As shared in part 1, our fight is not against FLESH and blood... Flesh not only includes other people, it also includes ourselves. In other words, kingdom war is never against people. Neither is it personal. It is always between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. This revelation is the key to overcome what the enemy throws at you.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, AND THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES TO THE DEATH. - Revelation 12:11 (emphasis added)
We often quote the blood of Jesus and the testimonies without quoting the last part. The Bible says ‘AND’... Surrendering our lives and not taking circumstances in a personal way is the power to overcome the enemy.
Before my trip to Japan, I was on an extended period of fast. I usually don’t advocate fasting because we are in the New Covenant. Many believers, in my opinion, fast for wrong reasons. I have had written many posts on why it is not necessary to fast, and why we are not obligated to fast in the New Covenant. It is more important to live a fasted life (Gal 2:20) than a life of fasting.
Disclaimer: I’m not against fasting. Personally, I’m just not for many of the reasons why we fast. And this post is not about fasting anyway.
I wasn’t fasting because I had to go for missions. This trip just happened to fall within my fast. I felt a need to remind myself that I am dead in Christ and realigned my dependence on Him.
Halfway through the extended fast, after I recovered from the bad fever, I was suddenly down with strange sore eyes (yes, both sides!). The eye pus and discharge were so bad that I couldn’t open my eyes when I woke up in the morning and I continued to have blurred vision throughout the whole day. I knew this is yet another scheme from the enemy. So I simply rested in Him and stood firm on my identity and the finished works. This went on for a few days.
One night, I got up from bed during wee hours to go to the bathroom. I tried hard to open my eyes and before I knew it, heaviness and giddiness came upon me. There was no way for me to stand on my feet. I fell backwards onto the floor, lying there unconscious. Thank God for protection, because the back of my head missed the toilet bowl by a few cm. My wife was awakened by the loud bang and she came hastily to my rescue. Unknown to me, she recognised that my body was in a shock mode due to my eyeballs, because she was trained in AED. It took 1-2 minutes before I regained my consciousness. In a nutshell, she was worried to death.
Now I have been on a lifestyle of fasting since 2009. Never once had I experience any form of giddiness or discomfort. What happened next was more challenging than what I thought would be.
My wife said, “Dar, you have to break your fast. Or I won’t let you go Japan. You have to choose one.”
Now I fully understood why my wife said that. Because she loves me deeply. She cares for me way more than I care for myself. I believe that any wife will say the same thing. Before this incident, she was so supportive of my trip.
But we were told to put on the whole armour of God, so that we can withstand the crafty wiles of the enemy (Eph 6:11). One of the schemes of the enemy is to use your loved ones to stop you. I recognised it, hence, I did not explain any further at that juncture to my wife.
Within the next three days, my loving wife persistently and relentlessly reiterated that I had to choose between the two options. She added, “Jeshua is still young and he needs you alive. You cannot be irresponsible.” That was pretty challenging.
I considered, evaluated and communed with the Father. The fast wasn’t a legalistic thing. I could have broken my fast anytime and there wouldn’t be any issue between the Father and me. He’s not into the act of fasting anyway.
But faith arose in my heart and I perceived the works of the enemy. The Holy Spirit reminded me, “AND they did not love their lives to the death.” I meditated on this verse and I had determined in my heart to surrender my life to Him. If I were to shrink back, the enemy would be happy. Instead, I laughed and said, “Father, I thank You that You loved me and You have given me Jesus. Your life for my life and now my life is Yours. I thank You that You have made me more than a conqueror. I am not moved by my circumstances. I am moved by how good You are.”
I just smiled to my wife each time she brought up the issue, without arguing or explaining, for I knew that she was overwhelmed by the incident and would not be ready to listen. On the following day, the strange sore eyes cleared up.
On the night before the trip, she softened her stance and said, “Dear, can you sit down and let’s talk?” She still didn’t feel safe for me to travel alone as I continued my fast, knowing that the weather was very cold in Japan (down to 6-7 degrees as it was windy). I reassured her that I would be kept safe under His protection.
The way to overcome the enemy isn’t just by the blood and the testimonies, but also to love not your life to the death. At one point, I thought in my heart, “If I go, I go. But I know I won’t. Because my assignment is not yet completed on earth.”
Disclaimer: What I did is not a method to be followed. Do not put God to the test. Understand the heart behind and the revelation of the kingdom war.
Some may think it’s foolishness. But if you know what the enemy is confronting against, you will understand where I am coming from. I did not take it personal because the war was between two kingdoms - LIGHT and darkness.
In part 3, I will share more, as well as the fruit that came out of this.
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