How Do You Wrestle a Spirit?
By Pastor Ricky Kurth
“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” (Eph. 6:12).
Wrestling is a sport that is usually associated with boys and men, only a few of whom engaged in organized wrestling in high school or college. But whether you are a man or a woman, the Apostle Paul says that you are engaged in a life-long wrestling match against the members of Satan’s host.
But did you ever wonder how you are supposed to wrestle a spirit? And what is this wrestling match all about, anyway? Paul doesn’t say, but we believe he was thinking of Daniel 10. Here an angel was sent to Daniel to deliver a message from God, but a fallen angel “withstood” him for 21 days (vv. 11-14). Since Paul says of our wrestling match that we must “withstand” (Eph. 6:13), we feel he had this passage in mind, especially when we consider what was happening in Daniel 10. The Prince of Persia, one of “the rulers of the darkness of this world,” was fighting to keep a message from God from getting through to a man of God. It is our firm conviction that “the rulers of the darkness of this world” are still fighting to keep a message from God from getting through to men and women of God—the grace message. Today, however, God is not using angels to deliver His message to His people, He is using grace believers. Because of this, the members of Satan’s host are no longer withstanding angels, they are withstanding us.
And so if you’ve been wondering how you are supposed to wrestle against the devil’s principalities and powers, wonder no more. Every time you share the grace message with someone, you walk out onto the wrestling mat. Every time you try to “make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9), you engage your wicked opponent. And every dollar you invest in grace ministries helps defeat the adversary’s attempts to keep men and women of God from obtaining the message that unlocks the Scriptures, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. Why not reach someone with the message today, and know the thrill of pinning a Satanic combatant to the mat, and liberating a bewildered believer from the dark shackles of religious tradition that envelope every saint who has not yet learned to rightly divide the Word of truth.
Today's Devotional Sponsor:
The Purpose Of The Law
By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight…”
(Rom. 3:20).
It is strange that so many sincere people can so misunderstand God’s written Word as to suppose that He gave the Law “to help us to be good” or “as a rule of life.” The Law was not given to help us to be good, but rather to show us that we are sinners and need a Savior. Rom. 3:22,23 says that “there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” How foolish, then, to look to the Law for help. Though the Law provides for just trial it does not help the criminal; it condemns him. Thus the Bible teaches that the Law was given:
“That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought in guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).
“For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20).
“The law entered that the offense might abound” (Rom. 5:20).
“That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13).
“It was added because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19).
This leads us to St. Paul’s great conclusion:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20).
This makes sense, for doing a few “good” things cannot right the wrongs we have done. Good is what we should do, hence we should not expect to be rewarded for it.
But, thank God, “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3) and “by Him all who believe are justified” (Acts 13:39).
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
from http://susanrecipe.com/2017/01/slow-cooker-beef-stew.html
You’ll Need:
• 2 pounds of beef stew meat cut into bite sized pieces.
• 1 tsp of salt.
• 2 tsps of pepper.
• ½ tsp of paprika.
• 1 cup of ketchup.
• 1 can of cream of celery soup.
• 1 tsp of Adobo.
• 1 finely chopped large onion.
• 2-3 minced cloves of garlic.
• 1 (6 oz) can of garlic tomato paste.
• 32 oz of beef broth.
• 2 tbsps of worcestershire sauce.
• 2 cups of baby carrots carrots.
• 4-5 small potatoes cut into bite sized pieces.
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley.
• 1 tsp of oregano.
• 1 cup of corn.
• ¼-½ cup of cornstarch.
How to:
1. In the slow cooker, mix all of the ingredients except for the corn. Make sure to mix well to combine everything together.
2. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 to 7 hours.
3. 30 minutes before serving, add the cornstarch to the slow cooker according to the consistency you want.
4. Add the corn, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Bonne Appétit!
Simple, easy and delicious! I love the stew thick so I use ½ cup of cornstarch. Give this a shot because the meat is so delicious with all the mixture of seasonings in the recipe.
DAILY SMILE:
A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said something was too loud, the other claimed the volume was just right. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom & gloom pessimist.
Just to see what would happen, on Christmas Eve their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with buckets of horse manure.
That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.
"Why are you crying?" the father asked.
"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin.
Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked.
To which his optimist twin replied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"
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There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. -Proverbs 30:11
I'm glad you could join me for today's content, and I look forward to bringing you more next time!
Until then, bye-bye!
Joe Cosity
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