Have you ever heard anyone say that they were upset with Bugs Bunny? Or how about, “When I meet that Darth Vader I’m going to give him a piece of my mind?” What would you think of someone who said something like that to you?
But people do say, “I don’t believe in God. If He’s so kind and loving, why did He allow my dear sweet mother to suffer for so long?” Or, “I’m an atheist. If I were to meet God I’d tell Him just what I think of His so-called goodness.” That’s equally as absurd.
People don’t bear a grudge against fictional characters because they know that they’re make believe. If you say that you’re upset with someone, that statement by default proves that you believe they exist. But people have been conditioned to think this way.
In early childhood people are made to believe that children come from a stork with a letter carrier’s hat; that bunnies lay brightly-colored eggs; That a fairy buys your baby teeth and that a fat guy squeezes down your chimney to accommodate your covetousness.
The apostle Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things (1Co 13:11).” People generally discard those childhood fables around school age.
It’s perfectly reasonable then that young adults often discard the religious faith they were raised with. You can’t blame them. Along with maturity comes the realization that they’d been lied to, and assume that a magical sky god is just another make believe myth.
God is an invisible Spirit (Jn 4:24, 1Ti 1:17). No one has ever seen Him (Jn 1:18), just like the Easter bunny or tooth fairy. So it’s rational to conclude then that He is equally as fictitious. That’s the conditioning. That’s why falsehoods are programmed in during youth.
God is not the only spirit among us. There are also angels He has sent to minister to us (He 1:14). But not all the spirits are friendly: Your spiritual adversary lurks about (1Pe 5:8) seeking to destroy you (Jn 10:10). His demons minister against you.
They’re the ones behind the social conditioning. The devil knows that if he can convince you that God isn’t real, by default, you won’t believe that he’s real either. Then he can operate freely, undetected and without resistance. After all, he’s just make believe.
That’s why people assume that “demon” is just a quaint word for “psychosis.” But when Jesus cast demons out of a man into a herd of pigs, they went berserk and stampeded into the sea (Mk 5:12-13). A mental condition can’t cause that to happen.
All the devil has to do to capture you is convince you that he’s make believe. Don’t “make believe:” Believe. All you have to do to defeat the devil is to believe in the One who died for your sins, paying your debt (Ac 10:43, Col 2:13-14), setting you Absolutely Free.
Sample paid content follows:
The Bridge
The military has a hierarchy of authority: 1. Commissioned officers, 2. Noncommissioned officers (NCO’s), and 3. Enlisted personnel. To ascend in the ranks from enlisted person to become an NCO, you stand before a promotion board to be examined for your knowledge and military bearing.
One patent question they ask Combat Engineer NCO candidates is: “You’re a lieutenant in charge of a platoon of engineers. You need to put a bridge across a river for a convoy. How would you go about doing that?” Sounds pretty complex, doesn’t it?
The correct answer is, “I would say, Sergeant! Put a bridge across that river.”
In the authority structure, the commissioned officer’s role is to issue the command. The NCO’s role is to know how that’s done and direct the enlisted personnel to do the work. The role of the enlisted personnel is to obey. It’s none of the commissioned officer’s concern how it gets done.
It’s an orderly formula that has worked for thousands of years. It’s a recognizable pattern.
That’s why, when Jesus said He’d visit a Roman centurion’s home to heal his servant he declined:
Matthew 8:
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
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The centurion recognized the pattern. Jesus went about taking dominion over diseases and expelling demons and the centurion thought, “I see how this works: this guy is on a military conquest.” Jesus proved that the centurion’s observation was correct by merely issuing a command: “As thou hast believed, so be it done.”
What was it that the centurion believed? That all Jesus had to do was speak the word. What did Jesus do? He spoke the word.
Angels are members of God’s army. One of the names of God in the Old Testament is “Lord of Hosts (1Sa 1:3), or “Commander of Armies.” Jesus told Peter that He could call for 12 legions of angels (Mt 26:53). “Legion” is a Roman military unit consisting of 3,000 – 6,000 soldiers.
As the angels stood by awaiting instructions, Jesus saying, “So be it done,” was the same as barking, “Sergeant! Go fix this guy’s servant.” It was none of Jesus’ concern how it was done. It was His role to issue the command.
He didn’t wring His hands and say, “How bad is it? Does he have unconfessed sin? Is he under a generational curse? How are you angels going to do this? Are you going to wrestle with the man’s demons?” Nope. He just said, “Get’er done!” And that’s how it works.
The New Testament speaks to the issue of “spiritual warfare (2Co 10:3-4),” telling us to put on spiritual armor and how to wield it (Ep 6:11-18). He told Timothy to conduct himself as a soldier (1Ti 2:3-4) and to “fight the good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12).”
These instructions illuminate that when you become a follower of Jesus – following the “Lord of Hosts” – you are volunteering to serve in that army. Given that it is a military organization as the centurion rightly recognized, and that the military has a hierarchy of authority, where do you suppose you rank on the authority scale? Are you an enlisted member, NCO or commissioned officer?
The correct answer has nothing to do with where you “feel” you rank. It has to do with what scripture says about you.
Among those born of women, there are no enlisted members or NCO’s in God’s army: You’ve been commissioned:
Matthew 28:
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
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The 2 above passages are “The Great Commission.” If you are a believer, it was given to you.
So what are you – a lieutenant? Captain? Colonel? Greater than: Scripture calls us a “royal priesthood:”
1 Peter 2:
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
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You haven’t signed-up to fight for Uncle Sam but for Father God. You’re not part of a spiritual democratic republic – you’re part of the Kingdom of God. As member of the royal priesthood, you are both a king and a priest (after the order of Melchizedek – Heb 5:6).
In the hierarchy of the kingdom, you as a commissioned officer are subordinate to Jesus Who is subordinate to the Father. The NCO’s are archangels and the enlisted personnel are angels (He 1:13-14).
This is not hidden wisdom or secret knowledge. It’s in the plain text of scripture. But it is not presented as such in modern churchianity and therefore modern churchianity appears weak. The church – meaning all believers collectively – is not weak, it just doesn’t realize its potential.
When Jesus commissioned disciples to go before Him to preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, He told them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils (Mt 10:8). Later He sent 70 more to do the same. They came back marveling that they had that power (Lu 10:17)!
Luke 10:
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
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This also applies to you in your commission. The word “power” above appears twice, but it’s actually 2 different words in the original Greek. The first instance means “authority” and the second means “strength.” So Jesus has given you as a commissioned officer authority over all the strength of the enemy.
He told the disciples after His resurrection:
Matthew 28:
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
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Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote:
Colossians 1:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
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 might have the preeminence.
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Jesus has all authority and preeminence over all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, and has delegated that authority to you to administrate the kingdom of heaven on earth (2C0 5:20), with the army of angels at your disposal.
But the vast majority of churchies are not taught this. This is evident when you hear them pray.
Mark 11:
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Luke 17:
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
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Modern Christians tend to put it this way: “Oh merciful Father, this mountain is in my way. I can’t get around it. Everything would be wonderful if it weren’t for this sycamine tree. Please forgive my sins and remove this obstacle.”
Did Jesus say plead to the Father? He said to speak with authority to the problem and that it would go away. How does that work? That’s none of your concern. That’s for the archangel to figure out, and direct the angels to execute. Your only responsibility is to say:
“Sergeant! Put a bridge across that river.”
And that’s how it works.
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