Spiritual Healing:

A Cleansing and Removal Process for End Time Warfare

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2.

Occasionally, there will be a personal trial, which has no apparent start and seemingly has no end. Out of nowhere the attack hits. This attack tests your spiritual fiber. You just finished a fast. You have strengthened your prayer life and you see God’s blessings freely flowing in your life and in the lives of the people on your prayer list. Then, one day, as you are delighting yourself in the Lord, then the enemy attacks. The attack is so intense; you think that this time the enemy will win. What happened?

It could be that you were feeding the flesh as well as the spirit. As your spirit grew, your fleshly desires overpowered and quenched the new growth. By restraining the spiritual growth, the desires of the flesh became stronger and more deceptive. This deception was not detected because you felt you had a strong relationship with God. Your relationship with God was only as strong as you (your flesh) allowed it to be. The flesh deceived you to the point of almost no return. However, God desired you to do a good work for Him and He wanted you to open your eyes to see the weakened state of your spirit. Your heart deceived you because you did not turn over everything to Jesus (Jeremiah 17:9). What brought on this attack?

Kenneth Hagin’s (1976) book, Growing Spiritually, identified three spiritual stages of man: the natural man, the carnal man, and the spiritual man. Since the natural man does not know God, he is not concerned with the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is of concern to the carnal Christian. The carnal Christian is still walking after the flesh instead of the Spirit. Although carnal Christians are saved and have received the Holy Spirit, they have not turned everything over to Jesus. They are still walking after the flesh. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. In fact, the flesh is so weak that it can lead the carnal Christian down a path of sin and disobedience, which can result in him vacillating between the law of the Spirit and the law of sin and death. Whose side are you on?

God wants the carnal Christian to get rid of the flesh walk so he can be free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, the attack happened as part of the process of becoming stronger in the Lord and as part of the preparation for a specific assignment and role in the Lord’s ministry.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:3-8.

In order to carry out your specific assignment for God, you must be a pleaser of God, not man. As a servant of Christ, it is your duty to serve and please God with a joyful heart. In Colossians 3:22-25, you are exhorted to “obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

To please God is to walk after the Spirit. To be Spiritually minded is life and peace. How long have you searched for life and peace? Has this basic promise of God eluded you? If you are walking in the Law of the Spirit then it is yours; yours, not his; not hers; but yours. It is yours because the Spirit of God dwells in you. The reward of the inheritance is yours because you have received the Spirit of adoption.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken you mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit mortify the deed of the body ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. Romans 8:9-15.

To say, ‘Abba Father’ is the same as saying Daddy. How long do you think your Daddy would allow an attack on his son or daughter? God prepares you for your specific part in His ministry. You know that God does not want His people to suffer, but there are times when a trial is the only way to prune and purge the people of God to make us stronger.

Job was under attack for about nine months. Nebuchadnezzar was attacked for seven years. An attack could last for a second or a lot longer. But remember that when you are going through an attack NOTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.

The best position a child of God can be in is to be prepared. If the saint is not prepared, Satan will try to ravage his spiritual, emotional and physical life as he goes through the trial. Satan and his minions will toss thoughts of defeat and separation at God’s child.

Remember that NOTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM THE LOVE OF GOD. Once you hold your peace and let the Lord fight your battle, then Satan is defeated and you walk in the victory provided by God. As a believer, you must keep Satan under your foot and never allow him to walk with you side by side. Never follow him. Never vocalize or think his thoughts. You must always follow God, through the bad times as well as through the good times, giving God thanks every step of the way. By waiting on the Lord you, the warrior, will hear from God and receive a way of escape and victory. Once the way of escape is identified, then you can take it and be assured that when a similar attack occurs the same avenue of escape is there for you.

May the Lord richly Bless and Keep you.

Elder at the National Church of God (Elder Lawler served for 12 years under Bishop T.L. Lowery)

Elder Lawler is a Ph. D. candidate at Virginia Tech. Adult Learning and Human Development Program.

Email: milawler@vt.edu

Elder and Sister Lawler have been married for twenty years and have five children and four grandchildren.