Know Your Enemy
I wake up angry each morning.
Unmet expectations, decay of my body, challenges of business, the flight of time, lack of money, etc. I honestly don’t have a specific reason why, but it seems to be an underlying mosh pit of resentments, or possibly a gradual collection of negative thoughts born from my reactions of external events and people.
Anger is a Gift
Over the course of time and in the midst of battle, light has pierced through the morning clouds of darkness. During my youthful ignorance, I would wake up passively optimistic about the day. I’ve realized that I wasn’t necessarily happier then, nor did I possess some glorious gift of joy, but rather I was ignorant. Ignorant to my purpose, my identity and the almighty definition of time.
I cannot recall the reason or the first day I woke up mad, but I do know it was not so long ago. Since that first day of angry awakening, it’s been a consistent circumstance. I struggled many mornings fighting the anger, calling on the Lord, diving into the Word, talking with people, listening to music, meditating on affirmations, whatever it took to reclaim my previous blissful attitude to start my day.
I had been disappointed in myself for being angry. Throughout my life, anger has been taught as a negative feeling. Throughout my life I have been taught there must be a specific reason for any emotion, especially anger. As if one could identify, talk through and rectify the issue at hand, the feeling would disappear with the cause. Despite my seeking and fruitful practice of building positive thought processes, and even though I had conquered my previous day with recognition of victory, anger greets my awakening.
After successfully beating my own ass over this “terrible” anger, I have come to realize that anger itself is not bad at all, it’s actually holy. The problem, however, is when I’m oblivious and passive to its morning call. However, when I activate my spirit, this anger, this ball of energy, this crazy animal in a cage, this conquerer in chains immediately becomes the life force rocket of my purposeful, overcoming existence.
In this reality, anger is a gift. I must practice the following, however, to keep the gift:
Awareness: Recognize that my anger is not unhappiness or negative in nature. It’s a positive charge.
Purpose: Recognize my anger is intentional from God. No person can fight a battle without the fuel of anger. God created us to war against evil forces. Would He really send us to battle without proper arms? Anger is just one of the weapons given by God.
Action: Anger is not something for me to contemplate, but to activate. Once I’m aware I have anger and then I understand its purpose, it’s time to activate its energy. Laying in bed passively waiting for anger to subside is the absolute worst distraction of the enemy. What better tactic in war than to soften the enemy through distraction of peace and finger-pointing. Get the fuck up and go to war!
Know Your Enemy
This topic is a repeat from about every situation in life. As a warrior, I must constantly, every moment of every day for eternity, realize that God has an enemy, and therefore His enemy is my enemy. Everything, anything and anyone else is a distraction by the enemy, for the enemy.
The enemy is the ruler of the world. The world is the battle ground. It’s the epicenter of the fight between God and His enemy. God put man here to execute His judgement. We are soldiers in this fight. God and the enemy both realize the war going on, our problem is we forget there is even a war. Thus, if our enemy is constantly engaged in battle, and God’s soldiers are distracted and oblivious of the battle, who the hell do we think is winning?
Distractions, distractions, distractions, distractions. Our distractions are not just obvious flinging arrows, but the sweet pillow-talk of prosperity, peace, fairness, rest and comfort. Any second that we are not soldiered up and fighting is a second the enemy is winning. Our greatest problem is that we become so accustomed to not fighting the war that we literally forget about the war altogether.
If there was no war, there would be no reason why we would be angry. Although the reality is war, we believe there is no war, and when things don’t work out to our desire, our anger works completely against us by pointing to everything but the war. In fact, because our head is out of the war, anger itself blindsides us as misdirected fuel, and then we’re angry that we’re angry. The enemy is literally leveraging our own God-given anger against ourselves.
Everyone and everything can become our enemy, including ourselves. But that’s the hope of our true enemy. If my focus is on the real enemy, my anger is a critical weapon to activate all my being to overcome for God’s glory. My experience proves that when my anger is toward His enemy, God is smiling at His soldier. I can hear God saying “that’s it son, that’s it my warrior, go and attack My enemy.”
This holy, focused, directed and intentional anger fuels all of our gifts to the overcoming life. From the moment this reality sets in, the Life of God flows into my inner man, my spirit, then flows to my soul and body. Fuel to conquer. Fuel to purposeful living.
Know your enemy.
Poem: Son, Do You...
Our Father continuously speaks to us. He never pauses. This poem relates to the intimate speaking our Father wishes us to hear.
Son, do you not understand? Can you not comprehend?
I made you.
From nothing I wanted you. From the dust I formed you.
You are mine.
I have my plan. I will do what I intend. I will never end.
You will too.
Son, do you not hear me. Can you not sense me.
I am your time.
I have work for you. I have purpose in you.
You are new.
No one before me. No thing proceeds me. Destroy my enemy.
You are divine.
I am your attention. Your attraction. Your distraction.
I live in you.
Son, you must understand. You must comprehend.
Me in you.
Training Your Spirit
Most men have grown up with a passive understanding of his spirit. Our spirit is our most vital organ in humanity, but unlike our body which receives the most attention by emphasis from the world, we neglect the training of our spirit.
We first need realization that we have a spirit. Second, we must begin to become mindful of our spirit. Third, we must begin training our spirit in order to activate it to become priority in our moment by moment living.
The matter of training our spirit is one of significant depth. Be patient with yourself brother, avoid comparing yourself, too much introspection and certainly do not entertain guilt or shame. Whether or not you have never known your own spirit, God has known you in spirit, even before you were alive. What a marvelous reality!
Below are four practical steps to begin training your spirit, provided by a brother and published by Lion of Judah YouTube channel. You can watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3nmt9qgEn6q0SZDusaw1upq7psVjgkyz and below are some high level takeaways. Remember, life is about progress. Just by progressing continuously you are in training.
Meditation in the Word: If you have never tried pray reading the Word, it's a certain practice to exercise your spirit to absorb the Word. Even if you have read a verse a thousand times, pray reading it will open up your spirit to receive the Word by your spirit. It's simple: just begin reading, then pray what you just read, then read some more, pray more, over and over.
Practicing the Word: Putting into practice, into action, what your spirit read from meditating in the Word. Activate your mind, emotion and will in accordance of the Word.
Giving the Word first place: Amen to this. First place. Not second, not an afterthought, not passively, not emotionally, not expectantly. But by free will, the Word is first place. You run to it for life supply. It is your answer to all things and all matters. First place.
Instantly obeying the voice of our spirit: Oh Lord, may we connect more with You to the point we hear Your voice all day, every day in all things. To become so tuned in to our spirit. That Your voice God is instant, certain and present with us. And that our soul instantly obeys because we know and reckon Your presence.
Meditation in the Word: If you have never tried pray reading the Word, it's a certain practice to excercise your spirit to absorb the Word. Even if you have read a verse a thousand times, pray reading it will open up your spirit to receive the Word by your spirit. It's simple: just begin reading, then pray what you just read, then read some more, pray more, over and over.
Practicing the Word: Putting into practice, into action, what your spirit read from meditating in the Word. Activate your mind, emotion and will in accordance of the Word.
Giving the Word first place: Amen to this. First place. Not second, not an afterthought, not passively, not emotionally, not expectantly. But by free will, the Word is first place. You run to it for life supply. It is your answer to all things and all matters. First place.
Instantly obeying the voice of our spirit: Oh Lord, may we connect more with You to the point we hear Your voice all day, every day in all things. To become so tuned in to our spirit. That Your voice God is instant, certain and present with us. And that our soul instantly obeys because we know and reckon Your presence.
Source of Happiness
I’ve tried everything and I’ve experienced a lot of things to be happy: Drugs, alcohol, sex, marriage, parenthood, work, sports, physical appearance, diet, money, cell phones, etc. I’ve even tried church (not Church in the spiritual sense, but “church” in the physical sense).
There are so many other things, people, situations, circumstances and dreams that I have tried to be happy. Too many to list here. Chasing and recounting all these things, people and this world to be “happy” is what I spend too much of my time doing. A never-ending cycle of disappointment.
You feel the same. And that’s the problem. We seek to “feel” from the wrong source - our emotion, which is in our soul.
Source of Happiness
The source of happiness is the Spirit within our spirit. Every human has a spirit. It’s what makes us humans unique. A spirit designed by God to communicate with God. The breath of God. “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7.
Brothers, the breath of life from God is our source. The sooner we men recognize this truth, the sooner we receive life. The more often we receive this breath, the more often we receive this life from God. The more we receive this life from God, the more “happy” we become.
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23. Everything we seek in life is from the breath of God. The breath of God comes from the Spirit. The Spirit of God is in our spirit. In order to tap into the fruits of the Spirit, we MUST tap into our spirit.
Think of a fire hydrant. Water is always in the hydrant, we just rarely open the hydrant, if ever at all. We go about our days and walk right past the hydrant and probably never think about the water inside it, ready for our use. If we open the hydrant, water gushes out. The city doesn’t turn the hydrant off, we have to turn it on. It’s always available, ready and waiting.
God is the same. His water, His breath of life, is always on. We just shut it off. Then we walk past it most of the time. We rarely open it up. It doesn’t just bust open, but if it does, we typically turn it off again. We have to choose to open the flow. Our motto for WarriorLifeGroup is “Choose God. Forget Not.” We have to choose God.
God gave us free will. That’s no accident. He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to turn Him on and open the valve of our spirit to tap into His Spirit as our supply in life. We have all had an experience of “choosing” God. The moment of your salvation was a moment you chose God by your own free will. That experience was life-giving! You found your home! You touched the very God in your spirit, mingled with His Spirit. What a glorious experience!
So you know the experience of tapping into the life of God. But, we need the experiences of “Forget Not” to become warriors. A warrior of God never forgets:
His source is God, not his self, this world with its people and things
God’s source is always on and never runs out
To tap into God continuously in his own spirit for every circumstance
A warrior is not immune to the battles of life on this earth. It’s actually quite the opposite. A warrior is on the front lines of the battle. You are a leader within the army of God, for His purpose. God is your King. How can a warrior, who is a leader within the battle, not be connected to his King? How can a warrior not choose his King? How can a warrior forget about his King? A warrior like this is not a warrior, but an isolated, defeated man. And trust me brother, this man will get his butt kicked.
How to be Happy
Turn to your spirit and fellowship with God every moment of every day in every situation. Continuous turning is how you walk in spirit. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16.
Is that easy? Certainly not. But that is the war, right? War is not easy. Your soul and body (flesh) will always try to seek its own desires. The world (people and things) will always try to tell you what “happiness” is.
But we know by experience that when we touch God we are consumed with joy and happiness. It’s an unspeakable joy, full of glory. Guess what, this experience with God is never-ending, it never runs dry. But God did NOT make us men passive creatures. We have to choose Him and not forget.
So no matter what situation and circumstance you face, choose God. When your wife says something, choose God. When your boss or client says something, choose God. When you wake up in the morning and you are tired, sad or sick, choose God.
Brothers, we must focus on how we connect with our spirit. Become a warrior of connecting with your spirit. It’s so simple and it is easy. Pray, call on the Lord, memorize scripture, sing songs, breathe Him in, worship, praise, fellowship with brothers, get into nature. Whatever we do, however we do it, wherever we go…
“Choose God. Forget Not.”
The King
I Have No Purpose as a Man
Sad to say, but there are many men that believe they have no purpose. I admit, I have believed this myself and there are times I still believe it. When I believe I have no purpose, there is one simple reason: I have lost my King.
Men today are wandering in the wilderness of their own desires and the world. Their fleshly desires to prosper, to gain attention, to be attractive and to build their own kingdom. The world is constantly influencing their decisions, opinions, convictions, values and purpose. The most destructive scenario is that men are not even aware of their wandering. They’re not aware of their detachment from their King.
When a man has lost his King, he has become isolated from the Kingdom. The man finds himself anxious, angry, resentful and ultimately depressed. He reflects upon his life and his purpose, then loses hope. The cycle is a viscous reality that is ripe for intense attacks of the enemy. The enemy just needed to wait for the man to become lost on his own.
The combination of isolation of the self (the flesh), the influence of the world and the attacks of the enemy equal a man with no purpose. The man has in fact lost his purpose. He is detached from his King. He has wandered away from his Master. The wandering did not happen overnight. It was a process over a long period of time. Minute by minute. Hour by hour. Day by day. Week by week. Year by year. Decade by decade.
Fortunately, a man can return to his King. Unfortunately, some men may not. The men that do not return to their King are defeated. The men that do return become warriors. I don’t know about you brother, but for me, I am a warrior.
What is the Purpose of a Man?
The purpose of a man is very simple: To represent and express God, our King. When a man is not aligned to his King, he is not in the Kingdom. Without the King and the Kingdom, the man has lost his purpose.
A man was created intentionally, with all his characteristics and attributes, to abide with his King. The problem is not the man’s qualities, the problem is who the man follows. Does he follow himself? Does he follow the world? Does he follow the enemy? Or, does he follow his King?
A man without the King is not a warrior. The man that follows the King is a warrior within the Kingdom. A warrior must have a king. A master to follow. The Mighty Warrior to fight with and for. The warrior must remain loyal, dedicated, disciplined and determined. He must stay focused and prepared for anyone or anything to threaten the Kingdom.
The King is for the Kingdom. The warrior is for the Kingdom. The King and the Kingdom are one. “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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.” John 17:9-11.
Brothers, we all must recognize four major points of our earthly condition as a man. Each point has two paths that we can take. It is imperative that we are aligned to the path with our King, and never anyone or anything else:
Attention:
Wrong: We seek attention for ourself and from the world
Right: We seek attention from our King and for our King
Attraction:
Wrong: We are attracted by and to other humans and this world
Right: We are attracted by and to our King
Distraction:
Wrong: We are distracted by our self and this world
Right: We are distracted from our self and this world by our King
Destruction:
Wrong: Attention, attraction and distraction by our self and this world lead to destruction of our purpose by the enemy
Right: Attention, attraction and distraction to our King and His Kingdom leads to our purpose of destruction of the enemy. Praise God!
When we are seeking our King’s attention, when we are absolutely attracted by our King, when we are distracted from our self and this world by our King, we will find our purpose as a man, a warrior. In this reality, we men become warriors with our Mighty Warrior to overcome our old man, this world and the enemy. What a marvelous purpose!
As warriors, we must remain sober, focused and intent on taking the headship of our King. We must wake up in the morning and surrender to our King. We must call on His name and love our King. We must constantly pray in oneness with our King. We must gather together as warriors to follow our King. We must choose God. We must never forget.
The King and Kingdom never rest. The King and Kingdom never run out. The King and Kingdom has come. It’s the man, the old man, that rests, that runs away and leaves the King and Kingdom.
The warrior is one with the King and Kingdom. Our God, our King, our Mighty Warrior, let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done.
“and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 3:2. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21. “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,[a] and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3
Prayer: “My King, I thank You that even though I lose You at times, You have never lost me. Father, I am such a wanderer. I wander in my own thoughts and desires. I wander in this world. All too often, I believe what others believe, I think what others think, I want what others want. I seek approval from other humans, even those closest to me. I reflect on myself. I compare myself to others and this world. I doubt my purpose. God, I’m sorry I lose You in my mind, emotions, will and body on a regular basis. But my Might Warrior, my King, my God, I run back to You right now. I surrender to You again. I look to You to lead me, to guide me, to empower me, to strengthen me and to infuse me with all that You are. Today is the day that You have made. I am totally Yours, right now. My very breath is Yours. My heartbeat is Yours. My mind is Yours. My emotions are Yours. My will is Yours. My body is Yours. I am absolutely all Yours, my King! I am Your warrior. I trust You, I follow You, I commit to You. Father, You know my distractions, You know my condition. But, You know my purpose. You created me. You called me. You want me. You love me. You have purpose for me. I hear Your trumpet Lord. I am Yours. Amen.”
I Am Dead
I amaze myself. Who in his right mind would continue to believe that what is dead, is still alive? Who would continue to enjoy a carcass vs enjoying life? Who would consistently, for 40+ years, insist on struggling vs reigning?
Why would I take all that I have and replace it with nothing that I have? I have everything in Christ, but trade it for nothing from this world. I amaze myself.
I can’t give myself too hard of a time. This is not my unique condition. This is definitely the condition of mankind. Our brother and apostle Paul experienced the same: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:18-20.
To understand our situation, we have to go a little further than “doing good.” Our problem isn’t our desire, our problem is our sin nature, our flesh, our old man. Our problem is we live in the physical realm instead of the spiritual realm. I love the lyrics from this song “Spiritual” by brother Donald Lawrence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s73WSFxBemA. “You’re not a natural being, having a spiritual experience. But you’re a spiritual being, living this natural experience.”
We get caught up don’t we? We wake up thinking of all the worldly, physical things we need to do. We are impacted by our natural environment most of the day. Our emotions are constantly being impacted by others. Kids, wife, boss, friends. Even more, we’re constantly consuming information through our devices. It is absolutely easy to be 100% living in the physical realm, in the world, totally distracted and find ourselves severely exhausted. Then we wonder why. Ridiculous - and trust me, I’m specifically talking to myself here.
Take it a step further. After all is said and done, we judge ourselves and we instantly attempt to improve our condition. We even pray “Lord, bless me. God please make me better. God I’m sorry, forgive me. I want to be a better husband. I want to be happier. Lord You said You will make me happy, but I don’t feel it. I want to have a better life.”
Oh brothers, that’s a genuine attempt. I applaud it even for myself. But, we are terribly wrong. Our dear brother Watchman Nee puts it epically: “We don’t need a better life. We need a better death.” So true. God never attempts to improve our old man. He wants nothing to do with it. He gives new life to the new man. Check it out:
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Come on brothers, my fellow warriors, we have to get this. I have to get this. Just like everything in our earthly journey, we can’t just “get it” and we’re good. This is a daily getting. I would dare say this is a moment by moment “getting.” My old man is dead. My old man is dead. I’m crucified. I’m crucified. Over and over and over again, all day, every conversation, every situation, every emotion, every thought, every action… I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead.
Now, you don’t have to ask to be dead. Why, it’s already done. The Cross was once and final and complete. We have to reckon ourselves dead. We have to know it. We have to experience it. We have pursue this fact. In spirit. Then soul. Then body.
When I know and reckon myself dead with Christ in a continuous way, I have clarity of my new life. I have all of God’s joy in me. Heaven on earth brother.
Our vulnerability with the enemy and his evil forces, the world pressures and our failure in sin all happen in the old man. On the Cross, all of them have nothing to attack. They have nothing to distract. They have no stronghold. Not only do I want nothing to do with something that is dead (carcass), but neither does the enemy, the world or our flesh. It’s utterly useless.
As God’s warriors, we must continue to have revelation of this… God help us. God has absolute, specific and active purpose with His soldiers. There is a job to do right now, here on earth. He cannot work with our old man. He only works with our new man. The one new man!
Prayer: “God I am so tired of this world. I am so tired of my fleshly ways. I am so tired of listening to the enemy’s lies. I am tired of not living in Your reality of Your work in me through Christ. I am tired of my own understanding, my own emotional reactions, my own ideas of going on and my own use of my body regarding the work of Christ. I need revelation from You Father, through the Spirit, in my spirit, to comprehend how I am dead already. How You have already recovered me, rescued me, taken me from myself and this world. How I am 1,000,000% living in resurrected life, my new life, in Christ. I know if I have revelation from You, my tiredness is no longer needed, because I am refreshed in Your river of water of life! May I go on with You Lord. May I receive what You have already done. May I join Your purpose of life. May I walk in the spirit. Amen.”
I Will Live Forever
Emotions flare by the moment. This happens, I feel that. That happens, I feel this. Reacting constantly to surroundings and circumstances.
We believe in our emotions too much. I have tremendous credibility here as this is something that I have personal experience with throughout my entire life. What I have come to realize is that it doesn’t matter whether you have “good” emotions or “bad” emotions, they are still emotions, and emotions will take you on a ride in your flesh, in this world and a feeding frenzy of the enemy.
“Bad” Emotions: We all know when someone has bad emotions. Anger, jealousy, resentment, etc. Our human nature can quickly determine these are negative and that they lead to destruction of that person and those around him. A man can quickly judge “he needs the Lord, he needs grace, he needs mercy, he needs peace.”
“Good” Emotions: We also know the person with good emotions. Love, happiness, forgiveness, etc. Our human nature accepts such a person as a positive influence, we look up to him and are inspired by his nature and living. A man can quickly judge “he is always in a good mood, he has no problems, I wish I were more like him.”
Danger zone. A man’s emotions that are active in the old man are simply old man emotions. God’s warriors must be alert to this matter. The emotions of another will influence our own emotions. It’s a cycle that has a life of its own and we must be diligent to constantly LISTEN to our own spirit.
When bad emotions are influencing our soul, we know about it and work to experience the cross. When good emotions are influencing our soul, we typically appreciate it, enjoy the ride and pass it on. The problem is good emotions consume us, become our everything, become our life supply, become our goal, become our identity and become our benchmark of joy. Once the good emotion has served its time, bad emotions, like sadness, agitation and disappointment can take over.
Our emotional expectations are never met within our soul life. Period. Certainly we can meet our own emotional expectations when we buy a new toy, but that’s shortly lived. We fall in love, all is well, but then we are let down. We have sex, we want more. We make money, we want more. Our soul is never satisfied with itself or this world. Good emotions eventually result in bad emotions. Bad emotions seek good emotions. Can you objectively recognize this in your own experiences?
The problem isn’t our emotions themselves. Our Master created us that way. A man is perfectly designed with emotions for a reason, His reason. The problem is the source. Emotions derived and influenced from our old man, this world and the enemy are terribly unreliable, mortal and eventually destructive.
There’s a second problem: awareness. Brother, let me tell you from experience, even as you become more aware of how emotions control your life, and you objectively have a realization of their source, in the midst of a battle, subjectively, your awareness will be a fight of its own. As you experience awareness of the source and as you have more revelation of spirit, you will clearly recognize the power of the old man’s emotions. BUT, keep listening to your spirit, because the POWER of emotions from the spirit, the new man, is the glory of God.
The emotions of the old man are mortal. They die with our body, they die with our earth life. When we are captivated with this reality subconsciously, we are very hasty. We know our time on earth is short. So when we are sad, we want to quickly be happy. Then we meet someone that is happy, and we instantly try to apprehend what is the source of that happiness. Then we find the first example: a car, money, house, wife, kids, singleness, job, intelligence, family life, upbringing, physique, food, beer, talents, convictions, power, clothes, reputation, influence, good looks. My God… the list goes on and on and on. Father give us revelation!
We want. (I intentionally wrote that two-word sentence). We want. As a fallen man, the old man, our condition is that of wanting. We don’t even know it’s happening, we are just wanting. We want strongly because our time on this earth is running out. The enemy is also fully aware that we have a specific amount of time. What an excellent tactic to distract us for our entire life of wanting with our old man. Even more, he distracts us and we don’t even know we are distracted.
We need to take up our Cross. Recognize the death of the old man by the Cross. Our old man is crucified. Put to death. Divorced. Done. Over. Killed. Destroyed. Deleted. Terminated. No more. The Cross wasn’t a gentle process objectively and should not be subjectively.
In essence, when the source of our emotions is coming from our old man, the mortal man, we are keeping alive what has been put to death by our Master. Our General, our warrior life Leader, wants NOTHING to do with that old man. That’s why He crucified him.
In our new man our life is eternal. Do you get this brother? You will live forever. I will live forever! When my emotional source is my spirit that is flowing the life of God in me, that is eternal. What’s my haste? I am satisfied. I am complete. I want nothing of my flesh, I want nothing of this world and the enemy has no ground.
Come on brother, you know you have experienced this. In fact, it’s when we accepted Christ, when we were saved. Emotionally speaking, that was the happiest moment in your life. That emotion was sourced in the Spirit! It wasn’t a one-time experience that gave you that emotion. It was the Spirit! If we can realize this, we also realize the Spirit never leaves us, God is always with us. What does this mean brother? This means we are always emotionally rich! Praise God! Praise God! PRAISE GOD!!!!
Prayer: “Father. All glory to You! Your Kingdom come, Your will be done! At this moment, I am listening to You in spirit. Give me revelation of Your crucifixion of my old man. Give me revelation to Your resurrecting of Your new man in me. Father, thank You for my emotions. Thank You for being my emotional source. Thank You for wanting to be my source. Lord, keep me in Your reality of eternity in every situation. Overcome my emotions, settle me in Your everlasting presence. Thank You for gaining me in Your Kingdom, with purpose, with intent. I rest in Your grace and authority, my King. Hallelujah is all I can express. I am Yours Father, infuse me with Your new man. I want to go on with You. I’m Yours eternally. Praise God for such a wonderful LIFE! This my wonderful Father, my glorious Master, my all-powerful general, is a glorious life. I feel good in You! Real good! My time is eternal in You. My time on this earth is intentional and limited in Your purpose. Activate me for you purpose. Amen.”
One Responsibility
Men have one responsibility. Unless we do this one, all else is utterly useless, wasteful, destructive or pointless.
Our one responsibility is to become one with our Father. Now, before you click the back button, stick with me for a bit and get real in spirit. This is a revelation from a brother, not a bible lesson or your wife’s attempt to make you a better man.
Before your feet hit the ground when you wake up, before you start checking your phone and before you brush your grill in the morning, run to Him. How? Literally, when you first open your eyes…
Begin speaking His name. You can speak it silently, but to speak it audibly is a greater experience. He has many names. Speak whatever your spirit speaks. So simple.
Breathe. Breathe Him in. Imagine breathing in life. Life is God. God is in you. What a glorious reality. Too deep for you? That’s too bad, you are missing out big time. You have to breathe anyway, might as well be full of power and life.
Reckon the cross. Reckon yourself dead. Old man is crucified, new man is resurrected. Reckon your new life! Romans 6:11.
Pray. I’m talking real prayer. Prayer by spirit. Not the dinner table prayer, congregational prayer or “God give this to me prayer.” I’m talking about the prayer of a warrior. Pray for revelation. Pray for REVELATION!
Exercise your spirit. Keep churning your spirit, flex your spiritual muscle, keep touching The Spirit of God. Yes brother, enjoy the riches!
Put on the full armor of God. Truth, righteousness, Gospel, faith, salvation, Word of God, prayer! Check out Ephesians 6:13-18. Memorize this scripture.
Allow the spirit to flow to your mind, emotion, will and body. This is a conscious practice. Frequency matters. Let the river flow!
Get your mind right: You need to get in God’s vision, in His reality. Unless you are clear of that TODAY, you are already defeated. This is the day that He made (Psalms 118:24).
Get your emotions right. Fall in love with God. Become attracted to Him. Seek His attention. Enjoy His presence. Receive His romance.
Get your will right. Ask for His will in your life. Right now. Father, what is Your will for me today? I wave Your flag my wonderful Master, my General, my Father! I will Your will!
Get your body right. Workout. Get your body moving. Drink lots of water. Hydrate! Eat raw foods. Fast, man doesn’t live on bread alone! Matthew 4:4.
Rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
The morning time is critical in God’s Kingdom. Even greater, the moment you are conscious from sleep is critical. Your objective as a man is to hear the trumpet calls from God and be the soldier that responds. We have one responsibility, beyond anyone or anything else, oneness with God.
That my brother, is a good life! Check out what Christ said, not too long before He died, and He knew His time of death was soon too. What a warrior.
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:22-23
Prayer: I Wander
Father. I did it again. I invited the world into my soul and entrusted my own will. I have wandered to my own place. I’m alone again.
I don’t ask for forgiveness, You already forgave me.
I don’t ask to be better, I cannot be fixed.
I don’t ask where You have been, cause I know You are always with me.
I just want You. I am grateful for Your grace and mercy. I remember You. I choose You. I am Yours. Thank You for my spirit. Infuse me, rain on me with Your life, reveal Yourself to me, in me, with me… for You.
I love You Lord. This is the day You have made.
Prayer: Only Happy with You
Father, I’m humbled before You this morning. I’m silent now, for a little while. I’m sitting still to listen.
I feel detached from Your presence Lord, but I know I need You. I’m afraid You have forgotten me, but I know that’s not true. I’m worried I’m too late in spending time with You, but I know You will never leave.
I pray that You don’t leave me. I don’t know why this makes me weep so much, or why I fear such a thought. To think that my daughter would ever be worried about me leaving her is the most ridiculous far-fetch fear. How much more is that for me to You.
i just feel so unworthy Dad. I feel like such a failure to You. I never live up to Your expectations. I always do something, think something, want something, calculate something that is against You, every day. At best I would call myself a traitor of You. So, I carry this looming fear You will find out or that one day You draw the line and say You’ve had enough.
Dad, I want to be real with You. I fail You. All the time. I don’t know why I do what I do, but I do it, a lot. And I think terrible thoughts, a lot. I get jealous, I get mad, I get scared, I get stressed out, I get a lot of things twisted up Lord.
You have got to be disappointed in me. You know all things. I don’t want to be punished, I know You could and I am scared of You punishing me. I think I’m right with You, but I worry You are tired of my ways.
Father, the most off based thought about me is that I keep forgetting the blood of Christ. But praise God You only see the blood. I’m so worried about what you see with me, but You just see the blood. I’m so worried about not meeting Your expectations, but You are satisfied with the blood.
Father, I ask You reveal more of Your mercy and satisfaction with the blood to me. I ask that You just touch me to know and reckon what the blood means for me. I can’t seem to keep this in mind Father, and I know when i don’t reckon the blood, that’s when I become inactive and passive in Your kingdom. That’s when the enemy tears me up. That’s when I am defeated. That’s not what You called me out for Father - I know this!
Praise You Father for the blood of the Holy Lamb and for the speaking of the Spirit to me. Thank You Father for taking Your time to meet with me and speak with me. Yes Father, I just realized You are not restricted with time, You have all the time in the world for me. Thank You Dad, I’m glad You are happy with me. I’m happy with You too.
in fact Dad, I’m only happy when I’m with with You.
Prayer: We're Listening
Father. Our Father. All glory to Your name. Every thing is Yours. Every man is Yours. We are Yours.
We are Your Kingdom. Increase Your Kingdom Father. Do Your work in us, as men, to gain Your Kingdom. Activate us in Your Kingdom Father. We are Yours, do Your will in us, move in us, breathe in us, empower us, motivate us - awaken us! For the glory of Your Kingdom! The greatest Kingdom of all time!
The time is right now. Right now. Right now. Keep the enemy away, he has no place in Your Kingdom. Keep the world away, the distractions, the comparisons, the jealousy, the race for things and pleasures. Keep our old self away, our old man with its sinful desires, its pride, its passivity, its endless need for comfort and ease.
We are listening. Open to You, only You. We do NOT choose to hear the voice of Your enemy, this world and even our own self. We choose Your voice. We choose NOT our own mind. We choose NOT our own emotions. We choose NOT our own will. We choose our spirit to hear Your voice.
You speak in Spirit with our spirit. Oh the Spirit mingled with our spirit! How glorious! You created us to hear YOU! You designed us to hear YOU! Spirit to spirit. God to man! Hallelujah! What is man that You are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:4). Oh the glory of Your master plan to create us to hear You! That You want us. You want to speak to us. You want to abide in us. You want to make Your home in our hearts! (Ephesians 3:17).
Father You went so far to sacrifice Your only son Jesus Christ to recover us from the enemy, this world and our own sin! What mercy and grace! We pay no price, you paid it all! So we could be one with you in spirit. Father You went even further to send the Spirit, the Comforter, in the name of Jesus Christ, to teach us ALL things! (John 14.26).
So You are constantly communicating with us. You are constantly with us. We just need to listen! Praise God what an awesome life! That all we have to do is listen with our spirit. We are listening now Father! I shout “what do You want to tell us!” What is it You want with us? Show us our purpose! Show us Your enemy’s lies, show us the world’s distractions and show us our sinful nature that keep us away from Your will in our lives!
We hear you Father. We hear Your voice. Your soft nudging. Your generous, gentle and confident speaking in our spirit. We’ve always had a spirit. Maybe it’s been deadened. Maybe it’s passive. Maybe we have ignored it. But now, right now, we are present in spirit with You!
Wake us up! Rise us up! Prepare us for Your purpose. For Your War! Lead us. Guide us. Shake out everything that’s not You! Is it addiction? Is it depression? Is it anxiety? Is it lust? Is it money? Is it jealousy? Is it anger? Are we listening to the world? Are we listening to Your enemy? Whatever it is Father, strip it away right now. Overflow Your spirit to our mind, emotions and will. Overflow to our bodies. Captivate our entire being. We are Yours!
Bring us to Your body, the Church, our brothers. No more being shy. No more being cool by the world’s standards. No more embarrassment or shame. Set us free in You with Your Church! Bring us home Father! Back to our family that You created for us! Praise God for our family!
We are listening.
Your’s is the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Tripartite Man
The tripartite human. Complex yet simple. Where are you?
tri·par·tite: /trīˈpärˌtīt/adjective: shared by or involving three parties
Ever met a buffed up 30-year-old dude who had a personality of a punk teenager? Ever met a super spiritual, bible-thumping evangelist with two bellies (one above and one below the belt)?
There’s no doubt respect for each in his own perfected category. In fact, we can look at ourself the same way, even at different times in life. When I was a teenager, for the most part I had full confidence in my appearance, my body. But my spirit was dead and my soul was terribly immature. In my 20’s, my spirit was revived, my body started declining and my soul was still immature. In my 30’s, my spirit and soul matured, body declined. Now, in my 40’s, it depends on the day :-), but I believe that’s because both my spirit and soul are being perfected. But my body? Oh the decay of life.
A warrior life is one with full reality of a tripartite person:
Spirit
Soul
Body
Our spirit is our connection, communication and revelation source to God. Everyone has a spirit, though many times it is deadened by the attacks and distractions of the world, the flesh and enemy through our body and soul. Our spirit is the essence of life, the source of our life. If your spirit is not currently in tune with the Father, there is no better time than right now.
Our soul is also tripartite. The mind, emotion and will. The soul is the middle ground between our spirit and body. It’s our personality. It’s what most folks think of when they say “he’s a good/bad person.”
Our body is our body. Seemingly pretty simple, but in reality is a complicated expression and result over time from our spirit and soul life. The body is evidence of our decisions over time (think about someone who smokes for 30 years). Our bodies are also in decay by the natural course of this world. But our body has great influence back toward the soul and the spirit.
Zombies: Most humans are walking around with a spirit, soul and body completely oblivious to their own composition. Completely passive in life, literally like zombies, allowing constant influences to their spirit, soul or body. Eventually, they awaken confused, frustrated, depressed, dying, hurting, lost, and all kinds of jacked-up-ness.
Strugglers: But even for the conscious person (including clearly myself since I’m writing this post), there is still struggle to be active in the reality of our composition. One day, I may have spiritual revelation and all in life is well. But my soul didn’t fully receive or absorb or possibly even partake in the revelation, therefore it benefits very little. The next day, I land a big piece of business, so emotionally I’m excited, but my will is to take a break or my body is worn out from bidding on the job. The next day, I drink water all day and physically I feel great, emotionally I feel great, but intellectually (mind) I gained nothing.
We are complex, but also simple. There’s no golden egg answer or action. It’s a process. And the process is intentional.
Warriors: It’s the warrior that exemplifies the conscious, continuous, active and intentional fight to perfect the spirit, soul and body. Also, the warrior knows “perfecting” is not a solo effort. Requires God and community. The warrior recognizes that the war is always present, is serious business, but will also not succumb to the path of self-reflection, disappointment, depression, anger and death.
Where are you at today? Zombie? Struggler? Warrior?
What part of your human composition (spirit, soul, body) are you closer to perfection? Which needs more perfecting?
For further reading on this subject, I recommend “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee. The title of this book is seemingly goofy, but I promise that it could be the best book you ever read. Whether you are a new or mature believer, or someone that hates Christianity and religion altogether, it will enlighten you to spiritual truth and bypass all the religious crap man has created since the beginning of time.
I then recommend reading “The Spiritual Man”, also by Watchman Nee. Full warning though about “The Spiritual Man”, it requires maturity in life. It’s not for the newborn, It’s for the warrior.
Block Prayer
The Block Prayer provided by Casey Henagan with Keypoint Church gives a prayer roadmap that covers six key aspects of human living. Intent is to unlock effective, fervent prayer for the warrior.
Spiritual: Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14-15 (NIV)
Relational: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)
Physical: Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Psalms 103: 2-3 (NIV)
Mental: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)
Emotional: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)
Financial: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:10-12 (NIV)
Preparation for Battle
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16
The world wants nothing more than for us to not be alone with our creator. When was the last time you truly were alone with Him?
When I unpack this verse, my spirit awakens my soul to just how off I am so much of the time.
”Often”: I can honestly say that I do spend time with the Lord. But is it “often”? My mind likes to justify and reason, telling me “yea man, considering your schedule, you often spend time with God.” But, if I’m honest with myself, and I listen to my spirit, I know I’m just ducking reality. My spirit has convicted me that no, it’s not often. So, that’s my truth.
”Withdrew”: I love this word. It’s an action. Not a situation. I grew up thinking that one day I will have the luxury and time to spend with God. I am guilty even today of thinking I have time and opportunity in the future to be in circumstances that place me in a perfect scenario to peacefully build a relationship with Him. I’m so wrong. Terribly wrong. That will never happen. Coming to God is not for monks. It’s for Him.
”Lonely”: God help me to hear You. God reveal Your will to be with You in Your creation. Lonely places. Away from people. Away from things. Away from noise.
If I’m to battle in this war I need to follow the pattern set out by the greatest warriors in history. Praise God for His word that reveals more of His way to me, to my foolish understanding of life. I must withdraw to quite places in His creation and spend time with Him. To pray to Him.
Honestly, when I picture myself doing just that, my heart is full. I’m so satisfied. My thirst is quenched. Because I know the world has nothing satisfying to offer my spirit and soul and body.
But this… this time that I create with Him is water of life. I imagine many others feel the same. If I ever wonder “how can I overcome in this world?” I believe this is the true answer.
It might be all He is asking of us. This would prepare us for the war. No doubt.