End Time Battle Plan

Unit 1 Thought facus:

John 10:10 KJV 1900

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

This is the description Jesus applied to Satan. In stark and total contrast, Jesus claimed of Him.

self, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Satan's strategy is to use whoever and whatever, wherever and whenever, however and

why ever to destroy our God-given, blood-bought opportunity to live out our eternal, glorified

life in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Illustration: If you knew someone was planning to break into your home, you would be prepared, on

guard, ready to take appropriate action. But what if you knew someone was intent on destroy.

ing your marriage, hurting your children, and wreaking havoc in your life? What would you do?

Certainly you wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

But too often, when it comes to the spiritual realm that's exactly what we do--nothing. As

a result, the forces of hell have a heyday messing with our lives, and we seem to be clueless,

stumbling around in the dark, moaning, "Why is this happening to me?"

The reality is just as Jesus said--and Jesus is not a liar, is He?--Satan is intently focused

on our destruction. No one is too precious, too young, too sweet, too good, or too anything else

to be immune to his attacks. And Satan is quick to take advantage of the person who is unsure,

doubtful, skeptical, or cynical about his existence and power. People such as these are easy tar-

gets for Satan and his devouring fallen angels.

In 1998 in Greenville, Tennessee, six young people who had been dabbling in the occult

were sentenced to life in prison without parole. Why? Because their dabbling had led to

death--they kidnapped, terrorized, and murdered a husband, wife, and their six-year-old

daughter. A two-year-old son, Peter, survived a bullet in the eye. Perhaps these six young peo-

ple began giving ground to the devil by playing with tarot cards or reading horoscopes. Maybe

they were fascinated by angels or by the darker side of rock music. However it began, their ill-

fated spiritual quest led to a deepening involvement with the occult.

It's amazing that there is such a resurgence of interest in the spiritual realm even as many

people are insistently cynical when it comes to warning about the danger of dabbling in the

occult, witchcraft, New Age thinking, spirit guides, and more. They refuse to believe that not all

angels are good angels. They don't want to acknowledge that even Satan and his demons can

appear as sweet angels of light.

Many professed Christians don't really believe that the spirit world is real or relevant or

needs to be dealt with. They may not often verbalize this, but it is obvious by the way they react.

As Timothy Warner, professor emeritus at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an advisory

board member at the International Center for Biblical Counseling (an agency counseling peo-

ple suffering from spiritual oppression), says, "People may not always live what they profess,

but they will always live what they believe.

We are in a fierce battle with the Enemy of our souls. Spiritual warfare is a biblical reality.

It occurs whether we acknowledge it or not. Satan doesn't need our assent to attack us. If we are

not on guard, wearing our spiritual armor and equipped with the tools of biblical warfare, he

will try to rip our lives apart.

These attacks may be viewed as merely struggles with drug dependency, juvenile delinquency, emotional instability, family dysfunction, mental illness, or a thousand other labels for

problems we view as normal.

Or perhaps we or our family are plagued with unusual illnesses,

injuries from frequent accidents, and other medical maladies. We'll spend thousands of dollars

on therapists, doctors, detox therapies, surgeries, enlightenment seminars, books, retreats, and

more, but fail to consider spiritual oppression.

Some problems seem to get better, but newheads wondering why.

ones always surface. And many of the old ones come back.

The question is not whether we wrestle demonic spirits, but who's winning. Do the spirits

LESSON 1: The Biblical Perspective of Warfare

Scripture for Meditation:

Ephesians 6:12 (KJV 1900)

12 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.

enemy is so that I can avoid the snares and

pitfalls he lays before me. Through the quickening of Your Holy Spirit, help my mind to

grasp the power of the truth who lives in me.

Let the blood of Jesus Christ cover all areas of

my being to cleanse, protect, and deliver me

from the fear of him who has no authority

A Beginning Prayer:

over or rights to my life or family. In the name

of my precious Lord Jesus Christ, seal me with

Heavenly Father, open the eyes of my heart Your salvation and righteous protection and

that might see the truth of who my true make me be an overcomer in all things. Amen.

Lesson:

SELF-CONTROLLED AND ALERT

A common lament heard when believers sin goes something like this: "The devil made

me do it! I couldn't help myself!" Oh, how we love to assign responsibility for our failings on someone other than ourselves. And if we can tack it onto the devil, all the better. However, this is not the scriptural view of why we sin.

A more accurate statement could be: "The devil influenced me to do it, but I made the

final choice.

That the Enemy of our souls will use every trick in the book--and then some--to defeat

us is reality.

1 Peter 5:8 KJV 1900

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

"Be self-controlled and alert.

Being in control and alert applies to several aspects of our lives. Below, check the activi-

ties where we need to be in controland alert. Discuss Your response