Iron Man Oikodome - "spiritual Warfare"

Dear Bros in Christ, Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Brothers in Christ, this monthly devotional is sent and meant to be an encouragement to all and to build up and edify in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oikodome means "Builder". The Lord has put this on my heart to send out a monthly Iron Man Oikodome {oy-kod-om-ay'} to build up and encourage the men who love and follow Jesus Christ in their walk with Him. Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." PRAYER REQUESTS: If you have any prayer requests please send them and I will send them out to the bros for prayer, if privacy is needed I will send in a discreet way. There will be hundreds standing in the gap with you and for you, what a blessing to know that your prayer is being lifted up by so many on your behalf. Every bro that receives these prayer requests in their email always tells me that they pray for each and every prayer request as soon as they receive them. As bros in Christ it is such a privilege also an honor to be able to pray and lift up the needs of the body of Christ to our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ that His Will would be done in each and every situation and that He would be glorified.

MARCH 2009 “SPIRITUAL WARFARE” 2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds… This story that I want to start out sharing is a kind of like warfare we can face in the physical flesh. Except I actually had to use a carnal weapon to kill the enemy, but our spiritual weapons are not in the flesh and they come from and are in and through God. But it is easy to see that the enemy we have in the spiritual realm is way craftier, cleaver and destructive than the ones we face in the flesh sense not to say that he cannot use these types of attacks like this in our physical flesh. This is just kind of a case in point or illustration how the enemy can attack us and try to deduce fear and chaos in us. Therefore beware of hitchhiking Parasites…. They are after blood, yours and mine, before you even know it they are welded onto you and attacking full force siphoning off your strength. A few years back I took my son hiking up in Trabuco Canyon up to the falls and after our hike on our way home in the car I felt a little twinge on my side so I reached with my hand under my t-shirt and felt this lump there on my side and kind of lightly rubbed it and felt something wet and pulled my hand out only to have blood running all over my fingers. I pulled my car over and though what is this, I thought I don’t remember getting poked with any brush or a branch, why am I bleeding? Then it hit me I have a blood sucking hitchhiker tick on board, trying to suck the lifeblood right out of me. So when I got home I had to get tweezers and pull that little bloodsucker out by the head and I knew that might not be enough so I put some fire in the hole and fried that rascal for good with a match head. Oh it was painful but I was ticked off and I had heard all of the stories if you left the head in it can grow back and come back bigger and stronger than its original size. Kind of like when we invite the Lord in to clean our house and we let the enemy come back in due to falling away or allowing the enemy to get a foothold in the door, we open it a crack for old time sakes and man o man the killer rushes in, more harsh and more evil than before… so no way was I going to chance this tick getting a second life to torment me and inflict pain on me… Luke 11:6 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds [it] swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with [him] seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first." Live and learn from God don’t give ticks or satan second chances to kill you… Weird how I never realized or felt that parasite climb on board, he just snuck under my shirt and clung to my side, it happened so stealth and fast without me realizing, talk about being ticked, just like the devil does to us he tries to climb onto everything or get in the middle of whatever we are trying to do for Jesus.

Before you know what hit you satan’s little minions are all over you like spies watching you for a chance to sneak aboard or like a parasite to drain the lifeblood right out of you whenever whatever you are trying to do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He never stops or rest just keeps striking like a pile driver bam, bam driving harder and deeper on each hit taking a toll, slowly trying to weaken you as he tries to beat the light out of you and cover you with his darkness and evilness and slow you down and turn your focus and divert your attention from the One you are serving and seeking Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. In his constant steady beating he tries to give you a workout to wear you down and inflict as much pain as he can possibly squeeze out of every episode and trial that brings you to the point of wanting to quit or makes you lose ground he tries to paralyze your heart, stagnate your mind, freeze your zeal, incapacitate your entire psyche and send your soul adrift in a boundless and merciless tail spin of agony and defeat and exhaustion of all your physical and mental faculties. He tries everything in his power and at his disposal including using innocent victims to subdue his prey. Bros don’t let slue foot pistol whip you, don’t be his puppet. I like what Pastor Chuck always says remember the three R’s. Learn to *Recognize the attacks of the enemy, *Refuse the attacks of the enemy and *Rejoice in the Lord always. (The three R's) Satan is like a roaring lion; 1Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Put on the armor, put up the shield of faith to extinguish those fiery darts that the enemy tries to fire into your mind. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, whatever things [are] lovely, whatever things [are] of good report, if [there is] any virtue and if [there is] anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.” In other words meditate on the Lord Jesus Christ and on the things of God, He is truly the only One who meets every one of these. Take all thoughts captive into the obedience of Jesus Christ. Ask God to bind the enemy and breakdown the strongholds. He says whatever we bind in His name here on earth will be bound in heaven. So don’t let the enemy rip you off and have a field day with you bro, call on the Name above all names and plead the blood of Jesus and He will crush and rebuke the enemy. We have victory in Jesus, let’s not forget that, sometimes we get caught and blindsided with the tricks of the enemy and deceived with his craftiness and forget the power we wield when we get on our knees and take it to Jesus in prayer. The Lord is our deliverer. Even though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh AKA “Carnal Weapons” -tweezers won’t do us any good in spiritual battles... When you are in the midst of spiritual warfare and maybe ticked off, don’t respond in the flesh that is carnal warfare, instead take it to the Lord, it is a spiritual battle let Him break it down for you and He will pull down the strongholds. The battle belongs to the Lord… Pray first before you do anything else, pray in the name of Jesus and by His blood that was shed for you and me, pray fast and ask the Lord to bind the enemy, pray hard and ask the Lord to breakdown the strongholds and knock down the walls that might have been erected to separate you from the Lord and remove the blinders and mufflers so you can see and hear from Him, pray long in Gods love, forgiveness, mercy, and go in boldness before His throne of grace and Word, pray always and don’t let up for one second bros you will kill and crush the enemies plan and bind the enemy with prayer and stem the tide of his destruction. God will bind up all satan’s henchmen and crush them under foot. There is power in the Blood; enemies flee at the name of Jesus, the name above every name Jesus Christ. God has given us the greatest weapon known to fight every battle and have victory in every battle through the power of prayer unto our Lord Jesus Christ Whom bestows great spiritual and victorious blessings towards His children when they call on Him. In Christ, Daniel Wright Iron Man Oikodome Proverbs 27:17 To have your email address removed from future mailings please reply to [email protected] and type "PLEASE REMOVE" in the subject box, thank you and God bless you!