The Spiritual Journey 2024 - Day 12: All access points available to the enemy must be closed.

”What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.“

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Before heading back into the next destination in my spiritual journey, I want to share with you what the Lord gave to me concerning the process in the spiritual journey.

A few days after the spiritual journey, the Lord called me to my altar, and unfolded the purpose of the spiritual journey, the pivot involved in the spiritual journey, and the paradigm coming out of the spiritual journey.

For today we will look at what He showed me was the purpose for the spiritual journey, and we will examine the other aspects, at another time.

As a backdrop for what the purpose of this spiritual journey was, allow me to first point out a difference between the temptation of Jesus and the temptations and trials we go through.

In the last teaching Jesus would give His disciples before His being offered up, He told them this:

”I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of the world (Satan) is coming. And he has no claim on Me [no power over Me nor anything that he can use against Me]; but so that the world may know [without any doubt] that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me [and act in full agreement with Him].“

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬-‭31‬a AMP‬‬

We see that Jesus plainly told them that Satan is the ruler of this world. And, with that, Satan did not have any access point to control Him in any way. As we saw in the temptation of Jesus, each temptation offered by Satan was immediately challenged by the word. Jesus had no hesitation in regards to dispatching Satan. Indeed, Satan had nothing about which he could accuse Jesus, and found no desire in Jesus that he could exploit. Jesus’ temptation, for that matter, His whole human existence, only served to prove that He was the perfect Lamb of God.

Now, our testing, our trials, our temptations, are used by Satan to either create points of access, or exploit some access point, broadening it so that he can gain control.

At the same time, the Lord can and will use the fiery trials, the pressings we experience, to actually give us the opportunity to be rid of what keeps us from being free from Satan’s influence.

”No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn. This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.“

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭17‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Make no mistake, weapons are formed against you. Yes, they sometimes come from the outside, but many times the weapons have been formed within our own way of being and doing by the things we have been through in our lives.

For me, this spiritual journey was about identifying and eradicating any access points (one in particular) being used by the enemy, and to render the weapons that have been formed against me powerless against the call of God in my life.

In our opening scripture we see that James is explaining to the people that the quarrels they are having amongst themselves are actually coming from a problem within the individuals. He then makes a comment about friendship with the world being antithetical to a relationship with Jesus. So how did he go from talking about inner lust now manifesting in outward quarreling, to speaking about friendship with the world?

What James is saying is that these lustful desires indicate that we still have affection for the things of this world. And that affection for the things of this world, my friend, is a gaping hole in the side of the hull of our soul Satan will use to take us down.

”Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.“

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I want to remind you that I am sharing my spiritual journey with you, not to entertain, but to instruct you through what the Lord allowed me to experience. Remember, the Lord desires to free us all from any hold or power the enemy wields against us. Our part is to patiently endure what we must, so that Christ may be fully formed in us. Then, the enemy of our soul will never again find an open window or an unlocked door into which he can enter to kill, steal and destroy.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

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