March 6, 2024 • 27 mins
Navigating life's storms can feel like an epic saga, where unseen forces wage battle over our spirit. This week Rick takes you deep into his own experiences and how he learned to decipher the spiritual warfare that often disguises itself as mere life struggles. Drawing parallels with biblical legends like Job and Jesus, he exposes the enemy's tactics and reminds us of the divine armor at our disposal. As we edge closer to understanding the true nature of these trials, he shares the personal realization that our greatest triumphs often follow the fiercest battles.
We've all encountered moments when the ground beneath us seems to crumble—spirits dampened, hope teetering on the brink. In this heart-to-heart, he dissects the thin line separating everyday challenges from targeted spiritual onslaughts, guided by stories of resilience like Elijah's. By holding up the mirror to our own lives, we can see the reflection of God's unwavering truth as our beacon. The dialogue doesn't end here; join the community on Facebook at Renewed Mindsets for a continuation of this empowering journey, and remember, sharing your story on our platform could light the path for others in the midst of their fight.
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Thank You. I Love You!
SEE YA!
Rick
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rick Yuhas (00:01):
Today on Renewed Mindsets.
Life can be hard.
A life obedient to God can beeven harder.
The devil wants to thwart God'splans and is not above bullying
you to get his way.
Spiritual warfare and how torecognize it.
Right now let's go, boys.
(00:22):
Hey, welcome to RenewedMindsets, where we study the
basics of the faith through thelens of our middle-aged
experiences.
I'm Rick.
Welcome to the show where Ihelp you, gen Xers and
millennials, navigatespiritually through a world that
looks nothing like we expectedBack, when cars were square and
(00:46):
mullets were totally awesome.
I am so glad you're here.
So if you've been listening forany amount of time, you know
that I've talked a bit about mylife, the good and the not so
good.
To God has blessed the effortsof this show and it's made an
(01:30):
impact for God's kingdom.
I'm getting to do God's work.
But the enemy is not pleasedwith the work that I'm doing and
lately he's been thrownwhatever his desperate hands can
grab ahold of to knock mebackwards.
A few days ago he pulled outthe mother of all bombs, which
(01:55):
knocked me sideways but not back, and recognizing it for what it
is is great confirmation thatI'm doing God's will Ain't easy.
This warfare, this spiritualwarfare, it's like this big
battle that's happening in ourworld and even though we might
(02:19):
not always see it or remember it, here's the thing the enemy
wants nothing more than to fillour minds with discouragement
and defeat.
It's not cool.
If you're a believer, living asa positive force in the world a
world that can be darksometimes you're going to
(02:40):
encounter spiritual warfare.
It's obstacles and it's attacksthat get thrown your way.
But there's good news we don'thave to let the enemy win.
God reminds us in his word tostay aware of what Satan's up to
, to be alert and to stay closeto him.
(03:02):
God gives us everything that weneed to stand strong in life
and have victory over thesebattles that go on in our minds,
the battles that go on in ourheart, the battles that go on in
our soul.
But here's the thing we getcaught up in our busy days and
(03:22):
we end up very ill-prepared oreven unaware of what we're
facing or who the real enemy is.
The forces of darkness don'twait for us to be ready for
their attacks.
They're sneaky and they'redetermined.
You got a free demon possessionwith every exercise.
You can't beat that.
(03:43):
And the devil doesn't care ifwe feel prepared or prayed up
for the day.
Actually, he probably prefersit when we're not.
But don't worry, we're going totackle this together and we're
going to come out stronger onthe other side.
In this broken and dark world,it's really hard to tell the
(04:05):
difference between regulardifficulties of life and the
true spiritual warfare attacksfrom the enemy.
Now, jesus told us that we'dface troubles in this life, and
don't we know that's true.
Sometimes it's not easy tofigure out who or what is
(04:29):
causing all the struggles.
But here's the thing God hasequipped us for battle and he
tells us to stay alert.
Spiritual warfare isn't aboutgiving the devil more attention
or getting too caught up in hisevil ways.
It's about being attentive towhat God's doing and standing
(04:49):
strong while letting him fightthe toughest battle.
There's power in God's spirit,in his word and in prayer and we
as Christians can be confidentthat he's always with us,
leading the way and protectingus from behind.
But how do you know if it'sspiritual warfare or just the
(05:17):
fact that life is suckysometimes, because man life can
get really tough right.
It's like all of a sudden youhave this extreme onslaught of
troubles and losses and trialsthat just hit you out of nowhere
and it feels like one thingafter another and you left
(05:38):
feeling just overwhelmed.
Look at Job's story in the Bible.
It's a perfect example of this.
It's Job, chapters one and two.
The devil went to God to askpermission to torment Job,
thinking that all the struggleswould push Job away from God.
But you know what?
Job stood strong and eventhough he was losing everything
(06:03):
that he held dear, he knew thatGod had him secure, even in the
middle of all the loss andhardship.
Here's the thing God will neverlet the devil have full control
.
He doesn't get to have thefinal say in our lives.
Now we're going to face battlesand attacks, but we can trust
(06:25):
that God will be our shelterthrough all of it.
He's got our backs, I'm tellingyou.
He does have your back.
It's crazy to think about howmuch the enemy wants to mess
with our lives.
Sometimes the attacks arephysical illnesses, life
threatening loss.
(06:46):
The devil's like this thief, aroaring lion that's ready to
pounce on God's people and catchus off guard, and his ultimate
goal is to steal, kill anddestroy all that we hold dear.
That's from John 10.
It's really sad to think abouthow he wants to silence our
(07:06):
voices and extinguish the lightof God's love and hope, because
that's what we are we're God'slove and hope, the light of
Christ in this world, and thedevil can't stand it.
I'm sure a lot of you out therehave had experiences where you
were close to death or wherethey're.
(07:28):
You or someone in your familyfaced a sudden and terrible
illness, but you know what.
God intervened.
He kept you here for a reason,even when it seemed like
everything was falling apart.
The Bible's filled with storiesof God's people facing great
(07:48):
danger, physical attacks, andyet God performed miracles to
bring them all through it.
Because it doesn't even makesense.
That's just how amazing God is.
Remember Daniel facing thelions His attackers thought that
he would be done for, but Godshut the mouths of every single
(08:09):
one of those lions, from Danielsix.
And he's still shutting mouthstoday.
If you're going through attacksand you feel like your life is
being threatened, don't worry.
God is a miracle worker.
The Bible tells us that ourtime is in God's hands and he
(08:33):
knows exactly how long we'resupposed to be here on this
earth and he'll keep us and ourloved ones safe in his care
until it's our time to go hometo heaven.
So here's the deal.
There's no need to fear.
Stand strong in prayer and inhis word and you'll overcome
that spiritual warfare.
(08:53):
So you got my back andeverything it's got your back
Dang.
Now here's another problem thatwe have If you, if you are under
attack by increased temptationor a lure towards sin or wrong
choices.
Life is full of struggles andtemptations.
(09:14):
Right, here's the thingsometimes we face these
spiritual attacks and it puts usat a great risk of going astray
, of backsliding.
It's like this battle, a reallytough one, and the enemy fights
hard against us, and Satandoesn't just want to bring us
(09:36):
down, he wants to bringeverybody around us down too,
and he gets all excited when hesees news stories of believers
who have fallen or made terriblechoices.
He loves when there's disunityamongst Christians.
Get on Facebook and just seewhat's happening.
It used to be.
(09:57):
It used to be Christiansagainst everybody else on some
of these posts, and now theeverybody else is off doing
their own thing and Christiansare just fighting Christians on
some of the dumbest things andon some of the most important
things.
(10:19):
The devil's ultimate goal is tobreak up families and
relationships that mean theworld to us.
It's not a pretty picture, butguess what?
We can stand strong and stayaware.
We don't have to give the enemyany room to wreak havoc in our
lives and we can shut him downcompletely.
Because let me tell you, if welet him in even an inch, he's
(10:42):
going to take that and run withit and try to make us backslide
faster than we can even realizewhat's happening.
And you know, when we'realready weary, when we're
already tired and feeling weak,that's when we really get on the
enemy's radar.
Jesus himself is our greatestexample of this.
(11:04):
In the wilderness he faced thedevil's temptations In Matthew,
chapter 4, 1-11,.
He was fasting, he was hungry,he was physically weakened and
he was tired.
And you know what?
The enemy jumped on thatopportunity to throw temptations
at Jesus like never before.
(11:24):
He was waiting for just oneslip up, one wrong move, one yes
to sin.
But Jesus stood strong.
He resisted the attacks, everysingle one of them.
He spoke God's word out loud,he held fast to the truth and he
(11:46):
stepped over Satan's lies andattacks.
And you know what he leads usto do the same thing.
So here's the deal Don't becaught unaware when those
temptations in spiritual warfarecome knocking at your door.
When you feel those strongpulls away from God's truth and
God's ways, you can be sure ofwho's behind it.
(12:08):
Just don't give in.
You gotta stand strong and keepyour eyes on the prize.
God's got your back.
The next thing is when you havefeelings of oh man, just
overwhelming despair, darkness,fear.
And I get it.
(12:29):
I totally understand that lifecan be tough Anxiety, fear,
depression, mood disordersthey're no joke.
But you know what?
Sometimes those attacks fromspiritual forces can make things
even more intense than just aregular struggle.
Sometimes it's ruthless, it'sunrelenting, and that battle can
(12:54):
leave us feeling completelyalone and overwhelmed.
It's like being stuck in deepfear or deep, deep despair, and
it's not a fun place to be.
But here's the thing we need torecognize this darkness for
what it really is and standstrong, because sometimes
(13:18):
Satan's going to try to push usover the edge.
He'll make us contemplate,taking our own lives or making
choices that we never thought wewould.
It's a cruel, cruel trap, butyou can't lose hope.
We have Jesus and he's the onewho can lift us out of that
darkness.
He's the one who can calm ourfears and give us strength that
(13:42):
we never knew we had.
Do you know about Elijah theprophet?
He was an amazing man of Godwho led the battle against the
false idols and stood strongagainst those who opposed God,
and everybody saw him as a hero.
He was respected and he washonored.
(14:04):
But right after this greatvictory, he went through some
extreme warfare and he ran forhis life.
He was gripped by fear anddespair.
It's like he forgot everythingthat God had just done for his
people.
You can find that in 1 Kings,chapter 19.
But you know what?
(14:26):
God met him right where he was.
He provided for him and he tookcare of him and he gave him
strength.
He showed him great, greatmercy and grace, and he didn't
stop there.
He called Elijah to action andhe gave him a plan to keep
(14:47):
moving forward because there wasstill work to be done.
God does the same for us today.
If you ever find yourselfrunning scared or stuck in
despair, take a moment to thinkabout who you're really running
from.
You can't let Satan's pursuitand attacks get to you.
He's got no power over you.
(15:08):
He's got no lasting power overyou, that's for sure.
God will hold on to you andhe's got amazing things planned
for you down the road.
So you've got to stand tall andlet your light shine.
You got this and God's got yourback every step of the way.
(15:34):
The next thing that you need torecognize for a spiritual attack
is confusion, feelings of guiltor just very dull spiritual
awareness.
And this last sign is aspiritual warfare that can be
(15:58):
sneaky and hard to spot.
Sometimes it's like a slow,constant pull away from God's
truth, and it can happen sogradually over time that you
don't notice it.
But if you stop and take acloser look, you can call it out
(16:19):
for what it really is.
When this kind of attackhappens, you start to feel
confused or irritated orconflicted.
Now we carry around thisgeneralized sense of guilt and
condemnation that just won't goaway.
When this happens, our desireto pray or to press into God's
(16:39):
word diminishes.
There's the word I'm lookingfor.
We get busy, we got tons ofthings to do Sometimes they're
even good things and we neglectGod's word and we find ourselves
isolated from other believers,thinking that we can handle life
on our own.
But this dark cloud ofconfusion and guilt, it follows
(17:05):
us everywhere and bitterness cancreep in.
Conflicts, broken relationships.
We start doubting what we usedto believe and listen more to
what the world says is right.
Now, friend, you got to breakfree from that trap.
(17:29):
You need to wake up and takeaction.
God's power is stronger than anycondemnation and confusion
thrown your way.
In his word, he reminds us thathe is not the author of
confusion, but of peace.
In the Bible he saysCorinthians 14-33,.
He tells that there's nocondemnation for those who are
(17:53):
in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8-1,.
When God's spirit convicts usof sin.
It's not meant to be a ruthlessand condemning voice.
It's not about piling on guiltand shame, which is what the
enemy loves to do.
Instead, it's filled with hopeand grace.
So you need to just step awayfrom that dark cloud and step
(18:17):
into God's light and truth.
Let his peace wash over you andguide you back to where you
belong.
God's truth is powerful andit's always going to lead you
back to the path of peace andfreedom.
Like I told you earlier, I'vebeen thinking a whole lot about
(18:40):
spiritual warfare lately becauseour right smack dab in the
middle of a firestorm.
When I think about how I needto react to spiritual warfare,
you think about putting on thewhole armor of God, which there
are several steps.
You pick up your shield offaith and you put on the helmet
of salvation, and when you'reunder heavy spiritual fire, you
(19:03):
can't always remember eachindividual peace because you're
distracted by the enemy'sflaming arrows.
Right, the greatest single wayyou can engage in spiritual
warfare is to obey whatever Godis telling you to do.
It's very simple.
(19:26):
You don't need to remembermultiple things.
You only really need toremember one Do what God says to
do.
The encompassed in that onecommand is all the individual
pieces that we were talkingabout the helmet of salvation,
which is aligning your thoughtswith God's thoughts.
(19:47):
The shield of faith isremembering that God was
faithful before and believingthat he'll be faithful again.
It also encompasses the othercommands that lead us to put on
the armor of God, like rejoicingand praying and giving thanks.
(20:08):
One reason that soldiers rundrills is to automate their
reaction when there's afirefight, they don't have the
luxury of time to think aboutdoing A, b and C as the bullets
are whizzing by their heads andthe bombs are going off around
them.
In the heat of battle, theyneed to know what their role is
(20:29):
without having to stop and thinkabout it, and that's what we
have to do as Christians.
We need to prepare forspiritual attack before it
happens, so we do what we needto do without having to think
about it.
I find it very helpful to haveto remember only one marching
order Obey God, oh my God, roger, roger.
(20:56):
Now, next week we're going togo a little deeper into God's
battle plan for us when we'refacing spiritual warfare.
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(21:20):
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(21:41):
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(22:06):
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(23:32):
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The music for the renewed mindsets podcast is Are you Ready?
By Floodgate From the album Areyou Ready?
(24:57):
Copyright 2002, offbeatMinistries Incorporated.
Floodgate is available on AppleMusic and iTunes.
Used with permission.
Today on Renewed Mindsets.
Life can be hard.
A life obedient to God can beeven harder.
The devil wants to thwart God'splans and is not above bullying
you to get his way.
Spiritual warfare and how torecognize it.
Right now let's go, boys.
(00:22):
Hey, welcome to RenewedMindsets, where we study the
basics of the faith through thelens of our middle-aged
experiences.
I'm Rick.
Welcome to the show where Ihelp you, gen Xers and
millennials, navigatespiritually through a world that
looks nothing like we expectedBack, when cars were square and
(00:46):
mullets were totally awesome.
I am so glad you're here.
So if you've been listening forany amount of time, you know
that I've talked a bit about mylife, the good and the not so
good.
To God has blessed the effortsof this show and it's made an
(01:30):
impact for God's kingdom.
I'm getting to do God's work.
But the enemy is not pleasedwith the work that I'm doing and
lately he's been thrownwhatever his desperate hands can
grab ahold of to knock mebackwards.
A few days ago he pulled outthe mother of all bombs, which
(01:55):
knocked me sideways but not back, and recognizing it for what it
is is great confirmation thatI'm doing God's will Ain't easy.
This warfare, this spiritualwarfare, it's like this big
battle that's happening in ourworld and even though we might
(02:19):
not always see it or remember it, here's the thing the enemy
wants nothing more than to fillour minds with discouragement
and defeat.
It's not cool.
If you're a believer, living asa positive force in the world a
world that can be darksometimes you're going to
(02:40):
encounter spiritual warfare.
It's obstacles and it's attacksthat get thrown your way.
But there's good news we don'thave to let the enemy win.
God reminds us in his word tostay aware of what Satan's up to
, to be alert and to stay closeto him.
(03:02):
God gives us everything that weneed to stand strong in life
and have victory over thesebattles that go on in our minds,
the battles that go on in ourheart, the battles that go on in
our soul.
But here's the thing we getcaught up in our busy days and
(03:22):
we end up very ill-prepared oreven unaware of what we're
facing or who the real enemy is.
The forces of darkness don'twait for us to be ready for
their attacks.
They're sneaky and they'redetermined.
You got a free demon possessionwith every exercise.
You can't beat that.
(03:43):
And the devil doesn't care ifwe feel prepared or prayed up
for the day.
Actually, he probably prefersit when we're not.
But don't worry, we're going totackle this together and we're
going to come out stronger onthe other side.
In this broken and dark world,it's really hard to tell the
(04:05):
difference between regulardifficulties of life and the
true spiritual warfare attacksfrom the enemy.
Now, jesus told us that we'dface troubles in this life, and
don't we know that's true.
Sometimes it's not easy tofigure out who or what is
(04:29):
causing all the struggles.
But here's the thing God hasequipped us for battle and he
tells us to stay alert.
Spiritual warfare isn't aboutgiving the devil more attention
or getting too caught up in hisevil ways.
It's about being attentive towhat God's doing and standing
(04:49):
strong while letting him fightthe toughest battle.
There's power in God's spirit,in his word and in prayer and we
as Christians can be confidentthat he's always with us,
leading the way and protectingus from behind.
But how do you know if it'sspiritual warfare or just the
(05:17):
fact that life is suckysometimes, because man life can
get really tough right.
It's like all of a sudden youhave this extreme onslaught of
troubles and losses and trialsthat just hit you out of nowhere
and it feels like one thingafter another and you left
(05:38):
feeling just overwhelmed.
Look at Job's story in the Bible.
It's a perfect example of this.
It's Job, chapters one and two.
The devil went to God to askpermission to torment Job,
thinking that all the struggleswould push Job away from God.
But you know what?
Job stood strong and eventhough he was losing everything
(06:03):
that he held dear, he knew thatGod had him secure, even in the
middle of all the loss andhardship.
Here's the thing God will neverlet the devil have full control
.
He doesn't get to have thefinal say in our lives.
Now we're going to face battlesand attacks, but we can trust
(06:25):
that God will be our shelterthrough all of it.
He's got our backs, I'm tellingyou.
He does have your back.
It's crazy to think about howmuch the enemy wants to mess
with our lives.
Sometimes the attacks arephysical illnesses, life
threatening loss.
(06:46):
The devil's like this thief, aroaring lion that's ready to
pounce on God's people and catchus off guard, and his ultimate
goal is to steal, kill anddestroy all that we hold dear.
That's from John 10.
It's really sad to think abouthow he wants to silence our
(07:06):
voices and extinguish the lightof God's love and hope, because
that's what we are we're God'slove and hope, the light of
Christ in this world, and thedevil can't stand it.
I'm sure a lot of you out therehave had experiences where you
were close to death or wherethey're.
(07:28):
You or someone in your familyfaced a sudden and terrible
illness, but you know what.
God intervened.
He kept you here for a reason,even when it seemed like
everything was falling apart.
The Bible's filled with storiesof God's people facing great
(07:48):
danger, physical attacks, andyet God performed miracles to
bring them all through it.
Because it doesn't even makesense.
That's just how amazing God is.
Remember Daniel facing thelions His attackers thought that
he would be done for, but Godshut the mouths of every single
(08:09):
one of those lions, from Danielsix.
And he's still shutting mouthstoday.
If you're going through attacksand you feel like your life is
being threatened, don't worry.
God is a miracle worker.
The Bible tells us that ourtime is in God's hands and he
(08:33):
knows exactly how long we'resupposed to be here on this
earth and he'll keep us and ourloved ones safe in his care
until it's our time to go hometo heaven.
So here's the deal.
There's no need to fear.
Stand strong in prayer and inhis word and you'll overcome
that spiritual warfare.
(08:53):
So you got my back andeverything it's got your back
Dang.
Now here's another problem thatwe have If you, if you are under
attack by increased temptationor a lure towards sin or wrong
choices.
Life is full of struggles andtemptations.
(09:14):
Right, here's the thingsometimes we face these
spiritual attacks and it puts usat a great risk of going astray
, of backsliding.
It's like this battle, a reallytough one, and the enemy fights
hard against us, and Satandoesn't just want to bring us
(09:36):
down, he wants to bringeverybody around us down too,
and he gets all excited when hesees news stories of believers
who have fallen or made terriblechoices.
He loves when there's disunityamongst Christians.
Get on Facebook and just seewhat's happening.
It used to be.
(09:57):
It used to be Christiansagainst everybody else on some
of these posts, and now theeverybody else is off doing
their own thing and Christiansare just fighting Christians on
some of the dumbest things andon some of the most important
things.
(10:19):
The devil's ultimate goal is tobreak up families and
relationships that mean theworld to us.
It's not a pretty picture, butguess what?
We can stand strong and stayaware.
We don't have to give the enemyany room to wreak havoc in our
lives and we can shut him downcompletely.
Because let me tell you, if welet him in even an inch, he's
(10:42):
going to take that and run withit and try to make us backslide
faster than we can even realizewhat's happening.
And you know, when we'realready weary, when we're
already tired and feeling weak,that's when we really get on the
enemy's radar.
Jesus himself is our greatestexample of this.
(11:04):
In the wilderness he faced thedevil's temptations In Matthew,
chapter 4, 1-11,.
He was fasting, he was hungry,he was physically weakened and
he was tired.
And you know what?
The enemy jumped on thatopportunity to throw temptations
at Jesus like never before.
(11:24):
He was waiting for just oneslip up, one wrong move, one yes
to sin.
But Jesus stood strong.
He resisted the attacks, everysingle one of them.
He spoke God's word out loud,he held fast to the truth and he
(11:46):
stepped over Satan's lies andattacks.
And you know what he leads usto do the same thing.
So here's the deal Don't becaught unaware when those
temptations in spiritual warfarecome knocking at your door.
When you feel those strongpulls away from God's truth and
God's ways, you can be sure ofwho's behind it.
(12:08):
Just don't give in.
You gotta stand strong and keepyour eyes on the prize.
God's got your back.
The next thing is when you havefeelings of oh man, just
overwhelming despair, darkness,fear.
And I get it.
(12:29):
I totally understand that lifecan be tough Anxiety, fear,
depression, mood disordersthey're no joke.
But you know what?
Sometimes those attacks fromspiritual forces can make things
even more intense than just aregular struggle.
Sometimes it's ruthless, it'sunrelenting, and that battle can
(12:54):
leave us feeling completelyalone and overwhelmed.
It's like being stuck in deepfear or deep, deep despair, and
it's not a fun place to be.
But here's the thing we need torecognize this darkness for
what it really is and standstrong, because sometimes
(13:18):
Satan's going to try to push usover the edge.
He'll make us contemplate,taking our own lives or making
choices that we never thought wewould.
It's a cruel, cruel trap, butyou can't lose hope.
We have Jesus and he's the onewho can lift us out of that
darkness.
He's the one who can calm ourfears and give us strength that
(13:42):
we never knew we had.
Do you know about Elijah theprophet?
He was an amazing man of Godwho led the battle against the
false idols and stood strongagainst those who opposed God,
and everybody saw him as a hero.
He was respected and he washonored.
(14:04):
But right after this greatvictory, he went through some
extreme warfare and he ran forhis life.
He was gripped by fear anddespair.
It's like he forgot everythingthat God had just done for his
people.
You can find that in 1 Kings,chapter 19.
But you know what?
(14:26):
God met him right where he was.
He provided for him and he tookcare of him and he gave him
strength.
He showed him great, greatmercy and grace, and he didn't
stop there.
He called Elijah to action andhe gave him a plan to keep
(14:47):
moving forward because there wasstill work to be done.
God does the same for us today.
If you ever find yourselfrunning scared or stuck in
despair, take a moment to thinkabout who you're really running
from.
You can't let Satan's pursuitand attacks get to you.
He's got no power over you.
(15:08):
He's got no lasting power overyou, that's for sure.
God will hold on to you andhe's got amazing things planned
for you down the road.
So you've got to stand tall andlet your light shine.
You got this and God's got yourback every step of the way.
(15:34):
The next thing that you need torecognize for a spiritual attack
is confusion, feelings of guiltor just very dull spiritual
awareness.
And this last sign is aspiritual warfare that can be
(15:58):
sneaky and hard to spot.
Sometimes it's like a slow,constant pull away from God's
truth, and it can happen sogradually over time that you
don't notice it.
But if you stop and take acloser look, you can call it out
(16:19):
for what it really is.
When this kind of attackhappens, you start to feel
confused or irritated orconflicted.
Now we carry around thisgeneralized sense of guilt and
condemnation that just won't goaway.
When this happens, our desireto pray or to press into God's
(16:39):
word diminishes.
There's the word I'm lookingfor.
We get busy, we got tons ofthings to do Sometimes they're
even good things and we neglectGod's word and we find ourselves
isolated from other believers,thinking that we can handle life
on our own.
But this dark cloud ofconfusion and guilt, it follows
(17:05):
us everywhere and bitterness cancreep in.
Conflicts, broken relationships.
We start doubting what we usedto believe and listen more to
what the world says is right.
Now, friend, you got to breakfree from that trap.
(17:29):
You need to wake up and takeaction.
God's power is stronger than anycondemnation and confusion
thrown your way.
In his word, he reminds us thathe is not the author of
confusion, but of peace.
In the Bible he saysCorinthians 14-33,.
He tells that there's nocondemnation for those who are
(17:53):
in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8-1,.
When God's spirit convicts usof sin.
It's not meant to be a ruthlessand condemning voice.
It's not about piling on guiltand shame, which is what the
enemy loves to do.
Instead, it's filled with hopeand grace.
So you need to just step awayfrom that dark cloud and step
(18:17):
into God's light and truth.
Let his peace wash over you andguide you back to where you
belong.
God's truth is powerful andit's always going to lead you
back to the path of peace andfreedom.
Like I told you earlier, I'vebeen thinking a whole lot about
(18:40):
spiritual warfare lately becauseour right smack dab in the
middle of a firestorm.
When I think about how I needto react to spiritual warfare,
you think about putting on thewhole armor of God, which there
are several steps.
You pick up your shield offaith and you put on the helmet
of salvation, and when you'reunder heavy spiritual fire, you
(19:03):
can't always remember eachindividual peace because you're
distracted by the enemy'sflaming arrows.
Right, the greatest single wayyou can engage in spiritual
warfare is to obey whatever Godis telling you to do.
It's very simple.
(19:26):
You don't need to remembermultiple things.
You only really need toremember one Do what God says to
do.
The encompassed in that onecommand is all the individual
pieces that we were talkingabout the helmet of salvation,
which is aligning your thoughtswith God's thoughts.
(19:47):
The shield of faith isremembering that God was
faithful before and believingthat he'll be faithful again.
It also encompasses the othercommands that lead us to put on
the armor of God, like rejoicingand praying and giving thanks.
(20:08):
One reason that soldiers rundrills is to automate their
reaction when there's afirefight, they don't have the
luxury of time to think aboutdoing A, b and C as the bullets
are whizzing by their heads andthe bombs are going off around
them.
In the heat of battle, theyneed to know what their role is
(20:29):
without having to stop and thinkabout it, and that's what we
have to do as Christians.
We need to prepare forspiritual attack before it
happens, so we do what we needto do without having to think
about it.
I find it very helpful to haveto remember only one marching
order Obey God, oh my God, roger, roger.
(20:56):
Now, next week we're going togo a little deeper into God's
battle plan for us when we'refacing spiritual warfare.
Introduce it a new daily podcast, written and produced to
jumpstart your day with wisdomfrom God.
Wisdom for the day.
This daily meetup is a way youcan learn everything about
(21:20):
wisdom from a biblicalperspective.
The book of Proverbs is allabout wisdom from the wisest man
in the Bible, king Solomon,covering one to a few verses a
day.
Each episode is around three tofive minutes A quick fill up of
your wisdom to start your dayor end it, and by the end of the
(21:41):
year, you will have heard andunderstand the entire book of
Proverbs.
Visit wisdomforthedayorg andlisten there, or hit follow for
your favorite podcast app.
And now Deep Thoughts by Rick UHaas.
(22:06):
I was at the grocery store theother day and saw a sign that
said vegetables 50% off.
I thought, well, that's a greatdeal, but what am I going to do
with half a carrot?
Hey, I hope you're enjoyingthese shows as much as I do.
(22:27):
I love providing value in theway of conversations and
interviews and content.
If you've ever sat there inyour car and said to yourself,
man, I wish there was a way Icould help support Rick with his
show, well, today's your luckyday.
Your support means the world tome.
By supporting renewed mindsets,you're not just backing a show.
(22:49):
You're fueling those engagingconversations, insightful
interviews and quality content.
Your support of this ministryhelps me bring God's Word to
those that may not hear itanywhere else, and you're
investing in your own future oflistening.
Together, let's amplify ourvoice and keep the conversations
flowing.
Visit our website atrenewedmindsetscom.
(23:12):
Slash support and be a crucialpart of this show.
Thank you for making adifference.
Well, that's all for this week'sshow.
You know, the name of this showspeaks my hope for you.
It's taken from the words ofRomans, chapter 12, verse 2.
(23:32):
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind that bytesting, you may discern what is
the will of God, what is goodand acceptable and perfect.
If you enjoyed what you heard,do me a favor, please, and tell
(23:53):
someone you know about it.
Send them a link and a text youknow.
You may even need to downloadit to their phone and show them
what a podcast is.
If it was valuable to you, itwill be to them.
Visit renewedmindsetscom to hearpast episodes, read the blog
and check out the new merch.
(24:14):
And, as always, while you'rethere, send me a voicemail by
clicking the button at thebottom right corner of the main
page.
Tell me what you think aboutthis show.
I just might play it on afuture episode until next week.
I'm Rick, I love you, I loveyou, I love you, I love you, I
(24:37):
love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.
See ya.
The music for the renewed mindsets podcast is Are you Ready?
By Floodgate From the album Areyou Ready?
(24:57):
Copyright 2002, offbeatMinistries Incorporated.
Floodgate is available on AppleMusic and iTunes.
Used with permission.
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