revolutionbrigade.com

I know what you’re thinking: Why put up a picture of somebody getting beat up on a post about intimacy with the Lord? Well, read the story below from the book of Acts and you’ll begin to understand:

“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” (Acts 19:13-16)

Whew. That’s a pretty graphic account of attempted spiritual warfare gone wrong. This is an example of what happens when people attempt to fight against the enemy on their own power.

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says, ” And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Notice that the power to prosecute and win spiritual battles was given to Jesus, not to us. We can vicariously exercise that power through our relationship with Jesus, but never in and of our own strength.

There can be no victory without a relationship with Jesus. The extent to which you are intimate with the Lord is the extent to which you will be capable of defeating the enemy.

In Ephesians 6:10 Paul says, ” Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” You’ll notice that we are required to be strong “in” the Lord. Your strength for spiritual battle lies in Jesus. The power and the might that you need in order to win are “his” power and might.

Read Ephesians 1:19-23 and you’ll see this, “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might….And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Again, you can see that God has given all authority and power to Jesus, and that the only way that we can access that power is to “believe,” which is, to have a relationship with Jesus.

How to build a relationship with Jesus:

1) Study the word. If I wanted to make friends with a person who had written a book, I would be sure to read the book. Why? Because a person’s writing can give you insights into the way that he thinks, and can tell you things about his personality. How much more then should we desire to study the Word of God knowing that the Holy Spirit will actually bring the words to life as we study and teach us the hidden wisdom of God?

2) Spend time with Jesus. What I’m talking about here is prayer. Spend time every day talking with Jesus. If you and I were to talk for a period of time every day, you’d eventually grow to know a lot about me.. The same is true of your relationship with Jesus. Make sure that you spend time listening and not just talking. Allow the holy spirit to speak to you.

Check out these other scriptures about the power that God gives us. Look for threads about how intimacy is important to attaining that power:

Ephesians 3:20

Colossians 1:16

2 Timothy 1:7

Check out our other Basic Training Articles:

Basic Training: Faith

Basic Training: Grace

Basic Training: Sanctification

“Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

There’s so much junk in the way of doing what God has called us to do. As an adult, it’s a little easier. I don’t have to worry about popularity, school, peer pressure, or any of that stuff. Still, I’ve been in your shoes. I know what things conflict you, and what challenges you have to face in order to fulfill your calling.

A “brigade” is a large group of soldiers. Our intention here is to raise up an army of young believers who will be sold out for the cause: to advance the Kingdom and glorify Christ. We chose the military theme on purpose because we recognize that in order to achieve the goals that we’ve set out to accomplish, we have to discipline ourselves and become mentally tough and fully devoted, much like soldiers preparing for war.

When the verse from 2 Timothy above talks about “enduring suffering,” that’s exactly what it means: there is a price to be paid if we are to reach our objective. In a physical war, every inch of ground is bought with the blood of the soldiers who are attempting to advance against the enemy. In our spiritual war, every square inch of ground that we conquer has been purchased by the blood of Jesus, along with our sweat and tears.

I’ve been a real soldier in a real war. I can testify that, while you are fighting, nothing else matters. You can’t worry about what your family is doing back home. You can’t worry about your mom and dad, your girlfriend, or your bank account. The only thing that matters is accomplishing the mission and staying alive. Anything that doesn’t accomplish one of those goals is a distraction, and should be treated as such.

God tells us in the scripture above that, if we hope to accomplish the goals that He has for us, then we need to have a similar devotion to the cause. It also tells us that the only way to please your commanding officer (Jesus) is to set aside every other concern in life and fight the war.

We’ll talk more about this in youth group. Get ready. There’s going to be a battle, and we’re all going to be involved.

For now, if you want to get a head start, you can dive into our basic training posts and start learning the skills of a spiritual warrior

Basic Training: Faith

Basic Training: Grace 

Basic Training: Justification

Basic Training: Sanctification

The Revolution Brigade is the youth ministry of Grace Community Fellowship in Starke, FL. We’re a progressive, spirit-filled church dedicated to equipping the Saints. As such, our youth ministry will be a reflection of the general vision and direction given by the Lord to our Pastor, Greg Pusateri.

If the title of the blog sounds a little militant to you, that’s exactly what we’re shooting for. We’re dealing with a generation of youth who have been assaulted from the word go by the enemy. We intend to fight, and through the dominion given to us by Jesus, we intend to win.

We’re going to be putting a lot more information on this blog over the next couple of weeks in anticipation of our official launch on April 2nd, 2008. Please become a soldier by subscribing to the email feed, and offer up some prayer to the Lord on our behalf. It’s our intention to draw a line in the sand for the cause of Christ. Welcome to the revolution.