We may not think of strife as a manifestation of demons in our lives, but as we go through this study, we will see that’s exactly what it is. Often times, we’re in strife with someone, and we think, “No I’m not!” because we don’t even recognize it. If that’s the case, once you deal with the strife, your faith will be active again! This series will be on the tougher side. But we need to get tough on strife, especially as we see out how it effects our prayer lives and even if we live or die. It’s a very serious topic.
While I was writing this, the Holy Spirit revealed something inside my heart that I have never paid attention to before. He showed me that the times in my life where I refused to pick up offense and be in strife were some of the seasons where I had seen the most miraculous moves from The Lord in my life. For example, there was an older lady contacting demons trying to curse me to death multiple times day, because I existed. I asked the Lord if I had offended her, and He showed me I did not. She was afraid I would date or worse, marry her son, so she wanted me dead. Another time the Lord had me move a good driving distance away from some stressful family members. I was where I was supposed to be serving the Lord. An older lady back home decided to ruin my reputation by saying I moved in with another man. The old lady playbook is always the same gossip stories. I did my best to keep casting down thoughts and praying for them in both situations. During those times, it ended up being some of the biggest leaps forward spiritually for me. You might be wondering why that causes a mighty move of God.
James 4:6 NKJV
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
It’s very humbling to turn down a fight, especially when you know you’re right and/or innocent. There are times where I fought back and got in strife. I can honestly say that I received no blessing from the Lord. As you read through this study, judge your own heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to shed light where you might need to make some adjustments. Don’t be discouraged, because you’ll see your faith be activated and grow too.
Genesis 13:1-2, 5-7 NKJV
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ….
In chapter 12, The Lord told Abraham not to take Lot for a good reason, and this was one reason why. Abraham knew that strife couldn’t be ignored. The strife over space must have gotten quite bad, because they went opposite directions. Keeping strife out of our homes is very important. Abraham went far away from Lot to keep the strife out. He didn’t even try to live close, because strife would have kept him out of his blessing. If there is strife in your household that’s affecting you or your family, it’s nothing to ignore. Seek the Lord and find out how He wants you to handle the situation.
Galatians 5:6 NKJV
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Strife is direct opposition of Biblical love. It will stop your faith from working, which is why strife is not something we, as Christians, should ever be involved in. I notice in my life the greatest attacks for strife come when I’m believing the Lord for something. There seems to be an attack on my mind for past offense, so I can move out of love and into strife. That’s where people can easily be defeated. When attacks on my mind don’t work, it always seems the demons send someone. This last time I was believing the Lord for something big; I went up front in church to have an elder agree with my prayer. As soon as I sat down, a strange man that I did not know came out of nowhere to touch me near my hand and hip. I immediately moved so he didn’t touch me, but I knew what attack was happening in the spiritual realm. The enemy wanted me to get angry at the men of the church that sat there, including the associate pastor from the stage, and watched this strange man run over to me, sit close and they did nothing. The enemy wanted me to be in strife concerning this weird man, and I refused.
People sometimes feel like they have a right to be in strife, and sometimes people are even proud about it. We, as a Christians, have no right to be in strife, unless we want to hinder everything God wants to do in our life. In John 13:34, Jesus tells us that we are to love like He did. Once we became born again, we gave up our right to defend ourselves outside of Christ. Yes, this is a difficult saying. Please don’t misunderstand me. If that creepy man touched me inappropriately, I would have called the police and I expect all women to do the same. What I mean is that we lost our right to wage emotional wars, because we’re crippling whatever move the Lord would like to do in our life. In some cases, people drag others into their emotional wars and cripple a move of in other people’s lives. I know this isn’t an exciting subject to be studying, but if you’re in strife and you get set free, you’ll be very excited! There isn’t a person on this Earth that’s worth being in strife over. You may not like them, but you don’t want to limit your blessings.
Ephesians 4:27 NKJV
nor give place to the devil.
According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, place means any portion of space marked off and an inhabited place, as a city, village, or district. Strong’s defines place as in place to dwell. That’s exactly what strife is doing, marking off a place for demons to inhabit a person’s life. When a person gives place to the devil, they’re giving demons a place to manifest in their life.
Giving place to the devil pushes God out and His blessings. Blessings from the Lord aren’t automatic, just because we said the sinner’s prayer. We are redeemed from poverty, sickness, and everything listed in the curse of the law, but these things have to be obtained by faith and righteous living.
Strife on the job
People think it’s ok to be in strife about their job, their boss, and/or the company. They may not like what their boss and/or company is doing, but they still have no right to publicly come against their boss, the company, or even post it on the internet for just friends and family to see. If someone is in strife with their boss, he’s right and they’re wrong. That’s the bottom line. Submit to the boss and tell yourself, “I am going to do what they ask of me, and not be in strife about it.” The Bible says in
Romans 13:7 NKJV
Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor
Give honor to whom honor is due. We honor the position not the person based on how we think they should be behaving in our eyes. Honor is given, respect is earned. We have no right to be in strife with anyone no matter what they have done to us.
Strife in the Church
Most Christians get into strife, walk off and ignore the person they got into strife with like it never happened. This will guarantee an open door in their life to give place to the devil, even if it’s a pastor or minister. If you sit under a minster that’s in strife with someone, their prayers over you won’t work. That’s why it’s very important to be a part of a church where offensive, gossip and strife are not permitted for any reason. I know of a ministry that if staff members get in strife, they’re sent home without pay and told not to return until they can work it out. If they can’t work it out, the ministry asks them to move on to another job. We need to hold those types of standards for ourselves and those that are in our own lives. If we don’t, like Ephesians 4:27 says, we’re marking off an area in our life and saying, “Ok, demos you can abide here.”
For some reason people feel like they can get in strife with large ministries, like it’s no big deal. People get on the internet to correct, judge, insult and have one sided fights about what a minister teaches or even worse what they own. While these people may not agree with what they teach, being strife about teachings or what they own is never acceptable with the Lord. It could be why they have sickness in their life. We have NO right to be in strife with anyone at any time!
Quickest way to get in strife with anyone is when we are corrected. People hate correction no matter how you do it. When Jesus corrected people, they knew it! I’ve heard pastors boasting of how they corrected people and they didn’t even know it. Thinking back to Jesus, Peter knew it. Pastors, ministers, teachers, parents are supposed to be like Jesus. We’re supposed to be training a generation and they really don’t want to be corrected. Any crazy behavior is acceptable to this upcoming generation, because they refuse correction. Even worse, adults are now refusing correction for the children. Just one generation ago, children were corrected and adults refusing correction just went someone else. Now days, people get on their phone record their strife to get a group of people to be sympathetic towards their emotional cause and join in their strife. I’m sure we’ve all seen videos where this upcoming generation spreads strife over coffee, chicken nuggets, and make-up. We’re raising up generation after generation that is willing to accept less and less correction. How do we fix that? We ourselves must be willing to accept correction, lead by example and teach the next generation to do the same. God corrects us, and we should welcome His correction. He said we’re fatherless if we don’t take correction.
I understand that this is a very heavy subject, and some things may hit home with you. But learning about strife in a bold manner is exactly what change my life. For years I couldn’t sleep at night when I was an older teenager. Constant thoughts bombarded my mind of who did what to me, and how I was going to fight back next time, or yell at that person next time I seen them. There was a constant loop in my mind of who did what to me. Small situations during the day triggered anger, because I was low on sleep and constantly ready to fight. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to properly fight, so I didn’t have to play everything back in my mind at night. When a minister taught me one random Sunday morning that my mind had been marked off for the devil with strife, I knew it was time to make some drastic changes immediately. I was completely set free, and I have never had those types of sleeping problems again. I don’t want anyone to suffer with such problems.
Next post will be about how to remove strife and confusion from your life. Until the next post, in your quiet times, let the Lord reveal unto you any areas that you may have accidently marked off for the devil, and Lord help you release those situations into His loving hands to create peace.
Christi
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