Thursday, December 31, 2009

Behind Enemy Lines

Did you know that you are in a battle? Did you know that the enemy sinned against you only to bring you into a lifestyle of sin and shame? The devil messed you up to MESS YOU UP! He brought pain and suffering through sinful acts and sometimes generational curses from the sins of your father or mother. The devil entered your life in some manner only to keep you in the dark and block you from reaching your full potential in Christ. This is where the devil really is. He is not attacking your money and finances, he is attacking your soul and mind! You see, the devil has planned strategic warfare against you. He has probed your life to find the door that you leave cracked open and he keeps entering in through that door. The enemy desires to destroy you, your family, and all that resembles goodness. This is his job and he is very good at it.

When sin entered into your life in the form of some traumatic act and it led you into a lifestyle struggle, it was on purpose! The devil knew that if he caused you to be abandoned by your parents, raped, molested, abused, etc., there would be a lifestyle struggle introduced to you and it would cause you to fall again and again. He knew that through these acts, he could get you addicted to porn, masturbation, drugs, alcohol, same sex relations, etc. He knew that if you wore shame as a garment, you would be totally ineffective for God and he can claim the victory over your life. The devil is a DEVIL and as long as we are bound by his efforts, we are lost.


But remember, THIS IS A FIGHT! God knows everything that you have been through and he knows all that the devil is doing. Yet, God doesn't see it like the enemy sees it. When you were violated by sin, God saw you suiting up! When that sin was perpetrated on you, God saw you drawing black lines under your eyes. When the devil caused that person to plant that unrighteousness in you, God saw you putting on your fatigue and loading your weapon! In other words, what the enemy thought would destroy you is the very thing he should fear. When the enemy saw you defeated, God saw you in training and while in the natural, it may have looked like you were down, in the spirit realm, you became a warrior. This means that you must fight!

God gives us free will and dominion to govern ourselves in the earth, and that is a good thing. But there are downsides to this as well. People have the power to hurt others in the life and that's very unfortunate. But always remember this, what the devil means for evil, God can turn around and use. Though it may have been painful to endure, it may be necessary for the next group to see your deliverance as their own. And even deeper than that, your victory could persuade the next violator to come to his or her senses before they ever commit the violation on another. Understand this, you are in a unique position when the enemy targets you. When you have gone through and gotten the scars as well as the deliverance, you can prepare others for the battle and teach God's plan for their deliverance as well. The words of your testimony become your weapon of warfare, and at that point, God drops you behind enemy lines so that you can rescue others from the grips of the enemy.

But your deliverance is key! Without it, you are not qualified for the rescue mission. You must overcome what the devil did to you and you must walk in victory to teach others. This requires some lifestyle checks and balances to keep in this mode and you must be careful who you listen to, who you befriend, where you go and what you allow in your life. These are battles none of us asked for, but because we have been victimized by the free will of others, we have to be watchful and careful of what enters us. When you have gone through these things, the devil is always looking to trigger that side of you and get you back like you were once you have been victorious over it. But you have to keep fighting and walking in victory. This qualifies you to go behind enemy lines and represent the true deliverance of God and how you can live a life, exemplifying the true power of God to heal and deliver. Sure, it's a battle and you must fight continually. I know you may feel that it's not fair that you have to struggle and fight against these things, but it's a honor to fight on the winning side and even more honorable to rescue others that are prisoners behind enemy lines. In 2010, the fight will get intense and you will get tired. You will get discouraged and weary at times, but remember this, if you desire true healing and deliverance, then you must keep fighting. No matter how many hits you take, just know that the war is won and victory is yours, God is just waiting for you to fall in and line up with it!

Hebrews 11:32 ¶ And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy

2Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

1Corinthians 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Have a blessed New Year!
G. Craige Lewis

35 comments:

LadyGrace said...

This is confirmation!!! Thank you so much for being bold and obedient to post this message for abuse survivors in the Body of Christ!

+P.R.A.F.E.T.I.C. said...

Always inspired by these truths! God is awesome! I am encouraged.

Maurice and Sabrina Johnson said...

Amen, Pastor Craige! Keep fighting the good fight. We are always blessed by everything you post up. God bless you man of God!!

email_smarie said...

Yes Yes Yes!
I am always blessed by these messages... I have entered a new season in my life. I realize the urgency for me to fall into place and do what the Lord has called me to do, but sometimes it seems like the pains of the past begin to ache and remind me that I am insufficient, and as a tarnished woman not worthy of the perfect Love my Savior, Jesus Christ has for me... because of who I was I can't believe that God has changed me, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop... but even as I write these un-truths, I don't believe them any more... it sounds like foolishness, it sounds like the old man!
I don't know why He has chosen me to do what He has chosen me to do, but there is no time to question God, its time for action. I am going to begin to pray for others who God has called to fight and be free from the chains of past sin and bondage... All things have become new! We gota start acting like we know! I am so glad to be saved and I don't know how people can live without a relationship with Christ?
Keep on Fighting!
Shona Marie

Anonymous said...

Im in tears after reading this blog. Ive survived molestation and a very ugly spiritual warfare. Once I started to obey God, major breakthoughs took place. Now ive been called to do His work as a deliverance counselor. Your blog is right on point. God watch over you always.

Unknown said...

I know you are truly a man of God I was just asking God to guide me when the new blog came in you are always a blessing I thank God for you keeping you in prayer

Anonymous said...

G. Craige Lewis is a gifted hue-man being...GOD blesses him and his family...

Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; AD 55–AD 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life and died. Please read and digest his quote, it would be a blessing to your mental, spiritual and physical being. May GOD bless...

From Epictetus: Men are not worried by things, but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves, that is, our ideas about things.

From: Struggling but following the itinerary of Christ

Miranda said...

Man of God, thank you so much for this word! This is indeed confirmation! I tell you the truth, everytime I'm going through something or even when I feel like doing wrong, I get the daily word or a blog update from G Craige Lewis that is SPOT ON where I'm at at the time! EVERY SINGLE TIME! But keep em coming pastor! God bless you and I am honored to support EXMinistries!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I have been bond by porn for a long time now. God through Jesus is breaking that stronghold right now. Pastor G. Craig you should do a The Truth behind Porn and Lust. That's a killer among the church and society today.God Bless.

Anonymous said...

Pastor. Pastor... I am so tired. I have been struggling with porn for years and I've been unable to stop. There are some people and things who trigger masturbation in me, but some of them cannot be taken away from my life. I just have to learn to look at them differently. Your messages have been very encouraging through 2009. At times I stopped for weeks, but everytime I fall back, I feel like dying because of the failure. I feel like I am failing myself, my family, Jehovah and you. Hopefully, this message will stick to my mind once and for all. I've been clean since 2010 started and I hope it will stay this way. Thank you a million times for your messages. I will one day stop. Trust me...

Unknown said...

That was just what I needed to hear. I'm suiting up right now!

Share with Her said...

Thank you. God bless you. I understand now that all that I have been through is to help others. I am called to minister women and I know I am being equipped by God to lead these women to completion in Jesus Christ.

Unknown said...

this is definetly a confirming word in this hour i have been healed and delievered of so much over these past several years and even just on the last week of 09 had some demons cast out that were lurking around seeking to destroy my soul but glory be to God I am free from the yokes of bondage that have so easily entagled me in times past, so reading this blog is so on point because although we are set free, we MUST engage in spiritual warfare to STAY free and although its an ongoing battle when its all said and done
we are overcomers for this is the hope we have in Christ Jesus!! Thanks Craig for your bold witness for Christ, continue to DO His will In Jesus Name.

tri tri said...

MINISTER CRAIG I WEPT AND WEPT THE WHOLE TIME I WAS READING THE BLOG!! YOU WERE TRULY MINISTERING TO ME. I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE SAYING CAME FROM GOD. I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH SOME SERIOUS ATTACKS OF THE ENEMY,HE HAS BEEN MESSING WITH MY MIND WITH UNGODLY THOUGTS KEEPING ME OFF FOCUS AND DISTRACTED EVEN TO THE POINT OF ACTING OUT THE THOUGHTS. I WAS SO BOUND AND OPPRESSED;BUT GOD DELIVERED ME AND IT IS JUST AS YOU SAID WHAT THE DEVIL MEANT FOR BAD GOD HAS TRULY BEEN MEANING IT FOR MY GOOD, AND I HAVE BEEN SHARING MY TESTIMONY OF DELIVERANCE.PRAISE GOD!!WHOM THE SON MAKE FREE IS TRULY FREE INDEED!!!!

Anonymous said...

Praise God,amen!
I have been battling with masturbation and knowing that it was part of self worship and self love, no matter how many times i have tried to stop it kept comming back! but i have news. He has no true power over me and i will not except to be defeated by his evil seeds! I will never give up and continue to go to God to give me the strength and courage to rebuke my demons!I will be fully delivered and walk with him in the promise land!
In Jesus name,Amen.

Anonymous said...

Amen!
If ever there was a time to stand up and fight, the time is now. God is looking for a people that will stand up and proclaim His word. Thank you for doing that. Your walk with God has been encouragement to me. Your boldness to stand up for truth no matter what...it's awesome. Be blessed and keep trusting God.

mercedes said...

These are some encouraging words Pastor. I for one battled against porn and masturbation. It is only through the power of God that that yoke was broken. However, my only contention with your whole post is that is gives a little to much credit to the devil.

What I mean is that not everyone has demons which makes them do what they ought not to do. It is our flesh that is why we must crucify it daily. Most of things we do are not uncommon to men as Paul mentions. I just want to encourage people to lean on God and understand we are not in a fight only against the devil, but also our sinful desires, mind, and flesh.

Deborah said...

Amen brother...this is an ecouragement

Anonymous said...

wow...May God bless and uphold you in your ministry as you continue to glorify and uphold His Name. I am in tears and deeply grateful to God for His mercy towards me in directing me to this blog. My struggles, temptations and the discouragements seemed to worsen recently, partly due to carelessness on my part. Got to the point that I felt helpless and I foolishly wanted to give up due to my many failings. Thank you so much for this. Thank God. Remain a vessel unto honor Pastor.

Emmanuel Ardae Lea said...

Hi Craige; first let me say I really appreciate your work; I purchased many of your dvds regarding Hiphop etc and I think you do a great job. I have to say Im somewhat concerned about the content of this blog; I think I understand your heart in this post but Im not sure I understand what you mean by the devil sinning against us; Sure there are things that occur in our lives that may encourage us to sin and enter into destructive life styles but the underlying problem is not someone or something sinning against us; its that we have all sinned against a just and holy God. There are people who have never been molested, grow up in great homes and churches, etc and are some the most sinful people imaginable; The truth of the matter is that We are sinners and must come to God on those terms in order to recieve his grace; Jesus said "I did not come to seek the righteous but Sinners to repentance; The thing you have to do when coming to Christ is to see your self as a sinner not the sin that may have been committed against you. We have to humble ourselves and admit that we are sinners capable of sinning just like the people who may have sinned against us. In Love, Emmanuel Ardae Lea.

Iryn said...

The battle is on and VICTORY is ours no matter how the situation may look in our physical eyes!! God bless you Pastor in 2010.

Winslow O'Neal said...

it is an honor to fight along side you and true believers. God Bless

amint said...

Dear Craige, I check your blog weekly to see what message God has put in your heart. I thank you for speaking God's word in these last and evil days. We live in a time when people want their ears tickled and they no longer believe in the power of the word. I'm so sick of pastors watering down the word and seeking celebrity. Souls are perishing and all their concerned about is raising more money for their megachurches. I recieved deliverance after watching your truth about hip hop and other dvd's. The same day I seen them I threw out my jill scott my erykah badu all of that garbage! As a young 22 year old female I'm looked at as "whack" or "prudish" but I know that I'm blessed because I'm not under the powerful influnce that satan uses through music. So I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for speaking true word. For being a disciple for christ. For not compromising the word. I mean it craige, I know you don't know me and we'll probably never meet (at least not in this life) but you need to know that the annointing God has put on you is really changing lives. I know because it changed mine and opened my eyes greatly. Please continue letting God use you. So thank you pastor and I know your reward in heaven will be great!

Rev. Smith said...

Minister Lewis,
I am so thankful that I can finally put into words that I hope you will someday read to let you know that the message God has placed in you is changing so many lives, especially those incarcerated. I showed video 5 of TTBHH one evening at a prison I do ministry for and the men were completely changed and it has stuck! One day, I pray our paths will cross because of something you ministered in video 5 and a dream I had years ago came back to me. I believe if you hear it, you will know exactly what it means. God showed me something about hollywood and until I watched this video, I thought it meant something else but I had to go back to prayer about it after watching. One day in God's time. Thank you for stepping out and standing up and not compromising. God bless you and your family and keep you all safe.

uncutruth said...

Brother Lewis i Praise the most hight God for your ministry and your being sensitive the the leading of the Holy Spirit. Take that much needed vacation then come back refreshed and ready to do battle. We need you man of God, you are a major part in the body of Christ as we all are. Let the name the Lord Jesus Christ be magnified

Anonymous said...

i thank GOD for workin through you. Our churches are not the same. The caribbean churches has been changing for the worst slowly but surely. Thank you and may GOD continue to work through you. B.Pollard

Anonymous said...

This was a blessing. Praise God!

Robert C. said...

"Without faith it is impossible to please God"(Hebrew 11:6a). My brother I am sure those who walked out was just trying to find an excuse to go back to the way they were living. It's all part of ministry. I remember times that we had many kids in our youth group and times, like now, very few if any show up. It was so bad that the when the youth pastor approached a parent he was told that the reason they don't send their kids is because they don't see me every Sunday. People are looking to not only get out of following Christ but for opportunity, when confronted with truth, to blame others for their irresponsible actions. I think that most of those who speak against you is because your message speaks against what they want to do. I read and saw all comments about you merchandizing the church and false prophet and have come to this conclusion. I am looking for people crazy about Jesus! Ex is crazy and you point to Jesus! We will continue to pray for those who are making these accusations and keep moving. If we are all on the same team, than we must find common ground through Jesus. God is not a respecter of persons. How can a kingdom fight against itself and still stand? Only God holds the keys and the answer is in His word, and Holy Spirit. You guys had the boldness to step on faith and let's face it, the enemy is not happy. Many have been saved and set free and you talk about the things we all deal with but most preachers do not know how to address. Those like myself how support you are not desperate, blind, babes in Christ. We have measured the message against the word and it's good. Hope to see you back in Chicago soon. Looking forward to part 7.
Your Brother in Christ!

Sent from my iPhone

Please excuse the grammar errors.

Unknown said...

PASTOR LEWIS , JESUS WARNED YOU THAT YOU WOULD BE CONDEMNED AND FALSELY ACCUSED AND HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL KINDS OF INSULTS BECAUSE YOU STAND UP FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. GIVE SATAN A HALF A CHANCE AND HE WILL EVEN TRY TO HAVE YOU CASTRATED OR CRUCIFIED LIKE THEY DID OUR LORD JESUS ! BUT YOU SHOULD FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT AND WINNING SOULS ALONG THE WAY !ACTUALLY YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEFEND YOURSELF AND BREAK THINGS DOWN TO EXPLAIN A TRIVIAL MISTAKE HERE OR THERE .THOSE OF US WHO ARE GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT UNDERSTAND THE WORKINGS OF SATAN . YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU NEVER PROFESSED TO BE GOD. YOU ARE A WARRIOR FOR JESUS AND VERY LOVED AND RESPECTED MY FRIEND . YOU NEED TO WRITE ANOTHER BOOK !MUCH LOVE FOR YOU PASTOR !

Christ_follower said...

yh i had a sign in my dream T.D jake is defently a false preacher and i just watched a video on youtube where T.D jakes throw up the 666 sign like t-pain

Timothy N Stelly Sr said...

God bless you Reverend. I was introduced to your work hrough the AntipChrist Superstar video. I think you have definitely pushed the cevil's buttons, as so many youth are sucked in by the vileness of this so-called "art." Rap is indeed, a beast, and I commend you for your courage amd thank God there are warriors like you who will stand and go to war against it.

Anonymous said...

Awesome Word! Often, and in the past, churches seem to not like to confront these issues. I've struggled with masturbation for my entire life. Began at a very early age, but thanks be to God, God is gradually, but surely doing a work in me freeing me up from that stronghold! Yes, God has shown me how I have to fight the devil off and it's a constant fight, but through Jesus--I can win!

Unknown said...

I really needed that word this morning. It's really encouraging me to get back in the ring and fight .

Unknown said...

This is a great encouragement and reminder to keep on fighting. Thank you for your continued dilligence in teaching, preaching and sharing the truth of God's word to those who are and aren't lost.

Unknown said...

This blessed me. I sense the Spirit of Truth bringing clarity, releasing burdens and a drawing closer to the Word. Thank you for this post. God bless you richly!