When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils ~ Luke 11:21-22.
Introduction
Times come in our individual lives, families or nations when we are faced with dangerous challenges. At such times, if you don’t know the way out, you remain under the desperate circumstances. Albeit, having problems has never been a problem, but not knowing how to come out of them.
Happily, we have long discovered through search that “dominion walk” is the easiest and cheapest way out of any unwanted situation (Genesis 1:24-28; Zechariah 1:18-21).
Dominion is at the heart of the Christian message: it is a main essence of Christian living. Until a man holds the spiritual rod of dominion, his liberty is not guaranteed (Genesis 27:40). It is either one rules or is overruled; either he reigns with Christ or he dwells in ruin perpetually (Psalms 110:2).
Man is the visible head of God’s kingdom of creation. He is made in the similitude of God, designed to function like God and fitted to represent Him here on earth (James 3:9). Besides, man is the epitome of God’s handiwork, and he is His visible representative on earth (Genesis 1:24-26).
Man is a spirit! He has incredible capabilities for the knowledge, ways, power and acts of God: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.
Image represents, likeness corresponds! No wonder God’s Word affirms that “ye are gods”. This is a notable position of peculiar dignity, honor and nobility! But we need to understand it before we can enjoy the offer (Psalms 82:5-6).
As believers in Christ Jesus, we constitute God’s great army of saints on earth today, and in order to succeed in winning territories for Him, we need to know who the evil “strongman” is and his methods of operation, so as to be able to handle him successfully, and retrieve his stolen goods.
For the avoidance of doubt, Satan is that malevolent “strongman”, and he normally operates in cohorts with his demonic entities in their various hierarchies in the evil domain (Ephesians 6:10-16). Happily, Jesus Christ is stronger that them all! Alleluia!!
Some of these evil angels have satanic assignments over tribes, people groups, countries, regions, cities or business lines, and they incessantly seek to encroach upon our own spiritual territories. We must stand our grounds, wrestling and launching the offensives, whenever necessary, to reclaim whatever they had stolen.
In the natural world, most battles are territorial in nature, that is, they are about defending or gaining territories, and fighting for ownership or rights over territories. Now, spiritual warfare is not much different.
Spiritual warfare is a regular war between the angels of God and the agents of Satan, which has always impacted on the way events unfold here on earth. It is the victories we receive in the spirit realm that eventually translate into physical realities (2Corinthians 10:3-6).
However, unlike physical battles, the theater of spiritual warfare is the human mind (2Corinthians 10:4-6). The devil always strives to pollute the minds of vast sections of the human society, building his fortresses to scare people away from their divine provisions such as: salvation, healing, deliverance, glorious future, prosperity, spiritual authority, and true freedom in Christ Jesus.
Notwithstanding, God has given us the authority to destroy every satanic hold anywhere they’re found. The believers in Christ are the light of the world, and we should bear spiritual illumination to the darkened minds of men (Matthew 5:14; Ephesians 5:8).
It is our mission to tear down satanic strongholds, spreading the Gospel and expanding the territories of God’s Kingdom in our personal lives, homes, communities, schools, businesses, finances, Churches and nations.
Indeed, it is our particular Christian duty to arrest every ugly satanic trend through our dominion exercise to bring the human minds into the obedience of Christ’s government.
Understanding the Dignity of Dominion
Now, the Hebrew word, “radah”, translated “dominion” also means: to “tread down”, “subdue” or “subjugate”. It infers: “to rule”, “influence” and “have control” over something.
“Dominion” also comes with a sense of being exalted as head above all other nations and creations (Deuteronomy 28:1,13). God’s original plan is that all other creatures should submit to the headship of man.
Man was never to fear but to be feared (Genesis 9:2,6). Even after the fall, the subject of man’s dominion remained so important to God that He bought and brought us back to it via the redemptive work of Christ! Thus, anytime Satan acts to upturn that dominion right, he’s simply acting as a pure thief (John 10:10).
The believers have both the right and power in the Holy Ghost to drive Satan out of our territories, enforcing the dominion of heaven on earth (Matthew 11:12). Undoubtedly, we were made to dominate, and never to be decimated (2Corinthians 10:4).
Winning Strategies for Spiritual Warfare
Basically, in order to maximize our dominion benefits and win in our regularly forceful territorial contests, we must consistently exercise ourselves in the power of the Lord’s Presence and in the force of His righteousness (Exodus 33:14-15; Psalm 140:13).
We must gallantly fight the fight of faith (1Timothy 6:12). Every square inch of the Promised Land that Israel gained was accessed through battles. If you won’t fight with faith, you cannot win by it. Faith is saying it is so, even when it is not yet so, so that it might be so because God said so!
The process of establishing dominion in any pertinent area of our lives – politics, social positioning, spiritual strata, business, faith, etcetera – usually calls for a duel. The evil “strongman” must be confronted through strategic prayers, tackled and bound before his stolen goods — souls and glories of men — can be recovered (Matthew 11:12).
To conquer, you must confront! Confrontation is the only valid pathway between two irreconcilable kingdoms. Thereafter, your “bombshells” of prayer will loosen the holds of territorial spirits over your heritage.
Very importantly, David’s lifestyle provides us vivid examples of the importance of spiritual intelligence. Before every battle, he always inquired of the Lord for specific instructions (1Samuel 23:2-4; 30:8; 2Samuel 5:19, 23).
He was always fully prepared by revelation knowledge. For instance, he took five smooth stones in his quiver because he knew that, even though he was going then to face Goliath that would require only one stone, there were four other giants he needed to tackle (1Samuel 17:40; 2Samuel 21:22).
Today, our aggressive evangelism is a strategic means to confront the territorial spirits in our environments (2Corinthians 4:3-4). This is the wisdom our Master Jesus left for us, and we cannot ignore it if we intend to be effectual in our spiritual warfare to gain territories for Christ.
Friends and brethren, it is high time we stood our grounds and fought back, spiritually. Never forget though that the rule of the game in our territorial battles against the devil, the flesh, sin or lack is, “no fears, no retreat, no surrender and no negotiations” (1 Samuel 11:1-11).
We must never give up the fight of faith. Whenever we pray and act aright, God’s angels will fight against the demonic powers on our behalf, and incredible victories and advancement shall be our testimonies.
Your victory is sure and certain! You will soon recover your lost heritage in Christ, and you will truly celebrate. You won’t miss this, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!
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Bishop Taiwo Akinola,
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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