Hello everyone!
Over the weekend, as I was preparing the message for Sunday, I experienced a very personal spiritual attack. It took me a few hours to figure out that it was, in fact, a spiritual attack and not something else. I was a bit late to the battle and had to gird up pretty quickly. So, in the midst of preparing for Sunday, I found myself doing battle in prayer, and putting on the armour of God.
It was hard work. The attack was quite strong, and nasty.
Doing battle when under this kind of attack is wearing, energy sapping and it is hard to focus on the task at hand at the same time. The battle continued all day Sunday, into Sunday night and then into the night hours of Monday morning – sleep was not good. I kept drawing near to the Father, dealing with any sinful attitudes, praying for protection, binding the enemy … and, of course, praising the Lord. That wasn’t easy, either … The attack was full on. I could feel it on my body.
Psalms 24:7-10 “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— He is the King of glory.”
In praise we start declaring truth about God and in the spiritual realm supernatural, awesome power is released and, as I was saying in last week’s Pastor Update video, we get our heads up above the circumstances, and get the gates open for the Lord. The Lord is looking for gates.
Just this afternoon today (Monday), an encouraging word came to me in the snail mail from a special friend who shares my love of a hot meat pie. A friend who is no stranger to spiritual attack. It was out of the blue (not really – it had God’s fingerprints on it – and it was postmarked 28.08.2020). I read the simple card from my sister in the Lord, and I thanked the Lord for the blessing it released to me in the moment ...
The attack was broken right there and then – I felt this weight lift off ... and the usual lightness of spirit return.
God did battle for me in the spiritual realm as I put on His armour and took my stand, and interceded. He then deployed another listening servant of His to send me a message of encouragement – 10 days before I needed it! - the timing was all His. The sheer power of that simple message and the encouragement it imparted to my spirit was a direct statement by God that the battle was done. I read it over and over hungry for the blessing.
As soon as I accepted the message, I was done, too. Peace …
God is good!
FINAL WORD
I had the sad duty of conducting the funeral of a Victoria Police officer three years ago next week on RUOK Day. This man was in the prime of his life, but injury whilst making an arrest had sidelined him for nearly a year and he faced many setbacks getting back to proper fitness levels. He struggled with depression over it all and, tragically in the end when he had become fragile, he took his own life. At the memorial service at Eltham Community Centre that day the sadness and grief and sense of apparently inexplicable loss was so overwhelming.
That hall was filled with family and several hundred police from the Chief Commissioner down to local stations.
In part of my message to those assembled, I said this …
“Life is precious. It is so incredibly sacred – and so, so fleeting. And we feel it so deeply when a loved one is wrenched away in death through circumstances that have overwhelmed them, and which took us all by surprise. It is devastating. ...
… I say to you all here today, and especially to the Victoria Police members present, to you who daily face extraordinary challenges and pressures for the sake of our community, you are so appreciated and enormously respected, and esteemed by us all. Before God, I honour you all today. But, as much as we all want you to be invincible for us, deep down we know that you’re not. You’re humans like the rest of us. … You are not unbreakable, invincible machines. You are human beings loved by others, held dear by others ... and none of us can afford to lose any one of you before your time.”
Your pastors aren’t invincible, either, though sometimes the church family tends to think we are or maybe want us to be with every loving and honouring intention ... We’re not unbreakable machines … we have feet of clay, hearts of flesh … just like you. We feel the pressures of life like anyone else, we have our moments of struggle and pain … and wonder at times how we’re going to do all that God is asking of us … because, sometimes, we just don’t know. We go on faith alone at times, trusting our heavenly Father, who holds us steady and keeps us focused in the eye of the storm and the heat of spiritual battle raging over our churches sometimes … He guides us. He makes us brave … He does battle for us. But there are yet moments of deep struggle and self-doubt in it all … we battle that, too.
And so, we pastors with feet of clay are incredibly, wonderfully touched, blessed and encouraged when even a small expression of encouragement is given us by another brother or sister in the Lord who was moved to do the Lord’s bidding in the moment. What may seem a simple small gesture has its blessing exponentially amplified by Holy Spirit.
Mark 9:41 [Jesus] “Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”
God so values the ministry of generous encouragement.
Thank you, Dawn. The next pie is on me.
You are deeply, richly loved.
Ps Milton