WAR AGAINST THE DEVIL

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War Against the Devil He wants to kill, steal and destroy, all that God has planned for our life! Femi Folorunsho

Transcript of WAR AGAINST THE DEVIL

War Against the Devil

He wants to kill, steal and destroy, all that God has planned for our life!

Femi Folorunsho

War Against the Devil

Femi Folorunsho“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring

lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished

in your brethren that are in the world.” 1Peter 5:8-9

War Against the Devil

He wants to kill, steal and destroy all that God has planned for our life!

ECKO House Publishing

Sandy, UT U.S.A

Visit Femi Folorunsho’s exciting web site at: www.folorunsho.bookscapes.com

Scriptures quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used without written permission of the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts for magazine articles, movies, radios, reviews, etc.

This book is pre-registered at the United States Library of Congress under ID #[1-000000000]. United States Copyright Office

ISBN: 900-1-0000-0000-0

Printed in the United States of America

By Femi Folorunsho

Thank God for all his Mercy.

War Against the Devil is a powerful book that everyone must read and meditate on. This book spells out ways people can use the power of God in raising a standard against the rulers of the darkness that seek to put people of God in bondage and destroy their lives.

-Victor & Kristy Villalobos The Best Couple in America

Enterprise, Alabama. USA

A Word of Truth from the Woman of God

This book is a spiritual manifesto that I recommended to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, to fight, annul and defeat all the enemies of progress in your life.

-Prophesies, Joyce Shipp Prayer Healing Deliverance

Outreach Ministry Memphis, Tenseness

To: My Family.

After all we’ve been through, we’re still standing due to His grace in our life. I want you all to know that I love you with all my heart and I cannot imagine my life without you guys. You are the best of the best. Thank you so much for all your unconditional love.

To: My sister, Deaconess Folasade Folorunsho. (Tilburg, NL)

Thank you for all your prayers. You inspired me to always do more with the life the Almighty has given me. God is your strength, keep doing His work and you will never want for anything!

-Author, Femi Folorunsho

AcknowledgmentsThis book is probably one of the most challenging books

I ever wrote. While I was getting ready to write this book, I experienced different challenges at both work and home, but to God be the glory, I am still here. Regardless of what was coming after me at work, I was determined to get this book out, I was not going to let the devil smile and have his way. I am strong, mightier in Christ Lord Jesus – because the battle is not for me but for Him to handle.

I was never alone in the struggle to stick it to the devil or take him down. My God has my back and resides with me. Thus, the love that He has for me is beyond anything I can ever express. With everything in me, I thank you Lord God, I profoundly appreciate the love that you have for me and my family, and without you I am nothing. I love you, Father God, to you alone be the GLORY!

femi folorunsho

Sincerely, Femi Folorunsho Professional Counseling. Liberty University, Virginia. USA Doctoral, Psychology. Walden University, Minnesota. USA

Contents

Preface ........................................................................................................ 1Chapter 1

Create a clear and attainable Objective ........................................... 3Chapter 2

Offensive strategies through deployment of Weapons ...................13Chapter 3

Zero-in on areas of Concern, don’t let-up ......................................22Chapter 4

Set-up a prayer Boot-camp For speedy results ...............................32Chapter 5

Secure your spiritual perimeter and deprive the enemy of information. .................................................41

Chapter 6REVOLUTION! Strike the enemy unexpected. .........................................................48

Chapter 7Approach with Extreme Caution, don’t fall for the lies. ................57

Chapter 8Avoid sleeping with the enemy; be careful who your friends are! .....................................................65

Chapter 9Pivotal moment: God or the Devil, who brought this on? .............75

Chapter 10Game over: Who is your Daddy? ...................................................86

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Preface

Preface

The Almighty God is stronger, smarter and more sophiscated in all ways, especially how He acts, operates

and interacts with humans since the beginning of time. He is the Creator, the only one who can kill and still command our spirit to come back to life whenever He desires. It is my faith that no people of God should be afraid of the devil and what he wants to do to them and their families. When God created the heaven and earth, the devil was not part of the construction crew. In actuality, our heavenly Father never once asked anyone for help in putting His plans into motion. It is not a secret that God the Father never used a building contractor or a civil engineer to design Heaven and Earth. Therefore, why should I be scared and submit to the devil and all the negativity he tries to infuse into my life. I am a Child of the Most High and I will remain the same until we go back to be with Him in Heaven.

This book is intended as a spiritual war strategy to combat the devil and all his endeavors in your life and the life of your children, family and loved ones. Remember that the devil is a liar; he has been defeated by Jesus Christ. He always wants you and I to think that he has more power than our God, but he doesn’t and that is why it’s more important that we use the weapon in our hand, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit to set him straight. Through reading this book and applying the principles and warfare strategies described, you can be a bold and unafraid Soldier of the most high God by taking back all that the devil has stolen from you and your family. It is time to pull down all the strongholds that the prince of darkness and his lieutenants have decreed against you and your loved ones.

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It is time to revolt against every unfortunate misfortune that has kept you and me from achieving our potential; this is your time, this is your season – enough is enough!

“… and the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Hebrews 11:32

“Keep YOUR senses, be watchful. YOUR adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.”

1 Peter 5:8

Never forget that Jesus Christ already defeated Satan at the cross. The war against the Devil has already been won long ago! In this scrupulous war, however, the battles rage on with people of God winning. Be alert and be ready. The Devil knows you have unconditional rights to rebuke him whenever he tries to attack you. Always remember how big your God is, and not how big your problems. You’re in control in the name of Jesus, but the Devil does not want you to know that.

Thank you for supporting my work!

Sincerely, Femi Folorunsho P.O. Box 7534 Memphis, TN 38175 www.Folorunsho.Bookscapes.com

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Chapter 1 • Create a clear and attainable Objective

Chapter 1

Create a clear and attainable Objective

In the midst of any war-related matter, the first thing a good General would do is to have a clear and attainable

objective in order to win the war. The wars we people of God are confronted with these days are not physical but spiritual. In essence, it is a “spiritual warfare”, so for the sake of this discussion please allow me to elaborate what I meant by a spiritual warfare. You see, the Apostle Paul admonished believers to “put on the whole armor of God” in order to resist the wiles of the Devil. We need to engage in various grandiloquent oral affirmations of the word of God and the promises He has proclaimed in our lives. We also need to assemble believers of His word to join us with their various voices and invoke the power of the highest God into whatever is troubling us. The Bible says, we have the power to “bind the Devil” all his powers and the power of his lieutenants in the supernatural world-over cities.

As part of the strategy to attain winnable results, it is necessary that we pursue the following tactical strategies:

1. Commence fasting and praying.

2. Determine which areas of your life are things you are going to direct your prayer toward.

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3. Establish the location of this problem or stronghold in your life.

4. Talk to God and take your petition to Him at all times in the spirit non-stop, and make sure you have faith that whatever you have declared is done in His name.

In the book of Ephesians 6:10-13, it says: “finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

I remember a couple of years ago, I heard about this lady who was giving a testimony in Church about what happened to her. She had a bad dream one-day and saw her only daughter dying in her dream, the whole dream was so real that she woke-up drenched in sweat and at the time her daughter was pregnant and she was in the hospital about to give birth. Long story short, her daughter died while in labor and the hospital officials called the Mom to come to the hospital, but when she got there she was advised that her daughter has passed. She immediately refused to accept the fact that her daughter was dead, she asked to see her and she put her hand on her and prayed and was invoking the name of God. A few minutes later after she was told to leave the room, the doctor came running back to her in the lobby and said, “I don’t know who you know up there, but your daughter just started breathing again.” The doctor also told her that both the baby and the mother were doing just fine! Our God is a game changer; He can do and undo whatever the enemy has proclaimed in your life. The devil or any enemy does not hold the key to my

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life and yours, God the Almighty is the only one that can change our destiny. I remember the story of Hezekiah king of Judah. He was sick and near death, and Isaiah the prophet went to him and told him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ The King however refused to accept the fact that he’d just been declared a dead man, instead Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord saying, remember now, Lord, I pray, how I walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” King Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years…And will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My own servant David.”

Sometimes all it takes is for you and I to have a clear objective on what we want our Lord God to do for us. The Devil is overrated in my view, but we need to counter hype our Lord of Mercy. It’s funny that the unbelievers are fiercely loyal to the Kingdom of evil, so why then can’t we be loyal to the Kingdom of God and put the Devil to shame anytime he attacks us or our loved ones. We are fully loaded, we have all the ammunitions that we need, the Word of God is our “Bazooka”, anytime the Devil and his lieutenants knock at our front-door, we need to say, “Jesus, please help me with that!”

Let’s be realistic, the goal of any believer is to defeat the strong-man and strong-woman in their lives. In other words, all the strongholds will come down when and if you decided to fight for your rights and claim or re-claim whatever the Devil

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has stolen from you – keep in mind that the movement of God will not be stopped, all you have to do is keep going; even when all evil breaks loose. I trust God to put it back together or even better, re-create, modify or simply replace all that has been lost in your life. The only way we can fail in our spiritual mission is when we neglect to follow our dream that God has inserted in our various destinies. Nothing is as devastating for a believer than to refuse to claim his or her rightful blessing from the Lord, and when you finally have it, make sure you do not give-in to the powers of the darkness to snatch your blessings from you.

I honestly believe that the Devil and evil people are so creative that they will do anything and everything in order to accomplish their evil goals, even if they have to take you out of your comfort zone – such as lying tongues, putting or conspiring to put innocent people into trouble, deceiving people, deceitful witnesses that create lies against people, a heart that devises wickedness towards people, manipulators, spirits of envy, laughing and being happy when your friends, co-workers or family members are in trouble, etc.

Thus, it is an essential if not life-saving back-up strategy for a good man or woman to arm him or herself with the word of God. No matter how hard or devoted an individual prays to God, you must be ready at all times to use your arsenal against the enemy when and if attacked – your weapon of choice should be the Holy Spirit and in most cases praying in tongues and pulling down all the strongholds and or taking back all that the enemy has stolen from you and your family. In the book of Joel 2:25 it says: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” Indeed, I agree that God will replace all that you have lost, on the other hand we do our part by aggressively defeating the evil opponents

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of our progress through relentless prayer, fasting in some cases and singing and praising Him all throughout whatever you’re going through. In looking back, all throughout history, everyone that has ever become great has been tempted by the Devil, so your situation that you’re going through right now is not out of the norm.

For instance, in the word of God, Acts of the apostles (chapter 16:25) we find that Paul and Silas were arrested and thrown in jail for preaching the gospel and for casting the demon out of a woman. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.” Most people I know will receive a letter from the IRS and they would not be able to sleep for days, so imagine being imprisoned and still singing and praising God the Father! But guess what, when Paul and Silas trusted the Lord and disregarded the fretting that the Devil was trying to inject into their hearts. This is when the Lord God showed us, by this example in the Bible, how He perpetuated a way out of the problems for both Paul and Silas. We read: “suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” The power of God overthrew the Devil because He manifested His power in the middle of their hopeless situation because they first believed that He’s capable of setting them free. Secondly, they were not afraid of the temporarily bad situation but rather focused on the big picture. God bypassed the District Court, the Court of Appeals and the mighty Supreme Court and set His people free.

As a believer or someone seeking God’s help in the midst of a problem, the first thing you want to do is draw from Jesus Christ’s example when He was being tempted by the Devil. For instance, Jesus didn’t worry or fret that the Devil was going to defeat Him, He knew He has authority over the Devil. He was

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confident that at the end of His ordeal He would be victorious. In other words, we need to have a winner’s mind frame, because when we go through hard times or difficult situations and remain down in spirit – this in my view constitutes defeat. Whenever you go through something and you’re wondering when is this going to end, remind yourself that the Devil’s power over your life and all your challenges has been neutralized by the power of Jesus Christ. Thus, in order to tap into this supernatural power we must join our faith with the Holy Spirit in us so we can overcome the Devil. You see, the Holy Spirit is similar but greater than the law of aerodynamics, which is the power that enables an airplane to fly by superseding the law of gravity. But just because the plane has this aerodynamics that does not mean that the law of gravity would give up trying to pull the plane down. Similarly, we know that the Devil will always try to attack, but rest-assured that God your Father is your aerodynamics and He will not allow the Devil to overcome you. But you need to be closer to Him and have faith in Him that He will do whatever He has in store in life for you.

I was talking to a friend of mine one day and this fellow was really worried about finding a job. I told him that God will do whatever He has promised for you and that he should not worry but give it to Him. In other words, he should put it on God’s to do list. Anyway, I asked him how many times did he check with the IRS for his tax refund after they already told him his tax filing had been approved and a refund date had been given to him. He said, “Oh no! Once that is given then you’re set.” So I asked, why do you trust the United States of America, Internal Revenue Service, yet you’re doubting God the Creator, the owner of everything in Heaven and on earth. You trusted a man-made agency to deliver but you have reservations when it comes to God? He said, “Wow, I never looked at it that way!” Luke 21, verse 33 says: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but

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my words shall not pass away.” I love what the word of God says in Matthew 5:18, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Knowing these are the promises God has made to us, why do we allow the Devil to create false fear and anxieties in our heart as if God is not in control? Let me share something with you today, one of the Devil’s strategy is to keep you off balance, make you feel like your problem is never going to get better, or that sickness is not going to depart from you. Your war line of attack against him should be, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” One-thing the Devil does not like is when you know your rights as a Child or God. He gets frustrated when you do not lay down for him and let him just walk all over you and destroy your life and the lives of your loved ones.

For example, a police officer “busted” into your house and start conducting an illegal search and seizure. All of a sudden you asked him or her for a search warrant – I bet you the police officer will be confused and frustrated knowing you just challenged him or her regarding under what authority he or she is conducting the search of your home or belongings. In most countries, a police officer seeking a search warrant must prove that probable cause exists before a magistrate or judge, based upon direct information obtained by the officer’s personal observation or hearsay information. Hearsay information can even be obtained by oral testimony given over a telephone or an anonymous and/or confidential informant. The moral of the example is, the officer would need a judicial authorization or procedural in order to conduct such a search and seizure. On the other hand, in some cases a search warrant is not required, such as where the owner of the home or property willingly consents

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or permits their home or personal effects to be searched. On the flip side, I don’t know too many people that would allow the Devil to destroy their lives willingly. As far as I am concerned, we all need to give the Devil and all the evildoers a run for their money. Do not think that just because you laid down your weapon, which is your faith in Christ, that would convince the Devil to give-up on attacking and destroying you; I don’t think so. Your strategies should include staying strong and focused, counter attack through prayer and be specific what you want the Lord to do for you. The book of Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Sometimes all it takes is a counter attack by using the word of God to neutralize the enemy’s threat – in addition, have faith and trust that your God will see you through no matter what.

Why are you so afraid that God will not deliver you? It’s all in your mind, He always has the best in store for you and me. He would never let you go through all that you are going through right now by yourself. There is a reason why you’re going through whatever is going on in your life, please don’t fall for the lies currently being told by the Devil that you’re cornered and that you have no what out. The Devil is a big strong Lion that has no teeth or claws to destroy you, but he makes all these noises like he’s going to kill you today. You need to walk in God’s majesty and with authority, because He is our father and you and I need to invoke His word. In the book of 1Chronicles 16:22, we read: “Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.” As you proceed with your plan to take back all that the Devil has stolen from you, don’t forget that your primary goal is to execute your strategy which needs to mirror the branch of military science dealing with military command and the planning and conduct of a war. In a near war, the objective is to take down, dismantle and disorganize the enemy. In this case the target is

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the Devil, haters, people who seek to destroy your good name for no reason, and enemies who pretend to be your friend. It also included things such as a lack of money, deep debt, inability to find a good man or a good woman, poor health, court cases, drug and alcohol addiction, life failure, lack of promotion, jealousy, back stabbers, national and international terrorists, bad marriage, bareness and rejection.

Please say after me, “In the name of the living God, I ask that you come into my life in the name of your son Jesus Christ. By the Blood of Jesus Christ I cancel and nullify all the plans and attacks of the enemy in my life and the life of my family and loved ones. Father, I ask for your forgiveness of my sins, the ones I know and the ones that I am not aware of, please accept my apology and open the doors of favor for me. Thank you Jesus for setting me free from the entire stronghold that the Devil and his lieutenants have placed in my life and on the life of my children or my family members. Father God, I love you and I ask that you shield me from all the attacks of the enemy both foreign and domestic. Thank you, because I know and believe you have answered my prayer. Praise God!!! Hallelujah!!”

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Chapter 2 • Offensive strategies

Chapter 2

Offensive strategies through deployment of Weapons

The story of King David was a very unique one, David was not only a great King, he was a wise and without

a doubt, a great Warrior. On top of all these accomplishments, he loved the Lord with all his heart. David’s weapon of choice used to defeat the enemy whenever he found himself in a bad or challenging situation was to praise and worship God. In the book of Jeremiah 31:4, it says as follows: “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness.”

David went through life-threatening difficulties before and after he became a King. In fact, the Bible recalls that a jealous man named King Saul almost killed him. Even when the enemy comes against you like a flood, the word of God tells us that, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.” Thus, Saul’s jealousy and insecurity over David grew and he asked his son Jonathan to kill David. Because Jonathan was a friend of David’s - Jonathan instead hid David from his father; on top of that Jonathan went to his father and convinced him not to kill

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David. Saul promised not to, and David returned to his service. The enemies are like a “bull-dog” that holds onto one’s clothes but refuses to let it go. So what do you do? Saul promised not to hurt David but he renege and made another attempt to kill David a second time, but someone else helped David escape again, this time it was Michal. What I am trying to say is, no matter what and how the enemy plans evil for you and your family, the Lord has your back and front. He will always send someone from nowhere to help you out; that “someone” might even come from your enemy’s camp to help you during your most vulnerable period.

It is not a secret that your enemies will be unhappy, mad, frustrated, grumbling, and determined to be evil as ever. My advice to you is, do not let that faze you, always remember what the Word of the Lord says in Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.” This is an arsenal weapon to defeat the enemy. First, the Lord assures us that, regardless of how our “haters” feel, our God is still going to bless us against all odds. The fun part of it all is, the haters will be right there to watch us succeed and excel – contrary to their plans for us. I have news for you haters; this is how the Almighty reacts to your ill-feeling towards His children: I am the lord God, and my Word is final, there is nothing you can do to stop me from blessing my children.

There are so many miraculous stories in the Bible; there is a story of a man called Gideon that caught my attention. Gideon was a farmer who never thought he could do great things, such as being used to lead the army of God into a victorious battle. He might have put a limit on himself, but God called him: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” You might not have thought you can defeat whatever stronghold that is holding you back from moving forward, but I have good news for you today, yes

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you can. If a man who was never a US Marine, Navy Seal or a General in the Army was used by God to lead a successful army against very powerful adversaries and defeated those enemies, our God is able – first we need to be ready and learn how to deploy our spiritual weapon, and this is how you apply it to your various circumstances:

1. Get rid of the fear in your heart, fear is not of God but of the Devil, when you know that you can do more for you and your family, your career or your marriage, etc., why not take a leap of faith and do the right thing. Why allow fear to consume your mind, soul and spirit to the point that you cannot do anything to change for the better without feeling so afraid of the change. In essence, stop postponing a good change you are trying to make that would allow you to achieve your dream or God given talent.

2. Believe in yourself, it is one thing to know the Lord; it is another thing to know how to call on Him when you need God to intervene in your life. Just because you prayed and you do not see an instant gratification or a magic lightning flashing to prompt you that your prayer is answered does not mean God is not listening. It is up to you to have faith and believe in yourself. Here is a metaphor for you to think about. Say you called your father’s telephone and left the following message for him: “Hello Dad, I am going to be arriving at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and I would like you to pick me up at the airport. Thank you and I love you.” Ok, that was your message to your earthly father. Now let’s rewind your relationship history with your father a second. Your father is a man of integrity, he loves you and he honors his word more than his name. Now, let’s fast forward a bit. Would you be worried that he

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won’t show up to pick you up at the airport as you have requested? Considering all you have said about your father’s attitude and being a man of valor, I wouldn’t be worried at all. Now, that is your earthly father. Can you imagine how much love your heavenly Father has for you and He’s more reliable than any man or woman. His various name are:

God Almighty

Omnipotent

Abba father

Advocate

Alpha & Omega

Heir of all Things

Holy Spirit

Ancient of Days

Author of Life

Holy one

Amen

3. Talk to God with whatever you’re going through, you need to have FAITH once you invite Him into your problem. Part of your weapon should be your faith and how balanced you are when you are going through these situations. Trust me; anyone can be patient while you are waiting for God to help you out. The biggest test is “Balance”, not everyone can be non-frustrated and aggravated when you have been waiting for a while and nothing happens. I remember when our daughter, Kristina was trying to get into a college in Champagne, Illinois a few years ago. Her GPA was not where it needed to be, and she was so

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frustrated with the length of time the entire process was taking. A few weeks after all the recommendation letters and other formalities were submitted to the school we got a letter that was not very encouraging. I was distrusted and discouraged that she would not be able to go to college. The whole experience made her feel that God was not listening to her. Both her mother and I encouraged her to look at another school for admission and she agreed. It was when she left the whole thing for God that she got a surprising letter in the mail, and it was an admission letter from a very reputable school. The Bible says:

“For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27) “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

“For I am the Lord, I do not change …” (Malachi 3:6)

This is a clear and convincing example that God the Father has the full power and full ability to accomplish anything that He will want to do. If He has the full divine supernatural power to create our entire world in 6 days, then I do not think He will have any problems being able to fully provide for you and or heal you with whatever sickness or disease may have taken over your body or the body of your family members or loved ones.

4. Rebuke the Psychological factors; let’s be honest with each other. For instance, an individual has just lost their job, and was also facing a mountain of debts. How likely is that person to get up, excited and start praising the

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Lord, dancing and glorifying His name? The chances of that happening are highly unlikely. There is no doubt that when some people are confronted with serious challenges that they tend to develop an inadvertent distance between them and the Almighty. What I meant by this is that, the energy required to worship and reach out to God in most cases simply evaporated because of the psychological effect of the issues they were dealing with at the time. I remember when I was going through divorce with my ex-wife in Miami. I was so depressed and extremely sad because I had hoped the marriage would succeed, but was very dismayed when it did not work out. It is a common factor that when an individual is going through sickness or any form of severe illness that their ability to fight the devil or the enemy might not be as active as it should be. In fact, the biological scientist who studied “Human anatomy” will tell you that, there is a direct link that someone with good health will have a positive mindset. However, to connect to God and deploy your weapon against the enemy or whatever is holding you back, you need to exhibit a positive mindset. The Bible says: “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22). We cannot be down in our spiritual life, yet stayed down because we’re going through something. The word of God tells us: “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30), you need to be the “sound heart” today and get up and dust yourself off.

5. If you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. I remember when I was in college, I could not stand mathematics. I hated Math so much that I avoided it until I couldn’t anymore. Finally, my academic advisor told me that there was no other way, I had to take it because that’s the only

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way I would be able to graduate from college. Anyway, I finally enrolled in my first college Math course. A few days after I started that class, I emailed my academic advisor that I was dropping out of that class, so I did. Again, a couple of months later I enrolled again – and as usual I dropped out again. Finally, I prayed and asked God to help me through my math class that kept me from graduating from college. When I finally got the courage to re-register for the class again, it was this word of God that kept me going: “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day.” Habakkuk 2:3 (TLB). To God be the glory, when I finally finished with the Math class, I was so excited and happy because my grade was A minus – from anxiety and fretting to no grade and finally I finished in the top of the class. In looking back at that situation it strengthened my faith in God and His Word. The Bible says: “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV). I was able to overcome my fear because I trusted in God and I faced my fear, and at the end of the day, God won the battle and the devil was defeated. God said, “Behold, I am doing something new! It’s already happening; don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.” I thank God because he definitely cleared a way in my desert and I am positive He will do the same thing for you and your family.

Now that you have explored various spiritual ways to fight back, and defeat the Devil, by taking back all that he has stolen from you, it’s time for you to come to Him with this prayer. DECLARE: “Heavenly Father God, I ask that you coming into

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my life and honor your word by making, ‘Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth.’ I thank you, God, because you never cease to amaze me, indeed, you have allowed my praises to confuse the Devil and all my enemies – to you alone be the glory. Worthy, worthy, worthy is your name. I further ask you to cancel and nullify the spirit of sickness, diseases, poor health, anxiety, cancer, joblessness, alcoholism, debt, adultery, fornication and fear of going to the next level in my life. As of today and this moment, I DECLARE restoration and unconditional freedom from every negative thing that has held me hostage.” I agree with your declarations and I join my faith with yours today and as you read this book, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Phil 4:19.

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War Against the Devil • Femi Folorunsho

Chapter 3

Zero-in on areas of Concern, don’t let-up

On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) confirmed that a global pandemic of novel influenza

(H1N1) was ongoing. The “H1N1” is a respiratory virus that affects young and old, children and adults; some of the symptoms include: headache, chills, sore throat, fever, body aches, runny nose, etc. The virus was declared a pandemic because of its ability to spread rapidly. In fact, this same “H1N1” influenza in 1918 killed more than 500,000 people in the United States of America alone, according to World Health Organization.

Although, the government of the US and other advanced countries around the world set out aggressively to find a vaccine to this pandemic in 2009, as the going got tough, so does the tough gets going. In a nutshell, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention zeroed-in and refused to let-up in their mission to find a vaccine to neutralize the virus and cure the individuals affected. The reason why I brought this up is because I want to show you that, no matter what the Devil brought to your life, it might looks incurable or difficult to imagine but God already have a solution for it – just like the H1N1 pandemic that killed over 500, 000 people in 1918 in America at one point. In the book of Hebrews 13: 6 it reads: “So we say with confidence,”

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The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Always remember that whatever is coming your way and making you confused or scared will not defeat you or your spirit if you trust God to handle it for you.

I remember a few years back when my ex-wife left me with our two children; I was dismayed and seriously went into a state of confusion. I thought for sure I would never see them again, because the break-up happened outside the United States and I was almost certain there was no way the kids will remember me again – considering how my relationship ended with their mother while they were still very young. During the time of the incident, I had lost my job, my home and now my family. It’s true that when a person loses his or her family, it’s like being half dead, especially if your family is a part of your life and you were very close to them. As I went through this horrible divorce and the fact that I could not see my children, the whole experience weighed heavily on my mind for years. It was not until 2005, ten years later that my son located me and I was finally rejoined with both of my children in Colorado. The word of God says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT). This is a classic example of the way God works. Even though I had lost contact and I almost lost hope, I kept the faith and I was meditating and believing that one-day I would hear from them and that God would heal my relationship with their mother, so we can have peace. In looking back at the whole ordeal, I have to admit I almost lost hope, I was miserable, dismayed, discouraged and emotionally drained. But my mother always called me and encouraged me not to lose hope and that I need to put all my burdens on Him. She sometimes gives me different verses in the Bible to read and she basically kept me sane for those years while I was waiting on the lord’s miracle. If you remember that the whole ordeal happened outside the United States, but for some miraculous

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reason, my ex-wife got re-married to someone from Colorado and she relocated with her new husband and that’s how they ended-up in America, close to me. I am happy to say my areas of concern was never a concern for God, because He already designed a solution before I even have the problem. While I was busy getting worried, the Lord my God was busy working it out in my favor. I am worrying about my problem, He is working on my problem.

I was talking to a couple of my daughter’s friends one day about the need to pray and stay focused on the Lord. Thus, one of them asked me if I think the Devil really exists or it’s just a way to brainwash people. I first of all laughed before I answered the question. In explaining my point, I first quoted three different verses in the Bible to support my position that the Devil does exit: “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, which is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be set free for a short time.” Revelation 20:2, 3

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Peter 5:8 “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:23. Without a doubt, the word confirms that the Devil does exist, in fact we can expect anybody to be used as a Devil’s assistant – the person doesn’t have to have a red face and two horns on his or her head to act like the Devil. The Devil’s a liar and a manipulator, I told my daughter’s friend that the Devil is capable of using people that they would never thought he could. For instance, we’ve all heard about a person who disagrees sometimes during a discussion

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and one of them decided to take it even further by pulling out a gun and then shot and killed the other party. This example sounds a little bit extreme, but when the spirit of evil moves into someone, he or she becomes unable to control themselves and in such cases behave in the extreme. Yes, I have seen cases where a husband acted violently to his wife and vice versa for no apparent reason, if this is not some kind of a demonic attack, I don’t know what else is.

During my research for this book, I learned about the genesis of evil spirits and demons, especially how they can operate remotely without being physically present in their subject’s home or workplace. This is why it is extremely critical that you get covered and protected with the blood of Jesus Christ every day. The enemies are not playing around; they are well-organized and well connected when they want to take you out. The Bible describes evil spirits as fallen angels also known as demons. They subsist within the underworld, from their various dwellings they affect and afflict the human race. These demons can posses and use your best friend, father, mother, your bosses at work, boyfriend and or girlfriend, etc. The point I am trying to make is that, they have so much power that you need to be under the umbrella of the Holy Spirit in order to be a step ahead of them, and their evil plans in your life. Keep in mind that demons have the ability to think, reason and formulate a well-orchestrated plan against you if you allow them to do so. This is because they possess spiritual powers but chose to use it for evil and not for good. Just like we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and we can ask God our Maker to protect us from these demons and evil people. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to zero-in on your areas of concern in your life, don’t let up and don’t surrender and allow these merciless evildoers to steal your joy. You already have the word of God on your side, so use it. The Bible says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

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and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.” The demons and all their evil empires can run, hide, manipulate, lie, deceive and do whatever they do best; you faith should be strong, because your Father in Heaven will always see you through. He will never leave your or abandon you in the midst of your challenges, on the contrary He’s right there with you even when you can’t see Him. Thus, I am holding on to your word in Isaiah 54:15, “If anyone attacks you, don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them, And if any should attack, nothing will come of it.” This is so amazing knowing that, no mater what plans or attack your enemies formulate against you, it will not happen.

Recently when I dropped my son, Denzel off at school and I stuck around to thank the teachers, and that’s when we talked about the impact of Hip Hop music, rap music and general social changes affecting our children this days. One of the things this passionate mother expressed to me was the negative impact of Rap music, Hip Hop music, drug use, bullies at school, violence, the Internet and the almighty media; who can make or break our children’s minds. I think it is reasonable to suggest that, we all as parents need to make sure we stay involved in our children’s lives. We cannot and should not allow our kids to self-raise themselves because we’re too busy working or making money. I think the last thing we don’t want to do as parents is save money for bail and not for college for them. These are some of the things you can do as a parent or guardian to prevent the Devil from taking over your children’s life:

1. Teach your children the way of the Lord; make sure they read; learn the Bible and God’s way.

2. Cover them with the blood of Jesus. In other words, pray for them and with them daily.

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3. Encourage them always at all times, don’t just focus on the negative, but more on the positive.

4. Correct, advise, mentor and maintain an open heart, mind and always think outside the box when a situation arises.

5. Show them how to believe in themselves each day.

6. Allow them to be whom God has created them to be, don’t just command them every time to do something or what you want them to be. But rather, inspire them to do more for themselves.

7. Show them the value of your relationship with them; make sure they understand where you’re coming from when you’re not on the same page with them or during discussions.

8. Rebuke the devil when you think they’re following the wrong crowd or path.

9. Don’t just say no, but let your no includes reasons, it helps build trust and respect.

10. Put God first and everything else will follow.

While some of these tips might work for you and your family, some children respond to different parenting skills, different strokes for different folks. One-thing that has the power to work for all of us is the power of God, our heavenly Father is capable of reversing anything that seeks to attack, steal, kill and destroy our children. As we transition into the 21st century, many parents including myself had to step up our parental skills in the era of ipods, iphones, Facebook, MySpace, text messages, picture phones, Blackberries, etc. The point I am trying to make is that parents nowadays are confronted with heavy burdens to keep up with their children’s information technologies. It is harder now for parents to keep tabs on their children – nearly everyone has their own email address, with so much information being filters

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through various negative and in most cases demonic messages being channeled to our children without any parental control. If you as a parent want to help your kids make good decisions as they grow up or transition into adulthood, you must be involved in their life. In most cases, children don’t like when their parents start asking questions or looking around for facts about their activities in school or after school. Thus, in order to avoid your children being a problem for you, I think it is prudent that you take a proactive approach in their life by denying the Devil an opportunity to take over your children’s life.

As you read this book I want you to know that some people that you know and I know are not even aware they are being attacked by the Devil. Some blame their parents, their friends, their boyfriend or girlfriend and or their wife or husband for the pitfalls. In fact, the majority of the people in the world sometimes attribute failures to bad luck or that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. In reality, people in general don’t like to blame the Devil for some of the things that happen to them. My guess is it may sound ridiculous, if not insane to blame the Devil for attacking you and your family spiritually. The truth is, we sometimes give the Devil less credit, and that is what he likes. The more he penetrates you and your endeavors and injects pain without being detected, it is better for him. I think it is wise to assume that we have to stay close to God, particularly under His umbrella because there are so many ways that the Devil will try to use in order to attack us. However, the word of God assures us that, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” One-thing you need to keep in mind is, the Devil exists and the Bible made several references to his existence. Therefore, being naïve or pretending

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that the existence of the Devil or demons is a mirage would be contrary to being prudent. In light of existence of the power of darkness, I recommend that you do not focus on it but rather on your God, because His promise is that, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Our God is a merciful God, whatever you’re going through or you’re currently wrestling with in your life, He can fix it and you just have to trust Him enough to let Him handle the situation for you. For instance, if you work for a company and you want your Manager to promote you, you must be willing to do a good job or at least show your Manager or the owner that you’re worthy of a promotion. If you want God to solve any problem for you, first you need to ask Him or invite Him into your situation. Secondly, you need to ask for forgiveness of sins from present or prior mistakes. Remember, our God is Holy, and whoever invites Him must be willing to leave sins alone. God is light and the Devil is darkness, this mean doing things that are contrary to God’s commandments can and in most cases will lead you into problems. Therefore, the Devil will be glad that you’re disobeying God the Father who has been protecting you and your family from the Devil’s afflictions. For instance, let’s assume you’re a military officer, and you were given a specific code of conduct. So one-day, a friend of yours or someone you know tempted to go against that code of conduct. In other words, you violated your oath to the Military by doing something that is forbidden in the code of conduct. In all honesty, what do you think is going to happen to you once they find out that you violated your oath to them? As much as you’re part of the team, you’re still going to be held accountable for your action or inactions. One good thing about our God is, He loves you and regardless of whatever you’ve done, He’s a

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God of compassion and slows to anger. In His word in the book of Exodus 33:19, He declares: “And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on which I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on which I will have compassion.” Please pray the following prayer with me:

“Father God, have mercy on me and all my friends and family members. I know that you are a God that cares about the welfare of your children here on earth; please do not let any evil befall me and my nuclear family. Father God, give me peace of mind, so I can be able to worship you for the rest of my life. Thank you, because I know you have answered my prayer. I love you and I trust you with all my heart!”

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Chapter 4

Set-up a prayer Boot-camp

For speedy results

What is a boot-camp? A boot-camp is a military type facility where people go or are sent to in order to

receive initial, basic indoctrination, physical fitness training and basic instruction in service-related subjects for new recruits in the armed forces. This training in most cases consists of a short, intensive, quasi-military program generally aimed at providing well-grounded military techniques. A boot-camp type result has been proven to be effective, precise and intense. For instance, at the beginning of every New Year most people pledge a new resolution, which in some cases involves working out, losing weight or dieting, in order to get that perfect body they are looking for. However, it takes a lot of process in order to get the result they are looking for. In some cases, starvation, Atkin’s diet, Jenny Craig, Low carb, etc. My point is you basically put yourself on some sort of a strict diet in order to achieve your goal of that perfect size. The word of God says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh

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and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” To wage a war or multiple wars against any principalities in your life, you definitely need to take your fight to a whole new level. It’s not how quick can God rescue you out of all the things that have trouble you for years. The issue is how bad do you want your life to change for the better?

The book of Revelation Chapter 2 verse 10 says, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Sometimes, all it takes is for you to stand up against all that has enslaved you spiritually, it’s perfectly okay for you to declare and decree that today is the last day of all that has been making your life uncomfortable. Remember this as long as you live, the Devil does not have a new trick, he always uses the same old trick to oppress and steal things from people of God. You should not be so surprised that you’re going through whatever you go through at this point. In the Bible it says, “They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him.” Think about it this way, if the Devil is bold enough to “wage war” against our Lord, Jesus – how much more you and me. The devil in my spiritual opinion is a very determined, stubborn son of a gun. He doesn’t care about you and about whatever you’re going through. I have to say he delights in inflicting pain to people without any just-cause. This is why it is important for you to be under the coverage of God 24/7. You need to be a step ahead of the evildoers at all time. Just think about it this way, if you

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failed or refused to pay your auto insurance, that means your coverage will ultimately be either terminated or on hold. The insurance for a saint like you and me is our relationship with God, we must not let allow our coverage lapse or be canceled just because we fail to do what and what God expects of us.

Don’t forget that God is always ready and eager to help us in terms of need or simple things such as just being willing to talk to Him about the things going on or about to erupt in our life. The Bible says in the book of Deuteronomy 9:3 (NIV) “But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.” I know that occasionally if not often that you feel that nobody is hearing you or nobody cares. But such feelings in my view are a mirage, the Lord God knows your heart and He sees all that you and me are going through. I tell you, there is nothing like connecting with Him on a more spiritual level in order to get Him to answer you now. The Devil in his mini-power always wants us to think that God doesn’t care, or that He is not listening to us. In fact, some even go to the extent of saying there is no God, and that all these Good versus Bad is a man-made Hollywood type story-line; simply orchestrated in order to promote religion. Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.” As many people can imagine, when someone is described a “fool”, it means in my view someone who is either confused, naïve, a person who lacks good judgment and or someone that lacks wisdom. I guess my question to you is, why would anyone wants to be a fool? The answer is simple, because it’s the easy way out, or shall I say because the individual doesn’t want to be bothered with knowing the truth. Accepting

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something as fraudulent as not believing that God exists is like saying everyone on earth speaks the same language, and that the only thing different is their various dialects.

Please don’t accept such a miserable ideology to justify any desire to not acknowledge the author of life. However, it’s so strange to me and of course to most people because the same people, who think the existence of God is a mirage, also believe that evil exists. The word of God in the book of Psalms 14, verse 1-2 reads, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” Basically, what these verses are saying is that you can be ignorant and super-ignite as much as you want by denying the existence of God, it all comes down to your own mental state of mind. Because to deny something so real as God is to in essence think crazy.

Thus, if you look at this whole discussion of God does not exist train of thought, one needs to wonder if this is a ploy designed and orchestrated by the power of darkness. Perhaps the goal is to keep the individual from receiving their blessing or getting to the highest places that the Father as incorporated into their lives. Because from a common sense perspective, how would anyone ask someone to do something for them or pray to a God that you don’t think exists in the first place? If you don’t think your earthly father is there for you in the first place, how could you reach-out to him for help in times of distress? It makes sense because the Devil is always trying to manipulate the “weakest link” among us by creating an illusion in their mind of something that is either not real or far out of the norm. If you noticed, I mentioned the “weakest link” among us. This is because most Christians, especially the ones with the gift of the Holy Spirit know there is a war going on in the spiritual realm

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and not everyone believes there is a Devil – thus making them easy prey. Because if they understand the gravity of the War that we’re embroiled in with Satan, I think most people who are going through things will pray more and come closer to God. The last thing the enemy wants is for their opponent to know everything about them and their schemes. In a more detailed explanation, the Apostle Paul was prudent when he described in the book of Ephesians 6:10-20, how he basically gave us the framework on how to dismantle the Devil’s plans in our lives. He also warned us that the only weapons we can discharge against Satan are weapons that are already provided and sanctioned by God the Father. He further explains that, failure to utilize these arsenals will constitute a hopeless situation or become an exercise in futility.

Here is what Apostle Paul was referring to in the book of Ephesians as mentioned earlier: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the entire Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak,

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words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

There is an old adage which jokingly says: If you want to dine with the Devil, you must first get yourself a very long feeding spoon.” In other words, you need to stay far away from things that can potentially hurt you and derail your plans. Your prayer and the power of God’s protection on your life is that long spoon as a symbolic gesture that no weapon formed against you will materialize because you’re out of harm’s way and under the blood of the Lamb.

Over time I have had people ask me, what war? They proclaimed that they are not fighting any war and that they don’t really understand the purported “spiritual warfare” that I have been speaking about. They went and say, I know I served in the Vietnam War, the Korean War and recently some stated the Gulf War but none of these wars were spiritual warfare. This is because these made-man wars are not spiritual warfare, they are wars of choice. Various governments of different countries fighting over things of this world, such as money, oil, natural resources, political power, etc. This is because the Bible recalled that this Warfare commenced long before the creation of Adam and Eve. Wherein Satan rebelled against God according to the book of Isaiah 14:12-14 reads:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” It is evident from reading these verses that the Devil wanted to be like God and also take over the

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Lord’s power and possessions. In fact, the Devil made a debut appearance in the Garden of Eden when he camouflaged himself as a snake in order to manipulate, steal and destroy Adam and Eve’s joy in the all you can eat “buffet” Garden with no stress that God built for them and their generations. The Spiritual warfare being mentioned in this book relates to afflictions, such as tremendous distress and a painful lifestyle due to the actions the Devil in the individual’s life. Just for the sake of it, here are different definitions for afflictions by various dictionaries:

What are afflictions?

Answers: • Pain, disease, or something that bothers you.• Difficult and frustrating aspect like a square or

opposition.• Condition of suffering or distress due to ill health• State of great suffering and distress due to adversity

As you all can see from looking at the above captioned definition, these are not something that anyone should be subjected to, yet these are the things the Devil wants for us – because in his mind he thinks that he’s competing with God. So now that you know what we’re dealing with in this world, how do we protect ourselves from being a victim of the Devil’s schemes? First, well I hate to tell you this but our mission is not to attack Satan but rather our mission is defensive. We have an offensive supernatural Father called Jesus Christ, His job is to knock him out cold and send him back to the lake of fire. In the meantime, we need to be able to resist him and not destroy him. We also need to pray for the mother of all grace so as to withstand all his attack, and come out without any harm done

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Chapter 4 • Set-up a prayer Boot-camp

to us and our children’s. As you go through various challenges in your lives, always keep this in mind, Revelation 12:10-11 which reads as follows:

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Regardless of whatever is going on in our lives today and whatever will happen tomorrow, always have this faith, God is in control and He will never allow the Devil to give you or put you through what you cannot handle. Pray and put all of your problems on God’s to do list and He will take care of it so far as you have faith in Him. The book of Exodus 14 verse 10 says: “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

I am 120% positive that the Egyptians that you see today in your life, job, marriage, children, household, finances, business and health will be gone by the power of God, but you need to have faith and do not surrender to whatever is charging towards you and your family. All the negative provoking thoughts that keep emerging in your mind, all the bad dreams and counter-negative thoughts that keep taking over your spirit need to cease and desist.

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War Against the Devil • Femi Folorunsho

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Chapter 5 • Secure your spiritual perimeter

Chapter 5

Secure your spiritual perimeter and deprive the

enemy of information.

I am sure you’ve heard the following words before somewhere, somehow: “Information is the key.” The word

information is described as: “Knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news: information concerning circumstances.” I think it’s fair to say that it’s hard for someone who knows absolutely nothing about your past and present to begin spreading rumors about your past transgressions. If that happens it probably means that they got the information through someone or some sort of information archives like gossip websites or other mischievous third party systems. The point I am trying to make here is to allude to the fact that it is more challenging for someone who doesn’t know anything about you to attack you and your character, or as we say in the South, put you on blast. Basically the information an individual provided or leaked inadvertently are what people use to either judge the individual or to spread lies or truth about them. When you decide to tell everybody your business, just keep in mind that you never know where the information is going to end up, which city, state, counties, country and

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even planets hypothetically speaking. That is why it is vital for individuals to control what he or she decides to dispense about their lives because you can easily open yourself up for spiritual attacks. There have been times when we’re just feeling good after receiving good news about a job, possible promotion, or a potential new relationship that has marriage tendencies. So we decided to get on our cell phone or email and start telling the whole world before the issue is fully materialized – and soon we come to find out that half of the people we called friends are truly enemies hiding behind a mask.

One of the greatest attacks anyone can inflict on themselves is a self-inflicted wound, something that you caused to yourself by yourself without the enemy’s intervention, because you’re super-excited and you couldn’t keep your progress in a “down low mode.” When you allow negative people to know your plans and where you’re going in life, there is a possibility you might create a roadblock for yourself. The information that you share inadvertently with people in some cases will end-up being the very information that is used against us – without a doubt it’s always good to watch what you share about your life with people who can hurt you or use any opportunity to take you down. I am not saying we should be distrusting of everybody, but you do need to be prudent when you decide to tell the whole world everything about yourself.

When I was growing up my father always reminded me to keep some things about yourself private and let it stay private. You really don’t know what people do with all the information about you that you’re sharing with them until you both have a fallout someday. As one man once put it, you really don’t know people until you fight with them. In essence, some people fight mild, while others fight hard, nasty and dirty. Here is an interesting verse regarding hate, Proverbs 26: 24-26 TLB “A man

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Chapter 5 • Secure your spiritual perimeter

with hate in his heart may sound pleasant enough, but don’t believe him; for he is cursing you in his heart. Though he pretends to be so kind, his hatred will finally come to light for all to see.” Some people are prone to evil; they are quick to line up behind devilish deeds in an attempt to destroy innocent people, especially when they know a lot of not so positive things about you. This is one of the reasons why it’s important that you deprive, deny and put a stop to certain confidential information that you’re sharing with the evildoers. You can rest-assured that one day, if care if not taken, they will use that very information against you and your family when you least expect it. I remember when Facebook first came out, a lot of people posted all their clean and dirty laundry for the whole world to see. They then complained about not being able to get a good job or their boyfriend of several years all of a sudden decided it’s time to break up the relationship.

Let me tell you about at least one negative thing concerning the use of Facebook as a tool 24/7 to communicate everything that is going on in your life. There are always people out there who collect all of this information and then take time to filter it and see what is there to use against you. Many marriages, relationships and several jobs have been lost due to negative information that was either detected about an individual or was forwarded to the HR department or some other entities to damage other people. Always remember this point, the Devil is not a physical being, but rather a spirit, which through his power can go into people and make them do crazy things such as hating on people for no reason or becoming envious. The craziness also includes back-stabbing, spreading false rumors about people and just being out to kill and destroy people because they cannot stand their success or the glory of God in their lives.

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It was Joseph who created a big headache for himself according to the book of Genesis 37:9. “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.” The moment he told his brothers about his dream regarding the “sun and the moon and the eleven stars” bowing to him, that was it for his brothers. Just look at it this way, some things you don’t need to advertise yourself and all your accomplishments to the entire world; there are those among us who delight in taking good people down. Your mouth is a very important part of your spiritual being, it’s advisable for you to keep it in check, because if you don’t there are those who want to see you cry. You have to look at it from the enemy’s point of view. If they have nothing on you, they’re not about nothing, and to see you excelling and about to take over the city is too much for them to handle. Thus, they already are getting ready to find anything and everything that will be detrimental to you and your endeavors.

This chapter is to help you develop your tolerance for self-control, especially when it comes to telling everyone, everything about your life and things that the Devil can turn around later in life by using that very information against you. It is impossible for another human being to know what’s going on your mind or what’s you’re thinking -- except when you decided to share that information with that individual. However, there are certain information and secrets, on progress that is currently unfolding in your life that you need to keep under wraps until they materialize. Have you ever heard the saying: “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”? I say you can count your chickens in your head or mind, but don’t do it out in the open, where others have no chicken or nothing else to count. Keep this in mind as well, there is a reason why Proverbs 18:21 says: “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” For

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example, when a crime is committed and a police officer arrests the suspect, the first thing the officer will offer to the suspect is his/her right to remain silent and that anything he or she says, might be used against the individual in a Court of law. In fact, in the United States of America, this very right to remain “silent” is called: “Miranda Rights.” Remaining silent during a criminal probe is probably the best thing to do, depending on your lawyer’s advice. However, the police in some cases will try to make it seem like you’re not cooperating even though they just advised you of your legal rights. In that case, the next thing a prudent suspect wants to do is ask for Jesus, sorry, I mean your lawyer. Because by asking for your lawyer you in essence are saying to the investigator or the police officers, I need legal representation because I don’t want to incriminate myself without the help of someone with legal sophication.

Now, let’s come back to the spiritual discussion relative to war against the Devil. You see, there will always be times when plenty of opportunities present themselves for you to share detailed and intimate information about yourself with both friends and foes. And, because you don’t think they can (or will) do anything harmful with this information you go ahead and release it. Well, let me just say that it’s always good to get advice from people who have been a victim of the very things you’re trying to share with people without any safeguards or restrictions. As powerful as information is known to be, it is only powerful because you allowed yourself to become part of the pattern. It would have been much wiser if you had decided to use restraint when you talked about your marriage, your children, job, and school, managers at work, promotions, financial obligations, debts, and health issues. Thus, I don’t think you will fall for the usual enigma that comes with this problem. You can prevent a lot of mess by preventing the type of mess that you

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share with people, because the Devil and his lieutenants operate on information. Part of your defense against them is to deprive them of it.

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Chapter 5 • Secure your spiritual perimeter

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Chapter 6

REVOLUTION! Strike the enemy unexpected.

There is nothing wrong with claiming what has been taken or stolen from you unlawfully by the enemy. In

the book of Matthew 11:12 it reads: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” No one is suggesting that you start fighting or inciting violence because of Matthew 11:12, but what this verse is suggesting in my view is that there comes a point when you have to be willing to fight for whatever you so desire. What’s interesting about this verse is how another interpretation of the same verse appeared to buttress my point.

(Wuest Expanded Translation) described - Matthew 11:12 this way: “Indeed, from the days of John the Baptizer until this moment, the kingdom of heaven is being taken by storm and the strong and forceful ones claim it for themselves eagerly.” One thing everyone needs to know is that God is all knowing, all powerful, and He will never allow any person or angel to take His kingdom by storm or by force unless He approved it. Sometimes all it takes is for us to speak to our storm or in some cases take back everything the Devil has taken or stolen from us. One-thing is certain about the Devil and that is when he wants to take something from people, he doesn’t ask for it, he

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just takes it. In fact, his weapon of choice is “force.” Thus, my question for you is, why would you not want to also use force to take something that he took from you to being with? The Devil’s mind-frame is warped and he has many strikes against him, and the most common is, he’s not all-knowing like God, he’s also not all powerful like our Father in heaven. Also, he only relates to “messed-up” situations and chaos.

Nevertheless, we have to be at alert all the time, we cannot oversleep and refuse to pray and make a close connection with our commander in Chief, God Almighty the Creator of heaven and earth. Also, we must do our job when we run into bad situation, we must continue to have faith and discredit the Devil at all cost – don’t give him any credit or satisfaction. Historically, God did not completely destroy the Canaanites, He simply allowed His people to fight them and He later sent an angel to take the enemies down. The battle is for God and not for you to worry about and want to handle it by yourself without inviting God into your situation. This is a spiritual warfare and we need to be fully clothed with the armor of God and stand ready to fight the enemy in concert with God on our side. Also, we must stay away from sin and sinful deeds if we want to even attempt to fight or wage war against the enemies. It will be a grave mistake if we decided to underestimate the Devil and his lieutenants’ capability, because according to 1 Peter 5:8 states as follows: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” This is interesting to know, because most people I know work all day and they come home and relax, and in most cases they have weekends off to relax and spend time with their families. Obviously the Devil doesn’t relax nor does he play around, he’s out every day “like a lion and looking for someone to devour.”

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Wow! This is exceptionally disturbing because the only other people that most of us can think of that “prowl” around are hunters – who of course are looking for something to kill and devour. Let’s think about it this for a second; do you know how many people the Devil will catch or devour as he prowls around 24/7 and every day non-stop? That’s why we can never let our guard down for a minute, because he’s always watching and looking for someone to kill or destroy. The Devil as I understand does not rest or relent, he’s always on the go, looking and investigating the people of God in order to create chaos in our lives. I want you to keep this in mind, the Devil is synonymous with pain and suffering or anything that represents upside down. That’s one of the reasons why you need to be a prayerful family, one that comes close to God and make yourself be within His merciful hand’s reach. You might be upset at your Pastor, the people in your church, the choirs at the church, but be prudent and leave God the Almighty out of your list of “temper tantrums.” It’s like getting upset or mad at your Security details and you don’t want to have anything to do with them. The question here is - who is going to protect you if and when you’re faced with dangerous situations or people?

Seven spiritual showdowns that you can use in order to raise counter-insurgency against the Devil:

1. Investigate the source of your problem and draw a plan to counter attack. You can do this by first asking God for direction on how to proceed. Don’t retreat, when you’re tired, always go back and attack the problem with prayers and in some cases depending on the severity of your circumstances include fasting and meditating on the word of God non-stop. Desperate times call for desperate measures, the Devil is a very stubborn adversary, so you need to get down and dirty with him.

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2. Refrain from procrastination. There is something you need to do today in order to move yourself forward, don’t put it off and think that it’s going to get done if you don’t make time for it. Some things will not change unless we find time to change them. If it’s going back to school in order to complete your degree, then you need to make it happen so you can finally leave your current dead end job, etc The oldest trick in the Devil’s book is “Procrastination.” He knows full well that we have things to do, family to attend to and occasionally other priorities to devote our attention to, so he uses the game of procrastination to throw a little “monkey wrench” into our plans. You need to be determined, resilient and don’t take no for an answer until you achieve your goals according to Roman 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Sometimes all it takes is for you to show some determination and courage in order to overcome what is coming at you and your family.

3. Be mindful of deception methodologies. Remember, throughout human history, we’ve been told that the Devil does not have any new tricks, but he is master of deception and games. Remember the lesson learned in the book of Genesis 3: 2:5, which reads: “The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” For example, you have people in your life telling you or advising you to quit your marriage or your job because it’s bad. These same people

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quite often are facing even greater challenges in their own personal lives but they want to be the first person to advise you. The Devil is a liar!

4. Be prepared at all times, don’t just let yourself go. There have been times in our life when we are confronted with so much. However, this does not mean that we just give-up and let our situation consume us. The Devil is good at telling us that we cannot win because the odds of winning are slim to none. This is when you need to take your Bible and read the word of God and do what Jesus did in the book of Matthew 4:10. “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” This is a powerful proclamation that can and should be used as a weapon against those crazy thoughts in your mind that keep steering towards negativity and powerlessness along with a feeling of self-doubt.

5. Get your spiritual guns and ammunition ready with your hand on the trigger. In order to win a war, you must be ready to use your weapon. Thus, some people find it hard to pray or even dance and do praise worship in church or outside church. Your guns against the Devil are not physical guns but rather prayers and worship to God the Almighty. Our God is the only one who never sleeps or slumbers according to the Bible. Therefore, anytime we call Him, He never fails. I admit He might not come when we want Him but trust me, He only shows up when we least expect it.

6. You must have balance. One of the greatest atrocities an individual can incite themselves is the inability to have balance when you’re going through something in your life. To have faith is good, but to have “balance” is

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even better. You see, King David according to the Bible had several balanced royal guides who were known as “David’s men.” The Bible tells us that these men were so balanced, which also means that they were not afraid of anything coming at them. They were confident, strong and resilient with a strong conviction to win every war that was before them. There are times in our life that we must remain unmoved by whatever surrounds us.

7. Leadership traits. A part of the reason why you’re going through what you’re going through now might be because God wants to use your situation to create a breakthrough for others. It takes someone with leadership skills to recognize that being here on earth is not about you and me; it’s about the glory of God. Therefore, we owe everything to Him and to Him only. Whatever comes our way must leave the same way at one point or the other – nothing stays the same forever.

As you prepare to fight the enemies at all corners of your spiritual life, I would like you to keep in mind that the fight may appear unwinnable, tedious, risky, scary, with no end in sight and deadly. Just stay focused and keep calling on Him, praising Him and meditating on His word. There is no battle without a fight; there is no going to the next level without patience. When you give something to God to help you with, you just need to trust Him that He will deliver and that He always does things at His own timeframe. He is not under any rules made by humans or government or a Monarchy. He said in His word in Psalm 50:10 that, “For every beast of the forest are mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” God owns everything and there is nothing hidden or clandestine to Him about the world He

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created. Therefore we cannot allow the Devil and his lieutenants to steal, kill and destroy our destiny when the author of our life the Father God is the ultimate decider of our fate.

I remember a situation involving a friend of mine and a government employee one time; she had requested certain benefits and this employee instead of helping her with her application became a stumbling block. My friend was very frustrated and really didn’t know what to do. I am sure most of you reading this book have had some types of similar experience, where some people who are decision-makers tended to be the very people who stood in your way to success or greatness. This is a fact of life, there are many people out there even in our own family that do not wish you and me well. This is disturbing because some people will just hate to see you succeed, while others just can’t stand the fact that God is with you and gave you favor. What do you do in this case? Pray for them, hold your peace, watch your back, read your Bible and ask God to give your 24/7 protection against all enemies both foreign and domestic.

The domestic ones are your closest friends, the ones in your family that you call every time you needed to vent, but you did not realize they are not your supporters but rather a sworn enemy. The foreign enemies are the ones at your job, place of worship, doctor’s office, restaurants and any and all places where you only go for specific reasons and or temporary locations that you frequent for one reason or the other. When you meet new people, I recommend that you listen to your heart, pay attention to detail, and don’t ignore what your heart is saying to you about that person. Remember that we don’t have a mirror to look at people’s future or their past other than what they reveal to you and me. One thing that is certain about Christians is that the Holy Spirit will always intervene when you’re about to make a mess, but all you need to do is listen to that voice inside you

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to guide you. Don’t be fooled, there are lots of people out there for whom their mission in life is to pull other people down; they sometimes go out of their way to destroy innocent people without just cause. The book of Luke 21:36 reads: “Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”

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Chapter 7 • Approach with Extreme Caution

Chapter 7

Approach with Extreme Caution, don’t fall

for the lies.

Here is some advice for you: please do not underestimate the power of a sworn enemy, the Devil. Allow me

to repeat myself again: “Warning...approach with extreme caution.” Are you serious, why do you want to tell everybody your business? Remember that the enemy most of the time operates on information, so when you decided to tell the whole workplace your marriage problem or your dissatisfaction with your bosses and the way he or she manages you, what did you expect to happen? Once the same people you told about your boss not being a good manager went back and told the boss what you’ve been saying about him or her, what happened? Oh, let me guess, you expect to get a promotion or a better position? Of course not, a pink slip maybe or the boss will now take you as someone who does not like him or her. Be careful when you open your mouth or the type of conversation you have with people, because the same people might decide to just throw you under the bus. If you don’t known an individual well enough and think

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they’re capable of that, then I suggest there is no reason why you should be telling that person sensitive information about your life that might come back and haunt you the next day.

In the book of Genesis 37:9, a young man by the name of Joseph was almost destroyed by his brothers when he told them his dreams. Joseph said, “Listen, I have had another dream, he said.”The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!.” In looking back at what happened to Joseph after he revealed his various dreams to his brothers, his brothers grew angry. “Who do you think you are? You’re not a king! There is no way any of us would ever bow down to you!” Guess what, they plotted against him, wanted to kill him, and he was eventually sold into slavery. How many Josephs are out there reading this book right now? Some people had a conversation with the HR manager or the President of the company about a possible promotion or a higher level opportunity, the next thing they did after the conversation was to call a Town Hall meeting to tell the whole world about their possible opportunity. Keep in mind that favor ain’t fair, some people are in a dry season and you started telling them about the blessing and the rainy season in your life. Things are not always equal and some people cannot fathom the fact that God decided to bless other people around them, whereas they’ve been waiting for a glance of hope and it has not showed up yet.

There are different types of people in this world, there are those that are happy to see others succeed, and there are those that pray for others to be successful and overcome their adversities. Yet, there are many people who only delight in seeing others fall flat on their face. In fact, when they notice that you’re hanging on a thread and not yet down on the ground, they will look for ways to help the process go smoothly. As a Christian, it’s important that you watch, listen and be careful before you

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declare victory when all is going good for you and your family. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Declaring victory is not the issue, but when and where and with whom you decide to share your victory dance with. Recently, I was watching the news and I heard a story of a celebrity couple who just gave birth to beautiful twin babies. While they were in the comfort of their home celebrating and giving thanks to the Lord for such an amazing gift, suddenly, someone went and called “Child Protective Services” against the mother alleging that she was seeing drinking alcohol and taking pain medication while breast-feeding. But it was later discovered that the complaint made against the twin’s mother was a “fake” without any merit. This is a clear example how someone takes time to watch other people day-in and day-out. They will check your Facebook and report your postings to Human Resources, they will Google your name to see if anything negative came up so they can tell your job or your boyfriend or girlfriend. The business of hating on other people is a multi-trillion dollar business and its still growing every day, with no frontier and of course it transcends race and gender.

Someone once asked me to explain why people hate others so much, so I began by using a metaphor to describe hate in a human being’s mind. For example, the spirit of hate in most cases is something people cannot control; it’s like people who smoke marijuana according to my research. Here are some of the symptoms that a typical marijuana smoker experiences: “Some people feel nothing at all when they smoke marijuana. Others may feel relaxed or high. Sometimes marijuana makes users feel thirsty and very hungry - an effect called ‘the munchies.’ Some users can get bad effects from marijuana. They may suffer sudden feelings of anxiety and have paranoid thoughts.” Now

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you see that different people who hate you and your successes and plotting to do you harm are really not themselves. In fact, they are blinded by their thought towards you and I that they cannot fathom or even think that God made all of us in His own image.

Here’s another example that might blow your mind about the length the enemies would go to prove their point. I have heard stories of people who work at a company. Some people in the same company don’t have any real speaking relationship with other employees at work or outside work other than a “good-morning” and “good-night” co-worker type of relationship. Yet these people take the time to keep a journal on you and all of your activities at work. When you come to work, when you leave for lunch, how long you were on the phone and who called you and how much time you were promoted or whether or not you received good feedback. The funny part is, they are not your superiors, manager or direct report but rather a “hater” who wants to see you go down and lose your job and your career, so they could laugh and rejoice.

“But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’” Matthew 15:18:

When The United States of America was attacked by Osama Bin Laden, there was no justification for what he and his terrorist followers did by killing all those innocent people in New York and elsewhere in America, except that Bin Laden hated America and our way of life. This man never really cared about Islam and any Islamic related conversions, as many had suggested after listening to some of his recorded messages to the West. For Osama bin Laden it was all about hate and all of his efforts to destroy the West. There is no way anyone could have reasoned

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with him and his lieutenants. Because this man already had his mind made up and was ready to attack us in the West for no other apparent reason, other than hate and envy of our way of life in concert with a free and open society. For a rational person it was hard to understand how a man could deceive recruits and execute a sophisticated and well-orchestrated plan to destroy other human beings on the basis of hate and jealousy. If you ask me these questions, my response is yes, it is possible and in fact it’s happening right now in various people’s lives as you read this book. At least the United States of America was well aware of Osama bin Laden and his intentions. The majority of us are not privileged with knowing who our enemies are, and what they are planning against us. It is somewhat easy to be watchful or have a counter-defense strategy against a well-known enemy, but on the flip side, how do you defend or plan a counter-defense against any enemy that you’re not even aware exists?

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12

The most dangerous enemy is that whose existence an individual is not even aware of. In most cases, that person ends up telling all their private and most important information to enemies that you considered friend. An individual approached me one day and asked that I pray for him, because he was going to a meeting with his manager today and that he might be

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terminated from his job. I asked him why, and at first he said it was a long story but I said, “I have all day.” He began by telling me that a few days earlier he had just been playing and making fun of his manager and posted some funny goofy things about him on his own Facebook page. For some strange reason someone from his page forwarded a copy of his posting to his job HR and they called him in for interrogation and possible disciplinary action. According to him, the strangest thing is that his Facebook page is a private well-protected page that only included a very few people on list friends list. How did this joke got out and make its way to his job? How was this possible, he asked, even though nobody from his job was listed on his Facebook page, and this was not a public site that everyone has access to? My response to him was, never post anything that you think might cause you a headache now or in the future, you never know who is really your friend when it all comes down to it. Some people hang around you because they are waiting and watching for your downfall, while some are purely good and kind hearted friends.

It’s always good to remember that anybody is capable of smiling and hanging out and helping you spend your money, but not everyone will be there with you when the cash stops coming in or when you’re in the hospital with poor health.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

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There are many people in this world who have zero love for themselves --- much less anybody else around them. They are so into planning and causing other people pain that their whole daily operation is to take somebody down and make others around them suffer for no reason other than hatred and jealousy. I hate to say it but there are people you cannot change, convince or help them to leave evil alone. You just have to cover yourself with the blood of Jesus!

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Chapter 8 • Avoid sleeping with the enemy

Chapter 8

Avoid sleeping with the enemy; be careful who

your friends are!

While I was writing this book, I paused to look up the definition of “enemy” from a dictionary perspective,

and this is what I got: “a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent; enemy; foe.” I heard a story of this young man who works for a retail store. One-day, he ran into this lady at work and they automatically became friends. They went out to lunch, dinner and occasionally to different places to have fun. Though their relationship began on a platonic level, before they knew it they started seeing each other. One thing led to another and they became really involved. The lady was a bit possessive and very jealous. However, the young man still thought he could handle the situation. But by the time they had spent a couple of months together, the lady had gathered enough information on the young man that it could be damaging to him should he decide to leave her one day or tell her he’s not interested anymore.

To make a long story short, they were spending time together one-day and the young man fell asleep. The lady pretended as if she was sleeping as well but after a while, she went through the guy’s wallet and copied all his driver’s license information plus

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other personal information. She then passed that information to her male friend, who was a police officer, to dig up anything they could find on this young man. Anyway, it just happened the guy was going through a legal matter that was pending in court and the young lady passed the information to their manager when the guy broke up with her. The guy was let go on a fake charge that he did not pay for $4 dollars worth of oil from the store. Literally, the guy became a victim of trusting and literally sleeping with the enemy. He in turn fought back and hired a high powered attorney to sue the retail giant. The girl thought she had him cornered, but the grace of God liberated him at the end of the day. The story is a classic example of how people will go to any length to bring other people down, because of whatever motive they might have in their mind. Just remember this, when an enemy sets out to destroy an innocent person, they do not care about the color of your skin, your political affiliations, your family ties and your financial status. They are like a roach, when a roach is ready to attack a place they could care-less what you think about them or the risk factor – they will still infest your domicile and leave their nasty droppings on the floor. The enemies are just like roaches, no matter how you tried to clean them out of your house, they have a slick way of coming back and in large numbers. It’s not a secret that you cannot kill all of them, but you can prevent them from destroying your rooms or house by using various types of disinfectants, effective and well thought preventive measures to deter these roaches from coming back to your dwelling place.

“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.”

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I have yet to see or hear testimony from anybody who can declare that they have successfully exterminated all the bad people in this world or in their individual lives. They might have been able to avoid and prevent the Devil from taking over their lives, but to totally declare that you have successfully destroy all the evil people would be a joke. The world by design is full of the good, the bad and the ugly type individuals who have no respect for other people’s life or their good fortunes. When the enemy strikes, you need to strike back with the strongest and most compelling spiritual ways, by all means necessary; we must get radical in our prayers and take their threatened strike as a declaration for war.

“Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.”

Here are some radical ideas that you can incorporate into your life in order to win the war against the enemy:

• Put God first in all your ways, and no weapon formed against you will materialize.

• Always go with your heart, if your mind keeps nagging you about something, trust your heart; that’s where God resides.

• Be brave, it’s not a smart move to always show that you know everything, the enemy can use your smartness against you.

• Never let a day go by without talking to God about whatever is on your mind, this is another way to be a step ahead of the enemy.

• You need to know who you’re in disagreement with, what if anything is this individual capable of doing if it all comes down to it.

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One of the most effective ways to deal with an enemy is to be FOCUSED on your own business, and whatever else you enjoy doing. Enemies are like an individual throwing temper tantrum when they don’t get their way. By focusing on your own affairs, you have basically eliminated the negative energy the situation tries to inject your mind with. If the enemy is fortunate enough to have access to your mind, they will control how you think, laugh, eat, sleep, work, write and of course pray to God. Your mind is that glue that holds your body and soul together; you cannot and must not allow negative people access to it. For example, when a pilot allows unauthorized individuals into the cockpit of a plane, they basically leave both the plane and all of the passengers vulnerable to attack. Just as it would be rather strange, if not dangerous to let a strange person into your home that poses a threat or has the potential to harm your family.

I was talking to a very liberal friend one-day and we were talking about friends and how they can make you or break you. The friend said, “Well I trust all my friends and I share everything with all of them.” That’s’ probably not a very good idea, because every person that you and I consider a best friend, also has a best friend, or someone else that considers them a best friend. Therefore, when a conversation concerns something that is secret in nature, or shall I say private matter, it basically puts every individual in with a “best friend” status in a compromising position. Think about it, what will happen if any of the so-called best friends asked the individual any question about what you just told them that was considered a secret or private? I think because of their obligations to their best friend who is asking the question at the time; they might be obligated to reveal your purported secrets to another so-called, “best friend.” So what do you do to avert situations like I just described? First, it’s always a good idea to have different types of friends. There are some friends that are only meant to be a business or work associate,

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some are social and hanging-out friends, while others can be spiritual and close knit heart to heart type friendships. Never mix your private business with people or friends you cannot trust, by so doing you might be opening yourself up.

Do not be misled: “Bad Company corrupts good character.”

The definition of a good friend is someone that looks out for your best interest, someone who is not always judging, slicing and analyzing everything you say and do. He or she is someone who is open and honest, and doesn’t just tell you what you want to hear but rather what is a good and honest opinion that comes from the heart. A best friend does not back-stab their friends but rather stands firmly like a rock behind them. A good friend is not selfish towards their friends during challenging times; they in fact offer to help with no pre-conditions. There are so many people with these qualities but sometimes, the spirit of jealousy, insecurity and hatred makes it impossible for some people to do the right thing. The Devil is a liar.

In looking at our world today based on what goes on, and how the Devil has taken over many people and families’ lives, I have to agree with the warning of Apostle Paul when he wrote this letter to the Romans long ago:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

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of God” Ephesians 6:11-17Now we know why Paul insisted that we, “Put on the

whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”, because Paul knew what the Devil is capable of. Because those who fail to protect against his attacks will eventually be subjected to his attacks at the end of the day. By accepting Paul’s recommendations, it is essential that any individual looking for God’s protection takes the time to first accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, and that He died for your sins. Secondly, without a doubt, such declaration of faith and acceptance automatically puts pressure on the Devil. He now knows that the blood of Jesus protects you. This is a message to the Devil that says: Do not approach me! The Declaration by itself is like having a police officer stand guide in front of your house in order to prevent it from being burglarizing or any other bad things from happening to you and your family. I can assure you that, the presence of a police officer in front of anybody’s house 24/7 is enough to deter any bad people from approaching your building. Also, let’s not forget that, to be born again also creates a bond between you and Jesus Christ, that’s in and of itself is an everlasting covenant of the Father and the Son. Finally, having invited Jesus into your life is important, but it is also important to keep in close communication with God with all your heart, mind, body and soul. God was so generous that He allowed His only Son to die for us, so that we can be saved, and the Devil has no authority over our lives or the enemy’s attacks.

“God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

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The only weapon the Devil has is to attack, and the only weapon you have through your Father in Heaven is to counter-attack. We as a Christian and people of God have been given all authority to bind, loose and cast way. If there is a problem in your life today, trust me, there is also a solution for it – you just need to keep going until you find the solution. There is nothing in life that we humans cannot overcome.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

If the book of Genesis 1:26 is correct, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” The last time I checked, the Devil is “creeping” around on earth trying to take us down. God said: “Let us make man in our image”, that by itself is enough for anyone to stay up all night thanking God for His mercy and love. The reason why God made us in His “likeness” is because He wants us to be like Him, to have power to bind, loose and destroy any and all evil things that come our way. The only problem is that the majority of us do not understand being in the likeness of God the Father. Let’s look at a simple example, even in our various lives, when one of our children looks like us or resembles us, we tend to notice the resemblance which in most cases leads us to have special love for that child. The same thing applies to God the Father, our Creator. He loves us so much and the Devil finds that hard to fathom. When I was working in the

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corporate section, I always make sure I look my best, dress well, shoes polished, smell nice, wear good ties and of course carry myself with the utmost royalty. However, many people who were considered my “Haters 101”, at the time talked about me all day long, they sometimes would say things like: Who does he think he is? He’s only a manager and he acts like the CEO, why does he drive a Benz to work, he never brings his lunch and always eats out during lunchtime, why this why that, etc.”

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

As far as I am concerned, I really don’t care what the enemy says or feels about me. The only feelings that I was concerned about at the time were what God feels about me, and what I feel about myself. Over the years I have learned that the greatest negativity anyone can harbor against themselves is whatever negativity you believe in your heart about yourself. You see, a bad people or evil people are like a bad song or music, if you continue to listen to a bad song or a not so good musical tone, if you listen to it long enough, before you know it you will start to nod to the tone.

Here is a Declaration for you to make:

“The enemy cannot tell me who I am, because I know who I am. I am the Child of God, the most precious and loving, understanding, magnificent, adorable, important, Presidential, Royalty, and of course best of the best that God ever made.

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“I am unconventional and that’s why the Devil doesn’t understand me because I supersede all his games and expectations and all his attacks and counter-attacks. I am the only one at home but yet scared of myself; I am as good as God makes them. I am not afraid of what the enemy is planning next, rather my enemies should be scared and terrified of what I am going to do next because I bear the mark of Christ, and anything I touch turns to success.”

“Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”

I am here to stay in good health and live long with prosperity; I am not going anywhere. My enemies can either deal with it or keep moving!

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Chapter 9 • Pivotal moment: God or the Devil

Chapter 9

Pivotal moment: God or the Devil, who brought this on?

The best thing anyone can do for him or herself is to get knowledge. The Bible says: ““When a mocker is punished,

the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.” You will be surprised that not everything that happens to a person negatively comes from the hands of the Devil, some things are meant to take you to the next level.

It’s not a mirage that human beings love to blame either God or the Devil for various things that go wrong in our life, but the reality of it is that sometimes neither God or the Devil has anything to do with some of our misfortune or hardship. For example, let’s say there is a married man who is in a happy marriage with a woman who is very loyal and dedicated to him 24/7. Yet this man still went outside of his marriage and committed adultery and fornication. When it all came down to it, the mistress became irate when he wanted to break it up and then informed the man’s wife of the affair, causing his marriage to collapse and he later lost everything in the divorce process. In a strange twist, the man became extremely angry, first with God, and later with the Devil by associating his failure to control his spirit as something that was caused by the Devil and that God failed to save him from the mess as well.

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“He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?.”

On the other hand, sometimes God will allow something to happen to us so His name can be glorified, and some problems are designed to prepare us for the next level. The fact that your enemies are on your tail sometimes helps many of us to stay focused on our goals and dreams. It’s such an awkward thing to say but some people are not willing to run, unless they have something chasing them. I believe in the Holy Spirit, and I trust God to guide and protect His Children. At the same time, God is a God of reason, He just won’t do something without a reason for it. When he asked Moses to hit the rock with the stick in his hand, it was for a reason. When He told Adam and Eve not to eat the apple in the Garden of Eden, it was for a reason. When he told Pharaoh to let His people God, it was because He wanted them to go out of Egypt and to His Promised Land where the Israelites were directed to go in order to serve Him.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Psalm 23:5 says: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” When reading this Psalm, many people will find it strange that a dinner table is set up for them in the presence of their enemies. Well, if God set up the table then we have all reason to believe; He must have a reason for doing it. There are things that happen in our life that we have no clue why it happened, but as times goes on, then the whole situation begins to make

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perfect sense. We all need to remember one thing clearly: God is our Creator; we were not the ones that created Him. Therefore, He doesn’t have to check with us before He makes a decision, on the contrary we are the ones that need to check with Him. I am saying this because we humans sometimes feel like, why did God did this and He did not warn me before He did this to me.

“But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.”

As loving as we know our God to be, His also capable of giving us something to handle and deal with as part of His plans sometimes. However, we seem to misconstrue those things that are not so fun to deal with as something that came from the Devil’s play book. For example, an individual who has been praying for a good job, but he keeps looking in the wrong places – and for years he felt his prayers would never be answered. Thus, one-day God decided to allow his haters at his job to go after him, his discomfort at his current job was so unbearable that he had to quit that job. Ironically, the moment he quit this dead-end job, another opportunity of a lifetime finally landed on his lap. In the beginning when he was going through his ordeal, the whole situation felt like the whole world was after him. But it was in fact God’s way of answering his prayer by promoting him to something better that was he was doing previously. God had shut one door in order to open another. Therefore, not everything bad that happens to us is from the Devil, but we sometimes give the Devil credit for everything that is not as pleasant as we would have liked it to be. The reality of it is that, some of the credit we give the Devil are not deserving at all. All we need to

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do is to take time and evaluate whatever is going on in our life at the time; we should not and must not give the Devil credit for everything that might be wrong in our life.

The first thing to do is for the individual to figure out, who brought this on? The Devil or God and or your foolishness or naivety? How do you figure these things out? First, you need to determine what role you played in the problem that you just encountered. Secondly, did any other person influence or advise you to do what you just did? Would your action or inaction if examined constitute good and not evil in the eyes of God? Have you done this before? If yes, what were the consequences that you faced then, if any at all? By doing a self-evaluation, you should be able to assess blame to the rightful owners, if at all you’re being honest with yourself. For example, when the Twin Tower were hit and all those innocent people died, people started blaming the Devil for causing all these pain. Well, it wasn’t the Devil; it was Osama Bin Laden who ordered his terrorist lieutenants to attack America, according to our Government reports. In so many ways, we automatically blame the Devil for something that we ourselves caused or something our friends or parents did to us. Of course, you heard the phrase, “the Devil made me do it.” It wasn’t the Devil who made you call the police and have your ex-husband locked up for something he never did. It was not the Devil that caused you to back stab your best-friend, while at the same time you were sleeping with her husband. It was not the Devil who made you slash your girlfriend’s new car’s tire, because you were jealous she might leave you for another man. And it certainly was not the Devil that made you walk around with so much hate and low self-esteem, because you have so much jealousy, envy and constant thoughts of how to take others around you down. One way to handle these things

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is by taking responsibility for your own action and inaction, the Devil has no control over your ultimate decisions, it was you in control and you alone, when it all comes down to it.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

I have always felt that some individuals just like to blame others for their misfortunes. It must be because it makes them feel good about themselves. Why blame yourself for something you messed up on, when you can blame others for the same thing and get away with it. For instance, I once counseled a married couple that was going through marriage break-up. In the beginning of the session, I asked the husband to tell me what he thought was wrong in his marriage; he had a laundry list. Again, I turned to his wife and asked her to do the same; of course she had the mother of all laundry lists. Thus, when I later asked them to tell me what was good about the marriage, they both had no list. The problem here is that they both focused so much on the negative parts of their relationship, looking for faults, examining each other like a research paper rather than focusing on the good that brought them together in the first place. It’s not an illusion to say no one can change other people, that each person is the only one that can amend or change his or her own ways -- if they desire to. To think that anyone can change other people in a relationship or marriage would be exercising futility. The funniest part is, even our Creator said the following in the book of Malachi: “For I the Lord do not change.” The point I am trying to make is that, even the God who created us said He does not change, how much more you

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and me? The reason why so many marriages go down the drain is because we expect our partner to change and keep changing to what we want them to be and how we want them to be. And if things don’t work in our advantage, we then get irate and the whole marriage goes into the red-alert zone. Therefore, when that happens, we begin to blame the Devil and everybody else that we can find to share the blame. Here is a classic blaming game from the book of Genesis 3:11-13:

“And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The blaming game has been around for centuries, but taking responsibility has also been around for a long time as well. However, some people really don’t like to accept the fact that they are the one that caused the problem and not God or the Devil, as they would like others to believe. When I was growing up, my father always told us what would happen if you were caught doing something bad to other people, and in your defense you said it was your friend or somebody who advised you to do it. His response to that was, you wanted to do it anyway. If you weren’t thinking about hurting that person to begin with, then

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it would have been very hard, if not impossible for your friend or the so-called Devil to convince you to hurt that person at the end of the day. It’s not the Devil that brought that thought into your mind. That was your own idea for whatever reason you had in your mind, jealousy, rage, hatred, insecurity, rumor, fights, bullying, and power of oppression and whatever your motive was at the time. I am a firm believer that for every evil thing done by someone to other people, there is a motive behind them – unless of course the individual doing the evil is either delusional or has a psychological impairment that prevents them from knowing their right from wrong. I was watching a TV show one time and I noticed how this couple were on TV shown submitting to body waxing, a method of removing unwanted facial and body hair, using heated wax. The warm wax is applied to the desired area using a wooden applicator, and then the wax is quickly removed, taking the unwanted hair with it. It sounds so easy, but when I watched the program that day, I saw grown folks crying and shouting as if they were dying. In watching them go through this painful experience, it reminded me of a situation that we human beings sometimes put ourselves in. We take our body and soul to the enemy’s den and allow bad people to “wax” it for us, and yet we blame God or the Devil for our personal and private decisions that we made on our own.

In life there are so many things that could derail an individual’s destiny, and the Devil sometimes is probably the least of our worries. Take for example, fear. This is something that quite a few people struggle with. It has many forms: the fear of failure, fear of being in a relationship, fear of going back to school to get a degree, fear of facing people who wronged us in the past in order to make amends, fear of what people going to say or think, fear of speaking your mind, knowing that what you’re putting up with is really not working out, fear of the IRS, fear of getting involved with him or her, fear of your health,

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fear of your children’s decision to move out on their own and of course, fear of fear itself. The spirit of fear which is attributed to the Devil is meant to keep us from achieving or reaching our God given potential because if an individual is scared to move forward into a positive light, how can that individual create a better life for his or her family? Fear is one of the most dangerous tools that the Devil uses against some of us, we know it’s fear, but yet we’re too scared to do anything about it. The word of God says:

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The valley of the shadow and not death itself, because a shadow by design is taller than the owner of that shadow. Also, where there is a shadow, there is also a light – because the only way a shadow will appear is because there is a light somewhere in the surrounding area that caused a shadow to appear in the first place. In essence, where there is a light, you can rest assured God is somewhere in the vicinity. Just because an individual in walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we must affirm that we would fear no evil, because our God never sleeps or slumbers. We might be walking through the valley of no job, no money, no house to sleep, no wife, no husband, no good credit, no car, no peace of mind, marriage on the rock, creditors calling, haters everywhere, no good friends, family members are not as supportive as they should be and thinking your situation is hopeless.

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Allow me to share some important safety information that you can use to prevent pivotal moments, especially when you’re trying to protect you and your family from bad people, or situations.

1. It’s always good to read the Bible and different spiritual books, which can help to strengthen your faith in order to deal with any situation that is before you and your family. Always seek knowledge, don’t be ignorant to the fact that there are bad and evil people in the World.

2. Keep the Word of God as your Medicine and only remedy to eradicate the Devil, and any attack that might come your way. The Word God is able and capable of breaking down any and all attacks that the Devil might predicate against you and your family.

3. Protect your faith and what you listen to and whom you listen to. One of the most important things that any Christian or anyone that loves God can do is to protect their faith. Our faith is the most important, integral aspect of our Christian connection to God the Father. Therefore, when your faith suffers, your connections without a doubt also experience the same shortage. Also, we need to be very careful who we lend our ears to; we must not allow evil people to be our advisor. As a general principle of trust, never trust anyone who does not have your best interest at heart.

4. Protect your word and whatever comes out of your mouth. The Bible described words in detail in various texts. Particular, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Another part of the Bible also said: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who

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hear.” As we’ve seen, those things that come out of our mouth are very important and we must guide our mouth. The book of Colossians 3:8 reads: “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” It is always safe to maintain your calm and think before you discharge your thought, our words are like a raw egg, once it hit the floor, if care is not taken, you will have a mess in your hand, trying to clean it up. The word of God says: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet 5:8-9).

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War Against the Devil • Femi Folorunsho

Chapter 10

Game over: Who is your Daddy?

There is no set of Rules and regulations known to mankind that prevent we human beings from calling and talking to

God anytime we want. On the contrary, the Lord God desires that we talk to Him and trust Him with all our transgressions. Some of us rather trust our Internal Medicine doctor, our surgeon, our dentist, the media, our research feedback, our state and Federal government, our Pastor and or anyone that we think is in the position to either solve our problems, or give us suggestions on who can help.

“Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and

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is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:5-9 ESV.

Don’t out-source your faith in God into someone else’s hand; take charge of your own destiny in your hand. Indeed, I agree that God puts people like doctors and others in the right places, at the same time. Our primary obligation is to know who our Daddy is, which in this case is God the Father. He has our back, and He’s a good Father that will do anything and all things to make sure we’re protected from all harm, both local and international attacks. The reason some individuals fail to truly connect with God, and form a relationship with Him; is because they probably do not see Him as a father. Because if anyone believes God to be their father, then they know to rest assured that He will be for them at all-times.

Authorization to Defeat the DevilThe Devil was defeated and thrown down upon the earth

from Heaven, he has no legitimate authority here. Unfortunately, the Devil is a liar and a cheat. Our Father God respects human authority; the Devil has none and will seize power, even if he has no authority.

The Devil can seize authority from humans with authority anytime we sin, because that caused us to inadvertently surrender our authority to him. Individuals with all kinds of evil agenda against other people essentially release their authority. We must

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refrain from knowingly and unknowingly surrendering our power as a Child of God to the Devil to use against us because of our sins.

While I could go on and on, the point I am trying to make is that, our Father in Heaven has so much love for us. Also, He is willing to do anything for us, because we are His Children. The primary job of any good parent is to take care of their Children, but first the Children must be willing to allow their parents to execute their responsibilities. Although there is no doubt that the job of our Father God is manifold, He is more than capable of doing them all, and doing them well. Therefore, when things appear difficult or sometimes unbearable, you must always remember that your Daddy is God the Almighty. The Creator of Heaven and Earth, the infinite and incomprehensible. His power has no limit, and His quick to love but slow to anger. His wisdom cannot be measured and His actions are unpredictable, He does as He pleases and no one can question Him or even dare ask Him to explain His decisions. The word of God says: “Twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God” (Psalm 62:11). He is able to give in exceeding abundance all that we can ask for (Ephesians 3:20.)

Friends reading this book, I want you to know that God’s power is absolute and ordinate in nature; it covers every aspect of life. He has the complete and unconditional authority/dominion over any problems that we might be experiencing. This who your Daddy is – the King of Kings, the Holy One that other kings bow to and ask for permission from Him before they attempt something or commence any endeavors in their own kingdoms.

Our Father God is the Pillar that never falls but remains behind His Children’s forever, the ancient of days. “He commanded and they were created” (Psalm 140:5). We need to trust Him with our entire mind, body, soul and all the fiber in

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our being. The book of Ephesians says: “Who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,” and that tells me that He is immune to mistakes. It is however an understatement to lament that we need to have a better and more robust relationship with God the Father. We’ve seen and heard so many evil and counter-evil deeds that the Devil has enslaved people with. Our relationship with God is like having full coverage insurance, no matter what happens to you and your car, you’re fully protected and you will not have to reach into your pocket for any of the expenses that you might incur.

We all need to step back every now and then and re-examine our relationship with God, just like the car or health insurance. If you lapse in your coverage, the last thing you need is a coverage issue with either your car insurance or your health insurance when it’s time to take care of yourself. Some people don’t like to pray, don’t like to go to Church to worship, don’t like to help others in need, don’t like to even talk about Christ or anything that associates with Christianity, don’t like to read the Bible and meditate in the Word of God. In fact, they are either too busy making money or too occupied making trouble for themselves and others around them. It’s not a mirage that scores of people only pray to God when they are in trouble or when they need something from Him. As soon as He answers their prayers they immediately vanish from His presence, until next time when they’re in another jam. Here are some suggestions on how to make time for God:

• Make sure your relation with Him is at least healthy, God love cleanliness and I am not talking about your clothes. Your heart must be clean and full of positive thoughts, about yourself and also concerning your fellow human beings. Remember, just like He is your Daddy, He is also other people’s father as well. In reality, He has equal obligations to all His Children’s, except that our

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needs might be different and He is capable of meeting everyone’s request or obligations.

• Communicate without seasons, because He already promised us what He would do so, once we seek Him. In fact, the Book of Deuteronomy 4:29 says: “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” With these promises in mind that were made by God our Father, we must make every conscious effort to fight negative thoughts from our mind. If your mind continues to doubt negative thoughts or you’re afraid of the outcome of whatever is going on in your life, you need to replace the not so good thoughts with good ones. You’re in control of yourself and you need to exercise your mind-amendments, just like your Constitutional rights.

• Delegate God to be your problem solver. When you take the time and hand over all your worries to Him, He delights in taking over. God is not a lawyer that will charge you money for His services at the end of each and every consultation. Here is another promise for you and me: “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” For example, when you hand a task or something you need done to your earthly father, the majority of us believe without any hesitation that it’s going to be taken care of, except of course if that individual’s father is not responsible or trustworthy to take care of the problem. In this case, we’re dealing with the Creator of the entire Universe. The “I am that I am” as He had on many occasions in the Bible described Himself to us.

• We must also be active in the Ministry. He loves when we take His work seriously and become involved through winning souls for Him, caring for people who are less

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fortunate and donating our time for Ministry work so that His kingdom can continue to expand.

• Reduce our exposure to things that are not of Him, some people would rather take chances with things that are not of God like harboring hatred in their heart for months and years against other people. Spend considerable amount of time and money on things that does not glorify God, such as strippers, gambling, drugs, and prostitution, clubbing and wasting our resources on things of the flesh only.

There so many benefits that come with having a good relation with God our Father, such as your personal connection to Him when you need help or protection from the Devil or people that like to see you fall. The relationship with Him also includes benefit such as, the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to guide, protect and keep you appraised of anything that might be coming your way or towards your family members. We all know the presence of God is encompassed as a divine power, and these powers allow people with a close relationship to Him to begin to sense and feel His presence around them.

To everyone reading this book, most would agree that the power of prayer can change anything from bad to good. God is not stingy and miserly; sometimes all it takes is stating your petition to Him, just like Abraham arguing with the angels about Sodom in Genesis 18. God seemed to give into Abraham’s persuasion and did not destroy Sodom. We must not choose not to do anything, but rather plead fervently so He can see that we’re serious. Our Father God is a God of Mercy, all you have to do is just ask for whatever you want. Finally, we can only resist the forces of evil effectively in situations where we have authority, as such that we must be careful not to just go on a rampage but rather on specific targets and discharge our weapons of prayer to pull down strongholds and all evils manifestations.