Breaking Free: Weapons for Spiritual Warfare

Have you ever felt stuck, like there's an invisible force holding you back from experiencing God's best for your life? You're not alone. As believers, we're engaged in a spiritual battle against strongholds that can keep us captive. But take heart - God has given us powerful weapons to break free and claim victory!

In a recent message, I shared some key insights about spiritual warfare and how we can overcome opposition through the power of Christ. Let me break it down for you.

Understanding Strongholds

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." Strongholds are areas where the enemy has gained a foothold in our lives or communities. They can manifest as persistent sin, negative thought patterns, or oppressive circumstances.

But here's the good news - we don't have to stay stuck! God has equipped us with spiritual weapons that are far more powerful than any worldly tactics. As Paul says, our weapons are "mighty in God" for demolishing these strongholds.

Three Weapons for Spiritual Battle

So what are these mighty weapons? I believe there are three key weapons we need to wield in spiritual warfare:

1. Love
The Bible tells us that "love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8). When we respond to hatred with love, to cruelty with kindness, we disarm the enemy's tactics. Love is patient and kind, not boastful or proud. It's a powerful force that can break down walls and soften hearts.

2. Humility
Jesus "made Himself of no reputation" and humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8). His humility defeated the powers of darkness and redeemed mankind. When we walk in humility, we position ourselves to receive God's grace and favor.

3. Giving
Generosity is a often-overlooked weapon in spiritual warfare. When we give sacrificially, we break the spirit of poverty and lack over our lives. Just like Hannah's vow to give her son to the Lord opened her womb (1 Samuel 1:11), our giving can open doors of blessing and breakthrough.

Pulling Down Arguments

Paul goes on to say we must be "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5). What does this mean practically?

It means we have to guard our minds and take every thought captive. Don't let your thoughts run wild - capture them and make them obedient to Christ. Any idea or desire that tries to exalt itself above God needs to be torn down.

This takes daily discipline. We have to constantly evaluate our thoughts and attitudes, rejecting anything that contradicts God's truth. It's a battle, but one worth fighting!

Approaching Opposition with Humility

When dealing with those who oppose us, Paul gives Timothy some wise counsel: "in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

The key here is approaching opposition with humility, not arrogance or a know-it-all attitude. Our goal should be to speak the truth in love, hoping to spark repentance and freedom in others. A humble approach can actually bring people to their senses and help them escape the enemy's traps.

Putting It Into Practice

So how can we apply these truths in our daily lives? Here are some practical next steps:

1. Identify any strongholds in your life. Ask God to reveal areas where the enemy may have gained a foothold.

2. Put on the weapons of love, humility and giving. Look for opportunities to respond with love, walk in humility, and give generously.

3. Take your thoughts captive. When negative or ungodly thoughts arise, reject them and replace them with God's truth.

4. Approach disagreements with humility. Seek to understand others and speak truth in love, rather than just proving your point.

5. Pray for those trapped in the enemy's snares. Ask God to open their eyes and set them free.

Remember, we don't fight in our own strength. Our weapons are "mighty in God" to pull down strongholds. As you put these principles into practice, expect to see breakthroughs in your life and the lives of those around you. The strongholds are coming down!

The Power of Faith: Unlocking God's Authority in Your Life

Have you ever felt like your faith was too small to make a difference? Or wondered what it would take to see real miracles happen in your life and community? As I stood before the congregation at New Life Church this Sunday, I was reminded of the incredible power of faith - not just any faith, but the kind that amazes even God Himself.

The Centurion's Faith: A Model for Us All

In Luke chapter 7, we encounter a Roman centurion whose faith astonished Jesus. This man, an outsider to the Jewish faith, understood something profound about authority that many of us still struggle with today.

"For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." (Luke 7:8)

The centurion recognized that Jesus had an authority greater than any earthly power. He believed that just as he could command his soldiers, Jesus could command sickness to leave with a mere word. This faith amazed Jesus, prompting Him to say, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." (Luke 7:9)

Recognizing God's Supreme Authority

Do we truly recognize the authority of Jesus in our lives? As I preached, I felt compelled to remind the congregation:

"Do you realize that he has more authority than the Supreme Court? He has more authority than the Oroville Police Department. He has more authority than the governor of California. He has more authority than a world globalist billionaire."

When we grasp the full extent of Christ's authority, it changes how we approach every challenge in our lives. Sickness, financial struggles, relational issues - all of these must bow to the name of Jesus when we exercise our faith.

Faith That Moves Mountains

Throughout the Gospels, we see examples of faith that moved Jesus to action. The woman with the issue of blood, blind Bartimaeus, the four friends who lowered the paralytic through the roof - all of these demonstrate the power of persistent, audacious faith.

I shared a personal story about my wife's healing from cancer:

"My wife had cancer last year. Guess what? She doesn't have cancer no more. You know why? Because we pray. Because if I pray for people, that's showing that I highly value them, which means I don't take on the theology that said, 'Well, if it's God's will, he'll heal her.' No, it is God's will to heal."

Building Your Faith

So how do we develop this kind of mountain-moving faith? Here are a few key principles:

1. Immerse yourself in God's Word
2. Surround yourself with people of faith
3. Step out in obedience, even when it's uncomfortable
4. Celebrate and remember past victories
5. Persist in prayer, even when you don't see immediate results

A Call to Action: Become a House of Miracles

As I concluded the sermon, I felt a stirring in my spirit for what God wants to do in Oroville and beyond. I challenged the congregation:

"I believe this house is a house of miracles. I believe this is a house of healing. I don't think that God caused Pastor Ken Malone to put all the resources and energy and many of you in this room as well, to build this church so that we would not see signs, wonders and miracles."

What if we dared to believe for more? What if our cities became known not for their problems, but for the miraculous power of God at work through His people?

I encourage you, wherever you are, to step out in faith this week. Bring someone who needs a miracle to church. Pray boldly for the impossible. Let's become a people whose faith amazes even God Himself.

Next Steps:
1. Identify an area in your life where you need to exercise greater faith
2. Commit to praying specifically and persistently for a breakthrough
3. Find a prayer partner to stand with you in faith
4. Attend our miracle service this Tuesday and bring someone who needs a touch from God

Remember, your faith has the power to change not just your life, but your entire community. Let's believe God for great things!

When Prophecy Connects with your Expectations

In Ruth 3 we read the story between Ruth and Boaz when he tells her that there is someone ahead of him to redeem her. What I love about this is that when Boaz said, "If he doesn't want to take you, I'll take you."  (Ruth 3:13) What we see here is that,  even though there's an obstacle, Boaz is completely occupied with Ruth's future. We have to realize that in applying it to our lives, Jesus is completely occupied with our future. 

He's the Redeemer.

He wouldn't have come down to the earth and redeemed humanity if He wasn't occupied with all of humanity's future. It’s predominant in His heart and because of that, prophecy connects us to our future when we don't fully comprehend the Lord's ways. I could imagine that Ruth did not comprehend everything. "What do you mean someone's ahead of him? He's been so kind, he's in love with me..." I'm sure in that moment of not really understanding what's going on, one hasn't had a moment of questioning, "Well, wait, God, I don't understand what you're doing."

But what prophecy does, is it connects and reconnects us to our future.

This is what I love about the prophetic. It reconnects me to my purpose. It reconnects me to where I'm going. I can steer off the path or get off the course a little bit and it puts me right back on that course. It communicates how the Lord wants to please us. Isn't that amazing?

The Lord wants to please His people.

There’s something I love to do when I’m with my grandchildren. Although I’m usually busy ministering, when I have the opportunity to spend time with all five of them, I usually end up taking them to the grocery store and let them fill the cart with whatever their hearts desire. I get so much joy watching them walk down the aisles, skipping and hopping, grabbing things that mom and dad don’t usually buy for them. It’s not about the doughnuts, or the chocolate milk. But the joy of seeing their little faces light up. You see, when God prophesies over you, He's communicating His desire to want to please you. That's what's so beautiful about the prophetic. 

If you continue reading Ruth 3, towards the end of that chapter you see that Ruth returns to Naomi and tells her what Boaz has done for her. What we read next is Naomi prophesying and decreeing, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” (Ruth 3:18)

When Naomi prophesied “He’ll take care of the matter today,” it put the expectation back into Ruth and it became the fuel for her to be able to wait. This is a perfect example of what the prophetic does, it reignites the expectation in our hearts, that while in the midst of waiting, “I know God's going to take care of this”.

Jesus is concerned about what matters to you and I, and He can fix it. He's concerned about America. He's concerned about the nations of the earth. Which means that God is committed to settle the things that matter to you. Just as Naomi prophesied to Ruth, He'll take care of this matter today. If it matters to you, because He's in love with you, He's going to take care of it today, and not leave you hanging, not leave you in suspense. He didn't come to leave us in suspense. He came to redeem us. 

Blessings,

John Harke Team

Reigning as Kings and Queens

It seems we can easily forget what Christ has purchased for us. So we begin to live a much lower standard than what Jesus has called us to live. To reign as kings and queens means much more than monetary success, public recognition and thousands of likes on Facebook. To reign as kings means to not come up short from the image of God. It’s finding victory on the inside, where our emotions are, to have control over our own spirit. It doesn’t mean that we are completely free from crisis, but it means we are seated above it. We tap into divine wisdom and we prophesy to the situations that don’t represent the beauty of God.

God has a goal for us individually and corporately, and that is to form us into a prophetic voice on the earth, prophesying liberty from bondage and decay. Creation is yearning for sons and daughters to speak what the Lord is speaking! In an atmosphere of repentance, respect, honor, and love, our identities flourish and our roles become clearly defined. When this is properly modeled, that Kingdom of God is authentically demonstrated.

4 “Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.” (Ezekiel 37: 4-7)

By prophesying His heart, we come into agreement with what God sees, for He sees beauty in the midst of our deformity. When Ezekiel found himself in a valley, he wasn’t told to pray about the spiritual conditions — he was told to prophesy to them. His words began to transform the people.

• Will we do the same in our time?

• Will we prophesy the wonderful grace upon the slain that are on the battlefield of life?

Without the wealth of grace there isn’t any true wealth in the soul. The wealth of grace allows us to rule with the knowledge of the Kingdom and not rule as those who haven’t been regenerated. We reign from a place of intimacy, not from a place of legality. Life becomes more of a joy because we witness supernatural interventions in our spiritual lives, relationships and finances. We live the way Jesus lived when He was on the earth: reigning over sickness, demonic attacks, and economic lack. We become yoked to His peace, free from the yoke of anxiety and fear.

The body of believers who reign as kings will repair the wrongs in society and restore human dignity by bringing the knowledge of the truth to every sphere. Living like kings means thinking and speaking like kings, weighing out our words because they declare who we really are. The words we speak build the kind of kingdom we live in. And through the gift of righteousness we can rule with the same heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Our Ultimate Allegiance

When we declare Jesus is Lord, it is a cultural and political statement.

The question we must ask ourselves is how do righteous men and women respond to those in authority who make unjust, immoral laws or decrees that fly in the face of our declaration? Especially when there is nowhere in the Bible that says that Kings are always right?

It isn’t that we want a conflict with civil government. However when civil government interferes with our freedom to gather peacefully than we have a duty to resist. Elected officials are equally bound to distinguish between good and evil in the area of civil government as are unelected citizens.

We can never forget that the world has been fashioned by God’s justice. Beloved we belong to God, not the government. We can’t sit back and accommodate what the federal, state or local governments say when they go against God’s law. Laws that dishonor God harm society.

If I am to give the state unlimited submission, then I am bound to obey every ungodly order even at the expense of my own conscience. Then what we have is two kingdoms which then substantiates dualism; a kind of dualistic ideology that justifies the disassembling of truth.

One can recognize what is wrong only if one has an intimate sense of what is right. For instance investigate occasions when religious leaders have questioned the ideology or actions of their government. This took place when those in power attempted to live beyond the reach of danger. Because they incorrectly believed that they were anemic when it comes to Heaven’s rule.

For instance if governing authorities are sanctioned by God with unlimited power and authority then any King, Governor, civil leader could justify any action wether good or evil. We as believers are not called to oppose government. We are called to oppose evil in government.

Governing authorities' responsibilities are to enforce God’s will and God’s law, not their own. Civil authorities have a conscience for what is acceptable but do not have a conscience to know what is evil unless God’s rule has been revealed. We as believers must be revealers of God’s rule.

Since when is a governor, health official, or mayor the head of the Church? I thought Christ is.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Our ultimate allegiance isn’t to the state our ultimate allegiance is to Christ. Because when we give the state unlimited authority it is an invitation for evil. Now more than ever in our generation we need to stand for what is right. We need to get our heads out of the sand and declare not ourselves but the absolute supremacy of Christ. We have to be willing to risk our security for the sake of divine justice. Otherwise our world globally will not know the preeminence of Jesus Christ.

When the Father knocks on the door of our Hearts

God’s rejection of Cain’s gift had nothing to do with the gift, but the attitude of the giver. One example is when Cain rejects divine counsel because of being so self absorbed by his emotions. Swayed by the anger that burns within his soul, Cain can no longer reason. He incorrectly believes that he is alone and is given the right to sabotage his brother.   He fails to understand his responsibility to care for his brother’s life. What he chooses and what he pursues is in opposition to the Lord’s gracious leadership.

The Lord requires you and I to serve our brothers interests in order to walk in integrity. How then can we bend our heart’s towards the Lord’s counsel? I believe the first truth is, at times an attempt to remove anyone who causes us pain. For example, Cain has to experience the pain of facing his faults in order to be healthy. Another example is, I’m sure that the Lord allowed Cain to experience rejection so that he would develop his faith so he could conquer his anger.

One major problem that still is evident today, just like in the days of Cain, is that we don’t know how to live with ourselves and with each other. Yet I can’t focus so much on Cain’s behavior, I must focus on the Lord’s heart towards an unrepentant individual. Cain’s actions can confuse us, however God’s dealings moves our hearts to want to know the Lord more. The Lord protected Cain even though he embezzled his future. What Cain did was make a decision when he was angry, disconnected, offended, rejected and resentful. However the Lord isn’t an angry Father, anger isn’t His default. The Father lives with a conviction and when humanity lives without moral conviction they cease to live.

The loving Father puts our conscience in check so we would pause and listen. Simply because our Father doesn’t want us to fail to inherit His promises. The Father came to Cain because He wanted him to live well, otherwise Cain would fulfill his own lust and then ask God for mercy. We have to realize there are moments when the Father knocks on the door of our hearts.

So why is Cain protected? Why are the guilty protected and yet the innocent unprotected? Is this justice? Why isn’t the innocent warned? Why wasn’t Abel warned about his brother’s plan to end his life? By not allowing Cain to be killed, is the Lord disregarding the standards of justice? In other words, does the Lord have a defect in His justice? Does the Lord delight in hurting Abel, does He delight in hurting us? Disregarding the standards of justice?

I believe the answer isn’t as complicated as we think, the Lord doesn’t just give us a revelation of Himself, the Lord graciously gives us a revelation of us. Because there was greater evil in Cain then when he murdered his brother, it was his indifference to murder. Cain had become indifferent towards the evil in his own heart. Indifference is the the opposite of the Lord’s heart towards humanity simple because indifference is self centered. Indifference is idolatry because it doesn’t consider its neighbor. Simple concern for our neighbor is the greatest act of justice whether that neighbor shares our ideology or not. So what is the answer? Abel is still speaking Cain isn’t. Hebrews 11:4: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” Abel’s offering cost him his life, what am I giving that cost me my life?