Satan and his agents, according to evangelical Christian groups, have a considerable influence over the world and its power structures. Based on texts like 1 John 5:19 (“the whole world is under the control of the evil one”) and John 12:31, John 14:30, and John 16:11, where Jesus refers to Satan as “the prince of this world,” they believe there is a war involving territorial spirits or other hostile spirit forces. Other texts suggested include Ephesians 6:12, where the apostle Paul elaborates on a demonic hierarchy. They also believe that Jesus' victory over these forces is the theme of Paul's epistles. Evangelical interpretations of history divide history into two eras: the “current evil age” and the “age to come,” which refers to Jesus' Second Coming.
Before You Continue...
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After the War in Heaven (Revelation 12:7), the “beasts” and “kings of the earth” wage war on God's people (Revelation 19:19), igniting a final struggle with Satan and earthly nations against God (Revelation 20:8).
Exorcism is promoted by evangelical Christians based on their interpretation of Jesus' remark in Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20: “If I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is upon you.”
What the Bible says about spirituality?
Biblical spirituality entails being born of God (John 1:1213; John 3:58; 1 John 4:7), being transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ (Rom 12:12), surrendered and obedient to the Spirit, living according to the Spirit (Rom 8:411), and being empowered by the Spirit to draw others to find life in the Spirit.
What the Bible says about fighting battles?
This battle will not require you to fight. O Judah and Jerusalem, stand firm, keep your ground, and see the LORD's salvation on your side. ‘Do not be terrified or discouraged. Go against them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.”
For the LORD your God is the one who fights for you against your foes and brings you victory.'
But those who wait for the LORD will be renewed in strength; they will mount up with eagle's wings; they will run and not tire; they will walk and not faint.
No weapon fashioned against you will prosper, and you will refute every tongue that rises in judgment against you. This is the LORD's servants' inheritance and vindication from me, declares the LORD.”
When the righteous cries out for aid, the LORD hears them and rescues them from their problems.
The LORD your God, who goes ahead of you, will battle for you, just as he did for you before your eyes in Egypt.
So, what shall we say in response to these events? Who can be against us if God is on our side?
As a result, submit yourself to God. The devil will fly from you if you resist him.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not discouraged, for I am your God; I will strengthen, assist, and uphold you with my righteous right hand.
The thief's sole purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they would have life, and abundant life.
I have given you authority to walk on serpents and scorpions, as well as all of the enemy's might, and nothing will harm you.
No one will be able to stand in front of you for the rest of your life. I'll be with you just as I was with Moses. I will not abandon you or abandon you.
Because it is the LORD your God who battles for you, as he promised, one of you puts a thousand to flight.
Because our weapons of war are divinely empowered to shatter strongholds, they are not made of flesh.
Because you gave me the power I needed for the struggle, and you caused those who opposed me collapse beneath me.
They did not win the land with their own sword, nor did they save themselves with their own arm, but with your right hand and arm, and the light of your face, because you rejoiced in them.
David's. Blessed be the LORD, my stronghold, who prepares my hands for fight and my fingers for combat;
For the LORD declares: “Even the mighty's prisoners will be taken, and the tyrant's victims will be saved, because I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.
Take up the entire armor of God, so that you will be able to withstand in the evil day, and after you have done all, to stand firm.
Since God deems it just to punish those who torment you with affliction,
Your dwelling place is the eternal God, and under you are the everlasting arms. And he threw the enemy in front of you and said, “Destroy.”
Know today that the LORD your God is the one who goes before you as a consuming fire. He will annihilate and subjugate them in front of you. As a result, as the LORD has promised, you will drive them away and cause them to perish rapidly.
“Be courageous and strong. Do not be terrified or alarmed in the presence of Assyria's king and his troop, for there are more of us than there are of them.
And he added, “‘Do not be scared or dismayed at this large horde, for the war is not yours but God's,' says the LORD to all Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, as well as King Jehoshaphat.
Your right hand, O LORD, majestic in power, smashes the enemy.
Their chariot wheels were clogged, causing them to drive slowly. The Egyptians responded by saying, “Let us get out of the way of Israel, because the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”
And Moses addressed the people, saying, “Do not be afraid; stand steadfast and behold the LORD's salvation, which he will work for you today. The Egyptians you see now are the last Egyptians you will ever see.
You are from God, and you have triumphed over them, because he who is in you is bigger than he who is in the world.
And I tell you, Peter, that I will establish my church on this rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
As a result, people will be afraid of the LORD's name from the west, and his splendor from the rising sun; for he will come like a rushing flood, driven by the LORD's wind.
“He will defend the steps of his devoted, but the wicked will be cut off in darkness, for a man will not triumph through might.
Give your opponent bread to eat if he is hungry, and water to drink if he is thirsty.
David's. Whom shall I fear if not the LORD, who is my light and my salvation? Whom shall I fear because the LORD is the stronghold of my life?
Do not delight when your adversary falls, and do not rejoice when he stumbles.
When all the kings of the lands heard that the LORD had fought against Israel's foes, they were filled with dread of God.
Rally to us at the place where you hear the horn. “Our God will defend us.”
“They have tormented me since I was a child, but they have never been able to defeat me.
‘Your eyes have witnessed all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings,' I told Joshua at the time. To all the kingdoms into which you are crossing, the LORD will do the same.
And whoever searches hearts knows what the Spirit's mind is, because the Spirit intercedes for the believers in accordance with God's desire.
Have I not given you orders? Be fearless and strong. Do not be afraid or discouraged, because the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
I've fought the good battle, finished the course, and maintained my faith. The crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, has now been laid up for me, as well as for all who have cherished his presence.
And you have seen what the LORD your God has done for you against all these countries, since it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.
He is true and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins.
I have said these things to you in order for you to find peace in me. There will be trouble throughout the world. But don't despair; I have triumphed over the world.”
Therefore, humble yourselves under God's mighty hand so that he may raise you at the perfect time.
You have been saved by grace through faith. And it's not your fault; it's a gift from God.
There had never been a day like it before or after, when the LORD fought for Israel and listened the voice of a man.
And Moses addressed the people, saying, “Do not be afraid; stand steadfast and behold the LORD's salvation, which he will work for you today. The Egyptians you see now are the last Egyptians you will ever see. “All you have to do is be silent, and the LORD will fight for you.”
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to assist us in our time of need.
You haven't been overcome by any temptation that isn't common to man. God is reliable, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but he will offer a way out of the temptation so that you can withstand it.
These things happened to them as an example, but they were recorded for our teaching, for whom the end of the ages has arrived.
Because the LORD has compared you to a wife who has been abandoned and grieved in soul, like a young wife who has been cast off, declares your God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whomever trusts in him may have eternal life. God did not bring his Son into the world to condemn it; rather, he sent him into the world to save it through him.
Beloved, never seek vengeance for yourself, but rather leave it to God's wrath, because it is written, “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay,” the Lord declares.
“You shall not be afraid when you go to war against your adversaries and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, for the LORD your God, who brought you out out of Egypt, is with you.
Blessed is the man who perseveres in the face of adversity, for he will be rewarded with the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
And when he got him, he imprisoned him, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, with the intention of releasing him to the people after the Passover.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whomever trusts in him may have eternal life.
What are spiritual strongholds?
The Spirit of God desires each of you to break free from any demonic strongholds that are holding you hostage.
They talk about weaponry, strongholds, high things, and capturing people.
  I believe it would be beneficial to think about the metaphor's metaphorical element a little further.
          &nbs The LORD is a stronghold in times of adversity for the oppressed.
In the history of Israel's conflicts, you can learn about the strategic value of strongholds.
  My family and I went to a place named Latrun in Israel a year ago.
  It is located just off the main highway leading up to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and the airport.
That was the issue with this location: it was a fortress right on the main roadway.
  When the War of Independence broke out, the Arab Legion held the bastion of Latrun.
  They could pick off the caravans delivering supplies up to the Jews in Jerusalem from this vantage point.
This was a stronghold that had to be conquered!
It had a suffocating grip over Jerusalem!
  The fledgling Israeli Defense Forces attempted to take it five times in five different ways.
  The Arab Legion, the best British-trained warriors on the Arab side, has proven themselves time and time again.
  As a result, the Israelis construct a “Burma Road” around the stronghold, traversing tough terrain.
  Until 1967, the Arabs controlled this fortification, which was located just five kilometers from Ben-Gurion Airport.
  Nasser dispatched Egyptian troops to Jordanian garrisons shortly before the 1967 conflict.
  Featuring an impressive exhibition of Israeli army tanks that were purchased, manufactured, or captured.
  For the past two decades, that location has posed a threat to our people's safety in the heart of the country.
  How long has a stronghold in the center of your mental life jeopardized your security?
Is it possible?
Hey, David conquered Jerusalem and established it as his capital!
  Joab unlocked the citadel's gates by breaking through a tunnel that led to a spring.
“Even if Babylon climbs the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold,” Jer 51:53 declares.
  As a result, he dispatched Cyrus and the Medo-Persians to capture the citadel.
  by diverting the city's river and marching in on the riverbank!
God knows everything there is to know about strongholds and how to take them down, and he'll show you how.
Do you ever want to quit up when you come up against a stronghold in your life?
Individuals who are eager to battle, people with courage, are the ones who capture strongholds!
  God will assist you if you ask for it. The Bible and the Holy Spirit will show you how. Amen?
One thing to remember about a stronghold is that it is a location, not a person.
The mind is the castle of the soul, and Satan and his henchmen aim to capture people's minds.
  However, mental fortresses can be disguised; wicked things lurk in the shadows.
“Have nothing to do with the unproductive deeds of darkness,” Ephesians 5:11 exhorts us.
  If you wish to allow God's light shine on the darkness, you must have a humble attitude.
“Test me, O LORD, and try me, probe my heart and my intellect,” David begged in Ps 26:2.
  If you don't want God to disclose any strongholds in your life, don't do it.
  Satan's armor is pride, which he uses to conceal demonic strongholds.
  Pride prevents individuals from seeing they are enslaved by evil forces.
After you've identified the stronghold, repentance is the next stage in bringing it down.
  Honesty before God is the best policy, and humbly allowing the Spirit to reveal the stronghold in the darkness is the best policy.
  You might need to put a stop to the tiny lawyer who emerges from a dark part of your mind.
  A frontal assault on a stronghold doesn't always appear to work. So, what are your options?
  With a frontal attack, Jewish warriors attempted to take the Old City of Jerusalem.
 However, as soon as they reached the Old City's gates, they were forced back.
  From the east, I've seen a photo of Israeli generals looking down on the Old City!
  They were able to cut off supplies and reinforcements after encircling the city.
  When the Jordanian general in the Old City discovered he was being pursued, he retreated.
“Resistance is pointless,” he knew, so he cut his losses and fled the city.
  After that, the Israelis were able to enter the city with little resistance.
  What was the game plan? March for seven days around the city, then blow your trumpets!
  As a result, they cut the city off from its supplies and the domain of darkness.
  What do you do when you're surrounded by a stronghold of negative thinking and awful old speculations?
How about some compliments?
    Psalms 32:7 “You are my safe haven; you will keep me safe from harm and surround me.”
  Praise God by singing psalms and spiritual hymns around the fortress.
There is a powerful approach to surround every bad stronghold with God's contrary truth.
  Surround yourself with hope if you're battling with a stronghold of depression.
  If you're having trouble with a stronghold of rejection, surround it with Abba's acceptance.
  If you're having trouble dealing with unresolved anger, try surrounding it with forgiveness.
  If you're fighting a fearful stronghold, surround it with the truth of God's love.
  If you're fighting a failing fortress, surround it with the triumph of the resurrection!
  Once you've recognized a stronghold, go to the Bible and look up the contrary truth that God has revealed.
  If rejection is your stronghold, read everything the Bible says about God's acceptance.
  With God's word, his resistance will swiftly wane, and if he isn't already gone, he will be soon!
  (If you can think of any area of chronic sin that is exacerbated by negative thinking, let me know.)
  Please forgive me for making a compromise. Give me the guts to demolish every stronghold I own.
  I bind any satanic influences in my life that were encouraging compromise and sin.
  I submit to the light of the Spirit of Truth in order for any sin strongholds in me to be exposed.
  I declare that every evil stronghold is being demolished by the tremendous weapons of the Spirit and the Word!
  I intend to envelop this demonic stronghold in praise and affirming truth from God's Word.
  My goal is to capture every negative thought pattern and bring it to Messiah's obedience.
  By God's grace, I intend to persevere until even the remnants of this stronghold are destroyed.
  My intention is to think on what is real, noble, right, and pure.
  whatsoever is gorgeous, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy
  I intend, by God's grace, to construct one fortress within my mind and heart:
“The LORD's name is a sturdy tower; the righteous will go to it for safety.”
What are the most powerful Bible verses?
15 Bible Verses to Boost Your Morale
- “So do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be frightened, for I am your God,” says Isaiah 41:10.
What happens when you have a spiritual awakening?
As Kaiser argues, this is the start of your spiritual journey, as you begin to doubt everything you previously believed. You begin to purge certain aspects of your life (habits, relationships, and outdated belief systems) in order to make room for new, more meaningful experiences. You may sense that something is lacking, but you aren't sure what it is. It's common to feel disoriented, confused, and down during this time.
Type 2 diabetes affects approximately 25.8 million people in the United States, or 8.3 percent of the population.
1 Non-Hispanic Blacks aged 20 and up account for 4.9 million (18.7%) of the total. 1 Complications of type 2 diabetes, such as cerebrovascular illness, renal failure, and amputations, are substantially more common among African Americans than in non-Hispanic Whites.1
With proper diabetic self-care, these problems can be decreased or avoided. Diabetes therapy relies heavily on self-care knowledge, skills, and activities. The intricacy of sustaining and managing daily self-care activities, such as exercise, food change, and medication adherence, makes diabetic self-care difficult. The American Association of Diabetes Educators2 lists seven diabetes self-care behaviors: being active (physical activity and exercise); eating healthy (diet composition and caloric content); taking medications; monitoring (e.g., blood glucose, weight, blood pressure); problem solving, particularly for blood glucose (high and low levels, sick days); reducing risks (to reduce diabetes complications; smoking cessation); and healthy coping (psychosocial adaptation). These behaviors have been recognized as measurable results of effective diabetes education and should be practiced at both the individual and population level to accomplish the targeted outcomes of diabetes complications prevention and physical and psychological well-being.
Spiritual and religious beliefs and activities can either help people cope with a chronic illness by providing support, confidence, and hope, or they might obstruct successful coping by causing them to ignore self-care activities in favor of prayer and/or meditation.
3 While there is evidence of a link between spirituality and hypertension self-management4, few research have looked at the impact of spirituality on diabetes self-management.
5 As a result, less is known about how spiritual beliefs and practices, as well as social support, influence diabetic self-care among African American adults. 6 Spirituality is an important source of emotional support; God is perceived as central in providing strength to deal with daily challenges; God is frequently called upon for help in controlling diabetes; and a strong belief in God, prayer, meditation, and support from church members were all sources of support in previous studies concerning spirituality, religion, and diabetes in African Americans. 3, 5, and 8 Religion and spirituality were linked to better glycemic control in Black women with type 2 diabetes in one study,9 while religion and spirituality were linked to a lower likelihood of lifelong smoking among African Americans in another. 10
Because of the foregoing findings and a gap in the literature, we decided to look into the possibilities of incorporating spiritual and religious views into diabetic self-management. Spiritual views encompass a connection to a higher being as well as an existential outlook on life, death, and the nature of reality. 11 Religious practices/rituals such as prayer or meditation, as well as interaction with religious community members, are examples of religious beliefs. While spiritual and religious views have a lot in common, the authors decided to look into both of them because they are commonly brought up when dealing with disease. It's also necessary to look into both of these concepts because some people consider themselves spiritual but don't necessarily believe in religion. While religious beliefs and practices are more easily measured, the authors intended to look at the larger context of people's belief systems, specifically their perspectives on life's meaning, disease, and existential concerns. 13 The Systems of Belief Inventory (SBI) was chosen to measure these constructs due to the requirement to examine both spiritual and religious beliefs and practices in the process of coping with an illness.
The researchers wanted to see if there was a link between (a) spiritual and religious beliefs and practices and social support, and (b) diabetic self-care activities in African Americans with type 2 diabetes. Because African Americans have numerous diabetes inequities, this is an essential topic (i.e., highest rates of diabetes, diabetes complications, and diabetes-related mortality rates). 14
Because little is known about how spiritual and religious beliefs and practices affect diabetes self-care in African American adults, this study looked at the relationship between spirituality, religion, and diabetes self-care activities in this population, such as diet, physical activity, blood glucose self-testing, and foot care behaviors. Because some evidence suggests a link between spirituality and religion and lifetime smoking in African Americans10, a negative link between spirituality and religion and smoking was hypothesized. It was expected, in particular, that those who scored higher on spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, as well as social support, would engage in more diabetes self-care activities and smoke less.
What is the whole armor of God?
Putting on the full armor of God isn't just about learning a skill or paying attention to evil and darkness. It has nothing to do with a hidden prayer, a mysterious spiritual experience, or visualization techniques.
The entire armor is an outward manifestation of your complete faith in God and all He has done for you via Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ and the blood poured there secured your victory in spiritual warfare (Rev. 12:11).