Spiritual Warfare. Whether or not you realize it, you are entrenched in spiritual warfare everyday. My time I served in Ghana made me realize even more how real it was.
Raised in the American Church you may hear of spiritual warfare here and there but in some cases it’s really not talked about much. I was fortunate to be raised in a Pentecostal home where we talked about spiritual warfare. But even then we still cannot grasp the reality of the spirit realm.
My team and I spent the month of September in Ghana, specifically Keta. We were surrounded by water on a peninsula. We had the Keta Lagoon to the West of us and the Atlantic Ocean to the East.
Keta is a small area that has numerous peoples of indigenous tribes. Some of these tribes are very active in idol worship and sacrifices. They also dedicate their children to the idols by cutting small slits in their faces and pour some type of chemical in the cut.
There are a lot of superstitions when it comes to these idols, or at least what Americans would call superstitions.
A few weeks before we had gotten to Keta, a young man was walking between two opposing idols. When he got between them, he dropped dead. Some would say that it was natural causes but the indigenous people say that one idol was trying to curse the other and the young man was hit by the curse.
Some would say that it was just coincidence that he died between the two idols but I beg to differ.
The spirit realm is more real than we realize.
“while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ” 2 Corinthians 4:18
The spirit realm is eternal for we cannot see the spirit realm. The things of this earth are temporal for we can see these things. What we see, we try to explain, but we can’t explain what we really cannot see.
We are constantly in a battle. Everyday. The enemy wants us to think that it’s against races, against our brothers, sisters, family, friends, even ourselves. But what is the truth?
“For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” -Ephesians 6:12
We don’t fight the flesh. We don’t fight people. We fight the darkness and the rulers of that darkness that reside in the spiritual realm.
The angels fight with us and for us as well.
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia…Do you not understand why I have come to you? But now I shall return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, then truly the prince of Greece will come. But I will show you what is inscribed in the Scripture of Truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces, except Michael your prince.” -Daniel 10:13, 20-21
The princes that are talked about here are not princes of a kingdom on earth but really princes of the kingdom of darkness.
There are two kingdoms at work in this world. The kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God.
These two kingdoms fight for the souls of the people of this world.
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil in a dispute about the body of Moses, did not dare to to pronounce upon him a railing judgment. But he said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!'” -Jude 1:9
Whether or not you realize it, the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God is at work in your life. But which kingdom do you serve in?
As my team was in Ghana, we began to minister and evangelize to these indigenous tribes that served idols and practiced voodoo. Because of this, the light was being shown and the darkness was being exposed; which made someone very angry.
How do I know this? Because I experienced something that I had never experienced before.
One night early on in the month, I was lying in bed awake while Pat, one of my teammates, was asleep. All of a sudden my body went straight like a board and became paralyzed.
I couldn’t move.
I then felt something or someone invisible grab my neck and squeeze.
I couldn’t breathe.
My body then began to levitate about a foot off of my bed. My first thought…I was getting ready to die.
But I cast that thought aside and then began to think of the wonderful name of Jesus and when I did, I was released.
I could breathe. I could move. I could talk. I was back on my bed.
I began to praise God and thank Him and Pat then was awake so I explained what had happened.
Pat said as this was happening he was having dreams of the demonic.
The spirit realm is more real than you realize.
Those Hollywood horror films that people watch with a demonic presence can actually happen.
We kid ourselves and think that it can only happen in the movies or in books.
Demons are real.
But if demons are real then that means angels are too.
That night God taught me what it meant to be the priest of the home and pray over the home and those that live with you, whether that be your family or friends.
That night my life changed and brought me closer to God in a way that I couldn’t imagine.
That night I saw God as the King I serve instead of the friend that I hangout with.
That night will forever be in my memory. It’s an experience that will never be forgotten.
Spiritual warfare. It happens. It’s real. Whether you believe it or not after reading this, you can’t take my experience away no matter how you try to explain it.
The devil is real. God is real. The spirit realm is real.
Spirit wars. They happen. The kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God. Which side are you on?
