Grace Family Church Everett - Laying the Foundation Kelli Hamann

This is the third message in this series, and I started it as a response to a sermon series we’ve been doingat our church on the book of Nehemiah. Did you know that if you are a Christian, God has already begun “rebuilding” you? He wants you to have victory in your life, to be free from sin and sinful habits, and to become more like His Son, Jesus, every day. And because your enemy, the devil, does NOT want God to succeed at making you more like Jesus, he is like those ungodly opponents that Nehemiah had to face.

This is the 4th message in my series called, “Doing Battle in the Spirit.” Here’s the thing about this battle: It’s NOT something you can see with your eyes; it’s NOT fixable with any kind of material weapon, like what you might use to defend yourself against a burglar trying to break into your home, or something like that. You don’t need a baseball bat, you don’t need pepper spray—none of that is going to work on the devil. This battle happens entirely in the spiritual realm, so you’ve got to learn about the kinds of spiritual weapons to use, and how to use them.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this series is because it seems that often, Christians don’treally understand that whether they like it or not, they are in a battle—a REAL battle—with thedevil. Every person who has declared that Jesus is Lord of his/her life immediately declared waron the devil when they got saved, because the devil wants to drag us all to hell with him. It’s thatold adage: “Misery loves company.” The devil is the AUTHOR and CONSTANTDISSEMINATOR of that principle, and he will never stop trying to knock us off course as wepursue our relationship with Jesus, because he wants us to join him in his misery.

Ok, so, battling in the Spirit. I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you, and I’m gonna give you the good news first. Here it is: Whatever challenge you’re facing at this moment, and whatever battle you will face in the future, JESUS HAS ALREADY WON THE BATTLE FORYOU!!!! So don’t worry, don’t be scared, don’t jump off this podcast and go somewhere else before you hear what I have to say. I promise you that the good news I’m going to share with you in this message is MUCH BRIGHTER than the bad news, and whatever battle you’re finding yourself in right now, THE VICTORY WAS ALREADY WON and FINISHED FOR YOU WHEN JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS.