“We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5, NASB).

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14, MEV).

The thought that flitted through my brain that night scares me to this day.

It had rained heavily the previous day, the kind of West Texas downpour they write books about. Next morning, very early—maybe about .—I was leaving the Alto Frio Baptist Campground for a very long drive home (to central Mississippi). Anyone familiar with that remote retreat facility knows that the main route calls for you to drive down a highway and then cross over to the primary highway. Oddly, that crossover is a humble, one-lane road of perhaps half a mile. The thing to bear in mind is that it crosses a small creek, and the bridge also curves as it passes over the creek. I made this drive several times during my few days at the camp speaking to senior adults, mostly to drive into the town of Leakey, Texas.

So, it was now pitch-black out there, and as I was about to turn off the first highway and drive the small trail over to the main highway, I noticed the entire area was flooded. The whole area around the little road was completely submerged. Assuming the bridge was still there, it would have been flooded also.

Can you believe that I pulled off the highway and started to drive that way? The thought actually hit me: I can do this; I know where the road is. Suddenly my senses returned. What are you doing? You can’t see the road, it’s all under water, the water is rushing downstream, and the bridge isn’t even straight! This would be pure suicide.

I backed out, took the longer route and drove home with no problem.

A number of times since, I’ve thought back to that moment when I began driving toward the flooded creek, and I break out in a cold sweat.

Never mind that I didn’t do it. Just the thought of having entertained the notion is frightening.

I even feel guilty about it, as though having the thought occur indicates some misalignment of my brain. In reality, the hour was extremely early, and I was tired and sleepy. But that’s no excuse.

I say to myself that I’m not responsible for that completely dumb thought. After all, I did reject it. I would never knowingly drive through a flooded street, much less an unfamiliar unpaved area like that.

But it occurred to me. As though that means I wanted to do it.

I’m rejecting that guilt.

And the point of this is …

Everyone has these errant thoughts from time to time. If we handle them well and send them on their way, in no way should we feel shame or guilt.

Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.” You thought that line was original with your grandma? I have a hunch Luther didn’t make it up either but was quoting something he had heard all his life. No telling where it originated. But it’s the solid truth.

Thoughts of all kinds flit through our minds. We reject the bad ones and go forward. But we should not feel guilty that they appeared, if only momentarily. Only had we welcomed them inside and let them entertain us with their juicy (scary) scenarios should we feel that we have done wrong.

No one should ever rationalize that “Well, it was just a thought, and thoughts are harmless.”

They are not harmless. The thought is the preparation for the act.

Every wrong deed begins with a wrong thought. And seriously wrong deeds are almost always preceded by a full-scale onslaught of impure thinking, planning and daydreaming.

A famous crimefighter once said, “No criminal ever commits a crime without first justifying it in his mind.”

As serious disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we fill our minds with thoughts proper and healthy, godly and edifying. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

This is not a new idea, but consistently taught throughout Scripture: “His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2).

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11).

“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Never mind the television commercial that asks, “What’s in your wallet?” Better to ask, “What’s on your mind” What are you thinking about? What are you dwelling upon? Where does your mind go to rest and when it settles down? What is it feasting upon?

“A man may not be what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is.” —Anonymous and true.

“Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matt. 5:8a). {eoa}

Joe McKeever is retired from the pastorate but still active in preaching, writing and cartooning for Christian publications. He lives in Ridgeland, Mississippi.

This article originally appeared at .

My heart was gripped with such sorrow when I read the news story last week about pastor Stoecklein, who took his life.

He struggled with depression and anxiety.

While it may seem to us strange that a pastor, who leads and teaches the church, should struggle with anxiety and depression, the fact is that 1 in 4 pastors struggle in these areas.

Many parishioners who have little understanding of the deep, inner personal struggles a pastor faces on a daily basis.

This list of statistics reveals a lot about the attacks our pastors face regularly, and reveals why depression and anxiety are so prevalent in the pulpit and why many pastors feel they battle some level of mental illness.

We need to pray for our pastors.

It is easy to forget that while our pastors have a level of authority given to them by God, they are still human. They still struggle with the same issues we all have.

They still struggle with sin.

In a way, their struggle can even be greater because the enemy would love nothing more than to completely destroy a pastor and his family.

They are on the front-lines of battle.

7 War Room Prayers You Can Pray Over Your Pastor

1. “Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2).

“Heavenly Father, I pray for my pastor today that You would strengthen him to preach the Word. Help him be ready in every season and in every situation to speak your word to those who come across his path. Sharpen his mind so that he can convince, rebuke, and exhort patiently and lovingly, teaching us and guiding us as Your disciples.”

2. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).

“Heavenly Father, strengthen my pastor and his wife today with your supernatural strength and joy. Help them to stand firm and multiply their work and labor for You. Help them to know that their labor is not in vain, and help us to know how best to encourage and bless them as our faithful pastors.”

3. “But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).

“Heavenly Father, remind my pastor today how valuable and necessary it is that he wait on You for daily renewal. Remind him that his strength comes from daily waiting on You in Your presence. Give him the strength today to face every situation with joy in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.”

4. “For you need patience, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36).

“Heavenly Father, help my pastor and his family today to continue in joyful endurance, knowing that fulfilling Your will and call for their life will be rewarded with the promise You given to us in your Word. Remind us, as their congregation, to encourage and bless them and to daily lift them up before you as our faithful pastor’s family.”

5. “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

“Heavenly Father, I pray for my pastor and his family today. Provide for their every need. They are so faithful in serving us, I pray that you will meet every spiritual need, every emotional need and every physical and financial need they have. In Jesus’ name.”

6. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).

“Heavenly Father, I know that pastors face a lot of pressure every day; and many of them deal with far more stress than we realize. I pray that you fill my pastor and his wife and children with all joy and peace. Strengthen their faith to believe in the call you given them. I pray that their hearts will overflow with hope, by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Protect them from the strategy of the enemy to destroy them and their testimony. Give them spiritual understanding to see ahead of time the trap that the enemy has laid for them and the wisdom to use the Word of God as their weapon of defense. Give us, as their congregation, wisdom to know how to pray for our pastor and his family.”

7. “That you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing to all, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, enduring everything with perseverance and patience joyfully” (Col. 1:10-11).

“Heavenly Father, I pray that our pastor and his family will finish strong. Help them to remain faithful to You and Your commands each day. Help them to walk worthy of you, pleasing you and bearing good fruit through their faithful work for your kingdom. Increase their knowledge of You, as they daily spend time in your presence. Strengthen them by the might of Your Holy Spirit, according to your glorious power! Help them to bear patience and long-suffering in their life, along with the joy of the Lord that will strengthen them each day as they faithfully serve You and the church.” {eoa}

Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her hero. Together, they live with their two active boys in the country, where she enjoys fruity candles and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. She holds an associate degree in practical theology and is passionate about discipling and encouraging women. Her passion for writing led her to author a number of books. She is the author of “A Little R & R,” where she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. She can also be found at these other places on a regular basis. You may follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.

This article originally appeared at .

Can you remember back to the days when dating your spouse wasn’t a chore, when the smallest thing you said or joke you made caused her to smile or laugh, and when she would hang onto every word that you said just because it was you that said it? Yes, she was infatuated with you, and she adored you, just as you did her. However, after many years of marriage and life, sometimes the natural tendency is for the infatuation to wear off. The jokes don’t seem quite as funny, scheduling the details of a date night almost seem burdensome, and that twinkle in the eye for one another starts to fade a bit.

But let me remind you that while we each change over time through the years, the specific ways we interact and impress each other change over time with the years as well. And so while infatuation may be out of the picture, you never have to cease being adored by your spouse. You just have to change your approach to better understand her and her needs. If you’re willing to work at it, here are five simple ways to make any wife adore her husband, to have her love for husband grow.

1. Listen to her with your ears and your eyes.

I personally struggle with this as I often have a hard time remembering things that my wife has told me, and it frustrates her. And usually, the reason I have failed at truly listening is that … I wasn’t truly listening. However, I’ve found it extremely helpful to listen to my wife not only with my ears but with my eyes as well (this usually means not looking at my phone). Because when a husband intentionally listens to his wife as well as looks at her when she speaks, it’s much easier to remember what she’s communicating both verbally and non-verbally. Successful communication is always a win-win in your relationship with your wife that will cause her to adore you.

2. Learn her love language and speak it.

Every person has a love language, and every husband has the responsibility to know what his wife’s love language is and how to act upon it. We often naturally try to speak our own love language towards our spouse, but it’s about as effective as speaking German to someone who only knows English. No matter how hard you try, they’re not going to “get it,” and as a result, they’re not going to feel loved like you want them to. So, what’s your wife’s love language, and are you speaking it?

3. Let her be her own person.

She is not you, and does not have to be you. God made you each different, and that is something worth celebrating. If you want your wife to adore you, allow her the space to disagree with you and it be OK. Don’t force her to see things your way just because you think you’re right. Show grace, kindness and leadership while at the same time allowing her not to be you.

4. Live with her “according to knowledge.”

Every woman is different, including your wife. There are things that make her tick and there are things that tick her off. Part of your job as a husband is to become a lifelong learner of your wife. Study her. Observe her. Learn her. She is like a good book that you have to learn how to read in between the lines. Every wife loves and adores a husband who “gets her.” Strive for that.

5. Love her unconditionally.

Regardless of whether your marriage has been smooth sailing or not, nothing speaks value to a wife like her husband’s unwavering and unconditional love. When you are going out of your way to show love to your wife in ways that matter the most to her, she is going to naturally adore you in ways that matter to you as well. Because a wife who is well-loved is usually married to a husband who is greatly adored.

What could you do today to cause your wife to adore you? {eoa}

Andrew Linder is a husband and the father of four awesome kids. He is passionate about intentional parenting and helping other parents and leaders effectively reach the next generation.

We all have the stories of horrible leadership. They were controlling, they were manipulative, they were dictators, they were abusive, they were (fill in the blank). And now because of everything you have been through, you have become set in your ways to never sit under another leader again. You’re determined never to submit to any kind of spiritual authority. Local church leadership—yeah right, you laugh at the idea or concept of the local church. Why? Why not! You were hurt, you were controlled, you were manipulated, you weren’t given the proper opportunity, you weren’t given the attention that you deserved. You simply refuse to progress because you were once in the possession of a horrible leader. Well—so what?

Yep, so what. Get in line. The overwhelming majority of individuals in the church have experienced some form of horrible leadership. We all have our stories. We all have our testimonies. We all have the T-shirt to go with it. You are not the only person in the church who has ever endured some form of leadership that did not go the way it should have gone. No one is perfect, and contrary to your own belief, you may also not be perfect. I know, it’s extremely difficult to comprehend.

I have been a follower of Christ since late 1997. In the time since then, I have served under leadership who professed to love me for years and often told me how I would go on to bigger things. Then the day came when I transitioned, and I immediately became the enemy, so much of an enemy that the leader got up in front of the whole church and professed a multitude of lies about me. They were comical to say the least. I served under a leader who one day began to get on my computer and pretend to be me. Sent out emails pretending to be me. Got on my social media, pretending to be me and carried conversations with others trying to bait me into a trap. They sent out friend requests and would often call other leaders making up stories of things that I was not doing, but creating the idea of how rebellious I had become. When I confronted the leader, they lied to me and then proceeded to carry the lies further with other leaders in the room. I have served with a leader who walked into my office after I had been on staff for seven months and told me they could no longer pay me anything. Three weeks later, this same leader told me my family and I were no longer welcome at the church. That particular leader professed to label me as a “prophet only for profit.” Funny thing about that was the profits being made weren’t coming to my pocket, rather the money would somehow end up being mishandled. Strange how that works, huh? I have served where the moment that I transitioned because of something I needed to do in accordance to what I am called to do [became difficult]. I have had leaders pitch fits when people unfriended or blocked them, and yet the moment I had to walk away, they would unfriend and block me on every platform of social media. It’s ridiculous, I know.

My point: I have served with some pretty horrible leaders, but at no time did any one of these individuals stop me from walking in honor and respect towards leaders. At no time did they keep me from serving leaders. At no time did they keep me from recognizing the value that leaders bring to the body of Christ. Yes, there have been a multitude of horrible leaders, but there have always been many more who invested into my life. They have taught me how to mature, how to develop through wisdom. They have taken me in broken and in need of mending. They have loved me when many rejected me.

I cannot endorse anyone who rejects the idea of submitting to spiritual authority. Horrible, abusive, controlling, manipulating, (fill in the blank) leaders should never be your reason for denying biblical standards. Glory follows order, and whether you want to admit it or not, God has established order in the kingdom. You cannot allow the wrong to be the mandate for the rest of your life. You have to learn to get beyond what went wrong so that you can embrace what is good.

Truth is, some who are constantly talking about horrible leaders are the same ones who get weekly paychecks from horrible bosses. And yet, you go to work day after day because you recognize how you need that job to help you and your family. You put up with things that you disagree with because you understand that regardless of how they may be, the work is something that helps you in life. Now, let me go ahead and say that I am not implying that you put up with physical and/or emotional abuse. That is not what I am saying at all. If you are in a physical and/or emotional abusive situation, get out and get out now.

Oddly enough, I have never met an individual who refuses to go to a bank to get their check cashed or deposited. They don’t refuse even though they know that somewhere along the way their bank has received counterfeit money. Not only that, those same individuals go shopping and exchange their money in hand for money that comes back in change, and yet there is a high probability that the store could have received a counterfeit and now the individual has a counterfeit. And yet, that doesn’t stop them from buying product from the store.

That’s fascinating, isn’t it? It’s fascinating because every time I say anything about receiving guidance from leaders, submitting to leaders, and/or serving leaders, I always get the trauma stories of leadership and why people can’t always trust leaders.

How is it that whenever something is said about leadership, many have to come back with why they can’t learn, grow and/or submit to leadership. You’ll cash the check and exchange the money without hesitation in the midst of counterfeit. Yet you’ll allow the counterfeit leadership to keep you limited and sometimes bound to your own mind. You have to get beyond bad leadership and learn to embrace those who have the authentic heart of the Father. Stop categorizing every leader with those who have failed you. They failed you; I got it. Now learn from it and move on. You have to learn to receive the lessons learned and continue to be the follower of Christ that you’re supposed to be. Want to know the truth? Everyone isn’t abusive. Everyone isn’t a dictator. Everyone isn’t against you. Everyone isn’t a failure as a leader.

You have to stop the blame. When you live as a follower of Christ, you recognize that you will endure some horrible leaders, and though they may fail you, they cannot deny who you have been called to be. You see when you’re a follower of Christ, man cannot be the reason of your decision not to be obedient to God’s Word. You have to learn to pick yourself up and knock the dust off. You have to get up and you keep going. Man will fail you from time to time, and yet man will also be there to help pick you up to teach you how to go on. Stop living your life in such a way that you deny yourself what God has positioned (through leadership) to develop you.

Joseph served Pharaoh, Joshua served Moses, Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar, David served Saul, Elisha served Elijah, the disciples serve Jesus, Timothy served Paul, Leonard Ravenhill served A.W. Tozer, Steve Hill served Ravenhill and the list goes on. You have got to learn how to recognize the counterfeit by knowing the authentic. Stop allowing the counterfeit to be the currency of your life! {eoa}

Ryan Johnson is mantled in equipping the body of Christ to awaken the nations with a prophetic call of a rising ekklesia. As a revivalist and apostolic minister, Ryan ministers with a prophetic voice of revival and awakening, with the demonstration of God’s purposes in regions, individuals and the church.

This article originally appeared at .

North Korea’s population continues to live under government surveillance and with a propaganda machine controlled by the national leader’s personality cult.

It actually is not unlike George Orwell’s classic book 1984, John Choi* comments, a Christian human rights advocate who escaped from North Korea and now lives in the UK:

“Life [in North Korea] is very rough. Frequent food shortages, power cuts, typhoons, floods and other natural disasters; [these are] just some of the challenges North Koreans still have to deal with. Add to that gross human rights violations, total lack of freedom, information censorship, propaganda and the ongoing political mismanagement and you can see why living in North Korea is like living in Orwell’s 1984,” he says.

Under the “god-like'” leadership of the Kim dynasty from the 1950s onward, thousands of Christians have been sent to labor camps as they are seen as hostile to the regime and have to be eradicated.

“Many fled, others were captured and/or killed. But a small remnant was able to go underground. They survived as secret believers, which is a God-sized miracle,” says the activist.

He estimates that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in the DPRK, of which 50,000 – 70,000 are in the prison system: “The others have managed to keep their faith secret and continue to stay faithful under the most difficult circumstances.” Imprisonment, torture and death are the potential risks—not only to oneself, but to one’s family.

The country is No. 1 on the 2018 Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian.

Christian references

It wasn’t always like that. Between the two Koreas, the North was always more open and tolerant than the traditionally agricultural backwater of the South. With its position bordering the rest of the East Asian continent, it was the place for commercial and cultural exchange with China and Manchuria. It was also the place where Christianity flourished. In the early 20th century, Pyongyang came to be known as the “Jerusalem of the East,” with so many church crosses dotting the horizon.

The present leader Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, “the great leader” Kim Il-sung, came from a Christian family. He was raised for most of his life by his grandparents who were deacons in the church, but his parents were committed Christians as well, according to Choi.

“His father, Kim Hyung-Jik, didn’t like communism because communists did not accept Christian love and equal rights. The Protestant Chilgol Church in Pyongyang is dedicated to his mother, Kang Pan-Suk. Her name means ‘rock’. She was named after the apostle Simon, named ‘Peter’ (Rock) by Jesus”, he says, adding, “What a tragedy that this church is now one of the four showcase churches in the country.”

Choi says that it is very likely that, as a child, Kim Il-sung joined his family in going to church, and that this might explain why there are so many Christian references in Kim’s personality cult: “For example, they have their own trinity with Kim Il-sung as the father, his son Kim Jong-il as the son and the Juche (self-reliance) ideology in the role of ‘Holy Spirit.’ There’s even a nativity-like story for Kim Jong-il’s birth. People don’t go to church on Sunday, but they have to go to the local Kim Il-Sung Research Center on Saturday and study the leaders’ scriptures.”

‘Divide-and-rule Approach’

So what happened to Kim Il-sung that made him turn against the religion of his fathers?

“What may play a part is that some of his first—and strongest—opponents were actually Christians,” says Choi. In the time between the end of 30 years of Japanese occupancy (at the end of World War II) and the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with Kim as premier, Soviet authorities helped him implement communist policies. This led to opposition.

“The Christian Social Democratic Party (CSDP) was founded in September 1945, and the Korean Democratic Party—led by a Christian—in November 1945. In 1947, some Christian ministers founded the Christian Liberal Party,” explains Choi.

“Kim Il-sung especially had to deal with Cho Man-Sik (the best-known nationalist leader in the North) and the Protestant community, which supported Cho and other Christian leaders. There were several violent clashes between pro-communists and anti-communist groups. Christians led most of the anti-communist activities at the time.”

“Through a clever divide-and-rule approach, Kim Il-sung eventually won the battle,” Choi continues. “Many Christian leaders were arrested, with a significant percentage of them executed. Cho himself died in captivity in 1950, soon after the start of the Korean War. It’s believed he was murdered in prison.”

Christians in North Korea then were given three options: to become communist and abandon their faith, become a martyr, or escape to South Korea. According to Choi, between 1946 and 1953 up to 1.5 million North Koreans, mostly Christians, chose the last option and moved south.

But Kim Il-sung wasn’t successful in his attempt to wipe out the Christian church in North Korea, and neither were his successors.

* John Choi (not his real name) also pens a series of blogs for Christian charity Open Doors International. {eoa}

This article originally appeared on World Watch Monitor.

For some, a bad storm is just a good excuse to help others.

Tuesday on “The Daily Briefing,” Fox News reporter Todd Piro spoke with a good Samaritan identified only as “Ronnie,” who said his trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, for Hurricane Florence marks the third massive storm he’s braved to help the local homeless population.

He previously traveled to New Orleans in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina, and he also helped out in his home town of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when Hurricane Hugo ripped through the coastal city in the 1989. {eoa}

Click here to read the rest of this story from our content partners at Faithwire.

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This song has come to haunt me this morning: “When I Lay My Isaac Down” by Mike Upright.

At times, God asks back what He has promised us: Our God-given dreams, families and ministries can get in the way of His work in our lives. This verse rattles me: “Most of us I dare to say we have an Isaac that is in God’s way/ But on the altar God will prove, it’s not your Isaac that He wants, it’s you/ When I lay my Isaac down with a broken heart for my Father’s crown/ On the altar there I see, it’s not my Isaac God wants, it’s me.”

I believe the Lord is saying to many of us as this new year begins on God’s calendar, “Lay down your Isaac.”

I believe the shofar of God is blowing into our lives as we lay our Isaacs down on His altar of sacrifice. We need to be released from them so God can finish the work He began in our lives and in the lives of our Isaacs. I will never forget the moment God showed me Abraham, taking his son of promise up the mountain to sacrifice him. Abraham came down that mountain a “dead” man. Dead to his dream, but that’s when God began to bless Isaac.

Let this verse rattle you: “On this mountain you will prove: It’s you and Isaac or it’s Me and you.” {eoa}

Bill Yount has been a member of Bridge of Life Church in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the past 40 years and is in leadership. He faithfully served in prison ministry at Mount Hope Inc. for 23 years and now travels full time, ministering in churches and Aglow circles. He is currently an adviser at large for Aglow International. Bill has authored several prophetic books. His latest book is The Power of Real / Transparent Prophetic Encouragement. His prophetic email list is: . Visit Bill’s website at .

The first principle of spiritual warfare is humility. Whenever we notice that we are under attack and in the midst of spiritual warfare, we need to humble ourselves. Most people associate battling in the spirit with aggressive prayer and shouting at the devil. Those may have their place, but if we do not understand the role of humility and submission, our potential victory will turn into a defeat.

“‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James. 4:6-7, 10).

Notice in these verses that submission and humility are a necessary part of resisting the devil. Successfully opposing the devil is dependent upon the act of humbling ourselves.

The reason for this is that the very character of the devil is bound up in pride. Pride is what motivates him, and he specializes in all things connected to it. If you have pride, you leave yourself open to the strategies of the devil. Your pride makes you an easy target for the devil’s attacks.

When the devil came in the form of a serpent to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he appealed to them through spiritual pride:

“You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5);

and through intellectual pride: “Knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5b).

Intellectual and spiritual pride are still primary roots of demonic activity today. When we resist these by humbling ourselves and submitting, we close the door to the devil’s activities.

The Bible tells us that when Satan decided to attack God, his rebellion was fueled by his pride: “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom” (Ezekiel 28:17).

The Hebrew word for “lifted up” here is gaavah, and is similar to the root of the word “pride” ga’avah. Pride can lead us into bad attitudes towards those around us, especially those in authority over us, eventually causing division. Most division in the church is caused by pride. If one of the parties will humble themselves, it is almost always possible to bring reconciliation.

Give No Place to the Devil

Yeshua taught that, “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation” (Luke 11:17). The devil wants to make God’s kingdom fall. He seeks to do this by inspiring division and rebellion. Division and rebellion find their source in pride. Pride is fertile ground for the devil’s seeds. When we humble ourselves, we deny the devil that ground.

Often pride is a coverup for personal insecurity or fear of rejection. When a person is insecure, he may puff himself up like a blowfish to compensate for the insecurity. A person who can humble himself is actually reflecting a degree of psychological wholeness and inner strength.

One of the symptoms of pride covering up insecurity is the tendency for a person to become “offended.” Sometimes a person wants to hide his pride and insecurity by saying “I’m very sensitive.” A person who does not have much pride is not easily offended.

Sometimes the person who is so sure that he is right, is the very one who is in pride and is the source of the problem. The offended person, the smartest one, the most anointed one or the one causing a division, may be the one through whom the devil is working. If you recognize yourself in this description, repent, humble yourself, seek reconciliation and be victorious over the devil. {eoa}

Asher Intrater is the founder and apostolic leader of Revive Israel Ministries and oversees Ahavat Yeshua congregation in Jerusalem and Tiferet Yeshua congregation in Tel Aviv. Asher was one of the founders of Tikkun International with Dan Juster and Eitan Shishkoff and serves on the board of the Messianic Alliance of Israel and Aglow International. He and his wife and full-time partner in ministry, Betty, have a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew and unity of the body of believers worldwide.

This article originally appeared at .

Pastor Choco De Jesus explained the power of generational curses in a recent sermon. De Jesus links modern genetics research to generational curses and says, “Your mother or your father turned on that gene in your system. You have the capacity through the power of the Holy Spirit to turn off that gene.”

Kyle Winkler says the three steps experts give for people who encounter lions in the wild are the same three steps believers should follow if they are attacked by the devil. He explains those steps and relates them to the spiritual realm in this short, powerful video.