Month: November 2023

8 Spiritual Attacks You Need to Know About

The 8 Spiritual Attacks you need to know about have been known since at least 400 A.D. I found out about them while reading a book about the desert monks. I believe these attacks happen on a daily basis today, just like they did in 400 A.D.

There are many spiritual attacks to watch out for. You will know when these spiritual attacks are coming against you. You will feel icky feelings inside, unless you’ve gotten used to them. Amongst those feelings are…

Jealousy

Contempt

Pride

And lot more feelings you notice that are more intense than you have ever felt.

There was a fourth century monk called Evagrius of Pontus. His influence was seen throughout early Christian churches. Evagrius was a high ranking bishop who’d spent most of his life in ministry. He was the overseer of many churches. Evagrius was also instrumental in the original Nicene Creed which as you know is very similar to the Apostles Creed.

Evagrius of Pontus was a dessert monk. He researched evil attacks made against the monks he worked with. For instance he talks about a monk coming from wealthy families who had a spiritual attack of the love of money. The kind of attack trying to get him to believe he should have had lots of money, but instead he chose to be a monk.

Evil spirits know what to attack. They sometimes seem like they know as much about you as your best friend knows, but they’re not a friend, much less a best friend. Evagrius wanted to understand and define the spiritual attacks the monks were having because each of the 8 attacks seem to have certain characteristics about them.

As a result of his studies, Evagrius of Pontus identified 8 spiritual attacks (demons we face, some on a daily basis). These are attacks you need to be aware of so in full armor, you can fight against them and win! Any one or all of these attacks could happen against you, especially if you have a strong relationship with God. These spirits do not like us having a strong relationship with God so they try to kill steal or destroy that relationship. .

Evil believes it has forever to taunt you and to get between you and God. What he doesn’t expect is your knowing and fighting his every move and that’s why we first need to know these demons exist, then I’ll show you how to fight them.

Evagrius book, Talking Back is about taking charge, standing up against them for the fight by talking back to evil spirits using the same tools Jesus used when Satan taunted him in the desert.

The premise of the book is that there is scripture to combat each one of the 8 demons. These scripture verses give you the ability to stand your ground and talk back to each of the 8 demons and repel them.

  1. Thoughts of Gluttony
    • Excess in eating or drinking
    • Greedy or excessive indulgence
  2. Thoughts of Fornication
    • Consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other
  3. Concerning Love of Money
    • Making the love of money a priority in life, even above God.
  4. Concerning the Thoughts of the Demon of Sadness
    • Affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness
  5. Against the Demon of Anger
    • A strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism
    • A threatening or violent appearance or state
  6. Against the Thoughts of the Demon of Listlessness
    • Characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit
  7. Against the Thoughts from the Demon of Vainglory
    • Excessive or ostentatious pride especially in one’s achievements
    • Vain display or show
  8. Against the Cursed thoughts of Pride
    • Exaggerated self-esteem : CONCEIT
    • (Self-esteem = confidence and satisfaction in oneself : SELF-RESPECT)

GB. M

Him at his Best

This post is not about God, but about His adversary and our enemy. In this vain “him” is our enemy. Being “at his best” is when he unknowingly gets under your skin, causing you to snap at people when you least expect it.

Its not that he’s good at what he does, it’s that he’s been doing it for so long, he knows what he is doing and has many ways of encroaching on God’s territory.

You will know it is happening when you feel something welling up inside you. This is the first indication your enemy enters your camp. You have feelings, but somehow they don’t feel right and they are contrary to what you know about God.

Your enemy knows those that are washed by the blood are free from slavery and that you have a tool, a sword, that will penetrate even the strongest defenses. Your enemy knows he can be defeated….unless you allow your faith to indicate otherwise.

Today my enemy has been running rampant in me and my wife’s life. It started as cancellations for an important family dinner, then escalated to church issues, then to me being noticeably irritated with an elder in the church.

This is not me. This is not who I am nor whose I am. As a child of the most High God, my enemy wants to take me out. Since my first breathe, he’s wanted me knocked down and out of the game so he could roar with victory; victory over our heavenly father. We can’t let that happen. We have to be brave and courageous.

Is your sword sharp? Are you doing God’s will? The only way to beat and defeat your enemy is to stay sharp, not get rusty, and stay in fellowship with our Lord and Savior, through the Word, the church, prayer and circumstances . The better our relationship with the Lord, the stronger you will become.

This week read your Bible more than you read it last week. Read it more next week than you did this week and so on. Spend time listening and doing His will. Through these actions you will overcome. Above all, as you feel the attacks starting, have patience for our God to do His work in the background. Keep your voice steady and without undue volume. Don’t let the things of this world interfere with your relationships, especially relational fellowships. Be protective of your heart and all that goes into it.

GB. M

The Difference Between Fellowship and Relational Fellowship

Fellowship and relational fellowship are close in meaning, but are at different levels of a relationship. When people get together with a common purpose it is called fellowship. Relational fellowship is when two people or a group of people within the fellowship have a relationship deeper and more relational with other, rather than just being part of the group.

In the Christian faith (I speak solely from a Christian point of view and I do not intentionally demean or call out any other person, religion or group. I am most familiar with being a Christian.) fellowship is with believers who want fellowship with one another, but also with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The one thing we have in common, is we are fellowshipping with each other in Christ. That is our fellowship.

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Hopefully that helps explain fellowship. Now let’s take a look at relational fellowship.

Relational fellowship goes deeper and beyond a normal once a week or once a month fellowship. Relational fellowship is someone cares more about someone, or someone within the group cares more about you and your wellbeing, than they feel about the purpose for which they came together in fellowship.

These are the people within the believers who fellowship together with Christ and they find things in common that bring them together (their spirits connect) allowing the fellowship to become more personal and more one on one; therefore it is a relational fellowship.

This article is meant to help explain the difference between fellowship and relational fellowship that I talked about in my last article on this site. Most of what I just shared with you comes from years of trying to figure out what’s what in a church setting. This article is not meant to demean, hurt or otherwise cause any negativity to any person, religion or group. Information contained herein is the sole responsibility of the author.

Wondering

Do you ever wonder why bad feelings happen with people whom you love and care about? We sometimes have thoughts that aren’t true or real, but they seem so real our mind races on with the intensity that it is the most important thing you have to think about, even though in reality those thoughts are just trouble waiting to happen.

So is this your mind, or is it another force moving you in a direction counter to your beliefs and values? If those thoughts move you counter to your beliefs and values, then you must consider the validity and source of those thoughts.

If you are being moved by something counter to what you believe, take a close look at the source of what is moving you. Is it a positive force enabling you to build relationships, or is is negative force trying to move you away from your beliefs and values?

Sources could be something as nebulous as the news; CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS or any other number of three letter identifiers, something you hear from another family member, or something you overheard at work. Be sure of the source before you move on your thoughts. Ask yourself if these thoughts are friend or foe.

For instance when you help someone and give them a “temporary” place to stay and they end up with you for a longer time than anticipated. You might start getting ancie. You might start wondering if your life will ever get back to normal

The person or people you are helping might think things are not so good and may even engage in retaliation or a power struggle, but are they the real problem or is there another force working to destroy or control your life, your moods and most of all, your relationships with others?

There’s a reason the Bible states church is so important; fellowship holds each other responsible. Satan wants to destroy fellowship so it will not flourish and he does a pretty good job of destroying relational fellowship.

For example, there’s a new person helping in the kitchen. They have a heart of gold and a heart to serve, BUT, they put the dishes in the wrong place, maybe on the wrong shelf. Who cares? Satan cares, because he knows that putting dishes in the wrong place, is a big issue for some people, so he tempts them to hurt the relational fellowship that was built upon fellowship principles.

This is an overview of the identification phase whereby we identify the actual cause or reason the negative feelings about someone or something. GB.

Coming soon

The difference between fellowship and relational fellowship and what it means to each of us

How to guard against relational fellowship attacks

God Knows

It sometimes feels crazy going through life without what the secular world calls “direction.” They may think or say “he doesn’t have any direction in their life,” or “he doesn’t know what he’s doing with his life.”

There are times in people’s lives where I can see that is a problem, but not so with Christians. They may seem not to have direction, but when they are truly listening to God’s voice (yes, He still talks to us today), and do not appear to have direction nor can they explain their guidance from a secular point of view, they are moving in a direction, toward God.

This may sound crazy to some, but not for those who Believe. Those who believe in the Word as coming from God and scribed by men. God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

He leads us through His plans. His plans cannot compare to anything we could possibly think or conceive. It is up to us to follow His guidance. But doesn’t it seem strange to follow guidance you can’t see, or touch; to follow what most see as a whim? That is what is called Faith. To believe and follow something even though you have not seen it.

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

God knows. He is a sovereign God and knows everything. He knows where you need to be, where you need to go and what you need to do. When you accept that what you are doing is for Him, your blessings will be as you have never before seen.

Take a chance; spend one hour doing nothing but what He tells you to do. If He tells you to read, read. If He tells you to read the Bible, read the Bible. If He tells you to meditate, meditate. If He tells you to clean your kitchen, clean your kitchen. Do this for Him and you will find his blessings are greater than anything we could imagine.

GB. M