Passion For Jesus Ministries

Many times in the Scriptures God uses the analogy of aneagle for His people. The Scriptures describe the eagle as a bird of prey (Job 9:26; Matt 24:28), aslong-sighted (Job39:29), swift (2 Sam 1:23), as naturally soaring to heaven (Prov 23:5), thestrength of its feathers are alluded to (Dan 4:33), the greatness of its wings arealluded to (Ezek 17:3,7). The eagle is usedto illustrate the wisdom and zeal of God’s ministers (Ezek 1:10; Rev 4:7), of renewedstrength and beauty of (Ps103:5), and the upward flight of the eagle is used as anillustration of the saint’s rapid progress toward heaven (Is 40:31).

Eagles are birds of prey; majestic, powerful, quick, savage,etc. Eagles aren’t easy to defeat or to manage. One of the best strategies to use against an eagle is to persuade it tovoluntarily cease struggling and submit. How do you do that? I’m glad youasked.

One of the eagle’s strongest assets and most powerfulweapons is its eyes. If you can block his vision or cover his eyes so that hecan’t see, even though he is powerful and a savage warrior by nature, he willcease struggling and become docile.

If you have ever watched an eagle handler, you will noticethat often the bird is transported with a hood over its head. The reason forthis is that when you want an eagle’s to quiet down so that it can be easilycontrolled, all you have to do is cover his eyes. Without his sight, the greatand mighty eagle becomes immediately docile and manageable. Are you beginningto get the picture?

Beloved, the enemy’s strategy is to place a demonic “hood”over our eyes. He knows that we are the victorious ones; he knows that we arethe ones who have been armed with the heavenly weapons from another age (Heb. 6:4-5). But we,like the mighty eagle, will voluntarily become docile and cease our strugglesagainst him, if he can but cover our eyes; if he can just get his hood on us;then he can easily “manage” us. Get it?

Years ago, I learned that one of the foundational earmarksof spiritual maturity (and one of the basic keys to consistent spiritualvictory in our battles) is to be able to recognize when you are under spiritualattack by the enemy. You might be thinking, “That is no problem, I “know” whenI am under spiritual attack!” If you will bear with me, maybe you will seesomething that will help you discern some of his strategies against you thatyou might not have been aware of.

Have you ever had a thought, about God, yourself, or someoneelse, and immediately you felt bad, dirty, unclean, ashamed, etc.? Maybe evenyou had the thought, “God, I don’t know why I thought that. I am so sorry,please forgive me!”

Have you ever had a bad feeling, whether it was anger,unforgiveness, depression, hopelessness, strife, jealousy, etc. that you knewwas illogical and/or unfounded, but you “just couldn’t seem to be able to stopit”?

I can’t tell you the number of times, when in conversationwith other believers who were struggling with emotions they were strugglingwith, that they have said to me, “I know that it doesn’t make sense, but thatis the way that I feel.”

A couple of questions for your consideration. Are you awarethat not every thought “you” think is actually you thinking it at all? Did youknow that many times the emotions that you are feeling aren’t yours at all? Ourenemy is both a spiritual ventriloquist and a spiritual impressionistextraordinaire!

I am sure that you have seen cartoons where one of thecharacters has a little image of itself appear on its shoulder, usually withwings and a halo - as an angel. or with horns and a tail - as a devil. Thelittle angel and demon then carry on a conversation with the character tryingto influence it to do right or to do wrong.

The enemy of our soul “throws his voice,” impersonating“our” thoughts, and implants false emotions that aren’t originating with us atall, though they “feel” like they do. Let me restate it. “Often” the thoughtsand feelings that you have struggled with, or may even be struggling with now,aren’t yours at all! They are spiritual attacks by your enemy, the devil.

We have been “hood”-winked. Get it? Just because you “think”a thought doesn’t mean it was you thinking it. Just because you “feel” one wayor another, doesn’t mean you actually feel that way at all. Get it?

When I was in high school, one day between classes I stoppedby my locker to get a text book that needed for my next class. As the bell wasringing for class to start, many of us were still in the hall way and scrambledto get to our class before the bell finished ringing, making us late for class.

The building I was in for this class had two levels with a stairwaybetween the levels. As the bell was ringing, one of my female classmates neededto get down stairs to get to her class. As she took off running down the hall,I watched two young men, one on one side of the hall and one on the other -both stuck out a leg toward the center of the hall as the young lady wasrunning by. She didn’t see this so she tripped over their feet and went slidingon her belly down the hallway towards the stairway. She came to a stop at thetop of the stairway. Had she went an inch further, she could have tumbled downthe stairs and might have been seriously injured.

The two boys who had tripped her were hanging on the wallslaughing at her “misfortune”. Then to add insult to injury, they started ridiculingher for being so clumsy and for being such a klutz. Between her physical andemotional pain, she burst into tears and ran out side. And it wasn’t even herfault!

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what our enemy does to us. Heplants his thoughts and his false feelings, and tries to pass them off as ours.And he “hopes” we don’t catch on to what has just transpired.

If we don’t “catch on”, we feel ashamed or confused, ordespondent or hopeless, because we are such “bad” Christians. But if we do discernwhat he is attempting, we would recognize that we have just suffered aspiritual attack, then we would realize that the thoughts or emotions that weare struggling with aren’t ours, and we would then respond to his attack, notwith shame or confusion, but with spiritual violence, resisting his ploys inthe Name of Jesus and he would then have to flee!

Beloved, we have to remove the hood the enemy is attempting tothrow over our spiritual eyes in order to get us to sit down and to quit. If wedo, he has lost one of his most effective weapons against us. And the tide ofbattle will turn!

Let me remind you who you really are:

You are the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13), the lightof the world (Matt5:14), a child of God  (Jn 1:12), a part of thetrue vine, a channel of Christ’s life (Jn 15:1, 5), you are Christ’s friend (Jn 15:15), chosen andappointed by Christ to bear His fruit (Jn 15:16).

You are a slave of righteousness (Rom 6:18), enslaved toGod (Rom 6:22),  a child of God; God is spiritually your Father(Rom 8:14-15;Gal 3:26; 4:6), you are a jointheir with Christ, sharing in His inheritance with Him  (Rom 8:17).

You are a temple, a dwelling place, of God. His Spirit andHis life dwells in you (1Cor 3:16; 6:19),you are united to the Lord and one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17). You area member of Christ’s Body (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 5:30), a new creation (2 Cor 5:17),reconciled to God and a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19).

You are a saint (Ephesians 1:1; 1 Cor 1:2; Phil 1:1; Col 1:2), God’s workmanship,His handiwork, born anew in Christ to do His work (Eph 2:10).

You are a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (Eph 2:19), a prisonerof Christ (Eph 3:1;4:1),righteous and holy (Eph4:24), a citizen of Heaven, seated in Heaven right now (Phil 3:20; Eph 2:6).

You are hidden with Christ in God (Col3:3), an expression of the life of Christ because He is your life(Col 3:4). You are chosen ofGod, holy and dearly beloved (Col3:12; 1Thess 1:4), a child of light and not of darkness (1 Thess 5:5), aholy partaker of a heavenly calling (Heb 3:1).

You are one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christas a spiritual house (1Pet 2:5), a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holynation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Pet 2:9-10), an alien and stranger tothis world in which you temporarily live (1 Pet 2:11).

You are an enemy of the devil (1 Pet 5:8), a childof God and the evil one, the devil, cannot touch you (1 Jn 5:18).

Beloved, this is who you are! This is what you think, thisis how you feel! Recognize and shake off the hood of the false thoughts andfeelings from the enemy designed to sideline you from the battle at hand.

The realities of the Kingdom are given to the resolute and thespiritually violent (the ones who are spiritually hungry and thirsty.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)

The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. (Luke 16:16)

It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

Get the hood off! Arise, to war, and to victory!