In his series of sermons titled "Invisible Minefields," he's been touching on demons that torment, tear down, depress, demoralize, destroy.
We might better understand these demonic spirits as the "Forces of Satan."
Always, inside us, despite how strong our faith, there's an ongoing struggle.
It's waged between the "Forces of Satan" and the "Goodness/Purity of God."
If we let our Godly guard down one iota, Satan will begin to claim us. His is an unseen dark power that will seek to fill us with despair, evil, defeat, difficulty, depression and delusion. Ultimately, according to Pastor Lowery, Satan wants to destroy, obliterate...
So how to defeat Satan, who, by the way, is responsible for all the sin and wrongdoing in our world? How to fight against NOT flesh and blood but against an unseen evil force, a mighty, cunning power of darkness and evil?
We can only defeat Satan with God.
We defeat Satan (who is smart and strategic and scheming, according to Lowery) only by being prepared for the fight of our lives. And we become prepared by putting on our Godly suit of armor.
This suit of armor includes the belt of truth wrapped tightly around our waist. The belt of truth represents integrity. Integrity is knowing and doing the truth.
Know and do the truth. So easy to say. So hard to practice and live by, but that's how we're all to live if we want to get to Heaven.
Incidentally, Pastor Lowery noted that integrity encompasses the moral, relational and sexual dimensions of our life.
Integrity, he also noted, does not mean perfection but it does mean consistency in the way we behave. We are ONE person. We should know and try to do the truth all the time in every situation.
And just as (in Biblical times) Roman soldiers put on a breastplate to protect their heart, we should follow their lead and put on the belt of truth with the breastplate of righteousness protecting our own heart. Eph. 6:14b
Lowery summed it up this morning this way: David says only he with clean hands and a pure heart can get close to God. God can't use us if we are dirty. Dirtiness causes infection. Only the pure heart gets close to God. Know the truth. Live by the truth. Jesus talked about truth again and again... Satan always wants to attack us in the area where we are impure. Mind pollution is far worse than ecological pollution in our world today. If we don't
Mike Lowery: "The greatest prayer warriors I have known in my life are typically people with pure hearts."
Words to live by and die by.
(Photo of Mike Lowery by Larry Timbs)
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