The Purpose of an Enemy

Many people I have talked to over the last few weeks all have one thing in common, they are facing intense battles. Unexpected battles, fierce battles, battles from the people closest to them, battles in the house...

I have learned two important things about battles, they are intended to be short and intense. And the very fact you are facing the battle is an indicator that the enemy knows the greatness that is in you. He never fights you on your present level, but he is fighting against your future level. He is fighting you over who you are dbecoming, your prophetic potential. And most of us don't fight himm over who we are in the future but who we are in the present. We access the battle based on our limited resources, artilary, favor... In order to win this battle you must fight him as hard as he is fighting you. A breakthrough is nothing more than the reality that press is greater than your resistance. The blessing of the battle is that it demands you focus.

You never focus when you are enjoying great success, you relax. But when all hell is coming against you you are fiercly focused on the task at hand. And when you are focused, you are dangerous. The battle is seasonal. Jesus endured the battle for 40 days, Isreal wandered for 40 years. Why? Because they refused to get a proper understanding of the battle and allow God to increase their capacity equal to the opportunity that God was presenting to them. Isreal was not afraid of the giants in the promise land, they were afaid of the neccessary process God was requiring to become giants. The bible says the land was a land flowing with milk and honey. If you are going to possess your next level, you must be willing to squeeze (milk) and swat (bees). We see this in the word behave, which literally means you have to be before you have. You have to become it, to possess it, and the battle is God's way you you becoming outside what you are on the inside. It is the way God applies pressure on the orange, to get the juice out. There is something inside of you that God is wanting to squeeze out. It will not kill you, it will multiply you.

Goliath was nothing more than a door to David's kingdom. He was the door of exit and entrance. Exiting the season of being with the sheep (1 Sam 16) and exit to revealing the king inside of him. Goliath's only purpose was to reveal the king inside of David. David was not primarily a musician, songwriter, one who threw kisses at God, a dancer, no David was at the core a warrior, a king. Your greatest problem is the portal from you being transofrmed from Clark Kent to Superman, it is the batcave, it is the trigger that releases the real you! It is the spinach to Popeye, the anger to the Hulk... It is neccessary!

The battle is always fiercest right before your breakthrough. The enemy will hit you hardest right when you you are about to shift over into your next level. The enemy does not greet you on the other side, he fight you at the door or portal. You are at the door, you are just inches away from your next level.

The battle is always a battle of word, threats, accusations, with the intention of intimidating you. It is the enemy's attempt through words and scenerios to get in your head to make you think you have lost the battle, before it has even started. Because if you lose it in your head, you will lose on the battlefiled, but if you can whip it in your head, you can whip it anywhere!

So for 40 days Goliath the champion (in between)(stands in between where you are now and where you are going) showed up and shouted threats and accusations. Isreal was dressed up for battle meaning they were dressed up for their next level, you are dressed up for your new season. All they had to do was show up, but they ran back to their tents. How many people are dressed for their new level, dream, future, but they are running bacl to their past. Know this, when you fail to confront your enemy, you are stuck in your present, you have missed your next level, you are prolonging the battle and your present season. Isreal ran from their opportunity because of intimidation and were stuck in the wilderness, not realizing they were running from the exit and entrance.

David shows up as shephard boy but he is about to be transformed in a moment into a King. He shows up with no money, he is about to leave with incredible wealth, he shows up as a single man but he is about to step through the door as a married man, he shows up as a peasant, low income, low level laborere, but he is about to leave the battle as champion, a giant killer. That thing you are facing right now, that financial hardship, that betrayel of a relationship, that failed marriage, that rebellious child you can't control, that pink slip, yes that problem right there, the one you are agonizing over, losing sleep over, the one that causes you great pain, it is your door, come on it is your moment, you are close to what you have been waiting for.

I have often thought about quitting the ministry, tired of dealing with all the little devils you face, facing battles that seem to have no spoils... But the one thing that keeps me moving forward and gives me the courage to keep showing up is, why don't you stick around to see what you are fighting for? Why don't you stick around to see what your enemy sees? if I have faced 7 years of hell in my ministry, there must be 7 years of incredible blessing. If my marriage has been through 10 years of great pain, there must be 10 years of great power. Stick around, stick around, stick around! Endure, outlast, keep showing up, keep pressing...

Tommorrow: Solving the problem closest to you, is the key to your promotion. Every promotion hinges on your ability to solve the problems closest to you.

Keep showing up!

Craig