Are We Fighting the Wrong Enemy Chimezie Onyebilanma

Are We Fighting the Wrong Enemy?

Chimezie Onyebilanma

Togo

Monday, 11th December, 2006

’For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.’ Ephesians 6: 12

There was a preacher in Togo who set up a large camp where he gathered people to teach them what he called ‘dangerous prayers’. According to him, the cause of most of our ills is wicked men who in partnership with demons were set to trouble our lives and we are to stop them. His teachings were based on scriptural injunctions like Exodus 22:18; ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’, and other similar verses. And he taught the people to pray that these their human enemies would be destroyed by the ‘fire of the Holy Spirit’. This is indeed dangerous prayer because it is unbiblical to pray against our enemy. We are called to pray for them.

This teaching might be new to some of you, but this erroneous interpretation of scripture is rampant in some places. I have heard some argue that David prayed against his enemies in the Psalms so why can’t we? Don’t they realise that was the Old Testament? Jesus teaches us explicitly otherwise. Now remember that David not only prayed that his human enemies would die, he also went out and killed them with God’s help! Are we to do that too? No, that was under the law. Grace teaches us differently. Jesus said;

“You have heard that the Law of Moses says, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies!* Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends,* how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)

This false teaching causes a lot of harm. It creates a set of Christians who are suspicious of others for every misfortune they encounter. It does not enhance love and fellowship among people. There are men who have abandoned their elderly mothers because they have ‘discerned’ that she is the demonic agent troubling them. There are marriages that have been broken because the man has received a revelation that his wife is the witch troubling him.

This teaching feeds our carnal desire for revenge. If there is someone out there who is fighting us then we naturally want them to get their payback. Like James and John in Luke 9:54 when the crowd were against them, we often would like to ask God to send fire on the head of our enemies. I recently heard a preacher justify this teaching by saying ‘Jesus told us to pray for our enemies but he didn’t tell us what to pray for them, so let’s pray that they fall and die!’

Now some of us may not have gone that far, but we do bear grudges against those that have hurt us and wish in our heart that they get a payback. That wish in itself is like praying against them. It’s ‘dangerous prayer’ too because it will harm us and God’s purposes. We are called to forgive those that hurt us. Please take time and meditate on the Lord’s words above. On one of the posting on my blog (www.ibidun.blogspot.com), I had pointed out how our relationship with our neighbour impacts our effectiveness in spiritual warfare. Let’s take this to heart.

What I want point out this week is that ‘we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms’. It is dangerous to confuse our enemy.

Let us pray: Father, forgive us for every unforgiveness in us. We realise that no matter how wicked men may be to us, we are not to war against them but rather pray for your best for them. Lord, we repent for every error we have walked in and receive of you grace to face our true enemies – the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. Once again, Lord we pray- Teach our hands to war and our fingers to fight in Jesus’ Name!

FOR FURTHER MEDITATION: Please go through all the references in the article especially Matthew 5:43-48 and also Romans 12:19-21, Luke 9: 51-56

Check www.ibidun.blogspot.com for further reflections and please add your comments

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Comments? Questions? etc. If these messages have been helpful or unclear it would encourage us to hear from you, please write to chim_ibidun@hotmail.com

PLEASE are you born again? It is not enough to believe in the existence of God, to go to church, or be interested in spiritual things. Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Jesus died to deliver you from sin so that you can come to God. (John 3:16) If you ask him to forgive you and give you a new heart he will. (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-11).Try it. I'd love to hear from you @ chim_ibidun@hotmail.com

Chim'sWRITE are regular articles on Christian living and cross-cultural missions from Chimezie Onyebilanma a cross-cultural missionary with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO). CAPRO is an indigenous African non-denominational cross-cultural mission agency involved in reaching the remaining unreached peoples in 20 countries of Africa as of present as well as in the Arab World. CAPRO is involved in missions mobilization, training, and research as well as church-planting and mercy ministries (literacy, rural development, primary health-care, relief and rehabilitation). CAPRO is a faith mission, both the ministry and its missionaries depend on God's provision through the giving of his people. None of its missionaries are salaried. All gifts are used as designated.

Surface Address: Calvary Ministries (CAPRO),Togo. P.O. Box 196, Sabo-Yaba, Lagos, NIGERIA. Tel: +234 802 844 7337

To learn more about the ministry of Chimezie Onyebilanma and for more useful resources visit www.chibinews.com

To learn more about the cross-cultural missionary work of CAPRO visit www.capromissions.org ..

Do you know that your monthly gifts to support a missionary can make a big difference? To learn more about supporting missionaries please visit www.adopt-a-missionary.org or enquire at chim_ibidun@hotmail.com

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When God Brings Laughter

Chimezie Onyebilanma

Togo

Thursday, 2nd of August, 2006

“Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah what he had promised…Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me’”. Genesis 21:1& 6

It is so encouraging to me to read here that God .. “was gracious to Sarah”. To think that it was Sarah the one that doubted and laughed, that God remembered. God is gracious. Even as much he longs to see strong faith develop in us, he does not disown us when it because a struggle for us to keep believing.

Sarah laughed the year before when the strange visitors repeated the promise that this aged woman will bear a son. After over two decades of hoping against hope, it had become hard for Sarah not to doubt. Not that she no longer could believe, it was just that she could no longer help doubting.

God understands the weariness that comes to our soul from waiting and waiting and struggling to keeping holding unto our confidence in his promise to us. And he is gracious. He does not abandon us when we have struggles with believing.

“If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” 2 Tim 2:13

Sarah said God had brought her laughter. She had been used to people laughing all around her but it was never with her but at her. For years she had endured the jeers of men because of her obvious barrenness. And it seemed at one time that things would never change. But we serve a gracious God who knows how to bring us laughter!

“And she added, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’” Who would have believed Sarah’s case could ever change especially as she had began to grow weary in believing? But our God is gracious!

Does your situation look impossible? Have you come to the point where it seems foolish to keep believing that God’s promise to you will ever come to pass? Has it become a struggle for you to believe? Listen, don’t despair, our God is gracious. God has not forgotten you. At the right time and he will bring laughter to you too. He knows how to make impossibilities possible. He will cause men to laugh with you too.

Comments? Questions? etc. If these messages have been helpful or unclear it would encourage us to hear from you, please write to chim_ibidun@hotmail.com

Chim'sWRITE are regular articles on Christian living and cross-cultural missions from Chimezie Onyebilanma a cross-cultural missionary with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) in Togo. CAPRO is an indigenous African non-denominational cross-cultural mission agency involved in reaching the remaining unreached peoples in 15 countries of Africa as of present. CAPRO is involved in missions mobilization, training, and research as well as church-planting and mercy ministries (literacy, rural development, primary health-care, relief and rehabilitation). CAPRO is a faith mission, both the ministry and its missionaries depend on God's provision through the giving of his people. None of its missionaries are salaried. All gifts are used as designated.

Surface Address: Calvary Ministries (CAPRO),Togo. B.P. 14223, Lome. Tel: (228) 221 33 78 or (228) 900 94 97

To learn more about the cross-cultural missionary work of CAPRO send email to chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
with "information on CAPRO" in the subject column or visit www.capromissions.org ..

Do you know that your monthly gifts to support a missionary can make a big difference? To learn more about supporting missionaries please visit www.adopt-a-missionary.org or enquire at chim_ibidun@hotmail.com

To subscribe to Chim'sWRITE please send a blank email to
ChimWRITE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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ChimWRITE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com