Kingdom Soldiers

[00:00:00] Welcome, you're now tuned into the prayer is breathing podcast.

[00:00:04] My name is Latoya, I want to thank you for listening and go ahead and subscribe and

[00:00:09] invite some friends share this out if it is a blessing to you.

[00:00:14] And I want to share with you all so honored to preach this Sunday and I want to share

[00:00:20] with you the Word of the Lord that God downloaded into my heart and it's called the equipping.

[00:00:26] Now, before we get into that, ladies, every Monday night, I host a Bible study virtually

[00:00:31] at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can register on event bright and the women's Bible

[00:00:38] study is called the equipping. So if you want to be equipped in the Word of God or you

[00:00:44] want to be in community, it is a great place to be and is completely virtual so you

[00:00:49] can sign up from the comfort of your own home and have a great time with us as we go

[00:00:54] into the Word of God. All right, so we're going to go ahead and get into this sermon,

[00:00:59] this Word and I pray that it will minister to you as much as it did me and that God

[00:01:04] will speak to your heart. We're going to get into it and here's the thing that God

[00:01:08] was putting on my heart for this morning that we are at war and the church, we have to

[00:01:16] understand that as the body of Christ, we are at war. You are in a spiritual warfare,

[00:01:22] you are at war and so whether you think you are in war or not, you are in war. Now if we

[00:01:30] understand that we're in war, we don't go to battle empty handed. How many of you will

[00:01:34] go to battle empty handed? No weapon, no tools, no strategies. Nobody, right? So what we have

[00:01:41] to do is understand that as we are in warfare, God does not want us to be ignorant.

[00:01:47] So he desires for us to be fully equipped in spiritual warfare. Can you say fully equipped?

[00:01:54] All right, I got to talk to me this morning. We're going to get out of here but this is the

[00:01:57] Word of the Lord and it's going to be so good. So we have to be fully equipped in spiritual

[00:02:01] warfare so that we can advance his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. So that part

[00:02:08] in the Lord's prayer with Jesus prays, let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth

[00:02:13] as it is in heaven. We are partly responsible for bringing the kingdom of God here to earth.

[00:02:20] Okay? And so advancing the kingdom includes taking authority over our homes, our neighborhoods,

[00:02:29] our communities, ourselves taking authority. It also includes binding up principalities and wickedness

[00:02:39] and high places. It also includes declaring the Word of the Lord in the earth because his word will

[00:02:49] not return to him void. Okay? Advancing the kingdom also includes winning souls, sharing the gospel,

[00:02:56] making disciples. So even this event this weekend is going to be a time for people to come into

[00:03:02] the body of Christ. And that's how we advance the kingdom of God also when souls are saved. And then my last

[00:03:09] point on advancing the kingdom is making room for Jesus to reign as King. I'm going somewhere so

[00:03:16] just follow me here this morning. So the two words God gave me for this morning is simple and it's

[00:03:23] the equipping. Can you just turn to your name and say the equipping? The equipping? Amen. That's the only

[00:03:30] turns to your name I got for you this morning. All right, so the equipping. So when we talk about being

[00:03:34] quick, God wants to equip us in His army so that we are not empty handed. And so when we go and see

[00:03:40] equip the first E is for the Word engage. So you have to engage in spiritual warfare. You have to enroll

[00:03:48] in the army of the Lord. And here's the great news in the good news. We have the victory in Jesus Christ.

[00:03:54] So we have already won the battle but it's up to you to actually enroll into engage and to say God

[00:04:01] here I am. And part of that engagement is coming into agreement with the will of God for your life.

[00:04:09] And only you can do that. So this means that you have to give God your full yes.

[00:04:15] So if you are living and breathing in 2024 and I'm only talking to a few people here,

[00:04:20] you have to make a decision if you're going to be all the way in or all the way out.

[00:04:26] You can't have step. It doesn't mean that you're perfect but you have to say hey I'm fully enrolled.

[00:04:31] Even when you enroll in the military, you sign pretty much a whole life away. Okay? So we know

[00:04:37] Michael, I think he was here the week last week and he's a Marine and we thank God for

[00:04:41] him and his life and our jokes some time because technically on paper, he belongs to the government.

[00:04:49] Every part of his being is by everything belongs to the government. And you, if you're a believer,

[00:04:57] you belong to God. Every decision, every path, the will of God, you are fully enrolled and fully

[00:05:03] enlisted. Do you know that in the military, you can't even take leave without permission.

[00:05:07] You can't quit without permission. You cannot do anything without permission.

[00:05:14] And so when you are engaged in the kingdom of God, you understand that your life is not your own.

[00:05:22] Whether you want to do it or not, you have been bought with the price and you belong to Jesus.

[00:05:28] So you have to make a decision if you're going to give God your full yes and if you are all in,

[00:05:36] all in. Okay? So second Timothy chapter two verses three through five, it says you therefore

[00:05:43] must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ and I went for them to get that on the screen.

[00:05:50] Y'all when I got saved, I didn't know that we were in the army. How many of you knew you were signing up to be in the army?

[00:05:56] Did y'all know that somebody tell you this somebody tell you you're going to have to fight somebody tell you

[00:06:01] gonna have to fast somebody tell you have to pray. Somebody tell you that your life doesn't mean it's a better

[00:06:06] person. Yes I know that we're going through a few different roles and you have to believe it.

[00:06:11] You know what I mean? Everybody says that it's a good reward for us if we don't believe it.

[00:06:36] And I want to thank God in this month to serve you. I really want you to be happy from God.

[00:06:36] No one engaged in warfare and tangles himself with the affairs of this life.

[00:06:44] This simply means that when you are in warfare,

[00:06:47] you understand that there's more to life than your five senses.

[00:06:50] It means that you understand that a lot of the things that we're battling here,

[00:06:54] they're not always eternal.

[00:06:56] So it means that you're not so fully caught up in worldly things

[00:06:59] that you forget the fact that we are in a war spiritually.

[00:07:03] Okay? What this looks like is you begin to fight spiritually.

[00:07:08] Now I want to ask your question this morning, this is the safe place, okay?

[00:07:12] How many of you are good fighters?

[00:07:14] Like you feel like you're a good fighter in the natural.

[00:07:17] Okay, some people lie. My pants behind me, but...

[00:07:20] Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:21] And so what happens is God wants us to be fighters in the realm of the spirit

[00:07:26] because the Bible says that the Kingdom of God suffers violence

[00:07:29] but the violent they take it by force.

[00:07:32] And so in order to fight in the spirit realm,

[00:07:35] it means that you're not doing the things that you're used to do,

[00:07:38] but now you're praying.

[00:07:40] Now you're fasting.

[00:07:42] Now you're fully engaged, not in the fears of this life,

[00:07:45] but you're going higher.

[00:07:47] You're taking the matter higher.

[00:07:49] So that's what it means that you're not on the sidelines.

[00:07:52] And it says, and also if anyone competes, let me go back to verse four,

[00:07:56] no one engaged in warfare in tangles themselves with the affairs of this life

[00:08:01] that he made please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

[00:08:06] And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned

[00:08:11] unless he competes according to the rules.

[00:08:13] It's football season, so some of y'all will get that later.

[00:08:17] You have to compete according to the rules, right?

[00:08:19] So in practice terms, when you engage in the things of the spirit,

[00:08:23] such as prayer, such as fasting, such as the Word of God,

[00:08:27] you understand that you're a soldier in the army of the Lord.

[00:08:31] All right?

[00:08:32] So first you have to engage.

[00:08:35] Okay, so the second cue, because we're going to go through

[00:08:38] equipment if you're taking notes and I'm going to do more teaching this morning.

[00:08:42] So the cue is for qualified.

[00:08:45] So even to enroll in a program, there are certain qualifications, okay?

[00:08:51] And God's army, we qualify simply because he's called us.

[00:08:56] That's the great news.

[00:08:58] So you don't qualify based on your past things that you've done,

[00:09:01] how good you are, all these things we qualify because the Lord has called us.

[00:09:08] All right?

[00:09:08] And so even when you feel weak, even when you feel like you don't have it all together,

[00:09:13] all you have to do is engage and give God your yes and say God,

[00:09:17] I'm going to enroll in the army of the Lord.

[00:09:19] And God will take it from there.

[00:09:21] He'll take your weaknesses, he'll take your broken and he'll take your pain.

[00:09:24] He'll take all these things because whom the Lord calls he qualifies.

[00:09:29] So Romans 8 verse 30 says more over whom he predestined,

[00:09:33] these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified and whom he justified,

[00:09:40] these he also glorified.

[00:09:43] So you don't have to be qualified to be called.

[00:09:47] You're called and then God will qualify you.

[00:09:50] That's great news.

[00:09:52] That's wonderful news because sometimes we would not be qualified in our own strength.

[00:09:57] So if we look at Gideon and judges chapter 6, verses 14 through 16,

[00:10:06] y'all doing all right this morning.

[00:10:08] Awesome. All right. We got a little ways to go.

[00:10:10] But we're going to get there.

[00:10:11] All right. So judges chapter 6 verse 14.

[00:10:13] So Gideon was not qualified, but he was called.

[00:10:16] So verse 14 says, then the Lord turned to him and said,

[00:10:20] go at this might of yours and you shall save Israel from the hand of the

[00:10:26] million nights have I not sent you.

[00:10:30] So he said to him, oh my Lord, how can I save Israel?

[00:10:35] One person. He says, how can I save Israel?

[00:10:38] And indeed, my clan, my crew, my homies, my people is the weakest in the land.

[00:10:45] So he says, is the weakest in Vanessa and I am the least in my father's house.

[00:10:52] So not only is his family a part of the weakest tribe in the tribes of Israel,

[00:10:58] but he's saying, of the weakest family if you keep the elimination process going,

[00:11:03] I'm now the weakest one. And so this is where if you insert yourself here,

[00:11:10] because sometimes we like to say, on the black sheep of the family,

[00:11:13] oh, I'm this that whatever. So getting was like, even though my whole crew is whack,

[00:11:19] then I'm whackered in all of them.

[00:11:22] So I'm literally the last person that you want to choose and I love God,

[00:11:26] because he's the God of the underdog.

[00:11:29] Man, listen, he's the God of the underdog,

[00:11:33] the least likely God will choose the least likely.

[00:11:38] And so if you're the least likely, you should be excited because God will choose the least likely.

[00:11:43] And verse 16, and the Lord sets to him, I don't want to scream, I just want to shout.

[00:11:50] The Lord sets to him, surely, I will be with you.

[00:11:56] And you shout defeat the media nights as one man.

[00:11:59] Now, some of you, you might understand this even in the natural because even if you can't fight

[00:12:06] and you're with somebody that can and you know that they're going to be with you.

[00:12:13] A lot of people would like to run their mouth as we used to say,

[00:12:16] because they know hey, I can't fight, but my squad, my squad is tight.

[00:12:24] Little bit, because I know I have backup.

[00:12:31] When you know you, you'll show up differently for battle.

[00:12:38] You'll show up because you know surely!

[00:12:41] God is with me and when God is with you, God has never lost the battle.

[00:12:48] So he says surely I will be with you.

[00:12:51] And this is where the enemy will fight you so that you feel like you're all alone.

[00:12:56] But if you understand that God is with you, you're going to go back and you're going to fight

[00:13:00] and you're going to begin to take what belongs to you because as a warrior, you can't be weak.

[00:13:06] And I would joke even with Mike and I said hey, I know they teach you how to shoot a gun

[00:13:10] and teach you how to do all it is but I can still put you in a headlock at six foot.

[00:13:15] Throughout care, how tall you get, right?

[00:13:17] Still, I said the military can't teach you that. The Marines can't teach you that.

[00:13:21] Maybe I don't know.

[00:13:23] I didn't qualify.

[00:13:26] Praise the Lord. All right. So surely I will be with you and you show defeat the media night as one man.

[00:13:35] As one man. And so if you ever ask yourself can I make a difference as one person?

[00:13:41] Even though this thing has affected my whole family, my whole bloodline.

[00:13:45] As one man, you can make a difference.

[00:13:48] Okay? And so the Lord tells,

[00:13:50] getting in, you're going to make a difference as one man to rescue all of Israel.

[00:13:56] And so when you had this understanding, you fight differently and you show up for battle.

[00:14:01] So the you and he quit is understand God wants to give us understanding.

[00:14:08] So this is where we pray and we say God open my eyes. Can you say that?

[00:14:12] God open my eyes because you have to begin to see what's happening

[00:14:16] and what's going on in the realm of the Spirit. You cannot be blinded when it comes to things

[00:14:21] spiritually, you have to begin to open your eyes and we're living in a culture that is

[00:14:30] demonic stuff but what they're trying to do is open their eyes spiritually and they're doing it the wrong way

[00:14:36] because maybe nobody has told them. But the concept of it should be God open my eyes to see.

[00:14:42] One example God gave me in 2020 is that when Jesus Christ, the son of God was born

[00:14:47] the king at that time, Harriet said go and he told the three wise men right, the Christmas story.

[00:14:54] He told the three wise men, y'all go find the baby Jesus.

[00:14:58] Then he says, once you go find the baby Jesus bring him to me so I worship him.

[00:15:07] So the three wise men as wise as they were naturally, they thought that may sense. We'll go find

[00:15:13] the baby Jesus. They didn't question why would King Harriet want to worship another king?

[00:15:19] But they said we'll go ahead and we'll get because nowadays you have to question certain things.

[00:15:23] You have to think and question certain things. So then when they're on their way back, the

[00:15:28] angel of the Lord has to visit them and say hey, plant me. Don't say the baby back to Harriet

[00:15:35] and then the angel of the Lord has to show up to Joseph and say hey Harriet, he seeks to kill the child.

[00:15:42] What a drastic extreme. You think in the natural he's going to worship the child and then the realm of the spirit

[00:15:50] When you wake up and God opens up your eyes the angel said he's going to kill them. Imagine that the sun of God

[00:15:58] And so if you're walking blindly and you don't your eyes are not opening the realm of the spirit

[00:16:03] You're going to miss out and so this is why the Bible tells us do not be ignorant of Satan's devices

[00:16:09] You have to know your enemy even like talking about the devil a lot because he's such a defeated foe

[00:16:16] He's so defeated

[00:16:17] Okay, he's so defeated out sometimes I wish we could live this

[00:16:21] Christianity without spiritual warfare, but that's not going to happen

[00:16:24] So we have to understand and know the enemy that we're wrestling with and let me tell you where it's important that you know the enemy

[00:16:31] Because you have to be able to recognize him

[00:16:35] You have to recognize him in your thought life

[00:16:39] You have to recognize him in your friendships

[00:16:42] You have to recognize all this is not a miscommunication

[00:16:46] This is a plot of the enemy

[00:16:49] You have to recognize him in your children

[00:16:52] To say oh you want me to keep the light on

[00:16:56] This is spirit of fear you're afraid of the dark

[00:17:01] You have to be able to recognize him

[00:17:05] In every situation and that's why you had to pray God open my eyes not that we're paranoid

[00:17:12] We have the peace of God, but we're also not ignorant. We're also not walking this life and saying I remember

[00:17:18] Talking to one friend, you know in a group chat

[00:17:21] And they were saying to all yeah, I don't know why there's such an attack on our children like it is today

[00:17:27] And I say you know why we all know why everybody

[00:17:30] Everybody every one of us knows why

[00:17:33] Because we're living in the last days

[00:17:36] This is why and the longer that the kingdom of God is silent the devil advances his kingdom

[00:17:42] So this is where you have to open up your mouth

[00:17:46] And begin to recognize and declare not on my watch

[00:17:51] Thank you so much for listening

[00:17:53] That is the first snippet and I will upload

[00:17:56] Next week, but I want you to understand that God wants you to be equipped

[00:18:02] And so he is recruiting in his army and it is time to just fully surrender your life

[00:18:09] To the Lord and I pray that if you are not saved that you would give your heart to Jesus Christ

[00:18:14] According to Romans 9 and 10 that if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth then we shall be saved

[00:18:21] And I just want to say a prayer for you as you are listening God, I pray for every person listening to

[00:18:26] This podcast. I thank you for this hour and what you are doing in the body of Christ and Lord

[00:18:33] Pray for every person that is going through a difficult time or that you are taking through a process

[00:18:40] God and equipping and preparing us for things that are to come

[00:18:44] I thank you for your grace that is sufficient. I thank you for your love towards us

[00:18:49] I thank you that whom the sun sets free is free indeed so I pray God and all things that you will be glorified and

[00:18:55] Exalted and so Lord we give you glory honor and praise in

[00:19:00] Jesus name amen amen amen

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