There comes a time in each serious Christian’s walk when they ask God to cleanse them, to make them like Jesus. God answers this prayer, but not the way most expect. Most expect it to be a sovereign miracle cleansing. But it is God’s plan for the Bride to prepare herself, becoming fit to marry the King. The way this is accomplished is through spiritual warfare, with the Bride winning back territory within her soul that had been taken over by demons. This She can do only if She learns to “see” the enemy.
God is not the accuser, the liar, the thief, the tempter, or any other evil thing. But us to learn to see our enemy within, God will send those evil spirits in other people to expose our own to us, just as He did in prompting Satan to attack Job. Just asking God to cleanse us is inviting Him to lower our hedge of protection to a limited level. It is common for us to run for prayer when these attacks come, hoping for God to call them off. In the past we have thought it was victory when the attack was ended, but the truth is, we chose to remain as children, calling once again on Abba Daddy to rescue us.
The Bible parallel to show this is when Israel was surrounded by enemies who attacked them, causing great stress. When they cried for help, God sent a human deliverer in the form of a prophet, a mighty strong man, and others. But note that each time the Israelites missed the point. Each time after they were delivered, God bemoans that they did not tear down the high places, the very reason He sent each attack in the first place. If you think God does not do such thing, look in a good concordance under the word “Evil.” You will find that at least 86 times God sent the evil on His own people. The Bible also says that God creates evil.
So the visible high places God wanted torn down were places where they worshiped idols, within the Kingdom. They never really saw where those high places could lead them eventually. Likewise, we have invisible high places within us, places where we allow idols, demons who have built hidden strongholds from which to rule us without our even knowing they do so. And the Hard Path then, is to show us those strongholds so we can tear them down and reclaim the territory for our Kingdom within, in our souls.
Now remember that Jesus’ life was hidden from the time He went to the Temple as a child until He showed up ready to minister at near the age of thirty. Likewise, when we go on the Hard Path, it will be hidden from others until it is done. This war takes place hidden within our souls.
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