Have You Been Beating The Air? I Have.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against power,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places.
-Ephesians 6:12-

Why am I still blogging around when I still have 100 pages to read for my music finals? I believe this is far more important than the history of music technology in the 20th century.

I've been going through a season of struggling, to be frank. I feel like I'm fighting with my old self. I have been a constant listener of Bethel's weekly sermon podcast for almost a year, and back in March, Kris Vallotton started a serie called "Are You Living in A Haunted House". The message spoke right into my heart at the right moment, but since March I have not been able to have a breakthrough in my struggle, even though I have listened to the first 2 messages of the serie.

Tonight was something different. I don't know how to explain it but as soon as I started listen to the 3rd part of this serie, I felt like my eyes were opened wider, and my ears could hear much clearly, and I was delivered after listening to the message! Check out the link at the end to listen/download!

Just to summarize Kris' main idea:
You shouldn't be fighting with your old self because your old self is dead the moment you accepted Jesus. If you are then you are simply fighting with a dead man and wasting a lot of time. It's the devil who we're fighting against. The devil doesn't have authority over us and we are NOT PRONE TO SIN, but sometimes we would open the door of sin to allow the devil to enter into our lives and mess it up, making us the "victim of the devil." But here's the thing, you cannot let him drag you down into the pit; you were attacked not because you were doing something wrong, but rather you were advancing in the kingdom of God. You were doing something RIGHT, and that's why you were attacked. You should be the one treading the devil! Come on!

So have you been beating the air?

I have been fighting the spirits in the heavenly realm and the principality in the sky. And I can't wait to come out of this struggle (very soon, I can feel it) victoriously! I know that in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul wrote "I do not fight like a man beating the air" (maybe he fought like a girl beating the air... :P just kidding...). Anyhow, the "air" in this verse does not mean the principality but simply "air" or "nothingness". Just in case you thought of this verse, cause I did.

At the end of the message, I repeated Kris' prayer which I now call the "Prayer of Victory", and if you are in need of some God's promises spoken into your life, I encourage you to say this prayer out loud in confidence. First, lay your hands on your head:

Jesus I thank You that You have given me the mind of Christ
And Lord I thank You that You've crowned me with glory
It was Your idea, not mine.
Lord I thank You that You're the One
Who's able to keep me from stumbling.
And You're the One
Who presented me spotless before the Almighty.
And Father also I thank You that
I know the plans You have for me
and my children
and my children's children
are not plans of calamity
but they are plans that will give me a future
and give me hope
Lord I receive that right now.
I was born for glory
I have a future
It's a great future.
I will pass through the struggle
And I will be a victor and not a victim
I am not a victim, I am a victor
I was born to win
I was born to be on top
I have the mind of the Almighty
I think the thoughts of God
And the prophecies that have been spoken over me
are my true destiny
And I believe them and receive them for myself
In Jesus' name, Amen.

You gotta check out this sermon, RIGHT CLICK HERE AND SAVE.

Johnny