Ep 62 | How do we Navigate Spiritual Forces?

I gave you one from the nineties , I think . Two weeks ago we gave someone from like the early 1900s , before the NFL was even created . This one's a little more relevant . Um , this guy just retired , so this time last year he was playing in the NFL .

But the reason I want to bring them up is because , um , we get the opportunity to know more about famous people now because of social media , because of podcasting I mean , everybody's got a podcast , even Georgetown , right . And Jason Kelsey , the center for the Philadelphia Eagles .

Now , while I just cannot stomach the idea of cheering for a Philadelphia Eagle , something happened last year with Jason Kelsey that I loved very , very much . Number one his wife is just a normal salt of the earth person and is not Taylor Swift , so that's one reason I like him .

But number two the quarterback of the Eagles is trying to call a play at the line of scrimmage and Jason Kelsey is the center who hikes the ball and he says no . He literally looked up over his shoulder and said no , we're not running that play . Jalen Hurts hurts .

The quarterback had to do what the center said and for all offensive linemen in the world , we all cheer , uh , with incredible praise , saying yeah , you're not . You don't know what you're talking about . Qb , I'm the one hacking the ball , and the play will not start until we do what I want . And uh .

So , jason kelsey , this one is to you , number 62 and they were 10 and one , and they only won one game after . Yeah , and that's the best part , I really want the Eagles to lose , but now that Jason Kelsey's retired and he's just super fun .

Maybe they're trying to catch the bad guy , or and or stuff that that I just I know is not true . I just enjoy a good story .

I truly believe if you have a real encounter with a demon and what I mean by that is where you know for an absolute fact that a demon is trying to cause an encounter in your life it ought to really scare you and disturb you and not be something that you go oh , that's interesting and um , a lot of us we just don't understand and , man , I mean , we kind

of hit the ground running with this , but there's , there's a lot of forces around us that we don't even realize are around us , that we don't even realize , that we're being manipulated by , and it's important that Christians understand that we do have an enemy , a legit enemy , with names , real forces at work that have spirit .

You know physical names and a physical presence , and you know the Bible talks about , um , when Satan , who was once called Lucifer , uh , attempted to override God's glory in heaven and he committed the sin of pride , trying to raise himself above God .

And um , there is nothing above God and no one above God , and God cast , uh , lucifer out of heaven , um , and cast and cast many angels who attempted to follow him out of heaven . And that is a reality and that is something that we face , and it's important that people know that .

But it's also important that we understand that those who are saved , those who are Christians , we are protected from spiritual forces . But just because we're protected from spiritual forces and just because we know where our salvation winds up , we must also be aware that the enemy is at daily work , attempting to distract us , attempting to cause us to be afraid .

He did it with Jesus , so if he's going to do it with Jesus , why would he not physically do it with Christians ? And we need to be aware of all these kinds of realities .

But a little fun fact before I dive in in the Hebrew Satan doesn't have like it's his name , but it's not really his name . In the Hebrew it's the Satan . And so there's a guy named Tim Mackey who starts a silent rebellion of like every time you say that you say the enemy , the Satan , and he goes .

We have like three people and I joined them , so he has four . Now there you go .

But it's very real , it is very real and my um , I guess my take on it is we need to understand these things , but we don't need to idolize these things because , like you can either not think about them ever , and then that puts you at a disadvantage , or you can think about it way too much , and that puts you at a disadvantage .

We must know that there are spiritual forces around us , but we must also know that , with God , these spiritual forces have no power over us . Just like Jesus defeated sin , defeated death , he defeated , we have victory in Christ Jesus . Now do you still sin Absolutely ? Does sometimes these forces get in the way Absolutely ?

But why we need to understand is we need to recognize , just like we recognize with sin , we need to recognize that our battle isn't like , like Ephesians , six sets with flesh and blood . Right , we need to recognize these things and turn to Jesus . Who will defeat that ? Who will excommunicate that ?

We , we sing this song pretty regularly on Sundays um called you're fighting a battle that's already been won and um , while we should be aware , um , it says very clearly in first Timothy , um that we have not been given , actually , I'm so sorry . In second Timothy we have not been given a spirit of fear , but of sound love and discipline , Um and um .

So be encouraged Christians . But so , practically speaking , when we make disciples in our church and people go through our discipleship process , it never fails .

I tell people , when you make the decision to take Christ seriously in your life and by taking Christ seriously I mean that you are going to develop the word of God , you regularly pray , you consistently find yourself in Christian circles and you start making those efforts I always tell these people be prepared for resistance .

And you know , resistance is probably a more complex word , but we need to know that there's only one , Satan , and he's not , um , you know , omnipresent , where he can just be everywhere and everything . So we don't need to think that the literal devil is coming to distract us . Uh , it could absolutely be a demon .

It can also just be the fact that we live in a sinful state of a world that is condemned because of our sins . Um , and we need to know the difference between that , and I hear a lot of people will go well , the devil's really been hard at work in me and I'm like okay , so what happened ?

Well , you know , I ran out of gas in my car and I'm like , well , that may not have been the devil , it could have just been that you don't know how to check your . You know your , your , your , your fuel tank level and you just need to be more responsible .

But there are legit distractions and we are the bride of Christ and when churches are doing the right things , when Christians are doing the right things , resistance is legit and something that we are going to face regularly and we need to be reminded that if you are being met with resistance , that is a sign that you're doing the right things .

So don't shrink back . Band together with other Christians , Call people to pray for you , Call people to be with you and help you . So let's say , you're making the decision to take Christ seriously and you are met with resistance . Maverick , what's a passage that speaks to this type of battle that we face ?

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood , but against the rulers , against the authorities , against the cosmic powers over the present darkness , against the spiritual forces Verse 13 . And then it goes into the whole armor of God . And so , like , the whole point of this deal is we need to understand and we need to stand firm . Stand firm in what ?

Stand firm in Christ . So like , like you said , when a church or when a person starts taking their salvation more seriously , like like , let's say , they go through discipleship . I know when you took me and a few of those guys through discipleship , you said , hey , you're taking a step in the right direction , be prepared .

Be prepared , because when you take those steps in the right direction , guess who doesn't like that ? Satan ? Why , yes , the Satan , sorry . Why ? Yes , he doesn't want you to be saved . But if you're a saved person just sitting on the couch every day , not professing the Lord , guess what ? He's probably going to leave you alone , oh alone .

Yeah , so we , we have to stay in firm , we have to be prepared .

That is not going to happen all the time , and not to say that it doesn't happen , because I will say when I can tell the enemy is at work within my family or within the house of God , I do have a personality that likes to stand up and say everybody , let's get after it , let's charge up , let's hit him with the chair . Hit him with the chair .

Yeah , it's all's , get after it . Let's charge up . Let's hit him with the chair . Hit him with the chair . Yeah , it's all the WWE going on . So when I was in high school I'm about to tell a high school football story , so I don't know if that's going to help us or not help us but I was the vocal leader of the team .

I was the guy that if somebody's going to give a speech , let's get Jake to give a speech . He going to give a speech , let's get Jake to give a speech . He became a pastor Crazy , yeah . But the moment the whistle blew on the field , I couldn't just be a vocal leader .

I actually had to physically do what I said I would do , and that did not always measure up . But there was this one particular game where I had to block this defensive end that physically just outmatched me in every category . There was physically nothing that I had that could come against what this guy did .

And I apply this to Ephesians 6 , because Ephesians 6 says that our battle's not against flesh and blood .

So , wives , husbands , our battle's not against our spouse Friends , our battle's not against our spouse , um um friends , our battles not against that person that we call our enemy churches Our battles , not against that person that thinks differently than us , it's against the spiritual forces at work that are trying to cause us to be against one another .

So , you know , this night , I know I'm outmatched , I know that I can't do anything and the only thing I can do is come back to the basics of what I've been taught . So I focused on my footwork .

I focused on making sure that my physical body stood between this man and the quarterback at all times and , by some amazing moment of grace , he never made a tackle the whole night . Even though physically one-on-one , I could not beat him . In fact , there were several plays where he physically ran over my body .

His cleats were on my chest , pushing me into the ground and I couldn't do anything about it . But because it took him some time to do that , we were able to get the pass off before he got to the quarterback .

Well , you know , during this game we're destroying this team and in the , in the huddles , like mouthing off to this guy and I'm like do not mouth him , you're not the one that's having to get beat down by him all night .

They almost had to carry me off the field that night and I use that example to say the only way I was able to survive that night was because I did what I knew to do and , christians , the only way we're truly able to survive against the enemy , because individually we do not match up well against the enemy .

But if we do what Jesus told us to do and we put on all of these pieces of armor , you wake up in the morning and you pray before your day and you seek God to give you strength to make it through the conversations you're going to be in . You hold the word of God in front of you to direct your decision making . You walk around in faith in Jesus .

I mean , all of these armor pieces are not just words that we put up on a screen to make our sermon sound clear . They're legit battle plans that God has given us that if we ever neglect them , then we need to assume that there will be a place in our armor that the enemy will come straight for .

So I give you that example to tell you , individually we do not match up well against our enemy , but God number one will defeat them . But when the church bands together , jesus told Peter and I'm going off on a tangent , and just so you know it's not a coffee tangent , that was like two hours ago .

But Peter , when Peter admitted to Jesus that he was the Messiah , he says blessed are you because you did not have this revealed by flesh and blood . Going back to Ephesians 6 , our battle's not against flesh and blood . He said you didn't have this revealed that way . It was through the Holy Spirit . And he said I will build on this rock my church .

And he says and the gates of Hades will not overcome you . So , friends , how do we fight the enemy ? We band together as the bride of Christ and we lift up truth and we stay engaged in the battle , knowing we're fighting a battle that has already been won so individually .

If you're being beat down , gather your tribe of Christians , and if you don't have one , we give you this podcast to help church members . Let us help you find a tribe . So there you go .

You know , I worked at a Baptist church , obviously , and a lot of my family members are like , oh , you work at Baptist , you don't talk about the Holy Spirit , you don't talk about the .

We talk about the Holy Spirit often , you know , like it's just anyway , sorry , that's a side tangent , that was for free , but we have spiritual forces for us and the Holy Spirit being one , like as a saved believer , the , the , the same power that rose Jesus from the dead , rose Jesus from the grave , lives in us . Yeah , that's right .

And so , like like man , like , yes , we need to protect ourselves . Don't be watching the conjuring three . Like like , just don't like his what ? What benefit is that ?

Satan throws like a girl . And that's all she said , and that wasn't her saying that she's not going through times of heartache and pain and doubt and fear . It's that she , overall , knows who's in charge . Yeah , and that's . The beauty of the blessing is , we've all been tricked by the enemy and we've all been tricked .

I've been tricked into being arguments with people that I actually have nothing against , but because the enemy created a thought there . But the beauty of it is is you're just not in a battle that you can lose , and we can't lose it , even if we look like we're losing it .

So just be encouraged , and this is a discussion that you probably need to ask our pastors , our ministers , our leaders to help you with . How do you know the difference between an attack of the enemy and just an attack of sin , or just the fact that we live in a sinful world ? So don't don't deal with this by yourself .

Talk to people , get some help , find a tribe and um , above all , um man , just live . Live as a disciple , and if you want to know what that is , we'll help you with that .

What is your favorite scary movie Halloween ? Oh yeah , I did know that it is Halloween . Oh yeah , I did know that it is Halloween . The first one's fantastic . Yeah , I'm not talking about all the ones that came out .