spiritual warfare and analogies

Ok guys, this is a long one....I was watching the old movie, The Never Ending Story with my nieces and nephew lastnight (I have a lot of free time right now as my Ryan is gone for 5 weeks and YL is on break.) Anyways, I hadn't watched that movie as an adult and it made me realize all of the spiritual analogies that are spread throughout it-And boy do I love movies like that! After watching that my mind started to think about all that goes on in the spirit realm. No, I am not some wierd new age guru....hear me out. Some people focus too much on the Spirit realm and not enough on why Jesus has us here on earth. But then others completely disregard the Spirit realm. They are blind to the things of the Spirit. Well, I wouldn't say that I was an expert on the Spiritual world, nor do I want to be. But I do know that it does exist.

Before going to Africa I had my own battle for my soul that I witnessed first hand. Yes, I was saved and protected by my Jesus. But Satan wanted to destroy me and there was a battle going on that I was in the middle of and sometimes felt that God had forgotten me and left me to the wolves. But He hadn't and I stand here today the stronger for it. He never leaves nor forsakes us. But I did feel like I witnessed an experience not uncommon to Daniel in the Bible. You see Daniel begged God for help and it took God 21 days to deliver. Why? Is God not powerful? No, by all means He is power! But He sent the angel, Michael, and Michael was detained 21 days by the Prince of darkness. There was a war in the heavenlies, and all the while, Daniel had no clue. Now, why am I writing this to you you may be thinking? B/c we are a people untouch with the things of God. But when I went to Africa, I had a reality check.

These kids don't know what it's like to suffer as the kids here in America do. The kids here struggle with eating disorders, whereas the kids in Africa struggle with trying to get to eat at least once a day. And then you have the kids here in America playing with the wedgie (sp) board, going to see psychics, loving the entertainment of the Harry Potter movies, etc. While the kids in Africa are deathly afraid of the witches that are very much real and powerful and wanting to destroy them. The most frequent complaint that these African children told me about, besides being orphaned and hungry, was that they were afraid to sleep and have nightmares about the witch doctors coming for them. It happened every night and it was real. But my question was, how does the witch dr. visit all these kids every night and not wake up their caretakers (whom they sleep with b/c everyone has to share a bed.) Well, I found out that 90% of the time, the witch dr.'s aren't in their rooms with them at night. These kids are having nightmares, but it's not just a nightmare. It is real. You see, in some way, these kids have been given access to the evil of the witch dr.'s. They were probably brought to them as small children so that he could "heal" them. And that is where the enemy has gained his access. You see, the minute you play with fire, so to speak, you have opened the door for the enemy to come in and burn you up. And that is done through seeing psychics, evil deeds in our family heritage, etc. Well, these witch dr.'s, through the power of satan (yes, satan is real and has power) call upon the dark forces at night to destroy these kids. And these kids then fall into trances and are subject to all kinds of harm. So you may see their physical bodies sleeping at night, but there is no way you can wake them, for their spirit man is taken up into a whole other world and subject to many a terror. And all the while it happens in their sleep. Sounds wierd, I know. But it is real. In fact, one young guy on the missions trip to Africa with us didn't believe that this could be real....that is until he experinced it first hand. You see, Satan works just as powerful here as he does in Africa. His tactics are just different. Over there he works through witch dr.'s, satanists, aids, etc. Over here, he works through eating disorders, materialism, etc. Different strongholds, same worker of evil. The difference is, the Africans have nothing so they want something that they can hold onto. And so when you give them Jesus, the Name above all names, the I AM, our Precious Redeemer, Emmanuel, the Living Word, then they grab onto Him for dear life. They realize that He is truly ALL that they need, their hope! And so He works mightily on their behalf! You witness miracles! But here...We sadly have need of nothing, so we think, so when He finds us and rescues us, we carefully place Him on the back burner and de-void ourselves from witnessing any miracles on our behalf. So back to Africa. When these kids found Jesus, they were overjoyed and then you would hear testimony after testimony of the power that God worked on their beahlf's against the evil of these witch dr.'s, etc. The evil lines in their lives were broken b/c a new name, the Name, was placed on their lives. And you too can break the curses in your life. Just renounce any way the enemy has been granted access into you life and instead invite God into your life. For you see, the Bible says that God blesses our family lines for a thousand generations of those who love Him...yet for those who don't acknowledge Him, He punishes the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation.

So here's the bottom line. The Spiritual world is real, but one that we need not be afraid of. You see, Satan does have power and is real, but our God is real too and He is All Powerful!!! If you are in God's side, you need not be afraid, only aware. For with Him, we are mighty conquerers, we are victorious, we are protected, we have strength, etc. So, when you come across a movie like The Neverending Story, appreciate the spiritual analogies...knowing that one day, the Nothing (Satan) will be destroyed, and you will run free victorious on Jesus' white horse! We are more than conquerers through Him who loved us! Amen! :) Take some time today to renounce the evil in your lives and lean on God and witness His miracles. He has already worked one miracle on your behalf...You are saved! Hallelujah! I hope you got where i was coming from on this post for my writing can be like word diahreea (sp) at times! :) Let me know if I need to clarify...Bottom line....the Lord is a warrior! He fights for you!!!!