This last weekend was a pretty amazing weekend for me. It seemed like everywhere I turned there was a spiritual attack but yet fantastic lessons from the Holy Spirit. I like being in the Jesus School of Spiritual Warfare. There is never a dull moment and you know if you are in the thik of the fight something good is coming from God.

The first attack was an unexpected personal attack. It was an attack that was calculated to get me to doubt the incredible things the Lord has been doing in me and to doubt what I know to be the re-awakening and furthering of His gifts and callings.

I was knocked out flat for about four hours as I listened to the wrong spirit and what was being communicated to me. But as I mulled it over and talked to Jesus, He made me stop and begin to consider the fruit of what was raining down on me. As the Holy Spirit gently brought me along I began to realize this was an attack from hell. I was being filled with discouragement, doubting my relationship with Jesus, doubting the restoring work and power He was infusing me, doubting His gifts and callings.

And then the Lord gave me a view of things stretching way back for years and years. He showed me that this thing, this voice, had subtly torn at me almost daily since I was in my teens. Every time I began to move ahead it was there, undermining, eating away at faith and confidence, causing self doubt and doubt in what the Spirit was leading me to do. And it had become such a constant background noise that in a very real sense it had become invisible to me.

The exciting thing was that this incident (that was meant to drag me down and into despair), through the ministry of the Holy Spirit now became a major exposure of a long time evil. Now that the cockroach has been exposed, I can see it for what it is. I am aware when that spirit is attempting to dish it’s dirt on me and I am free to reject it’s message and embrace the words of the Holy Spirit about who He has made me to be.

Like Joseph in Genesis 50:20, I can say to the evil, “But as for you, you thought evil against me: but God meant it unto good…”

The second amazing thing that happened came about by means of a financial crisis. I woke up Saturday morning and realized I needed some cash and I needed it right away. So, I decided a yard sale would be a good idea. I knew we had a lot of stuff, and I never felt particularly attached to any of it, until I started thinking about selling it. There was my guitar, and my monkey clock and books and tools and as it turned out, quite a list. But I knew what needed to be done so I committed it all to the Lord and started setting up my yard sale.

What was so great was the more of my items I put out, the freer I felt. I soon realized how attached I had become to things and how much I had allowed my things to identify me. But I also began to realize as people started buying my items how little I actually needed. I soon realized that I don’t really need anything. That all I really want and all I really need in life is the person and power of Jesus Christ and that my treasures were not treasures at all. The only things of value are those things that can be and are employed in the service of God and His kingdom because His kingdom is what I live for.

Paul said it this way, “But whatever things represented gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes, without any doubt, I count all things but loss for the highest excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as pile of poop, that I may win Christ”, Philippians 3:7-8.

And then as Saturday progressed, this freedom also progressed to encompass everything. If a person is a servant of Christ, then this is an important truth. It is important because the supremacy of Jesus will reign in all things pertaining to life, but along with that come His rewards. Things, relationships and even gifts God has already given us pale in their importance to knowing Jesus and walking in the Holy Spirit. The value of all things holds no value in the light of Jesus.

God gave Abraham a gift. It was his son Isaac who in fact was the very fulfillment of one of God’s great promises to Abraham. But one day God asked Abraham to take his gift, Isaac, and offer up his own son to Him. Even Abraham’s own son, his gift from God, the very thing God had promised him was not going to come between Abraham and his God, he loved God that much.
In all these things, I realized that the only thing that has any meaning in life is walking and living in Jesus. All else pales, nothing else matters. No thing, no person, no reputation, no persona we’ve taken on, because it all pales compared to Jesus and walking in His Spirit.

And finally, there is one other thing that happened just this morning. The yard sale brought in some cash but not really enough. What I realized is there is obviously a block in the spiritual arena preventing God’s provision to me, so I prayed.

Then the Lord spoke to me and I heard Him say, “Jesus carried heaven to earth.” As I stood thinking about that, the next thing I heard was, “There is no difference between Jesus and heaven.” Then the third time I heard the Lord speak I had a paradigm shift, “You are in Christ. Heaven for you has already started.”

Then the word came from Ephesians 2:6-8, “And (God) has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the excessive riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

This was huge and I’m still processing it. But I realized that it’s true. Heaven has already started for me and as Jesus carried heaven to earth, and there is no difference between Jesus and heaven, then there is no difference between the disciple of Jesus who is here on earth now because the connection is that tight. Heaven has already started. We are seated with Christ in supernatural places right now. This is the message of the gospel of God’s kingdom.

So I stood in my back yard and said, “So, there is no lack of provision in heaven, and I am in heaven right now! That means there is not lack of provision for me.” Then as I’m standing taking this in for the next 5 minutes, Elaine steps out of the door and hands me the phone. It’s a good friend of mine, Randy Solvang. He’s building a house and needs some help for the next couple of weeks. Oh yeah, and he’s paying money.

You might think that’s coincidence, but that just means you don’t know yet about the mysteries of God. What I’ve just outlined above are three major illustrations of spiritual warfare in action and God bringing the triumph. But the biggest gem of all is to begin to grasp that the kingdom of heaven has already started for you if you are a believer in Jesus. Wherever you are, the power of Jesus and heaven is in all of its fullness.

“Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven, so in earth…” Luke 11:2.

OH! I almost forgot. I got to keep the Monkey Clock!

Randy