We Will Not Be Defeated (Part 4)

You have dominion over the enemy!

Psalms 8:6 "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:"

Daniel 7:27 "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

Ephesians 1:21 "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come..."

You don't always have control over situations in your life. You can be healthy one moment, and in the next your health be taken away. You can be wealthy, and in one moment lose everything. Certain things in life our just hard to figure out and understand. It's in those times we often fell dominated by the enemy. His tools appear to be unlimited and constantly berating us in our minds with our failures and falls.

Yet, God has given us dominion or control over our enemy. That dominion is the conquering power of the Holy Spirit living within us that causes the praise to go up in spite of what our circumstances seem to be. That dominion infuses us with knowledge and power to stop the accuser of the brethren in his tracks and to stand in the spirit of liberty that Jesus has brought into our lives. That dominion releases us from a troubled past with a glistening fountain of freedom before us. That dominion allows us to traverse territories we thought we would never be able to handle. That dominion is greater than we can possibly imagine and nothing past, present, or future can limit it.

Claim your dominion now in Jesus name because you can. It's all up to you!

We Will Not Be Defeated (Part 3)

The Lord is your fortress!

2 Samuel 22:2 "And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer..."

Psalms 18:2 "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.."

Jeremiah 16:19 "O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit."

A fortress is defined as a military stronghold, especially a strongly fortified town fit for a large garrison; a heavily protected and impenetrable building; or a person or thing not susceptible to outside influence or disturbance. God is all three to the born-again believer in more ways than one.

-He is impenetrable.

-He is my rock.

-He is my deliver.

-He is my buckler.

-He is my God.

-He is my strength.

-He is the one I trust in.

-He is the horn of my salvation.

-He is my high tower.

-He is my refuge.

-He is not influenced by evil.

-He is all I need, when I need, and how I need.

According to these verses this fortress God created in Jesus is powerful enough to withstand any changes, hardships, or attacks caused by the enemy. That's why Jesus is looking for someone who will not let their guard down. Let your spiritual influence soar as one not easily swayed by the crowd or popular theology, but one who has walls of integrity protecting them from the onslaught of the devil.

We Will Not Be Defeated (Part 2)

-You can have victory!

Deuteronomy 7:21 "Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible."

1 Chronicles 29:11 "Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all."

Psalms 5:11 "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee."

Isaiah 49:19 "For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away."

1 Corinthians 15:57 " But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 John 5:4 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

These scriptures bring these facts to the forefront about victorious living:

1. The Lord is among us and with us as our mighty God.

2. The Lord is great in His power, glory, majesty, and victory.

3. The Lord is our constant defender so rejoice.

4. The Lord puts our land of destruction (our past) far away from us.

5. The Lord gives us consistent victories through Jesus Christ.

6. The Lord rebirths us through His Spirit and our faith to give us commanding power to overcome the world.

Remember the words of that old chorus:

Victory is mine, victory is mine, Victory today is mine!

I told Satan to "get the behind", Victory today is mine!

Walk in it, breathe it, and live it. Today is your day to win!

We Will Not Be Defeated (Part 1)

We do not have to be defeated by Satan. There are some things backed by the Word of God that declare we can be and can live a victorious lifestyle. Keep these thoughts in your heart and start each day with a winning attitude!

We can chase the enemy!

Leviticus 26:7, 8 "And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword."


Deuteronomy 32:30 "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?"

Joshua 23:10 " One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you."

We spend so much time defending ourselves from the enemy that we forget he is already defeated. It's time we realize, recognize, and retaliate against the devoured of our souls.

(1) We must realize who Jesus is in us!
Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

He is my rock, my shelter, my strength, my hope, my provider, and my all in all. If we as believers realize who He is within us and that the keys to the Kingdom have been given to us we can chase the enemy away rather than wait for his attack like a sitting duck.

(2) We must recognize the power at our disposal!
Mark 16:17b, 18 "In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

When you chase an enemy you have to be ready for surprise attacks. These supernatural abilities can make the weary warrior reproductive, the reluctant warrior brave as can be, and the resilient warrior even more fierce in their desire to exterminate the evils that they face.

(3) We can retaliate in Jesus name!

The word "retaliate" means "make an attack or assault in return for a similar attack or repay in kind." Satan has no mercy on us and we should in return have no mercy on him.

Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

The Whole Armor (Part 1)

The first piece of armor to be buckled on is the girdle or belt of truth. In the natural world, a suit of armor was attached to the belt which held the other pieces of armor in place. The truth of God's Word is the spiritual belt to which all other pieces of armor are attached. Satan's first
attack on man was on truth:

Genesis 3:2-4 "And the woman said unto the serpent...God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die."

The truth will protect you from lies and doctrinal errors of the enemy. Truth is the undergirding of your spiritual armor. You are to have your loins (your spiritual vital organs) girt (covered) with truth:

Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth..."

What is the truth?
-Jesus said, "I am the truth."-John 14:6

-The Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of truth.-John 14:17

-God is truth. -Romans 3:4

-God's Word is truth.-Psalms 119:151

-The Gospel is truth.-Colossians 1:5

In the natural world, the breastplate covered the upper body of the warrior to protect vital organs such as his heart, lungs, etc. The spiritual breastplate of righteousness does not refer to your righteousness, but to the covering of the righteousness of Christ:

Philippians 3:9 "And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

You do not stand on your own merits. You stand in Christ. You can not face the enemy without the protection of the righteousness of Christ:

2 Corinthians 6:7 "By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the Armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."

The righteousness of Christ protects your spiritual "vital organs" from attacks of Satan and from unrighteousness. The breastplate of righteousness must be buckled on to the belt of truth.

Rebuilding Your Walls (Part 4)

(g) Identify the enemy and his strategies.
Nehemiah identified the enemy and his strategies. He discovered that the enemy planned a surprise attack in Nehemiah 4:8 and 11. You must identify your spiritual enemy and his strategies in order to be effective in spiritual warfare. This will help you be prepared for surprise attacks. Recognize that the enemy has conspired against you to kill, steal, and destroy but realize God has greater power and wants to give you life more abundantly

(h) Develop spiritual counter strategies.
Nehemiah developed a counter strategy when he heard the enemy planned to attack. He set some workers as a guard to watch for the enemy. Every worker built the wall but also had his sword and was prepared to fight in Nehemiah 4:13-18. A signal was arranged (a trumpet blast) to alert the warriors of an invasion. Because they were prepared to fight and knew the strategy of the
enemy, they prevented an invasion. They knew if they had to war with the enemy, God would fight for them. If you develop proper spiritual counter strategies, you can prevent many invasions of the enemy into your life. When Satan does break through and invade, be assured that God will fight for you!

(i) Face the enemy.
When Nehemiah was offered refuge from the enemy, he refused. He said in chapter 6:11, "Should such a man
as I flee?" Nehemiah faced the enemy in God's power. When the enemy threatens you, do not flee or take the easy way out or your spiritual walls will never be secure.
When internal dissension and discouragement arose and the enemy worked through weak believers, Nehemiah did not ignore the attacks. He confronted and conquered them.

(j) Protect your walls at your most vulnerable times.
In the story of Nehemiah, the greatest attack of the enemy came when the wall was half finished. When you start building in the spirit world, when you enter the arena of effective spiritual warfare, be prepared. It is a vulnerable time. You are a target for an attacks of Satan.

(k) Build your wall.
Nehemiah's response to direct criticism, mocking, scorn, false accusations, threats, and fear, was simply to continue building the wall:

4:21 "So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared."

Nehemiah stayed with the task. He did not stop building:
6:15 "So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty and two days.

Nehemiah did in a short time what the enemy said could not be done. If the walls are down around your life, the enemy may tell you the task is hopeless. But, with
God's help, you can rebuild the wall. With His strength you do not have to take a long time to do so:

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

When the enemy attacks your spiritual reconstruction project do not quit! Just keep building your spiritual walls.

(l) Set a watch.
When Nehemiah completed rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, he set a guard to watch over the walls and gates of the city in Nehemiah 7:1-3. Set a watch over your spiritual walls. Always be alert for attacks of the enemy.

Rebuilding Your Walls (Part 3)

Internal attacks of Satan are those made from within the Body of Christ. They include:
1. Discouragement.
Nehemiah 4:10-11
The workers became discouraged which resulted in:
• Loss of strength.
• Loss of vision because of "too much rubbish."
• Loss of confidence

2. Dissension.
Nehemiah 5
Nehemiah 5 opens with dissension among God's people. If Satan divides the Body of Christ, he makes us ineffective. We are busy battling each other instead of building. Wrong motives are always behind dissension. In Nehemiah chapter 5 the wrong motive was greed.

3. Weak believers.
Nehemiah 4:12
The enemy used weak workers (symbolic of weak believers in the Body of Christ) to try to defeat the construction project.

The following strategies were used by Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. You can use
the same strategies to assure victory at your spiritual walls:

(a) Examine your walls.
As Nehemiah did in the natural world, examine the walls of your spiritual life. (Nehemiah 2) Has the enemy crept into your personal life, your home, church fellowship, business, etc.?

1 Corinthians 11:28 "But let a man examine himself..."

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves..."

Remember that self-examination is one of the symbolic gates of your wall in the spirit world. Satan will try to prevent you from self-examination because it will result in recognition of areas in your life where you have let him destroy the walls and invade.

(b) Confess your sin.
As Nehemiah, recognize that the reason walls are destroyed is because of sin. Then like he did in
Nehemiah 1:5-7, confess your sin and ask forgiveness:

1 John 1:8, 9 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

(c) Recognize you can't build alone.
When Nehemiah's workers said, "We ourselves are unable to build the wall," it was a true statement. By themselves they were unable. They needed the power of God to equip them for the task-so will you!

(d) Arise and build.
As Nehemiah, determine to rise and rebuild your spiritual walls:
Nehemiah 2:20 "Then answered I them, and said unto them, the God of Heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no
portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem." Be prepared, because you will face opposition from the enemy.

(e) Don't be diverted.
Nehemiah refused to be diverted by enemy tactics in Nehemiah 6:2-3. Do not let the enemy divert or distract you from rebuilding your spiritual walls.

(f) Don't be swayed by popular opinion.
Popular opinion was that Nehemiah was a rebel. Popular opinion held that the walls could not be properly rebuilt. Nehemiah was not swayed by popular opinion. Rather than conform to popular opinion, Nehemiah set an example. He said, "So did not I, because of the fear of God." Become an example in spiritual warfare. Do not become part of the crowd that says victory is impossible.