taking his eyes off the things of this world! (He was broken.)

The only other thing we know he did was the pushing of the millstone round and round. Samson needed some time. He was not ready to be fully trusted again, not yet.

BUT IN THIS TIME HE NEEDED, HIS HAIR WAS GROWING!

Here are the instructions that Hosea gave to Gomer after he bought her back and brought her back into his house: (Hosea 3:3)NLT

“Then he said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.”

We need to let our hair grow back out. This represents the “closeness” God desires to have with us. As you will recall, Samson was a Nazarite,  and his hair was never to be cut. This was part of his dedication and loyalty to God. So we are beat-up and filthy from this battle we lost with the devil, and now God rescues us from our circumstances again, brings us into his house and says, “You will spend some time here while we get you cleaned up, during this time you will not prostitute yourself, neither shall your “anointing” with me be the same, until we get you spiritually back on your feet.” You need some time for your hair to grow, Samson, but as it grows, your time will come again! Your enemy will be defeated!

NOW THE QUESTION REMAINS, “WHAT SHALL WE DO WHILE IN HOSEA HOUSE?” HOW SHALL WE BE CHANGED? > STEP 3!

Read Hosea 3:3 over and over again for a few times. Get the picture of what God wants to do for us. He wants to be close to us again, and restore our faithfulness. He wants our hair to grow out, that we may be strong again, a picture of his anointing. If we also are serious about having our loyalty restored, then we will humble ourself, and submit to the wisdom of the Hosea House.  

“Oswald Chambers”

HERE IS A CHALLENGING ONE, FOLKS:

“Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for him. It is easier to serve than to be drunk to the dregs. The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for him. We are not sent to battle for God, but to be used by God in His battlings. Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?”

“Shadow Humor!”

“But the salesman told me one size fits all!”

(Feel free to take a stab at creating your own comical lines to this picture! Just keep it clean! Thanks!)

“What is Apostasy?”

SUBTITLE: “FIGHTING OUR DEMONS”

This is not a subject I expected to be getting into.

APOSTASY?

But here we are, and this is how it has happened. As I have been writing about “Fighting Our Demons”, an age-old question has re-arisen with me. You see, the first 22 years of my life was as a Fundamental Baptist, and I was taught for 22 years that you cannot lose your salvation. “Once Saved, Always saved”, as they say.

Now after a couple of years of intense study before God, I ended up crossing over to the Pentecostal side of things at age 24. However, to this very day, when it comes to the question of being able to lose your salvation, I land squarely on the side of…”maybe?” I must confess that I see both sides of the debate, and I lean one way, but I could be wrong. (I freely admit this.)

As I have been writing about the DANGERS of embracing our demons, I have had to ask myself the question of how this relates to Once Saved Always saved? And let me be quick to say that as I have reconsidered this subject, I found myself face to face with having to understand a word not used in the Bible, and yet, comes up time and time again in the commentaries when you check certain scriptures! That word being: Apostasy. 

CAN WE LOSE OUR SALVATION?  A strict interpretation of the word “apostasy” would seem to indicate, yes. Here are some definitions that I found: > An abandonment of one’s religious faith, political party, creed, loyalty, etc. > Renunciation of a religious faith. > Abandonment of a previous loyalty. > In Christianity apostasy refers to the rejection of Christianity by someone who was formerly a Christian.

The word comes from a Greek word meaning: defection, departure, revolt or rebellion. It has been described as a “willful falling away from”.

NOW HOW DID I GET HERE?  II Thessalonians 2: 1-4 (But particularly verse 3)

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

As I turned to the commentaries, (more than one), I was greeted by this word never actually used in the Bible, and yet it shows up time and again in deeper studies. Apostasy.

Here is the rub: You may be one who believes you cannot lose your salvation, but I have asked the question : CAN A PERSON GROW UP IN SODOM AND NOT FIGHT DEMONS?

Here is the danger, if a person gives-up fighting his demons, and begins to embrace them instead, is he not committing apostasy?

IF WE STOP “FIGHTING” OUR DEMONS, IF WE SURRENDER, AND BEGIN TO “EMBRACE” THEM, ARE WE NOT IN APOSTASY? ARE WE FIGHTING, OR EMBRACING?

Now the debate seems to revolve around whether the person was ever really saved or not? But here again is the danger, whether the person was ever really saved, or not, in both cases you have people who “think” they are saved, but in the end, they are in an unsaved condition! Whether they never really had it? Or they had it, and lost it!

WE MUST NEVER STOP FIGHTING OUR DEMONS! AND YES, THE HOPE IS THAT WE WILL REACH A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE DEFEATED, WE ARE FREE, AND WE WALK IN ALL THE VICTORY GOD HAS FOR US. AMEN! BUT IF YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT FREE, DON’T GIVE-UP!

I know we have only talked about Step 1 so far, and that is to RUN TO GOD, AND NOT AWAY FROM HIM! But I am still feeling an unction from God that we must realize this very real and very present danger!

The danger is that we get tired, and we think we can’t lose our salvation anyway, so we give-up! We stop fighting and at the very least we live a life of defeat and slavery. At the very worse we find ourself not saved! Possibly even twice dead!

This is another place the word “apostasy” pops up, as in an “apostate”. (Jude 1:12)

“These are spots in your feast of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit whithereth, without fruit, TWICE DEAD, plucked up by the roots;”

Think about it. What does it mean to be twice dead? Would it not be to have once been saved, and then rejected it? Notice they are trees whose fruit withers. Is this not like the seed that Jesus spoke of? Those falling on dry ground, but as they grow their fruit is choked out by the cares of this world? Also, Jesus spoke of a branch that does not “ABIDE” in me, shall whither, and shall be cut off and cast into the fire?

My goal here is not to solve a debate that whole denominations have been unable to resolve, but my goal is to continue to press the point of a very real and present danger! Every day we are assaulted by Sodom! It comes at us on the job, at school, on the radio, billboards, t.v., Internet, cell phones, I-phones, movies, sports, magazines, and on and on! The visionary saw demons riding Christians! Statistics of divorce and pornography in the Church is an embarrassment! There is a very real and present danger and I am calling it out!

THESE ARTICLES ARE MEANT TO HELP ME AS MUCH AS YOU.

WE CAN ALL GROW WEARY, AND BE TEMPTED TO GIVE-UP-THE-FIGHT. BUT WE MUST NOT.

INSTEAD, WE BAFFLE SATAN ONCE AGAIN, AND BECOME PSALMS 91 ROUGH RIDERS. WE ARE IN FOR A ROUGH RIDE, BUT WE WILL RIDE THAT WAR HORSE FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES!

There are several places we could still go here, scripturally speaking, but let me go to just one more. (Hebrews 6:4-6) NLT.

“For it is impossible to bring to repentance those who were once enlightened – those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come - who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”

If you want to study more, Hebrews 3:12-14 and I Timothy 4:1-5 are more examples.

HERE IS THE PROCESS I SEE: > We go from fighting our sin, to embracing it. Sin has a hardening effect on the heart. Our conscience begins to become seared as with a red-hot iron. Faith and conscience work together! A burned out conscience causes the faith to shipwreck! We are saved by GRACE through FAITH! Once our faith is shipwrecked, we will deliberately break our covenant with God. We are not married yet, we are betrothed. Those who endure to the end shall be saved. When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith in the earth? And so we willfully walk away from the covenant, no longer believing.

“Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result their faith has been shipwrecked.” (I Timothy 1:19 NLT)

I guess it is obvious the way I lean. I see it as a process that does not easily happen.

I BELIEVE AS LONG AS WE ARE STILL CALLING ON GOD, STILL HATING THE SIN, THEN IT IS NOT US, BUT OUR FLESH THAT IS SINNING, BUT IF WE BEGIN TO GIVE IN, IT IS IN THE “EMBRACING” THAT WE BEGIN TO FALL AWAY. THERE IS ALWAYS THE DANGER OF PRACTICED SIN HARDENING US. IT IS A VERY REAL AND PRESENT DANGER.

1.) CONTINUE TO LOVE YOUR LORD.

2.) CONTINUE TO FIGHT YOUR DEMONS UNTIL COMPLETE VICTORY HAS BEEEN ACHIEVED.

SUBMIT THEREFORE UNTO GOD, RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU!

I DO INTEND TO GET INTO “STEP 2″, IN THE NEXT ARTICLE.

“REAL DANGER!”

SUBTITLE: “FIGHTING OUR DEMONS”

I think sometimes we need a reminder of what is REALLY going on in planet earth. It is so true that we are the frog relaxed into a comfort zone while the pot of water around us is slowly rising to a boil. How is it that what was so shameful yesterday, has become the “accepted” norm of today? What was shameful yesterday, hardly raises an eyebrow today. And what is shameful today? What is shameful today is almost immoral beyond description.

WE EVEN HAVE A GREAT PHRASE FOR IT: > “THE NEW NORM!” Yes, the new norm, sounds so pleasant and acceptable, as the temperature slowly rises on the pot.

YES, THIS COWBOY IS LOOKING FOR A FIGHT! When you come to this site expect to hear a spade called a spade. We are going the way of Rome, and the way of the days of Noah, and the days of Lot. The souls of the righteous are in torment as they try to raise their children in a society that is committing slow spiritual suicide. We are dying from within, it is a cancer eating at our soul. Lord help us if we reach the point where every imagination of our mind is nothing but evil, as in the days of Noah.

We are in REAL DANGER, folks. The Apostle Paul put it this way:>>>>

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” (II Tim. 3:1)

Now consider who is saying this. This is the man who was stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, bit by a snake, thrown in prison, beaten, whipped, spent a night in the deep, and who knows how many other things, and now he turns to Timothy, and says,>>>

Timothy, in the “last days”,  perilous times shall come! (????)

I think Paul understood the peril of a slow rising boil. I think he was talking about spiritual peril to the soul! A falling asleep like a smoke-filled room. The house is on fire, and you need to get out! But the smoke is already so strong, and you feel yourself just drifting off, never to wake up again!

We have not moved to “Step Two” of fighting our demons, yet. “Step One” is to wake up! See the REAL DANGER, and run to God!

Jesus turned to his disciples once, and asked, “Will you leave me, too?”

The disciples answered, “Where else is there for us to go? You have the words of life, Lord.” (My paraphrase.)

God is our only hope, and his word plainly declares a very real danger.

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8)

“Let me tell you AGAIN, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (What kind of life?) “”When you follow the desire of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” (Galatians 5: 19-21)

There is a VERY REAL DANGER, people. Things are getting pretty muddy around here now. We must defeat our demons. I’m calling a spade a spade! No more ignoring the elephant in the room. We’ve been growing up outside the gates of Sodom, and we have demons to fight! It is a very real danger to our soul, the temptation to believe God’s grace will just cover everything, and I don’t need to bother myself with such an effort to live holy.

One aspect of this danger is that someone has been slowly moving the line! That which is accepted today, is the shameful of yesterday! Do we have a sin that so easily besets us! Is there a demon riding us that we have been unable to defeat? Its time we get honest with ourself, and make a committed decision, no more new norm for me, satan! BRICK BY BRICK YOUR STRONGHOLD IS COMING DOWN!

I HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM THE “CURSE” OF THE LAW, BUT ALL THE “BLESSINGS” ARE STILL THERE FOR ME! BY THE LAW WE SHALL “ARREST” THE DEVIL. BY GOD’S GRACE I AM SET FREE! I SHALL RIDE THIS HORSE HARD AFTER THE STRONG MAN, AND HE SHALL BE BOUND. I WILL BE A PSALMS 91 ROUGH RIDER. THE DEVIL WILL NO LONGER RIDE ME!!!

PRAISE OUR LORD FOREVER!!!

Shadow Says:

My Master says, “Dark times are coming! It’s time to prepare!” Frankly, I think he is right. No more black holes in our lives! Lets fight our demons and be free! As a matter of fact, just yesterday, something grabbed me around the leg, and I did not know what! I yelped for my Master, he came and set me free! I really like him. Please read the following article carefully! As if your future depends on it! Because it does!

“Fighting Our Demons” > Step One

“BECAUSE HE HATH SET HIS LOVE UPON ME, THEREFORE WILL I DELIVER HIM:…”

There is much to be said on this subject. We are going to take it in steps, and we will be spending some time here. Our over-all plan is simple.

1.) Keep loving your Lord, and love him more.

2.) Keep fighting your demons, and fight them more.

BUT HOW DO WE FIGHT TO WIN?

Our first mistake is, like Adam and Eve, we are ashamed and want to hide from God. This is exactly what the devil wants…because…(if you will pardon my cowboy analogy)…the devil knows he needs to get us out in the open! So we run from God, instead of running to him.

It may not happen on your first failure, maybe not even the second, but sooner or later the devil is going to say you have gone too far! God can no longer save you! He is now your enemy, and your judge! Our conscience condemns us and we run. We run and we hide. We run and we hide, and we give up. We decide we are doomed. We come out from under God’s cover and now we are in the open. Now the real danger is upon us, because if we are so depressed that we really give up, we just might be tempted to actually “embrace” our sin, and surrender to its ways. Now, if we do not turn around, we may well be doomed.

I started out with one line of a scripture, and I want it to give you hope. We have a journey to freedom to make, and it starts by running to God, not from him. Let your sin cause you to love him more! Because he still wants to save you, and set you free! Let your sin cause you to hate the devil more! And fight him more, never to embrace his ways!

“BECAUSE HE HATH SET HIS LOVE UPON ME, THEREFORE WILL I DELIVER HIM:…” (Psalms 91:14a)

Our best hope of deliverance is in the loving of God more!

Adam and Eve hid from God, and when he found them, what did he do? Yes, there was a reaping of what they had sown, but also, God helped them, and immediately began to work towards their deliverance!

Understand that we are not talking about sins that come and easily go, we are talking about STRONG-HOLDS.

These are sins that refuse to go away! They have a strong hold on us! They are the sin that so easily besets us! Every time we think we have it beat, somehow it finds its way back again! And we are tempted to give up because we have failed God too many times!

IT IS NOT TIME TO GIVE UP. ITS TIME TO FINALLY WIN, BUT IT WON’T COME EASY.

I don’t believe it is important as to what the strong-hold is. It is something that simply has a strong hold on us. We evidently have a weakness for this thing. There are sure to be demons attached to it. We are in spiritual warfare. And in this day that we have grown up in?

CAN A PERSON GROW UP IN SODOM AND NOT FIGHT DEMONS?

“But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality  of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.”  (II Peter 2:7-8)

I BELIEVE WE ALL HAVE OUR DEMONS TO FIGHT.

I was reminded of my own personal battle I faced many years ago, but the memory is very strong, because it was such a battle. I also have reason to believe it was a generational thing, a weakness passed down to me through my family. But that makes no difference, because I was the one faced with defeating my own personal demon! I was reminded of this battle while surfing some blog sites and coming across a very interesting article by a woman who had fought homosexuality, and won. She made the statement: “It’s okay to fight!” I highly recommend reading her article at:

www.prodigalmagazine.com/on-homosexuality-its-ok-to-fight/

I had already declared I was looking for a fight, and now this began to cause me to think about how many people in the church are spiritually struggling. I remembered the vision of the man who said he saw demons riding Christians, and I saw the fight I wanted to jump into!

This is simply “Step One”. RUN TO GOD!

I want to raise up some Psalms 91 Rough Riders! What I mean by this will become more plain as we make this journey. Our “deliverance” is in loving him more! Psalms 91 is all about dwelling in his presence! Shepherd and sheep!

At the end of this incredible chapter God declares SIX > “I WILLS”!

Six “I wills” of God! And they are all connected to loving him.

This is where we start. We do not move out into the open, defeated and beat, but we run to the Safe House!  The Lord is my refuge and my fortress! We do not use God’s grace as a license to sin, but we pray, and we regroup to fight again! But this time, perhaps we will have a better strategy, and it starts by LOVING HIM MORE. (Step One) (Priority One)

If you know there is a strong-hold in your life and you need to see this demonic oppression broken, then begin studying Psalms 91 and let its powerful wisdom speak to you. Personally, I have memorized Psalms 91, and I love praying it. I make it personal. “Surely the Lord will deliver “ME” from the snare of the fowler!” I make the whole chapter as personal as I can.

I intend to stay with this subject, “Defeating our Demons”, as much as possible, until I feel we have lit the path of God’s deliverance. We need to prepare to be lights in a country I fear is going the way of Rome, and falling apart from within. Now is the time to prepare. Today is the day of our salvation. He whom the Son sets free, is free indeed! Satan is trespassing, it is time to expose him, arrest him, and cast him out. The strong man must be bound, and he will be bound by the Word of God!

1 World Trade Center

I heard on the radio today, that they were ready to start putting the top spire on the 1 World Trade Center. I believe it was delayed by the weather, but I assume we must be getting very close to its completion. (If you’re looking at my dog, Shadow, you’re looking at the wrong thing.)

I have a picture of the Twin Towers, Freedom Tower, on the front bumper of my Ram. The flag is flying at half-mast.

As you can imagine, I specifically picked this out. I had the place of business add the word > “Why?”, to the plate.

I do not ask “Why?” as to why the Islamic terrorist did what they did. They are very bold as to proclaiming their reasons.

But I have some other “Whys” running around in my head.

Like, “WHY” is the name Freedom Tower being replaced by “1 World Trade Center”?

“WHY” is the building exactly 1,776 feet tall? The year we declared our independence? The year we signed the Declaration of Independence? And now we symbolically build a “One World” tower in direct opposition of independence? No more called Freedom Tower?

“WHY” did we allow the Islamic Mosque to be built so close to this sacred ground, in direct opposition to the majority of Americans?

I watch this building closely. I watch this complex of which 7 buildings once stood. 7 hills?

I watch all these things, the words people say, the things that have been declared, I read my Bible, and I am amazed.

Could NYC be the harlot sitting upon 7 hills? I only pose the question, because I am still watching, but it is good to have others watching, too. Is that an insane thought? Is everyone convinced it must be the Roman Catholic Church? Maybe. Maybe not.

There are a lot of “WHYS” that should be being asked, but our liberal media is strangely quiet on these matters. Cat got their tongue? “Something” has their tongue. There is an obvious agenda having its way in the earth today, and the Church is the only force that could do something, if she will? If she still can? If she even knows how?

I will be back to writing on, “Fighting your Demons”, very soon, but I heard this on the news today, and could not help but send out a blog and see what comments may come?

We live in such a time that “fighting your demons” should be a very important topic of personal Christian knowledge. Don’t expect your pastor, or priest, or Church to be able to fight your fights anymore than the police can be at your home to save you from an intruder!

We live in incredible times, watching history in the making. Paul said, in the last days would come perilous times. Are we taking his words of warning seriously? If not, “WHY?”

“AVOIDING VOIDS”

SUBTITLE : FIGHTING YOUR DEMONS

QUESTION?: “Is it possible to grow up in Sodom and not fight demons?”

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I finally understand what has been “spiritually bugging” me.

God has had me cramming all week in order to prepare for starting this New Series that I believe is going to tie everything together. It started with me having a revelation concerning “embracing our sheephood, and thereby, our Shepherd” He becomes our champion, and we stay “humble” before our Lord!

However, I knew in my heart of hearts that God has called me to be the “hunter”, and not the “prey”! I could not seem to reconcile the two visions UNTIL… I ended up on JURY DUTY, (which, of course, God orchestrated), and as I listened to the fear and torment of the woman on the stand, that old fire rose up in me again, and God showed me how it all fits together.

BASICALLY, God used David as a mighty warrior, because David did not see himself as a mighty warrior, but a humble sheep. He was a shepherd boy when he faced Goliath, and he later wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” I have written about this principle and so will not go into detail here, but that is the heart of the understanding. When we are willing to SUBMIT as SHEEP, then GOD can ROAR through us like a LION! I see myself as the PREY, (because I am), but by faith I get to live my life as the HUNTER! I know this may not sound possible, but in the Spirit, IT IS!

So I came out of that jury duty and wrote the article: “Vengeance Trail > Page 2″. In that article I declared I was “Looking for a Fight!”

From there: We began to write about…”The Way Things Work”…because it is very important, if we are ready to FIGHT, we need to understand this SWORD we have been given, and thereby, what I refer to as “Samurai Sheep”. Now we have spent time understanding how we can supernaturally effect everything around us, but in order to go DEEPER, it is time we get into the fight! And therefore, I ask the question…

“Can a person grow up in Sodom and not fight demons?”

This question is KEY to where we are going, because this “GOSPEL SHIP” is also a “BATTLESHIP”, and I’m ready to ride this horse into very stormy waters!

Literally, this week I have been so CAPTIVATED by the Lord…held captive by him…until I understood what was spiritually bugging me. We are about to open a CAN OF WORMS here, so READER BE WARNED! This Psalms 91 Rough Rider finally has a clear vision, and there is no turning back! Here we go >>>>

Here is the BRIDGE to take us from “The Way Things Work”, into the deep dark skies of ”the” battle ground.

Many spiritual lessons can be discerned by looking at how God “designed” this thing we live in. One example of that is “black holes”, “vacuums”, “voids”. Have you noticed how “this creation” does not like voids? Mother Nature herself will resist a vacuum by trying to suck anything it can into it!

JESUS SAID: ” O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matt. 12:34)

In previous articles I asked the question of: “What is your mouth, and your thoughts revealing, as to what is in “abundance” in YOU?” (Me, too!)

Now if you find there are some things that need to go, > REALIZE > kicking those demons out will create VOIDS > unless you fill the voids with something GOOD! If you create voids and do not fill them with something good, then you will suck something evil right back in there! Too many times we have fought battles to overcome, but we created a VOID in our life as we failed to make the spiritual corrections necessary to fill the now EMPTY area! But how do we do that?

CHALLENGE! > CAN A PERSON GROW UP IN SODOM AND NOT FIGHT DEMONS?

SPIRITUAL THEORY > WE ALL HAVE OUR DEMONS TO FIGHT.

QUESTION: > HOW WELL HAVE YOU OVERCOME YOURS?

I don’t know about you, but I was not one of the fortunate ones who grew up in life without having a demonic stronghold attach itself to me.

I suspect there are very few individuals who have grown up in this day-and-age without more than one demonic stronghold to battle. We are nearing the end of this article, as the intent is to build a bridge, and lay a foundation as to where this cowboy is going.

As Christians, we fight whatever this particular weakness may be, but if we fail too many times, then the enemy begins to come in with DEPRESSION, SPIRITUAL FATIGUE, we begin to see ourselves HOPELESS, and we want to GIVE-UP, because we think there is no way to win, and surely God must be out of patience with us by now! Surely we are DOOMED! The devil floods us with his lies and the DEPRESSION keeps getting stronger and stronger, and a sense of FUTILITY. Whatever shall we do?

There is so much more I would like to say at this point, but let me give you a couple of things to THINK ABOUT, and then we will go DEEPER into this in next article.

When Jesus spoke of the LAST DAYS, he chose two Biblical characters to compare it to. We would do very well to ask ourselves what is the meaning of the two specific characters he chose, out of the “many” he could have possibly chosen from? He chose Noah, and Lot.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, , they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.  (Luke 17: 26-30)

Now, folks, God’s word is written for those who have eyes to see, and have a heart to “search” for the entirety of the revelation of a scripture. Just because the Lord only mentioned things like marriage, eating, buying, building, and planting; don’t think those are the only things he was REVEALING to us about the LAST DAYS. He was pointing us in a DIRECTION, for those who would have enough spiritual curiosity to put 2+2 together, and realize that EVERYTHING Noah and Lot were facing in their day, could be a picture of what we have to come.

CONSIDER: There is a man who had a vision, and he saw demons riding Christians. I picture it like riding a mule or a slave. I’m not looking for demons under every rock. They are not even hiding under the rocks anymore! We need to get rid of them!

CONSIDER THIS > When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you AGAIN, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:19-21) NLT

ANYONE LIVING THAT SORT OF LIFE WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

This is very serious!

We have much to talk about.

I suspect we have much to do.

Lot lived outside the gates of Sodom, and he was “tormented” by the things that were there. The list above reads like the front page of any newspaper today. We cannot hide from what we are surrounded by. I went to public schools, so have my children, and I see the effect of it. I cannot drive down the road without seeing some big billboard advertising lust, sex, materialism, debt, self-gratification, etc and etc. Do we honestly believe we have grown up in such an environment and not been affected? Do you have any strongholds you just can’t seem to beat? Have you counted the number of “addictions” people fall prey to these days?

We need to be sure to do two things, NO MATTER WHAT!

1.) Continue to love God!

2.) Fight our demons!

This is where I am going. It will not be a message of condemnation. I believe this could be the spiritual elephant in the room that nobody is talking about! This Psalms 91 Rough Rider is determined to set some people free in the name of Jesus! But first you must be prepared to fill the voids created! Or you will walk right back out into Sodom and be overwhelmed again! Yes, there is a samurai path. Our very eternity hangs in the balance if we do not get control of our lustful ways. A word to the wise? There is much more to come.

As it has been asked before: We pray for the Latter Rain, but are we ready to deal with the mud? We’re gonna get muddy, folks!

“My dog, Shadow”

I’m just putting a shout out to all dog lovers that “Just a Cowboy for Christ” has a new subject of interest, that being my new pup, Shadow. So if you love dogs, just click on the “My dog, Shadow” button in the header bar for more details concerning my dog, and her part in things to come in this blog site! (More pictures included!)