Taking Hold of the Supernatural // Full to Overflowing, Part 3

Sometimes, it’s the things that we can’t see, that can have the biggest impact on our wellbeing. Our blood pressure. Our cholesterol levels. The supernatural realm. All things we ignore – at our peril.

It's true that the things we can't see are often the things that end up ruining our lives. There are no symptoms for high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels but if we have either of them, well they dramatically increase our chances of heart attack and stroke. We can't see them, we can't feel them but when they hit the impact is devastating, often fatal.

There are no symptoms for glaucoma before people notice they've lost a fair chunk of their eyesight. There are no symptoms for bowel cancer or cervical cancer until it's too late. The hidden things, the things we can't see, the things we ignore, they're often the ones that take people's lives.

We know that's true physically, but it's also true spiritually as much as we might try to ignore it and deny there's a spiritual dimension to life. Makes sense, God is spirit and it's what happens in the spiritual dimension that impacts what’s going on here in the physical.

I spent a greater part of my life trying to ignore the spiritual dimension. But if God is God, well there must be spiritual dimension. The Apostle Paul, and to me he's really interesting this guy, he has a real insight about this. Now remember Paul is as practical as practical can be. He's not some kind of airy fairy spiritual fruitcake. He's down to earth, he wrote almost half the books of the New Testament and by and large he dealt with really practical issues of life.

But have a listen to what he says about the spiritual dimension in Ephesians chapter 6, beginning at verse 10:

Finally let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armour that God gives you so that you can defend yourself against the devils tricks because we're not fighting against human beings, we're fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.

So put on all the armour that God gives you then when that evil day comes you'll be able to defend yourself and when the battle is over you'll still be standing firm.

You see my friend, we can see people. The weather, we can see the weather. The stock market, we can see the stock market go up and down but Paul's saying here that that's all well and good but there's a spiritual dimension that you can't see. The devil is alive and well, he's full of tricks, there is a battle going on in the heavenly places for my soul and for yours.

And he says, when that battle is over you're meant to still be standing. And the things that rob us, and not so much the things we can see, the flesh and blood, tangible, physical things here in this world. It's what's happening in the spiritual world, the unseen world.

We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world

Writes Paul.

Now that's hard to come to grips with. I mean in the west almost 75% of us believe in God yet less than a third believe in the devil. Whereas you go to parts of Africa or Asia and the demonic is alive and well. Idolatry and witchcraft and devil worship are all happening there. In the west though, let me tell you, you don't have to look too far to see the devils fingerprints on all sorts of things. Albeit it's a little more subtle.

It's the hidden things in that super natural dimension that can end up killing us. Jesus said, we looked at it the last couple of days, John chapter 10, verse 10:

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy but I have come (said Jesus) that you may have life in all its fullness and all its abundance.

You see, what Jesus is sayi