Why Learn About Spiritual Warfare?

This article first appeared on Curt Landry Ministries.

*Note this is the second of a two-part series. You can view the first part here.

Why would you invest time and effort into learning about spiritual warfare?

Yes, you’re saved

Yes, you’re born-again.

Yes, you’re filled with the Spirit.

But you invest in learning about spiritual warfare because the ancient principles of the Old Testament are confirmed in the New Testament, which is where the authority and the power of the One New Man come from. The authority comes when we come together in unity as One New Man in Yeshua.

Transformation follows a pattern in Scripture. If you’ve read my book “Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage,” you know my birth name was Joseph, and then I was adopted, and my name was changed to Curtis in the adoption process.

But in the spirit, I really feel like a “Joseph.” So if I go to Joseph in the Bible and I look at what he does, I see he is into humanitarian aid. Joseph was a business person and leader in what he did.

I love what he says at the end, in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

And that’s what happened. And so I just relate to that whole thing. I relate to Nehemiah. I relate to Daniel and Paul.

When You Are in the Transforming Process of Spiritual Warfare

When you’re in the transforming process, go into the Word of God and find the person you identify with.

For example, if you’ll go in and say, “Okay, here’s Paul. He gets knocked off a horse. He’s blinded. He realized that his last occupation, trying to protect his people by killing Christians, wasn’t his best choice. It wasn’t what he was called to do.

Paul’s Transformation

So, Paul had to have new habits and patterns, new levels of spiritual warfare, because now he has all this word in him.

• He was a rabbi’s rabbi.
• He had dual citizenship: a citizen of Rome and Israel.

He was a unique place and had a unique platform, and God says, “Listen, I’m going to send you as a Jew and as a rabbi’s rabbi, highly educated, to the Gentiles.” There had to be a process of transforming him by the love of the Father from the hateful Saul that he was into this apostle, anointed Paul to fulfill his purpose.

Identifying Your Transformation in God’s Word

If you look at…

• Abraham’s transformation
• Joseph’s transformation
• Esther’s transformation
• And so many more…

You’ll realize, “Oh my gosh, I identify. I’m in this part of the season. I’m at that crossroads where I have an Esther, let’s say. I’m at that crossroads of spiritual warfare where I will have to take it to another level because the prophet (in this case, Mordecai) comes to Esther and says, ‘Hey Esther, guess what? You were born for such as time as this! Is deliverance coming through you, or will the Lord bring it from somebody else? But don’t think that if you say no, you and your family will be safe.'”

So are you at that crossroads like Esther was, you need to study God’s Word in the book of Esther.

• How did she answer Mordecai’s question?
• What did she do to prepare beforehand for the question that came?
• Was she able to say yes?
• How was she able to, by faith, face the king, Haman and his 10 sons?

Much of what had to be done was done in preparation. So I would encourage you in this season of time, in your transformation time, to really get honest with yourself about where you are and what habits and patterns you are creating to prepare for the victory.

Pick one or two characters in the Bible and see what season you’re in.

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7, “But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.”

And part of perfecting the godliness in you is discovering that if you walk in the spirit and discipline and you come out of agreement with…

• Traditions and legends
• Folklores
• Myths
• Habits and patterns that are not productive

Then you’ll get a real change and real results in your life.

Spiritual Disciplines, Habits and Patterns Are Not About Legalism

Now it’s tempting to turn the idea of spiritual disciplines into legalism. It’s really easy. I’ve seen tons of people do that. Please don’t do that. I’m not teaching legalism when we study the law. The law is your friend because it’s the instruction. Actually, the translation of the word “law” is instruction.

So here’s the key. It’s how your heart practices these things and what’s behind the spiritual disciplines that God is looking for.

• Second Corinthians 5:17 say, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
• So if you’re going to be made new, then you need to have new practices, new habits, new patterns that facilitate and help the transformation project.

So if you’ve been created for a kingdom purpose, and you have, then you want to be able to walk in that kingdom authority according to that kingdom instruction.

So in Luke 6:45, it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” The question is here, do you believe it? That’s the key.

Do you act in agreement with truth? Because in Luke 6:45 it says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Spiritually, discipline allows us to take what is in our hearts, match it to what is in Heaven, and create a portal of blessing.

God Wants to Make You the Head, Not the Tail

So when you connect your dreams, goals and desires with your godly goals, which means managing time, tasks and activities, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail.

Because now you’re in that One New Man relationship. You transformed into a new man and you see God anew. Suddenly, He is now a God of great power and authority. Deuteronomy 28:13 says, “And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.”

Speaking in Alignment with God’s Word Delivers You!

So taking spiritual discipline and adjusting your heart through them allows your mouth to speak right and shifts actions through your heart and mind. There’s a synergy with you in heaven. And remember, the words and the habits testify to what’s in your heart. Spiritually, discipline starts to cut the bone and the marrow. It cleanses the weight of your heart and the intentions of your heart so that your mouth begins to speak because the power of life and death is in the tongue.

Every time you decree things, you are creating your future. And so when you reproduce after the Word of God rather than the sins in the garden, you are training for godliness. And there are spiritual disciplines and promises that God gives you. If you’re wanting to maintain a high level of spiritual life and to maximize your salvation, then you need to understand these ancient principles of kingdom authority in the sense that you need to understand that you’re actually working through a lifestyle of deliverance. So it says in Proverbs 28:26, “He who trust in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.”

Speaking in Alignment with God’s Word Protects You!

Deliverance is more than you think.

A lot of times you think of deliverance as praying in the Courts of Heaven and going through a deliverance process. There is deliverance like this, and I love it. We have people that travel the House of David, and we have deliverance teams, our prayer team, who will pray and pray for you in the Courts of Heaven, and you’ll go through a deliverance process.

And that’s one type of deliverance. But what it’s saying here in Proverbs is that the heart of the fool doesn’t bring in wisdom, but if you walk in wisdom, it will deliver you.

Deliverance removes foolish thoughts. And the truth, the Word of God, through the power of the blood of Jesus, is brought in and delivers you. It is the Spirit bringing life. And what it does is it removes the foolishness. So once the foolish thoughts, actions and plans are removed, that’s called deliverance. And then there’s protection from it. If you look at Exodus 23:22, it says, “But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversary.”

That’s one of the nine blessings of putting your feet under the Passover table–protection. And Exodus 23:22 tells us when we obey it, God’s protection is released over us. There has to be a decree.

• These are really Passover Scriptures, and that’s one of the reasons we do celebrate Passover. Do you have to celebrate Passover to be saved? No. Do you have to do it for anything? No. Really, the only reason you would celebrate the Feasts of the Lord is to be more intimate with God and to receive the blessings.

Speaking in Alignment with God’s Word Provides for You!

I’m going to close with this: provision. Leviticus 26:3-5 says,

• “‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.”

So we understand that when we bring in the wisdom and knowledge of spiritual warfare and practice spiritual warfare, and learn ancient principles and kingdom authority, we are trusting in God rather than our own hearts. He who trusts in his own heart (carnal knowledge) is a fool. But whoever walks wisely will be delivered. {eoa}

Click here to view Rabbi Landry’s book on spiritual warfare!

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Curt Landry, founder of Curt Landry Ministries, and his wife, Christie, travel extensively, preaching and teaching about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Together, their passion is to empower families to live and leave Kingdom legacies and understand their own personal heritage.