To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in Me. Acts 26:18
Where do you start?
When you have a loved one involved in the things of darkness?
It is no easy task
You wonder if their heart has gone past the point
where they have refused the Lord,
but we are not the ones who can see inside hearts
You wonder how they chose that road,
You wonder if they even can be saved
You think about the spiritual warfare that may need to go on
in order for them to even be able to hear the gospel
through all the wickedness they have absorbed
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:21
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
And Jesus answering said unto them,
They that are whole need not a physician;
but they that are sick.
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:30-32
There is the answer in that scripture just above
No matter who they are or what level of darkness people are in,
each one who has not yet chosen to follow Jesus is in darkness
There is a way out, through God’s Holy Spirit,
who is able to reach into their world and show them who Jesus is
The children of the world are in darkness
Many years ago, during a very difficult time in my life, I did not want to live
I prayed every day the Lord would take me home
One night I had a dream
This dream was of a child I was very close to
He was in Hell’s Fire and I reached in my hand
and snatched him out of the flames
When I awoke, I said to the Lord, Okay, I will stay for him
I changed my attitude, picked up my cross again and followed Jesus
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 1:23
I have not prayed for him too much over the years,
but, lately, that has changed
The Lord has given me a burden for him and reminds me of him often
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. John 12:32
I do not think of spiritual warfare as fighting the enemy,
meaning it is not focused on the enemy,
but, as always, Jesus should always have the preeminence
Lifting Jesus up is the way I work and Jesus is my focus,
Jesus can direct the prayers and fastings, if He prompts
They must be led by the Lord Jesus and done with His guidance
To do spiritual warfare, I do not focus on Satan or the demonic realm,
But rather on Christ and lifting Him up in the situation
I am just beginning this battle
I do not know where it will lead
I will focus on Jesus and determine to be led by His Holy Spirit
Doing my best to keep my self out of the way
The flesh profits nothing, so there is no sense in operating in the flesh
I will need continued wisdom and guidance from the Lord Jesus Christ
who knows all things both hidden and open
Scriptural References:
And He is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things He might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18
It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:63
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate,
and to smite with the fist of wickedness:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day,
to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?
is it to bow down his head as a bulrush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;
and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as the noon day:
And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach,
The restorer of paths to dwell in.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day;
and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Isaiah 58:3-7