#1 Battle For The Body

Stacy Patriarchus is starting a new series titled "Battle for the Body" on Living Truth Ministries Podcast. The series is about spiritual warfare and the importance of understanding it. The Christian life is seen as a war and believers need to be prepared for it. The series will focus on the battle for the physical body and the attacks launched against it. It aims to equip believers to fight and minister to others. The lesson introduces the invisible war and explains the natural and spiritual realms. It emphasizes the need for spiritual discernment to understand spiritual things. The story of Elisha and Gehazi is used as an example. The episode ends with an encouragement to seek God for wisdom and knowledge. To learn more about Living Truth Ministries and the courses they offer, email info@myltbc.org. Welcome to Living Truth Ministries Podcast. Today Stacy Patriarchus is starting a new series titled, Battle for the Body. Battle for the Body is a course we offer and you can download a copy for yourself or for your group for your charge. Go to www.myltbc.org and put your cursor on LTBC Free Bible Course tab. Then in the drop box below, click on what language you wish to use, then download the Battle for the Body. Harvest Time International Institute donated these courses to Living Truth Ministries and to LTBC. LTM and LTBC offer all material on our websites for you to use free of charge. We ask that you follow our copyright policies, printing, recording, and reproduction. Please, no reproduction for resale purposes. Let's join Stacy now as she begins Battle for the Body. Hello and welcome back to the Living Truth Ministries Podcast. This is the first week of January 2024 and I am so excited to present this new series entitled, Battle for the Body. I am your host Stacy Patriarchus. Today's lesson is entitled, Spiritual Warfare, What Do You Mean? Today we will learn what exactly spiritual warfare is, why it exists, and prepare ourselves to learn to fight the good fight. I pray this content will bless you and that this work will become like a seed planted in good soil. I pray that seed will produce good strong fruit as we begin this journey together. Let's prepare our hearts as I declare this proclamation from Isaiah 55, 10, and 11. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. The early church viewed their spiritual experience in terms of warfare. Military terminology is used throughout the New Testament. Protection was seen in the armor of God. The word of God was compared to a sword. Satan's attacks were called fiery darts. Faith was the good fight and believers were told to war a good warfare. The early church knew they were engaged in an intense spiritual struggle. The Bible states that God's people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge. Isaiah 4, 6. One of the areas in which believers are defeated due to lack of knowledge is in this invisible warfare. There is a great war being waged in the world today. It is not a conflict between nations, tribes, or government leaders. It is not a rebellion or a coup. It is an important invisible battle in the spirit world. The Christian life is war. The sooner we recognize and prepare for it, the sooner we will experience victory. One aspect of this invisible war targets the soul and spirit of man. Harvest Time International Institute has a course entitled Spiritual Strategies, a Manual of Spiritual Warfare, which focuses on this portion of the invisible war. But there is another part of this warfare that is manifested in the physical realm. In this series, we call it the battle for the body. Satan has targeted the physical bodies of believers because he knows that weak and sickly warriors cannot wage effective battle against his kingdom. Luke 14, 31 says, What king, going to make war against another king, siteth not down first, and consulteth whether he is able to with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand. No one should ever enter a battle without a careful examination of his resources and development of battle strategies. In this series, we are making a careful evaluation of the struggles available to win the war against Satan in the battle for your body. You will learn to battle for your physical body and to minister these truths to other wounded warriors in God's army. The exposing of the enemy and his strategies is one of the greatest revelations of God's Word. This series is by no means an exhaustive study of healing and deliverance, but it is an in-depth scriptural analysis. As in natural warfare, skills in the battle for the body is progressive and develops you to enter the combat zone and begin to fight. Part 1 The Battle for the Body There is a great battle being waged in the spiritual world. It is a personal battle within, between the flesh and the spirit. It is a social battle with the evil forces of the world. It is a spiritual battle with evil supernatural powers. It is also a physical battle with attacks launched against your body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Old Testament times, a trumpet was used to summon God's people to battle. Today, a spiritual summons is sounding throughout the nations of the world. It is a summons to the invisible war. It is a call to arms. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all these statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exodus 15 verse 26 There is a great war being waged in the world today. It is not a conflict between nations, tribes, or government leaders. It is not a rebellion or a coup. It is an invisible battle taking place in the spiritual world. Today's lesson introduces the invisible war in which every believer is engaged. It is a war where no one wears a uniform, but where everyone is the target. The historical and prophetical record of this war is contained in God's Word, the Bible. Now, let's learn about the natural and spiritual realms. To understand this invisible war, you must first understand the natural and spiritual worlds. Man exists in two worlds, the natural world and the spiritual world. The natural world is that which can be seen, felt, touched, heard, or tasted. It is tangible and visible. The country, nation, city, or village in which you live is part of the natural world. You are a resident in a natural kingdom located on one of the visible continents of the world. You can see the people who are part of your environment. You can communicate with them. You can experience the sights, sounds, and smells around you. But there is another world in which you live. That world is the spiritual world. You cannot see it with your physical eyes, but it is just as real as the natural world in which you live. In 1 Corinthians 15-40, Paul speaks of this division of natural and spiritual. He says there is a natural terrestrial body, and there is a spiritual celestial body. All men have a natural body which lives in the natural world, but man is also a spiritual being with an eternal soul and spirit. Man is body, soul, and spirit. Your spiritual being, soul and spirit, is part of the spiritual world, just as your natural body is part of the natural world. What is spiritual discernment? Because spiritual warfare is just that, spiritual, it must be understood with a spiritual mind. In our natural, sinful state, we cannot understand spiritual things. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2-14 It is necessary to use spiritual discernment to understand spiritual things. Perhaps one of the best examples of natural and spiritual discernment is recorded in 2 Kings 6. In this story of the natural battles in which troops of the enemy nation of Syria had surrounded a small town called Dolphin, where the prophet Elisha was staying. When Elisha's servant Gehazi saw the great host of the enemy, he became fearful. Elisha prayed that God would open Gehazi's spiritual eyes so he could see the angelic host surrounding and protecting them. On this occasion, God actually opened the natural eyes of Gehazi and allowed him to visibly see the superior forces of God aligned for battle. The story of this battle at Dolphin is similar to present spiritual conditions in the church. There are some, like Elisha, who see clearly into the realm of the Spirit. They know there is a conflict occurring, have identified the enemy, and recognize the greater forces of God that assure victory. There are others, like Gehazi, who, with a little encouragement, will be able to open their spiritual eyes and no longer be fearful of and defeated by the enemy. But sadly, there are many people who, like those of the city of Gotham, are spiritually sleeping. They do not even know that the enemy has surrounded them and is poised for attack. Are your spiritual eyes open? Perhaps you are like Gehazi who just needs a little encouragement to see into the spiritual realm. If you are struggling to have eyes that see and ears that hear, I encourage you this week to reach out to God and ask for His wisdom and knowledge. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6.33 Seek Jesus daily, and you will be amazed at the things that He will reveal to you. Next week, we will learn about the two spiritual kingdoms, where the battle rages, and how the battle started. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you, and may He keep you in all your ways, and may you have a great rest of your day. If you want to learn more about LTM or LTBC, or the courses we offer, you can email us at info at myltbc.org. Again, that's info, I-N-F-O, at myltbc.org. This broadcast is brought to you by Living Truth Ministries.