FD/MM/FM March 2006

LEARNING TO LOVE THE FIGHT

[ ] On "Chocolate Soldiers," by C.T. Studd

[ ] "Baalzebub—Lord of the Flies," ML #168:10-13, Vol.2

[ ] "Fighters," ML #551:18-42‚ 51-60, DB 13

[ ] "Whole Chinese Cemetery Set Free‚" ML #1264:1-3, 15-16, Vol.13

[ ] "Fight for Your Healing," ML #2072:81,83-87, 90-91, 93-96, 98-102‚ 104-106‚ 110-113, Vol.16

[ ] "Problems and Solutions!—Part 4," ML #3072:106-110, 116-118, 121-141, Vol.23

[ ] "Mama's Personal Goals and Prayer Requests for 1998," ML #3165:83-86, Vol.24

[ ] "Wham, Bam! Junk the Punk," ML #3179:10-11, 52-57, 59-63‚ 71, 73-74, 76-78‚ 82-87, 90-91, 93-95, GN 785

[ ] "Fast–day Miracles," ML #3384:148-150, GN 976

[ ] "Gems and Jewels, Part 1," ML #3416:143-146, 151–152, GN 1003

[ ] "The Art of War, Part 1," ML #3532:5-12, 17-50‚ 81-90, 117-132, GN 1123

On "Chocolate Soldiers," by C.T. Studd

Every true soldier is a hero! A soldier without heroism is a Chocolate Soldier! Who has not been stirred to scorn and mirth at the very thought of a Chocolate Soldier? In peace true soldiers are captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives them their liberty and sends them, like boys bounding out of school‚ to obtain their heart's desire or perish in the attempt. Battle is the soldier's vital breath! Peace turns him into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the heart, strength, and vigor of a hero.

Every true Christian is a soldier—of Christ—a hero "par excellence!" Braver than the bravest—scorning the soft seductions of peace and her oft-repeated warnings against hardship, disease‚ danger and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.

The otherwise Christian is a Chocolate Christian‚ dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. Sweeties they are! Bonbons‚ lollipops! Living their lives in a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution. …

Difficulties, dangers, disease, death, or divisions don't deter any but Chocolate Soldiers from executing God's will. When someone says there is a lion in the way, the real Christian promptly replies, "That's hardly enough inducement for me; I want a bear or two besides to make it worth my while to go."

"Baalzebub—Lord of the Flies," ML #168:10-13, Vol.2

10. (Dad speaking in the spirit:) "ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH! The spirits are subjects unto us! God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind! Perfect love casts out all fear! In nothing be terrified by your Adversary, the Devil! I resist you, Satan, in Jesus' name! Resist the Enemy and he will flee from thee! Get thee behind me, Satan! Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! When the Enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him! Give no place to the Enemy! Whatsoever is bound on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever is loosed on earth‚ shall be loosed in Heaven!

11. "I LOVE TO FIGHT THE ENEMY!—As a strong man that loves to run a race, and a strong man that rejoiceth and shouteth by reason of wine, as a knight that loves the fray, and arouseth himself to fight the Enemy!...

12. IT'S SO RIDICULOUS TO THINK THE HOUSE OF BAALZEBUB CAN FIGHT the House of David!—That the Lord of the Flies can fight the Lord of the Living! … I love to fight for the Cause of David and the Name of Jesus! Be strong in the Lord and the power of His Might!" HALLELUJAH!!

13. WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO FIGHT YET! It makes me furious when people take the attacks of the Enemy lying down and let the Devil walk all over them, without resistance, or go pussyfooting around trying to appease him or trying not to disturb or upset him or arouse him! I like to hit him head on‚ and rebuke him in the Name of Jesus in the power of the Spirit‚ and get rid of him, not just keep putting up with him, tolerating him, and letting him hang around bothering us and the poor people he's oppressing, obsessing and attacking! Hallelujah! Let's declare war on the Evil One!

"Fighters‚" ML #551:18-42, 51-60, DB 13

18. (Dad:) [People] need to learn to resist the Enemy and pray for the Spirit of God to raise a standard against him. They need to learn that they didn't join the Peace Corps. They've joined the army, and we're in a battle! It's a fight, but we like it! We like to fight the Devil, and we like to defeat him!

19. A real soldier likes the battle like an athlete likes the athletic trial. He likes the fight, the excitement, the exhilarating thrill of victory!

20. We're wielding the most powerful weapon the world has ever known! Phooey on the atom bomb! This little tiny pill bomb of love is enough to blow this country apart! God's love is the ultimate weapon! It's an absolutely irresistible power! Thank You Lord!

21. We can't lose! It's impossible for us to lose, for "love never fails!" Even when it looks like we lose, we still win! So thank God for the Family, thank God for the love‚ thank God for salvation, thank God for His protection, thank God for His provision, thank God for everything—whatever God sends or lets the Devil bring!

22. "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord" (Rom.8:28). I don't know how they could complain about having a few little tests and trials and battles. Like I've always said, there's no testimony without a test, no triumph without a trial and no victory without a battle! They sound like some athlete who says, "Now that I've joined the Olympic team, what do I have to run for? Why do I have to go through these tests and trials? I thought I was appointed a champion!" It's like some soldier saying, "I've joined the army, now why do I have to fight?" Isn't that ridiculous! That's what you joined the army for‚ to fight!

23. When we get saved, we've joined God's army and we've become soldiers, and we're expected to go into battle and fight! And there's no discharge in this war. It's a fight to the finish, every inch, till death do us part! Forget the guys who don't think it's worth fighting and dying for! Goodness, if they don't think it's worth fighting and dying for, what the hell did they join for?

24. It's a die-daily fight! There's a war going on—a war of the worlds between the world of evil and the Kingdom of God! They're on God's side, the winning side that cannot lose! But they've still got to fight! But when they get to be veterans they'll enjoy the fighting!

25. I love the battle, because I know I'm on the right side, the winning side‚ and I've got the right Commander I'm proud of and happy to live or die for! But we're going to win, and it's worth winning! The fruits are worth fighting for.

26. We're going to enjoy all the spoils of war, triumph over our enemies, and get all the blessings of God and all the rewards, and a hundredfold of everything we've ever given up! We're going to run the world! But if people haven't got the guts to fight a little battle to win it, how in the world do they think they're going to ever be able to run it!

27. If you don't realize what you're fighting for‚ why there is a fight, if you don't look forward to the goal‚ the fact that we're going to win, and if you can't see what we're going to win and what's in it for you and what victory's going to mean, then of course you're going to think the trials and tribulations and battles are too much and too hard and aren't worth it!

28. You've got to keep your eyes ahead on the goal, like Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. By faith they looked ahead, they looked forward. They weren't satisfied with being a citizen of this world; they looked for a country made by God, a Heavenly Country, a Heavenly City!

29. They were willing to go through all the trials and tribulations and be strangers and pilgrims and people without a country because they knew they had one coming! And they knew it was worth fighting for, living and dying for!

30. Even the benefits on the way are worth it! What soldier gets paid that well? Who gets a hundred times everything he gives up or forsakes to join the army? He's going to get a hundred times here and now in this life! What more could he ask than that!

31. A hundred times the salary he got before, a hundred times the family he had before‚ a hundred times the houses he had before, a hundred times the health, the blessings, the love—one hundred times as much as everything he had before! What more could he ask than that! Plus Heaven! All this and Heaven too!

32. Don't they think that's worth fighting for? Don't they think even the love of our Savior‚ the love of our Commander in Chief, and just because you love Him is worth fighting for?

33. They'll never have to worry about whether they're going to go to Heaven or not. That ought to be worth the whole thing, just having that battle off your hands! You should be grateful enough for that to be willing to now fight the Lord's battles.

34. He fought and bled and died for you on the cross to save you and won the battle for you. If you're not willing now to turn around and lay down your life for Him, to live and fight and die for Jesus after the way He suffered for you, for your salvation‚ then you're no soldier!

35. You should be willing to fight just in gratitude for the fact that He saved you—to go through a few little battles with the Devil to fight for the cause of Christ and for His Kingdom and His Family and His love and to try to save others!

36. My Lord‚ you should be willing to die for somebody who saves your life! Jesus saved your souls, saved your lives for eternity. You should be willing to do anything for Him now, whatever He tells you to do, any kind of a battle‚ any kind of a fight, no matter whether you understand it or not or why! All you have to do is read the Bible to find out why!

37. My God, if you're not willing to die for Christ‚ it looks to me like you weren't worth dying for when He died for you! Jesus died for you, but you're not willing to suffer a little bit for Him? Look what Jesus did for you; look how He suffered for us! We ought to be willing to do anything for Him, suffer anything, go through anything for Him to save others like He saved us!

38. God help us to be soldiers and willing to do anything for Him, in just plain thanks for His salvation! He bought and paid for us; we belong to Him now. He can do whatever He wants to with us. He can send us into any battle He wants to, whether we understand it or not or whether we think it's worth it or not! It's His battle, not ours!

39. You don't always have to know why you're fighting or what you're fighting for! All you have to know is that Jesus gave the order and you obey it no matter how it comes out—even if it kills you! "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" (Job 13:15). Amen?

40. Of course it's a battle! What the hell do you think you joined the army for? An army is to fight battles, and we've got plenty of them to fight! But I love to fight because I know I'm fighting for the One that's worth fighting for and the souls that are worth winning and the goals that are worth attaining!

41. Why question why you have these trials, tribulations, fights and battles? You're in an army! Of course you're going to fight and have battles! Maybe you thought you were entering an old folks' home or something, retiring or going on a permanent vacation!

42. Jesus was willing to die for us to save us, and He wants us to be willing to die for Him to save others! "No greater love hath any man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends!" (John 15:13). Even as Christ died for us, He expects us to lay down our lives for the brethren.

51. There's no crown without a cross, no testimony without a test, no triumph without a trial, no victory without a battle, and no rose without a thorn! Praise God, that's what you joined the army for—to fight and to win! Let's get on with the battle! We can't lose!

52. It's worth every fight, every battle, every test, every trial! It's worth it all! It's worth it all for the testimonies and the triumphs and the victories! It's worth the winning, thank the Lord!

53. So now go back to the battle and start fighting! Quit giving up so damn easy and getting scared off by the Devil! If you fight you cannot lose and he cannot win and he can't get the victory. So he tries to scare you into giving up, to frighten you into surrendering. He tries to persuade you to quit and wave the white flag of sickening surrender!

54. Keep resisting the Enemy‚ keep raising the standard of the Spirit, keep wielding the weapon of the Word, and you cannot lose!

55. "Fight the good fight of faith," "contend earnestly for the faith," "endure hardness," "keep the faith!" (1Tim.6:12; Jude 3; 2Tim.2:3, 4:7). Just don't forget it's a fight! Keep fighting the Enemy with the Word of God and your faith. "Put on the whole armor of God—the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit (the Word), having your loins girt with truth, and your feet shod with the Gospel of peace!" (Eph.6:13-17). You're in a battle and that's the armor!

56. You're a soldier called to fight for God and the faith! For God's sake, don't give up just because of a little tiny skirmish here and there! Be like John Paul Jones, who screamed, "Surrender? Hell no! We haven't even begun to fight yet!" His ship was sinking and half of his men were killed and he was wounded, yet he still refused to surrender! Instead, he captured the enemy's boat and kept on fighting until he won!

57. That's the kind of soldiers that win victories, the ones who refuse to quit fighting! No soldier that quit ever won a battle! No soldier that surrendered ever won a victory! No soldier that waved the white flag of surrender ever got to wave his own flag over the enemy's battlements!

58. My God, give us fighters who like to fight for the Lord with the weapon of His Word and who enjoy defeating the Devil, those who know they can't lose and who like to win victories, conquering heroes that like to live and fight and die for Jesus and their brethren and the truth!

59. Soldiers like that can't be conquered. They can't lose‚ even if they die fighting, because they'll get a crown of glory! Paul said, "I fought the good fight of faith, I kept the faith, I finished the course, and henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness!" (2Tim.4:7-8). Thank You Lord!

60. So stay in there and sock it to'm! Amen? You can't lose if you keep on fighting the good fight of faith to the finish! God bless you! I love you!

"Whole Chinese Cemetery Set Free," ML #1264:1-3, 15-16, Vol.13

1. (Dad:) I REALLY WON A VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL! Oh my God, we really won a victory over the Devil!

2. I LIBERATED ALL THOSE SOULS IN THE GOD–DAMNED CHINESE CEMETERY THAT THEY HAD IN BONDAGE! … We released thousands of souls from the cemetery! (Tongues and weeping!)

3. THANK GOD! I LIKE TO FIGHT THE DEVIL! (Trills and tongues!) TYJ! (Tongues) I had a big fight and I love it! (Tongues!) I had a big fight with the Devil and I won! (Tongues!) Every soul, every soul in the cemetery is liberated in the name of Jesus Christ! Every soul is freed from the Devil in the name of Jesus Christ!

15. I LOVE TO FIGHT THE DEVIL BECAUSE I ALWAYS WIN! I love to fight him! (Tongues) … That was a good fight! Oh I loved it! I really, really socked it to him, amen? In Jesus' name!

16. He can't win! He can't win, because I always win with Jesus! (Laughs and tongues)

"Fight For Your Healing," ML #2072:81,83-87, 90-91, 93-96, 98-102, 104–106, 110-113, Vol.16

81. (Mama:) WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT IMPRESS YOU THE MOST ABOUT GRANDPA? What kind of person is Grandpa? … (Teen: I was thinking that not only is he a good fighter, but also he really likes to fight!)—Right, exactly! There are some quotes that we put in the MOP about how he loves the battle, he loves to be fighting for the Lord against the Devil for the souls of men!

83. (FAM: IF THERE'S A PROBLEM AND SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT, HE DOESN'T JUST ACCEPT IT BUT HE ATTACKS IT!)—Yes, that's very good, that's what I was going to say, that's what I was especially fishing for! (Peter: He does it now!)—Those two things! … He's always ready to fight to overcome the bad, the evil, or the thing that isn't right! He puts forth effort, he fights!

84. AND HE ALWAYS DOES IT NOW, TOO! Like Alexander the Great said when they asked him how he had conquered the world in such a short time, he replied‚ "By not delaying!" So that goes with fighting and with changing things, doing it now. Otherwise, if you put it off you'll probably never do it. If every time Grandpa saw something that needed to be changed he said, "We'll do it tomorrow," he probably wouldn't get half of the things done or changed that he does! So being a fighter and being willing to change things and do it now are all intertwined.

85. WHAT MAKES GRANDPA DIFFERENT THAN THE LEADERS OF ALL THE OTHER RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS? … He's a fighter! He created a Revolution‚ right? Nobody else, none of the other religious movements, youth groups or denominations are revolutions! They're all part of the old. But Grandpa's been willing to fight to the extent of bringing about a total change, and to keep it a Revolution by continuing to fight and change.

86. We wouldn't even have the Family or the revolution today if Grandpa hadn't been a fighter and started it and continued to keep it going. we'd just be another denomination or youth group or church organization.

87. SO YOU SEE WHY THE LORD EVIDENTLY THINKS PRETTY HIGHLY OF FIGHTERS. THERE ARE VERY FEW OF THEM IN THE WORLD! The majority of people just aren't fighters, even most of us aren't fighters normally, that's not our natural tendency. But we have to learn to be, because it's so important to the Lord. That's what the Lord wants in an army, in this movement. He doesn't have the potential for such a strong army of fighters anywhere else in the world, so we've gotta be His fighters! ... We need to really stir ourselves up in everything, not only in healing‚ but in every thing we need to be fighters!

90. IT'S HARD FOR MOST OF US, IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT! For some people it isn't so hard, like Dad, because that's the way the Lord made him and he wants change the wants to fight. But most of us don't like to change and we're stuck in a rut most of the time. It's difficult for us and we don't like it and we resist it. Nevertheless the Lord will give you even more credit if you don't like it but you do it anyway and you overcome that natural tendency to be lazy and to be stuck in a rut.

91. IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S DIFFICULT FOR YOU AND YOU DO IT ANYWAY, THE LORD'S GOING TO GIVE YOU EVEN MORE CREDIT FOR IT THAN SOMEBODY WHO JUST LIKES TO DO IT AND FOR WHOM IT'S NOT DIFFICULT! Of course in a way it's difficult for all of us fighting the Enemy, but I'm just saying some people naturally like to do one thing and other people don't. So it's harder for them and when they do get the victory the Lord really gives them more credit in that particular area than the one who is sort of created to be that way and likes to do that.

93. I WANT YOU TO REALLY THINK ABOUT THESE VERSES ON FIGHTING AND REALLY MEMORIZE THEM! I think most of them are in your Memory book and you've probably already memorized them. Another one is, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." (Isa.54:17)—In other words, it's a battle. "That thou mightiest war a good warfare because of the prophecies given." (1Tim.1:18) I wonder what those prophecies were? They were God's Word, right? He was able to be a good warrior and a good soldier because of the Word that he'd learned and been given. And I think we mentioned "whom resist steadfast in the faith." (1Pet.5:9)

94. IT SAYS THAT "JESUS ENDURED SUCH CONTRADICTION OF SINNERS AGAINST HIMSELF, SO BE NOT WEARY AND FAINT IN YOUR MINDS." (Heb.12:3) Grandpa got that verse for me one time. Jesus endured contradiction against Himself, "but ye have not yet resisted unto blood." (Heb.12:4)—Resisting unto blood! We haven't fought the battle like Jesus did. But we're at least supposed to be strong and not faint in our mind, not be weary in well doing! "I have fought a good fight," "strong, waxed valiant in fight," "so fight I, not as one that beateth the air," "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven." Don't tell me that's not a fight! I mean, that's something that you really have to put a lot of effort into and really get all the forces of the Lord on your side. "And they overcame them by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony!" (Rev.12:4)—They overcame! That is a war too, that's a fight! "The spirit of a man sustaineth him," in other words a fighting spirit, one that's alive, one that's ready to go on the attack! (Pro.18:14) "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." (Pro.24:10)

95. Everything [the Bible] says is aimed toward going on the attack and putting forth an effort and being aggressive! Just because it doesn't happen to say those exact words doesn't mean the whole Bible doesn't imply it. The whole Christian life is a fight and you've got to fight every day, it's hard work! And when it's over here, then we'll have some more fights and some more work! But it won't be the same, you won't have to worry about it, you'll have your supernatural super powerful body. Now it's really a fight and sacrifice living for the Lord, but every time you win the battle and you gain more victories, your faith grows stronger and you get stronger because you're fighting the enemy.

96. THERE'S A GOOD QUOTE IN THE MOP THAT SAYS HE WHO ATTACKS US OR PERSECUTES US‚ HELPS US! Our adversary makes us strong, and in fighting the battles we get strong, our prayer and our faith muscles get used and get strengthened. (MOP 38:22) So don't be afraid of the fight! But most of us aren't so worried about being afraid, we just need some more umph, we need more attitude of fight. We're not so afraid‚ we just need to stir ourselves up and get on the attack—in everything! I don't just mean healing or spiritual battles, but in our everyday life and in everything we do we need to have enthusiasm and inspiration and put effort into it, be aggressive!

98. GRANDPA SAYS: "I LOVE TO FIGHT, BECAUSE I KNOW I'M FIGHTING FOR THE ONE THAT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR and the souls that are worth winning and the goals that are worth attaining!" (MOP 38:1)—That should be our prayer, that we get to the point where we love to fight, we love to put forth the effort, we love to teach others, instruct others and fight the Enemy! "Whatever you do, just keep on going for God!—You're bound to make it sometimes if you try often enough!" (MOP 38:17) That's a fight too‚ when you keep trying. "The only way we can ever be conquered is if we stop attacking and give up and stop having the faith to take the initiative!" (MOP 38:18)

99. "YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THE DEVIL and YOUR OLD SELF EVERY DAY!" (MOP 38:36)—Sorry! But if we learn to love to fight, even though it's a lot of work, then we won't have to say, "Sorry, oh dear, another fight!" Like Dad says, having sex is hard work, but if you love it then you didn't mind the hard work! So even though fighting the Devil is hard work, if you love the battle and ask the Lord to give you that fighting spirit, then it's not going to be such an "Oh what a weariness, another fight with the Devil!" You're going to be challenged and you're going to love to do it! You can love to do it because you know you're going to win the victory!

100. WE KNOW WE HAVE ALL THE LORD'S POWER ON OUR SIDE AND WE'LL ALWAYS GET THE VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY! So we can always love to fight because even though we get a little bruised and battered in the process‚ we're going to win, and we're going to have a victory!—Not only a personal victory for us, but a victory for the Lord's work and for others. So it's a good motivation for fighting!—Right?

101. "YOU CAN NEVER STOP BATTLING, YOU CAN NEVER STOP WINNING VICTORIES, YOU CAN NEVER STOP PROGRESSING, OR YOU'LL BACKSLIDE! Each battle God gives you in which you win a victory is followed with a bigger battle, because He knows He can now trust you with more." (MOP 38:37‚38) The Lord doesn't want us to fear the battles or think, "Oh dear, not another battle!" He wants us to enjoy them! Of course, He doesn't want us to desire to have conflict just so we can have a battle, but because we know there are always going to be battles coming He wants us to be challenged in fighting them and full of faith because we know we're going to get the victory! So lets get on with it‚ let's have the spirit to win the battle!

102. "TO GET GREATER VICTORIES YOU HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING GREATER BATTLES‚ and for greater rewards you have to keep making greater sacrifices, and for greater joys you have to keep suffering greater pains!" "If you win this battle, He'll give you a bigger battle tomorrow!" "If you think the time's coming in this life when you'll no longer have to fight sin and self and the old man, you're mistaken!" "I like a battle! I love it!—Because I know I'm on the right side‚ the winning side, and I'm proud and happy to live or die for Him!" "It's a struggle to live!—it takes faith and courage and fight and a lot of real hard work to live the faith life!" "People who faint, faint first in their minds; they sort of give up mentally or spiritually first." "Give me some men who are stout-hearted men, who will fight for the right they adore! Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men, and I'll soon give you ten thousand more!"—A fighting spirit is contagious, it breeds more fighters! (MOP 38:41,44,54,56-58)

104. "GOD DIDN'T CALL YOU TO A PLAYGROUND, BUT A BATTLEGROUND!" "The best way to stop an attack is to counter-attack! The best defense is an offense!" "We are in a fight to the finish and the victory is ours‚ praise be to God!" "We need to get more militant, more aggressive‚ more specific and go on the attack, take the offensive and hit the thing head on immediately!' "The more difficult the obstacle, the stronger one becomes after hurdling it." "Victory isn't just walking across the goal line, it's struggling through opposition to the goal!" It's a battle! If you're going to get the victory you've got to work‚ you don't just walk across the goal line! (MOP 38:66-68,73‚82,86)

105. "MAY GOD GIVE US FIGHTERS WHO LIKE TO FIGHT FOR THE LORD WITH THE WEAPON OF HIS WORD and who enjoy defeating the Devil and who know they can't lose and who like to win victories!—Conquering heroes that like to live and fight and die for Jesus and their brethren and the Truth!" "If you don't know how to be bold, if you're not fighters, you don't belong to this outfit!" (MOP 38:88,94)

106. WE'RE A FAMILY, YES, BUT WE NEED TO BE A FIGHTING FAMILY! We need to keep in mind that it's more important to be a fighter even than a Family, because if our Family quits fighting it's not going to be a Family very long!

110. "IF YOU'RE A FIGHTER LIKE I AM, YOU ENJOY THE BATTLE! When you know you're fighting for the right you don't mind the battle. You enjoy a challenge and test to show your strength!"—In other words, to show the Lord's strength! "I don't do business with the Devil! I don't care to have him around and I'll scrap it out with him any day before I'll reach any compromise and live with him!" "We are at war with the Devil and the lies of the Devil! We are an army who is fighting spiritually, not with violence, not with arms, but with the Word of God! We are fighting for the truth, and you have to be a fighter for the truth of God, even if it kills you!" "The Lord and His angels and you are far more powerful than the Devil and his demons! Even Satan has to obey your commands in the Name of Jesus! He might fight against you for awhile, like he is, but sooner or later he's going to have to knuckle under." "We who have Jesus have more power than Satan! We have more power than the demons, because we have the power of God and the power of His Spirit of Love! 'At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow!’" "You have to wage a militant warfare against the Enemy!" (MOP 38:99-101,107-109)

111. "WE REBUKE YOU, SATAN‚ IN JESUS NAME, AND ALL YOUR POWERS and angels and evil spirits! Thank You for Your great mighty army, Lord, that surrounds us, that resists all the powers of Hell though they be let loose against us. Even one angel is enough to deal with them all! 'The angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear Him and delivereth them!’ thank you Lord for all Thy goodness and mercy. Help us to stay close to Thee in the charmed circle of Thy protection, in Jesus' name!" "When you rebuke the Devil, you don't do it calmly, you get angry and practically yell and shout and curse and scream at him, you get so angry in the spirit!" "What fight your Father has and what marvelous love your Father David has for his children. Your father loves a fight for the Truth!" (MOP 38:110-111,117)

112. "WHEN THE ENEMY ATTACKS‚ IT REALLY GETS US ON THE STICK and on the ball and back close to the Lord and praying and working and fighting back and revives us spiritually and kills that old lazy lethargy that sets in when everything is going too smoothly and so easy that we don't have to stir up ourselves or fight or work very hard. (MOP 38:125)

113. "WHEN YOU ATTACK THE ENEMY, HE TRIES TO HIT BACK. Nevertheless, God's Word says if you attack him with great faith, if you resist him, 'he shall flee from thee'. That doesn't mean you're not going to have a little fight before he runs. He may fight a little bit, but if you keep on fighting he can't take it, he will turn and run. 'When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise up a standard against him!'" "Don't take the Devil's no for an answer, push ahead until you totally defeat him!" "You've got to be militant‚ you've got to be positive‚ you've got to rise up and fight the Devil, not just be passive!" "If you're a fighter, you've got to lose your temper sometimes and get angry at the Devil and sock it to him!" (MOP 38:130,136,145,146)

"Problems and Solutions!—Part 4," ML #3072:106-110, 116-118, 121-141, Vol.23

106. (Dad:) This is the day to take a stand! Choose ye this day whom you shall serve! If God be God, then serve God. But if Baal be God‚ then serve Baal. But as for me and my house‚ we will serve the Lord! Are you with me? This is my message to you young folks and you older folks and the entire Family. Because this is the day of march! It's marchin' time and I need those who like to fight the Enemy with the Word of God! I need those who are willing to fight and die for their Family, for their brethren, and for the truth. Is that you? Are you with me? This is a call to arms, and I need those who are willing to take up the challenge!—Those who want to do more than just sit in a Home and eke out a mere existence and just barely scrape by.

107. I need fighters who know how to go on the attack, who are not going to be scared out at the Devil's first boo‚ or even his second and third boo! I need fighters who like to fight and die for the truth with the weapon of the Word, and who enjoy defeating the Devil. I need conquering heroes that like to live and fight and die for Jesus and the Family and the truth!

108. Are you with me? Are you willing and ready to fire back, fight back, and take a stand? ... You've had plenty of time to think things over and pray and decide what you personally want to do with your life.

109. And now, Beloved, this is the day to make the stand! And if you choose to stand with the Lord and with me and with the Family—well then, it's time to act like it! For God's sake, and for my sake, and for the Family's sake, if you are with me‚ then act like it, because I need fighters!

110. If you don't like to fight, what are you in the Family for? We are fighters! I'm a fighter! I love the battle! I love the fight, because I know I am fighting on the right side, the winning side that cannot and will not lose! I know I am fighting for souls that are worth winning, and goals that are worth attaining! Are you with me?

116. We are at war, Beloved! … The Enemy is fighting hard to defeat us, and I need fighters who are willing to hold the banner of David high, and fight on to win the war! The Devil cannot win if you don't give in! But you've got to fight!

117. Since when are we going to let a few little problems stop us? Where are the Martin Luthers who are willing to take a stand and say, "Here I stand! I can do no other!" Where are the John Paul Joneses who are willing to shout back‚ "Hell no, we haven't even begun to fight!" Where are the Joans of Arc who are willing to lead the troops into battle, and to even burn at the stake if need be, for country and homeland? Where are the Bravehearts who are willing to stand firm and strong, courageous and unafraid? Where are David's mighty men? I'm still here! I'm still alive and kickin' and leading the troops!

118. What do you think I was promoted for? The Lord gave me a promotion and I accepted! I took up the challenge. I answered the call from Heaven. I was promoted to the front line of battle, to lead you on to final victory! That is the offer the Lord put before me that day as I lay in my bed, that day He took me Home. I didn't come Home to Heaven to sit around on some cloud and play some harp! I came Here to fight! I came Home to Heaven at this very crucial time in world history to lead my troops into battle!

121. This is it! Who is willing to stand with me? Who is willing to fight with me? Who is willing to rise above the petty problems and seeming difficulties and fight the Devil? Who is willing to lift the standard high and fight on in spite of troubles and difficulties? Satan is playing for keeps. He knows that his time is short and he is pouring it on!

122. What did you join the army for, anyhow? We are an army! We are a family, but first of all we are an army! And if you have made the decision to be in the Family, if you have made the decision to be in my army‚ the army of David‚ then it's time to get your marchin' boots on!

123. We are in a war, Beloved, and I need those who are willing to fight and die for Jesus, for me, for the Family, and for the truth! I need those who are willing to hold the banner of David high! I need those who are willing to keep sacrificing, keep forsaking, and keep fighting every day!

124. Are you with me? I need those who, when one battle is over, look forward with excitement and anticipation to the next one! Those with the "do or die" spirit who are willing to fight on in the face of despair, who are willing to stick to the fight when they are hit the hardest. I need those who are willing to take initiative, who never stop having faith, and never stop attacking! This is war, and the Enemy is playing for keeps! I need those who are willing to keep wielding accurately the sword of the Spirit, cutting the Devil right where it counts—dead center in the heart!

125. I need fighters! Are you with me? Choose ye this day! And if you choose the army of David, it's time to rally 'round the banner. All Heaven is rallying! All Heaven is rooting! All Heaven is marching! Are you with us? This is my call to arms to you. Put on your armor! Lift the banners!

126. I need those who are willing to fight and give their all! I need those who are willing to break down the walls of disunity and division between the generations and among peers. I need those who are willing to give no place to evil, those who are willing to fight with everything they have in them to unite as one Family, one strong army‚ prepared and ready to charge into battle! I need those who are willing to sacrifice to win others. Those who are willing to put aside personal desires‚ to forsake selfish desires and plans in order to sacrifice for the Family, to win the lost and usher in the Kingdom of God on Earth!

127. I need adults who are willing to lay down their lives and sacrifice in order to win the younger generation. And I need younger generation adults and teens who are willing to sacrifice at all costs, and lay down their lives to win their younger brothers and sisters. I need adults and younger folks alike who are willing to sacrifice and lay down their lives, to fight and live and die for Jesus, for me, and for the Family. I need expendables—willing to burn out on the altar of sacrifice, wear out as tools of His design, die that others may live!

128. I need those who are willing to arm themselves with faith and love and prayer and face the foe, to dispel the lies of Satan and to fight on and win the battle! I need those who are willing to refuse to give up, who refuse to give in! I need those who are willing to lay aside the sins and the weights that would beset them and fight on! I need those who are willing to forsake worldliness‚ those who are willing to forsake carnal ideas and carnal ways and keep their eyes on Heaven, keep their eyes ahead on the goal.

129. I need those who are willing to set their face like a flint and march forward‚ unashamed, unshaken by circumstances and conditions around them. I need those who are willing to march in where angels fear to tread and claim the land! I need those who are willing to take a stand, who will not be confounded‚ but who choose to lean on the mighty hand of God! I need those who are willing to go ahead by naked faith alone and win the battle! I need those who are willing to wage war at my side, not on the side of the right or the left, but on the side of the only One Who is really right—Jesus, our Lord and King. I need brave soldiers who have guts and conviction! I need soldiers who are bold and brave and unafraid—who are willing to fight back!

130. Are you with me? The battlefield is calling! The bugles are sounding, Beloved! This is it! This is the day that all the prophets have dreamed of! This is the day that I have dreamed of. (Tongues) Thank You Jesus! Blessed are my eyes to behold this day!—The day of march of the army of David! This is the day for which the army of David was created! This is the day of the children of David! Hallelujah!

131. Are you going to answer the call of the high commission of the army of David? I have received the order! I have received the high commission to lead the troops in this final hour. This commission has been reserved for the army of David! We are the leaders! We have been commissioned. Are you with me?

132. (Tongues) Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! Jesus, help them to see! Rally the troops, Lord! Help those who You are calling to take up their shields! Help them to lift their swords and fight! Help them to stand strong and fight the battle, wielding accurately the Word of God, and cut the Devil to the heart! (Tongues) Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! Help them to fight! Forward march! Help them to attack! Help them not to take no for an answer.

133. Give me fighters, Jesus, who like to fight and win! Help these, Your children, Lord‚ to keep fighting; not to be discouraged, but to keep on believing and not quit! Help them to get stirred up, Lord! Help them to be militant! Help them to stand guard day and night. Help them to be positive and rise up and fight the Devil! Give them courage, Jesus! Thank You Lord!

134. If you could only see, Beloved! If you could only see! The Lord and His angels are far more powerful than the Devil and his demons! Even Satan has to obey your commands in the Name of Jesus. But you have to command him! You have to fight! We who have Jesus have more power than Satan. Oh, the power I hold in my hands! It's the power of Jesus! It's the same power you hold in your hands, if you will just fight and tap in! There is no power that is greater than Jesus and me.

135. We've been called, Beloved. We've been commissioned. The army of David has been commissioned to lead in this final hour. We've been commissioned to lead them into the promised land. Are you with me? If so, take a stand! Stand strong and loyal, willing and ready with whole hearts to live and fight and die for Family and loved ones. Give me fighters!

136. This is the day of fighters! Rid me of the half-hearts, the namby-pamby, string-for-a-backbone lukewarmers! Give me hot or give me cold. The Lord has purged the ranks, and now the bugles are sounding in the Heavenlies. The bugles are sounding for those who have taken the stand, and they are beckoning—forward march! Many were called‚ but few have been chosen, because few made the choice to follow all the way. But you‚ my Gideon's band, I challenge you today! Are you with me? I challenge you to gird yourselves, to baptize yourselves constantly in prayer. Soak yourselves in the Word, quote it to the Devil and to yourself, and wage a militant warfare against the Enemy!

137. This is war‚ and you've got to go on the attack! Wage an offensive! Fight! Hit him hard! When the Devil hits you hard and heavy‚ that is the time to hit him back hard and heavy. Don't lie down and let him walk right over you—hit him back! There is a time to be calm and a time to be angry. And when the Devil is fighting hard to steal away your little lambs, when he is fighting hard to start fires of disunity and dissension and discord, when he is hitting hard with confusion and doubts, that is the time to hit him back! Get angry! Shout, curse and scream at him! Sock it to him with the Word! This is war! Sock it to him!

138. The army of David marches on! Are you with me? If so, all Heaven is at your command! This is the day all the prophets have dreamed of, Beloved. This is the day of the army of David! There are many circles, many degrees of discipleship, and all have their place. But the army of David has been chosen! We are commissioned to lead in this final hour! I need those who are willing to give up anything, do anything‚ share anything, for Jesus and the Family and your brethren and the Truth!

139. Are you with me? If so‚ raise the banner high! Lift up your swords! Look to Heaven's reward! This is it! This is where the excitement begins if you keep on fighting and don't quit! The bugles are sounding, as the armies of David march on! They are cheering for us, Beloved! All Heaven is cheering! Praise the Lord! We cannot lose because we are on the winning side! Are you willing? There is no limit to what God can do!

140. The day of march has come! Are you willing to live and die for what you know is the truth? Are you willing to face the foe and free those caught in his snare? Are you willing to make the sacrifice to win hearts and minds and souls for the Lord? Lift up your swords, it's marchin' time! If it's not worth dying for, it's not worth living for!

141. Are you with me? Give me fighters! Beaten men will compromise and walk the beaten path, but let all my mighty men of David stand up and be counted!—Men of faith who will challenge both men and Satan's wrath! Stand up and fight! The strife will not be long! This day the noise of battle; tomorrow the victory song! Hallelujah! Forward march! Love, Dad. (End of message.)

"Mama's Personal Goals and Prayer Requests for 1998‚" ML #3165:83-86, Vol.24

83. (Mama:) We were created to be fighters, to sock it to the Enemy, to stand up for the truth! It's my desire to be more of a fighter. I'm very thankful that through recent experiences the Lord has been answering this prayer. He's been teaching me to be a better fighter, and I've seen more and more the value of fighting‚ of immediately resisting the Enemy's lies and going on the attack in desperate prayer and praise and singing, and getting busy for the Lord and others.

84. I want to take more initiative when fighting. I want my first reaction to be a fighting reaction. I don't want to be slow on the draw and lazy. When I first notice the Enemy trying to get my attention, or trying to come in through some thought of discontent or comparing or complaining, I want to immediately slam the door in his face, punch him in the nose, and kick him in the pants! I want to stand up and resist him, rebuke him, and get rid of him!

85. I want to be more of a fighter in all aspects of my life—in bringing my thoughts into captivity; in redeeming the time; in being humble and doing the humble thing; in improving my work habits and habits of prayer‚ praise, and hearing from the Lord; and in faithfully using the time the Lord has supplied for me to be intimate with Him.

86. In short, I want to fight to be everything the Lord wants me to be. I want to fight to make Him happy, to please Him, to do as much for Him and others as I possibly can. I want to fight to be the example in all areas that He knows I need to be. I want to fight for you, my dear Family—for healing‚ for continued victory, for answers, for finances, for unity. I want to learn to love to fight, and to be more like Dad in that way; to really get a thrill out of the fight!

"Wham, Bam! Junk the Punk," ML #3179:10-11, 52-57, 59-63, 71, 73-74‚ 76-78, 82-87, 90-91, 93-95, GN 785

10. (Dad:) If you feel down and defeated and like it's no use‚ that's the time to stand up and fight! When the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin'! Even if you don't feel so tough, or you don't feel like you've got one more ounce of strength in you to keep going—well, that's the time to just sock it to him anyhow. That's the time to walk by faith, not by sight, 'cause the Lord won't fail you!

11. Look at all the great fighters down through history! John Paul Jones and others fought on in spite of all odds against them‚ in spite of what they felt like, and they went on to win the battle! It doesn't matter what you feel like, 'cause you can be strong in the Lord! Let Him carry you‚ and He will! Praise God!

52. When you find yourself in a tough situation, or down and out, or like nobody understands you—the solution is, you've just gotta keep on forging ahead! You've gotta keep on keeping on and making progress! Refuse to give up! The easy way out is to give up. Anybody can give up, but it takes someone with real guts to keep on fighting!

53. You can always find legitimate, reasonable, logical, acceptable excuses for why you can't make it, and there'll always be someone around willing to listen. But God is listening too, and He knows better. He knows you can make it, because He can make it in you!

54. I like to fight! If you tell me it can't be done, I'm gonna go right ahead and prove to you it can be done! That's the kind of faith I like to see! Jesus never said that taking up your cross and following Him would be easy, but He did say it would be thrilling! Just because the beginning stages might seem a little rough right now, just because the entrance exams are a little hard, nevertheless, the end result and the exhilarating thrill of accomplishment and victory make it well worthwhile!

56. It's a battle‚ I know, and the battles won't necessarily cease. But if you're a fighter like me, you'll love the battle! That's what we joined this army for! That's what we've committed ourselves to in this Family—to fight the Enemy, to pull down his strongholds in the hearts and minds of men!

57. I'm sorry if the battles seem so strong, but that just goes to prove that you must be doing something right, or the ol' Devil wouldn't be fighting so hard and trying to get you down! And when it seems like the spotlight's on you, well, hard as it might seem at the moment‚ that's the time to be happy! Be happy that the Lord is putting you through these tests, 'cause that's what'll make you strong!

59. When you feel like you can't hear from the Lord, or you feel all confused and like you don't understand, or when you feel all down and out and condemned for past mistakes—well, that's the time to sock it to the Devil with everything you've got!

60. We know that confusion and condemnation are not of the Lord. So if you feel that way, at least you can tell that ol' Devil to scram! Just refuse to listen! Refuse to get down! Refuse to play his game! If you feel like going out in the garden and eating worms, just tell that ol' Devil that you might be a mess, but Jesus in you is your hope of glory!

61. When it comes to getting so down in the dumps and feeling discouraged, that's the time to refuse to listen! The Devil might sometimes try to throw lightning bolts over your head, and thunder, and loud crashing in the form of battles and trials—trying to scare you out. He might try to wield his power and scare you. But you've got the One Who can stop the storm in a moment, and can stop the thunder and all the lightning bolts! The Devil might be the prince of the power of the air‚ and he tries to show off the little power he's got, but you've got the King of kings, the Head Honcho, the Big Boss—Jesus—Who has control over all things!

62. So that's when you've gotta sock it to the Devil! Use the Word constantly! Sock him with the Word! Shoot that Devil with your Word bullets, and they'll be just like death rays that'll blast him right off the map! Zap him! Cream him! Vaporize him! Nuke him with the positive declaration of your faith by throwing him a Word grenade!

63. Hit him with surprise attacks in commando raids throughout the day. Don't give him any place! Sock it to him any place, anywhere, any time‚ by sockin' him with the Word! Go over the Word and positive things in your mind! Say it out loud with your mouth. Sing it, whisper it, think it—when you get up, when you lie down, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, when you're having get–out, when you're working in the house, on your way to the bus or the train, while riding in the car, when you're waiting for someone, even when you're watching a movie. You can be thinking and praying and socking it to the Devil no matter what else you're doing, any time of the day. So let it rip!

71. So next time you're tempted to feel down or discouraged, or if you find yourself in a tough situation and it looks like everything around you is falling apart and going wrong, just remember this little talk. Remember all the fighters throughout history, okay? Remember, the only way you can be defeated is if you quit—because we're on the right side, the side worth fighting for, the side that can't fail‚ because Jesus won't fail. There're no losers with Jesus, and there're no winners with the Devil!

73. Wait on the Lord. Wait on His Word. When you get tested, refuse to worry and insist on not giving up. If you find yourself in a difficult situation and it's hard to cope, smile your way through! Be content, knowing that the Lord will meet you there and He'll pull you out.

74. If others seem to give you a hard time and troubles tumble about you—refuse to murmur! Sing, shout, praise! Yell at the top of your lungs if you have to! But don't complain. When you get tempted to sin, fight for the right, stand firm, and knock that ol' Devil a deadly blow! When you stumble or fall, get right back up again! Grab on to Jesus and let Him steady you.

76. Whatever you do, don't quit serving Him! No one is beat till they quit. Stick to the fight when you're hardest hit, 'cause that's the time you mustn't give up. It's easy to quit, but it takes real guts to fight on! If you try and don't get results, that's the time to keep on trying! Keep going! Keep screaming at that ol' Devil when he tempts you to quit. Keep yelling right back in his face! Pound on him with the Word! Keep holding on! That's one thing you can do if you can't do anything else—hold on!

77. Keep fighting when you're hardest hit! To fight on even in the face of discouragement—that's the best game of all! That's where the challenge is! The real excitement and thrill and suspense is in the fight! In the heat of the battle is where all the action is! Like the strong man who loves to run the race! Like the athlete who loves the athletic event! Like the soldier who loves the battle and the exhilarating thrill of victory! Like me!—I love to fight the Enemy, because I know I'm fighting for you, and for souls, and for the things that are really worth fighting for!

78. Will you … be my firebrands that will keep challenging the Enemy face to face? Will you get on fire for God so the world can watch you burn? Will you keep fighting and keep holding on to Jesus? This is the only thing worth living for—the Lord and His love‚ winning souls, and fulfilling His Endtime commission. I know you can do it—that's why I love you so! ... Keep going for Jesus and you'll never be sorry!

82. (Spirit helper, Liza‚ speaking:) When it comes to fighting the Devil, this is the time to let go and knock the pants off him! Jesus said that there's a time and a place for everything, and this is the one time you can go ahead and let your aggression out! Launch an aggressive attack! Our warfare is not carnal but is in the spirit, and this is the time and place to get riled up in spirit and whack that ol' creep right where it hurts!—Right between the eyes!—Between the legs‚ if you must!—Anywhere else you please, just as long as you whack him good and put him out of commission!

83. Don't be afraid to make it known in your words and actions! Sock it to him! Go to it! Get on fire about socking it to the Devil! Defy him! Hit him back! Shatter him to bits! This is your mission! Fighting the Devil takes action! Get excited! You can't do it calmly. Get angry at his dirty work. Shout at him, scream at him, curse at him, sock it to him! That's what we do up Here! We just sock it to him right and left, on every side. Don't give him an inch—shoot him right down!

84. I love to fight the Devil, because I love to see him defeated! We up Here in Heaven all love to fight evil. Heaven is made up of fighters—souls who love to fight and stand up for the truth! We're not about to let anything get in our way.

85. Although everything up Here is beautiful, serene‚ peaceful and calm on one hand, Heaven is also alive, vibrant‚ glowing, moving, living, energizing, pulsating, invigorating, bouncing‚ action-packed, thrilling, high-spirited‚ robust, dynamic, full of drive, powerful, full of unending passion, full of emotion, wild and free! And this is how we fight the Devil in the spirit world—we fight with everything in us! We turn all this energy and power toward knocking him right out of commission!

86. We know all about his evilness‚ his dastardly deeds, his poisonous venom, that he's the father of lies, and we're not about to let him win! We love to fight because we know we can't lose. We love to destroy evil! We fight for Heaven! We fight for you! We fight to free men from the clutches of Satan! We fight on to victory, and we love it because we know we're fighting for the Lord and for the truth, and we know the truth will always triumph over the lie!

87. You want to know how we fight the Devil? The way we fight the Devil is with every ounce of strength that's in us! The way we fight the Devil is with every ounce of energy we can muster up!—Double barrel, no holds barred! When you're fightin' the Devil, that's the time to get aggressive; it's not the time to hold back.

90. Kaboom! Head on! Zip‚ zam, bam!—Right between the eyes! That's how you fight the Devil! Jesus has given us all power in Heaven and in Earth and in the universe to fight the Punk, so we just let it rip! No mercy on Lucifer—that's how to fight the Devil! Till the finish—that's how we fight the Devil! Till all evil is forever stamped out—that's how long we'll keep fightin' the Devil!

91. Words are real things, and Satan and his dirty crew can't stand the Word of truth! The Word is our weapon and we just sock it to him—right, left, top, bottom, on every side—with God's Word!—And even a few of our own words thrown in if it helps us get in the groove! It doesn't hurt to get riled up so you can pack those punches with a powerful delivery!

93. You've gotta get revved up in spirit and in truth! Get revved up on the Lord and His holy spirits, and go to town putting a stop to the Punk's evil deeds, his dirty tricks and slimy, sly ways that he uses to put people in bondage!

94. That vile viper is out to get your soul‚ so you've gotta attack back with all that's in you! Don't be fooled! Don't allow him to gain one inch of ground in your mind or in your heart. Fight him! Rebuke him! Reprove him! Zap him to bits with the laser gun of the truth you hold in your hand! Slash away with the sword of light! Cut him to the heart and be done with his poison! And if you see him sinking his deadly teeth into your brother or sister or innocent person to whom you're ministering, come to their rescue by sending the likes of this slithering snake into the depths of the sea!

95. Resist him steadfast in the faith! Beam a prayer at him with a mighty thrust! Show him where your faith lies—that in the Almighty you trust! Follow the sample of Jesus when He said, "I rebuke you, Satan! Get thee hence!" Do it with conviction! Sock him! Refute him! Make it total eviction! Hit him hard! Hit him high! Hit him low! Slam him on the right! Slam him on the left! Hit him below the belt. Team up with a partner and go for a bash!

(End of message from Liza.)

"Fast-day Miracles," ML #3384:148-150, GN 976

148. (Jesus: ) One more thing that would be good for you to ask Me for and to put on your prayer list is that I will make you fighters—that I will help you to love and enjoy the fight, as your Father David enjoyed the fight and the battle. He loved the challenge, because he was a fighter. He chose to fight. This you must also learn to do. There will be battles. You will have to fight. You must learn to love the fight. If you don't‚ it will be too much for you.

149. Ask Me and I will make you warriors‚ fighters—more than conquerors. It is only through going into battle that you will see the exploits. It is in trying times that there will be victories. It will be in impossible situations that there will be miracles wrought. In order to see the miracles and the exploits‚ to experience the signs of My love, you will first have to go through the deep, dark experiences of battles and trying times, challenges, and attacks of the Enemy. But as you march into battle with head held high, turning the keys of the Kingdom, it is then that you will see the exploits wrought and the miracles happen and the signs following you.

150. I will make you into fighters if you ask Me to. I will help you to be the Endtime soldiers that you will need to be. Be not afraid. I will go before you and I will fight for you as long as you're willing to go into battle by My side. We'll fight together, and the victory will be yours. (End of message.)

"Gems and Jewels‚ Part 1," ML #3416:143-146, 151-152, GN 1003

143. (Dad: ) Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for everything. So what if the Lord is allowing you to still be afflicted? So what if you're feeling lousy?

144. Are you going to give up? Are you going to quit? Are you going to surrender to the damn Devil? Hell, no! Show him you haven't even begun to fight yet! What did John Paul Jones do? His arm was nearly shot off, his men were being killed, his ship was wrecked, and when his enemy asked if he wanted to surrender, what did he say? "Okay, I've had enough; sure, come on over, boys." No! He said, "Hell, no! NO! NO! NO! No, I'm not going to surrender! No‚ I'm not going to give up!" He was willing to go down with the ship‚ he was so sure he was on the winning side.

145. You're on the winning side! Don't give up now! Show the Enemy you're not going to surrender. Show him you're willing to go down with the ship. Keep fighting! Are you supposed to quit when you're hardest hit? No! You're supposed to keep fighting! You want to learn to love the fight? Well, then fight! Fight! Fight with everything within you! Fight until your last breath. God loves a fighter.

146. You're like the guy in that song where it says, "So you're caught in the midst of a battle, saying, 'I must've done some awful sin!'" Well, Sister, if you didn't expect to go to war, why did you join the army? You joined because you were willing to live and die for Jesus! That's what Christian soldiers do. They live for the Lord and they die for the Lord. Whatever they do, they do it all for the Lord! So to hell with the Devil and his attacks on your health. So what? Keep going! Keep doing your best. Keep serving Jesus. If the Enemy whacks off your arm, you still have another arm and two legs, right? Look at it that way!

151. If you're doing it right, the Devil will fight! He's fighting you! … Are you going to just sit there like a bump on a log and let him beat the crap out of you while you whine away? Get up and fight! So you're down and not even standing any more? Give him a swift kick right where it hurts! Show a little "umph" if you want to triumph. You can do it!

152. "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever" (Jude 24-25). Amen? Amen! I love you! Keep fighting! (End of message.)

"The Art of War, Part 1," ML #3532:5-12, 17-50, 81-90, 117-132, GN 1123

5. (Mama:) It's time to focus on becoming offensive fighters. Right now most of you are defensive fighters. When you face a heavy battle, your first reaction is to wonder what went wrong. You wonder, "What did I do wrong?" rather than having the attitude, "Okay, you damned Devil, you asked for it!"

6. The Lord wants you to take it even further than that. He wants you to ask Him what the Devil's next move is, and preempt it! He wants you to learn how to use your spiritual weapons offensively, not just to defend yourself and your Homes and loved ones when attacked, but to storm Satan's strongholds.

7. What we need is a change of mentality. The battles aren't going to go away. They are progressively heating up, and the grand climax will be the Battle of Armageddon‚ when we will be so proficient in the use of our spiritual weapons that we will actually use them to defeat and destroy our Enemy's hordes in the flesh before our very eyes.

8. But everything between now and then is going to be getting progressively more intense and demanding of your attention.

9. The battles are tough, yes—and they're getting tougher all the time! But your weapons are stronger‚ if you will only use them! "The Enemy's attacks grow stronger by the day, but the key power I give you grows even faster and will cause you to triumph." The battles don't have to be that difficult if you will learn how—and then choose repeatedly, every time you're faced with a battle—to fight effectively. Rather than being intimidated or discouraged by the battles, see them as opportunities to defeat the Enemy. Learn to love the fight, to relish the opportunity to hit the Devil where it hurts!

10. I know the battles are tough. We're faced with them too! I know that when you get hit with a battle, the absolute last thing you feel like doing is fighting! So what the Lord is asking of us in telling us we need to change our mentality is a pretty big switch, because we don't usually think that way now. But, you know‚ you're going to face the battles one way or the other. Do you want to be beat by the Enemy or do you want to beat him and win? That's the difference!

11. Your mentality must become one of a fighter—where you go to bed and wake up with your weapons in your hand, where you are constantly looking for the next way you can defeat the Enemy, surprise him, devastate him, instead of waiting for him to do those things to you. Your first reaction to any hint of attack should be to reach for your weapons of the spirit and use them! You need to learn to guard your hearts and minds and children and Homes and spiritual territory with vigilance.

12. That's what this series of GNs is going to be about. It's about how to use your spiritual weapons offensively. It's about how to persevere, endure, and win. It's about how to learn to love the fight. It's about how to anticipate the Enemy's moves and preempt them.

17. (Jesus:) To gain any victory‚ to fight through any battle‚ or to win any kind of war, you have to really want and desire the end result. You have to picture that result in your mind, and hold it out in front of you like a goal that you're shooting for. With every battle there is a victory, with every struggle there is a resolution—and you need to determine what that victory and that resolution means to you and really decide and know in your heart that you want it.

18. There are a lot of battles to fight these days, and you'll probably always be fighting one thing or another. But it's important that you don't resign yourself to simply enduring the battles. Battle weariness is something the Enemy is tempting many of you with. The concept of "Greater Victories" can often seem like "Greater Miseries"—that if you win this battle, well, you just get a bigger one, and there's not much to look forward to in that. Don't lose your desire to relish the fight, as your Father David taught you. Don't face your battles figuring that you'll just scrape by without fighting hard to move forward. It's unacceptable to just hold your ground. You've got to advance, gain ground‚ overcome, and go on to greater victories.

19. That's why you need to understand why you're fighting. What you there on Earth call "battles," half the time aren't even battles, they're just attacks—with the Enemy doing all the attacking. It's not truly a battle until both sides have engaged each other. If one side is doing all the attacking and the other is just sitting there, it's more like an ambush, a rout‚ or even a massacre and a slaughter.

20. If you don't have the vision of, "Look, I'm getting hit with this, this particular aspect of my life is making me continually miserable‚ but I am going to fight and overcome!" and then actually follow through and fight, then it's no battle. It's just you getting hit again and again and again, and there won't really ever be a resolution in sight. You have to make it a battle; you have to decide to engage the Enemy. But to do that, you must have a goal. It's all about sitting down and counting the cost.

21. Sometimes in the heat of a trial it can be hard to do that, and you don't feel like it. Sometimes it takes a little while‚ or a long while of really going through the fires of testing till you get to the point that you realize that you're going nowhere fast and that you really need to get your act together and get some victories. That's when you need to focus on the victory so that you can truly be the fighter that you need to be.

22. It's a question of morale in many cases. Look at all the examples throughout history of armies and nations that were defeated because their soldiers were confused, demoralized‚ and fighting for dubious causes. It's no different with you. You need to look at the attack and envision your life without it, or with the victory in hand. Imagine how it would be if these things were no longer a trial for you, or if you could overcome this or that weakness, or if you could just learn to do this or that better, or give more, or yield more, or get healed‚ or come through the persecution, or have a breakthrough with your children, or whatever the positive outcome would be of the battle you're engaged in.

23. When you think about it like that‚ you have something worth fighting for. You're not just doing it because you know that you should, or because you know others think you should, but because you're really looking at the benefits and you personally want and desire them. You'd love to be free from the attack and you'd love to have peace and victory and progress in a certain area. And even if it means that eventually if you win this fight there will be another one somewhere else, that's okay too, because you want the victory now and you'll trust Me for tomorrow.

24. That's when you can claim the power of the keys in full faith, knowing that I have promised you spiritual victories. You can paint for yourself a picture of a glorious, triumphant future where the battles and attacks of today do not hinder or discourage the "you" of tomorrow. You'll have risen above them, and even if there are new battles to fight in the future‚ today's battles have been won and you've emerged victorious.

25. It can always be done—but you have to want it. Proper planning cannot be overemphasized in any venture, and your spiritual battles are no different. It's like when I spoke of counting the cost before building a tower (Luke 14:28-30). You think about it, you add it up, and you get a vision in your head and heart of what you want. And beyond just counting up whether you can do this or whether you can afford it, you need to count the reasons why you want to do this and how your life will be better without this or that weakness, because that will give you the motivation to see it through the tough times!

26. Believe Me, when you have that vision, it makes all the difference. Once you're pushing forward to a personal future that you personally truly desire to attain, there's no stopping you. I don't have to be pushing you and prodding you to attack and to make progress, because you're stirred up enough yourself. Once you've decided to halt the massacre and launch your own counterattack, then the battle is on and you've got yourself a fight!

27. That's a good thing, too, and nothing to be worried about or discouraged about. There are no positives in a one-sided rout when the Devil is walking all over you. But once you've fully joined the fray, you have a fighting chance—and actually much more than that, because you have Me and I'm greater than any battle, enemy, weakness‚ mistake, or besetting sin. The game is practically over at that point, because once you really decide to get in there and hit the Enemy back harder than he's hitting you, you have the power to overcome him, and you're going to win!

28. This doesn't just apply to big battles‚ either. This can even make a difference in the small bad habits that you'd like to overcome, or small things that tend to bug and bother you all the time. The same principle applies—imagine a future where you are free from the influence of that habit, or imagine a future where you are impervious to the irritations that used to bother you so much, and then fight for it!

29. Do I really have to sell you on using the new weapons again? Do I really have to tell you again that they are the best and surest way to gain victory? Do you know a better way? Have you had success in your battles and spiritual struggles without them? For your own sake, I highly recommend that you pull out those new weapons and use them with all your heart‚ mind, and strength. That's what they're there for.

30. You don't have to save them for the big things, either. The new weapons are always with you, and it's never considered an "inappropriate use of force" to pull out your biggest, "baddest" weapons to blow the smallest, weakest punks away. You can use them anytime you like. If it brings you victory, just do it. You should really know by now what weapons to use when, and which ones can help you in certain tight spots. Things like praise, claiming the keys, and focusing on the power, on the victory, should be ones that you can pull out in the hottest heat of any battle, or in the throes of any temptation.

31. Sometimes you have to clear your mind a little with those weapons before you feel you can hear clearly from Me and use your other weapons of prophecy, united prayer, etc. Sometimes you have to just get the Enemy off your back, and your praises to Me, your love words to Me, and the Word of God manifested via good songs, scriptures, key promises, etc., will always give you some breathing room and keep the Enemy at bay so that you can plan his full demise using all your other weapons.

32. Another interesting but little remembered fact about battles is that like anything else, you become "better" or more experienced in dealing with them through repeated exposure, if you choose to fight. So that's certainly a silver lining if you feel like you're constantly under one attack after another. Of course, the Enemy will try to make you feel that you're only getting weaker with each successive attack and that you're less able to cope with each new one he brings, but that's a total lie that even contradicts commonsense knowledge of human nature.

33. There's virtually nothing that human beings don't improve in through practice. That's the way you're made. The more you do something, the better you get at it‚ and fighting battles is no exception. The more battles you fight and win‚ the more prepared you are for the next ones. Of course, if you're hit by attack after attack from the Enemy and you're not using your weapons or fighting back, well‚ yes‚ you are going to be weakened and wounded and probably eventually "killed" spiritually. But all you have to do to stop that cycle of weakening is choose to fight! And if you're going to fight, you might as well learn to fight effectively!

34. You should think about that more, and take note of the ways you're hit with battles, the ways you fight back, your progress in using the spiritual weapons, what works for you, and it will help in preparing your personal battle strategies.

35. Every battle begins with an attack. Either you're attacking the Enemy by resolving to make progress‚ in which case you're the aggressor and you can expect his counterattacks, or he's the aggressor bringing all sorts of tests and trials and difficulties into your life, in which case you probably rock and reel for a little bit, or at least feel the initial blow. But when you're hit, the quicker you get ahold of Me and the keys and determine to fight back and plan your counterattack, the quicker you are stabilized and are again making forward progress into the Enemy's territory by defeating him.

36. And the more times you go through that process—attack, defend, counterattack, victory—the better you'll get at it. You won't "think it so strange concerning the fiery trial" quite as often (1Pet.4:12). You'll realize that these things go in cycles, and that when you want to halt the Enemy's advance and break the cycle from his hitting you to you hitting him, you have certain things that always work for you in doing so.

37. Much of the victory, and even strength to keep fighting, lies in praise, positive thinking and positive action, even when you don't feel like it. If you're one who feels you're battling heavily almost all the time, you probably don't feel like an experienced, seasoned fighter with a bag full of awesome magical tricks to use on the Enemy. You probably see yourself as a weakling, a real spiritual dodo who's only getting hit because you must be the weakest prey. That is, of course, the Enemy's spin on things‚ which is why you're going to have to ask Me for faith to believe what you don't feel.

38. Use My words to you here and quote them to yourself until you believe it, or at least act on it even if you don't believe it. Pump yourself up and tell the Enemy: "I'm a seasoned veteran of many battles. I've fought you time and again, you dirty Devil, and I've won all those times, and I'm going to win this time too. You can't surprise me, you can't shock me, you can't overwhelm me‚ and you most certainly can't defeat me. I've felt your nasty attacks before and Jesus helped me through. I have a definite plan of attack and I'm going to engage you and your forces now, and you'll lose just as you did before."

39. Many of you are probably thinking, "Whoa, that just does not sound like me! I don't think I've won all that often‚ and I don't know if I could say that with conviction." Well, just take it by faith and start to say it and believe it even if you don't feel it. Because here you are, living proof that, although you've been through many battles, you're not dead, you're not useless, you're not out of the Family, you're not full of the Devil and his works, but you're still here fighting the good fight for Me! If you had lost as many battles as you sometimes think you have, don't you think you'd be someplace else? If the Enemy was truly walking all over you the way he says he is, don't you think you'd be in a lot worse shape? Yes, you can do better, and that's why I'm giving you this combat training. But nothing is ever as bad as the Enemy says it is, and you all need to realize that as soldiers, no matter how you feel, you are extremely dangerous to the Enemy, and you have the power to defeat him every time! He is afraid of you!

40. It's a classic propaganda maneuver for him to be saying, "I'm winning, I'm winning! I've won; you've lost. My forces are getting stronger all the time and you're getting weaker"—when the reality is that there are very few of him left. He's won very little and lost a whole lot, and the little of him that's left is just hiding out with a real big megaphone, trying to bluff his way into a better position.

41. So whether you feel it or not, know that you've won more often than you've lost, you have weapons that far outgun him‚ and as such, can call yourself a seasoned, veteran fighter—a dangerous man or woman of God who fights and "kills" Satan's minions wherever you find them! You're a hardcore threat to Satan's realm, you're on his most–wanted list, and he's offering big rewards for your spiritual capture, dead or alive. There's no way you're just a weak, sick sheep that's easy prey, or why would he expend so much effort time and again to bring you down? You're tough, you're mighty in the spirit‚ because you have Me, and because you've yielded and you've given and you've done your best to fight time and again.

42. And this isn't just for a few of you. All of you, My children, look this way to the Enemy. In the spirit, that is truly how he sees you—as dangerous men and women who are true threats, not little weaklings. Let that encourage you, motivate you, and help you to walk more boldly and hold your heads high in the spirit! "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!" (Eph.6:10). And why can you be strong in the spirit? Because, as the passage goes on to say, you've got all this strong armor on!

43. You've got the helmet of salvation, which means that you'll always be more than a conqueror. Even if the Enemy kills your body, he can't kill your spirit. The helmet protects your head, denoting that you can never really get fully "cut off." You're always Mine.

44. And you have this shield that can quench every—read it again, EVERY—fiery dart of the Enemy! (Eph.6:16). That shows that he's practically impotent against you. If your faith can withstand EVERYTHING he's got, then what can he really do to you?

45. You've also got a sword that cuts him to the heart. And you've got these keys that obliterate his schemes and attacks every time. And you've got your weapons of praise and loving Me, and everything else in your arsenal. Even your feet are shod with the Gospel‚ so he can't even stub your toe (Eph.6:13-17).

46. That kind of armament should give you confidence! That's why you can be strong in Me and the power of My might. That's why you can stride into the battles with some swagger and some bravado—not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

47. Physically you are weak. Carnally you are fragile. You may feel like a wimp emotionally. But spiritually you're really, really tough! So when you're fighting in the spirit, act tough, be tough, and show the Enemy that you're not going to fall for a bluff or an ambush, because you know his devices, you've dealt with "his kind" before, and you know that you can win.

48. Some of you guys go into each battle like a little novice with a wooden sword—fearing for each step into the Enemy's territory‚ almost politely asking, "Um, Mr. Devil, I'd like to‚ um, resist you. So, er, if it's not too much trouble‚ could you leave … please?" Come on! The Enemy laughs, because he only has to respect your convictions and power as much as you're willing to use them on him. It's pathetic, really‚ to see you so decked out in this awesome armor, with these fearsome weapons at your side, meekly asking the Enemy to take a hike.

49. You act like little kids talking meekly to an adult, asking him only to move on "if it's not too much trouble." You've gotta allow yourselves to be the spiritual warriors that you are. You guys are tough! I've said that before, but I want to make that point. You're really tough warriors in the spirit, and if you'd just realize how strong your armor is and how powerful your weapons are, there'd be no more of that weak and meek act. You'd stride up to him like the weakling that he is, tower over him, point your biggest gun right in his face and say‚ "Beat it, Punk!" I guarantee he's going to be the one running off with a "sorry, sir, I didn't realize this was your territory" kind of expression on his face!

50. So get tough on crime! Get tough on the Enemy! Be strong in the spirit like you have the potential to be. Be strong in My might. And you'll just have to deal with the fact that there are going to be battles and there are going to be rough spots. But when you visualize that victory and can almost taste the sweetness of triumph, you're not going to mind. You're going to push your way through as many enemies as dare step in your path so that you can have a better‚ richer life, more free of the Enemy's attacks, more full of Me and less of Satan. That's something worth fighting for!

81. (Jesus:) I have given you many tools at your disposal: the keys, heavenly thought power, the power of praise that defeats the Enemy in any battle. The battle rages hot and heavy‚ and will continue to increase in severity. However, as you employ these weapons, you will continue to stand strong against the Enemy. You will not be overcome. You will not be defeated.

82. Many of My brides look at fighting the Enemy in the wrong way. When they are attacked and besieged by him‚ they brandish their weapons, and if they don't see instant or immediate results‚ they grow weary and begin to cower. This is not how a war is fought and won. You have the weapons in your hand that have the power to totally destroy the Enemy's power. The only thing lacking is the determination and willpower to use them.

83. I hold the key of determination in My hand‚ and I wish to give it to the children of David. This key will be instrumental in fighting the Enemy, and overcoming, and being successful. This key enables you to fight on when you don't feel like it. It keeps you from giving up and surrendering to defeat. This key of determination gives you the strength to persevere—not to give up, but to continue fighting till you see victory.

84. The key of determination is what was given Jacob when he wrestled with the angel. He would not rest until he was blessed. You must fight the Enemy with the same passion and fervor! Do not rest, do not give in, do not let up in the fight until you have seen your enemy slaughtered, until you have beaten him back so severely he will not dare to show his face again for a good long while. This is the resolution and constitution you must have when you fight!

85. Fighting the Enemy in full faith and in patience is something that the Family has become weakened in overall. It is partly because people stopped fighting in certain areas; they stopped fighting to keep up the discipleship standard in their lives and Homes, and yielded to compromise, and this weakened each individual's fighting skills.

86. To defeat the Enemy in these Last Days, each of you, My brides, must pray for and claim the keys for a fighting spirit—one that refuses to give up, and fights on to full and final victory! This, along with wielding the spiritual weapons that I have given you, is what will successfully defeat the Enemy's attacks in every area of your lives.

87. Often when faced with a battle, instead of looking on it as an attack of the Enemy, you are too quick to write it off as My will, or as how things happen, or something that you can pray about sometime in the future, but that will only change provided it is My will.

88. It is My will that the Enemy does not exact upon you! It is always My will that you fight him—heart, soul, mind, body and strength. It is never My will for My brides to be overrun by Satan and his imps. My will is that My brides fight the Enemy with all the determination that they possess! Even if they do not possess much, they can claim the key of determination and be filled with staying power to continue to fight.

89. This desire in the hearts of My brides to want to defeat the Enemy is lacking in many cases. However, I have it, and I want to give this fighting spirit to any of My children who so desire. Those who ask in faith, believing, will receive.

90. Through the keys of determination you can do it, make it‚ lift the load, go the distance, uphold the standard, and accept and use your anointing. For the power is not yours, but rather the awesome, world-changing, never-ending, all–encompassing power of the keys.

117. (Jesus: ) When you're a soldier fighting a war, which you, My disciples, are in spirit, there are always going to be battles. It's a fact of life, and a very prominent one. When faced with it, as you are now, you can do one of three things: You can truly embrace it as your calling, become a professional and proficient fighter, train with your weapons, become the best you can possibly be‚ and even learn to love the fight. Or you can be a mediocre soldier and "get by" and stay alive for a while, using your weapons, perhaps some fully and perhaps some only to their minimal use‚ fighting battles‚ winning some, and losing some. Or you can decide that a soldier's life is not for you, and quit, leave the army, and do something else with your life.

118. If the Family is going to make the advances it needs to make on the Enemy's territory in this year of strengthening, and if you're going to fight to win, and truly defeat him, then you've got to be the best type of soldier, what I would call an "A+" soldier—a professional, a skilled new weapons wielder, and a warrior who enters wholeheartedly and unreservedly into the fight, giving it all they've got, fighting for all they're worth! To be an "A+" type soldier, here are the main attitudes, actions, and training courses you need to embrace:

119. —You need to be fully persuaded that that's your calling, and you need to think of your calling as a soldier, proactively and aggressively, rather than defensively. You've got to understand that as a Family disciple you're not part of a defense force, but an aggressive invading force. There is a time and place to be part of the defense force, and that level of skill and that mentality may have served you in the past, but it's no longer enough. You can't just defend your territory; you have to aggressively conquer your Enemy's territory. That is what lies before you. That is the challenge you face. That is the commitment that you are making as a soldier.

120. —You need to actively train in the use of the new weapons I've given you. To actively train doesn't mean to only use them when you are in a bind, or when you get around to them, or to use a few of them‚ or to only use the ones you like best. It means that you take a good, hard look at each weapon, one by one‚ and determine whether or not you truly know how to use it and are well practiced in using it. If you're not, then you've got to work, train‚ and practice, until you can say that, yes, you know this weapon and you can use it the way it was meant to be used.

121. These weapons are spiritual and not fleshly, but to effectively use them, your flesh has to get very involved! You have to take positive physical action. You may be weak in your use of a number of the new weapons, and if you are, it may seem overwhelming to become proficient in all of them at once; so if you find yourself in that position, then take one at a time and focus on it, making a weak point into a strong point. Pray about specific positive and proactive steps that you can take to develop your use of that new weapon—to understand its importance, to study the Word about it, to integrate it into your daily life until it becomes a part of you.

122. I have reiterated this principle over and over in the Word, but some people have still not mastered the use of a few or many of the new weapons‚ because you have lacked the aggressiveness of spirit to do so. You have thought that when you really "needed" that particular weapon, you'd use it then. Or you dabbled in it, trying it out and seeing if you could do it, so to speak, but either didn't really make it a part of you or discover its full use and potential.

123. Granted, you may not discover the "full use" of these new weapons for some time to come‚ because it takes time, training, and strengthening your faith. And even if you're doing all the right things and aren't being negligent‚ learning about the new weapons is a step-by-step process, and as you go along, I will always be showing you new things, giving you new tips and tricks, etc. But if you aren't at least trying and fighting to discover the potential of the weapon, if you're content to just use one or two of its features, you're not going to get very far.

124. —When you're faced with a spiritual battle, learn to take the offensive and aggressive approach of bombarding your spiritual Enemy with as many of the weapons at your disposal as you can! Blast the hell out of him by giving him no escape and leaving nothing to chance! Don't be content to just use one or two weapons and wistfully hope it "does the trick," or resign yourself to a long, drawn-out and protracted struggle. Each of the spiritual weapons that I've given you are powerful enough that they can do serious damage to the Enemy. But you don't want to just inflict damage; you want to obliterate him and his presence and put down his forces completely! So use all the weapons you can, each time. For example, when you're fighting in prayer for needed changes, supply, victories, or progress, use all the weapons available. Use not only prayer, but use the keys, use praise, use the Word, use our intimate loving relationship, use the spirit helpers I've given you.

125. —Don't wait for the Enemy to attack you—attack him! This means different things for different people in different situations, but it's an overall change of mindset and approach that many of you need to have. Sometimes you can see a battle "looming" in the distance or sense it's coming; it could be anything from a battle in the form of persecution to a battle in the form of jealousy.

126. You've been in the fighting business a long time, and many of you are attuned enough to sense when a battle is coming before it actually hits. When you get that feeling, what do you do about it? Unfortunately, many of you wait until it hits full force‚ until the Enemy is right there in your face whapping and walloping you‚ and then you fight back. Well, stop fighting back and fight first! Be the one to deliver the initial blows! Get on top of your battle from the start.

127. You may not completely forestall his attack, although in some cases if you head him off at the pass, he won't even bother to fight you because it's not worth the struggle—and you've already won! In other cases, you'll still have to fight the battle, and it may even be a very tough battle‚ but because you were the aggressor, because you gained the upper hand, you will be surer to win, and win more quickly. It feels great to be the one on top, the one with the advantage on your side—and the aggressor always has that advantage. You'll come to love this feeling more and more, and you'll get better and better at sensing where the need is, where the next battle will be, and taking the lead and taking charge in starting the attack.

128. I want you, the children of David, to learn to be the aggressors, not merely defenders. That's your calling and that's My commission to you. I don't want you to just protect yourselves and fight back when the Enemy and his imps and those he influences on Earth attack you. I want you to lead the way, to be the attackers, the conquerors, the overcomers!

129. If you really study and meditate on the truths in this message, and go back to the Word for more study on these principles of fighting; if you take the challenge seriously to get intimate with your new weapons and learn their ins and outs and wield them proficiently; if you can take on the mindset of an aggressor and conqueror rather than a counterattacker or defender, then you, the children of David, will win the battles that lie ahead of you, and you will conquer, defeat, set back, and completely rout your adversary and all that he will send your way. He will really bring it on, but you will be ready, prepared, fighting, and victorious!

130. You're at war, and even though you're on the attack and learning to be the aggressors, your Enemy also knows that, and he's not going to make it easy. He's upping his guard as well so as not to be caught sleeping by your attacks. Taking the initiative and getting the upper hand is not going to be as straightforward or smooth as you might think, or as you might like.

131. Basically, there's nothing easy about being a soldier and fighting battles and winning wars. But it's your calling‚ your destiny, as the children of David, and if you're going to have to do it anyway, don't you think you might as well make the best of it‚ learn to do it as well as it can be done, and even learn to enjoy it?

132. That should be your goal, your focus, and what you live and breathe and fight for every day. Be a soldier! Be a conqueror! Be an aggressor who scares the Enemy to death at the mere thought of you!—Not because you're so great in yourself, but because you are a channel of the full power of God through your use of the powerful and undefeatable weapons He has entrusted to your hands.

The Fighter's Creed of the Children of David

We are soldiers. We are conquerors. To fight in our Lord's wars is our calling. This is our destiny: to set back, to defeat, to conquer, and to completely rout our adversary.

We are aggressors. We are attackers. We are overcomers. This is our calling and our commission.

We will take the initiative and get the upper hand.

We will fight this war to the best of our ability. We will give it all we've got. We will fight with heart, mind, body, and soul. We will win the war.

We will learn to enjoy stamping out the Enemy and rescuing ourselves‚ our brethren, and the lost from his clutches!

We will take over the world for our King and Husband and Commander in Chief! This is our goal and our focus, what we vow to live and breathe and fight for each day.

We will scare the Enemy back to Hell, because we are channels of the full power of God through our use of the undefeatable and invincible weapons of the spirit that He has entrusted to our hands.

Our attitude toward the Devil will be one of a seasoned veteran fighter who is not shocked or surprised or overwhelmed by the Enemy's tactics, who has been through the worst and has won, and knows that with the power of the spiritual weapons‚ any attack will end in defeat for our adversary!

We will take active steps to grow in wielding our weapons of love and unity‚ which are some of the prime weapons that will help us to win disciples of all nations and win the world for Jesus.

We are an uncompromising threat to Satan's realm.

We are an aggressive, invading force, conquering the Enemy's territory.

We are tough and mighty in spirit because we have a tough and mighty God. We are strong in Him and in the power of His might.

We are the children of David and are destined to be shining lights in the deepest darkness, to endure to the End and receive the crown of life, to be men and women of faith who will do exploits, to help the Gospel be preached in every nation, before kings and governors, before hungry crowds and raging mobs, to bring many to our Husband, and our witness will be greater than any who have gone before.

In order to fulfill our mission on Earth:

• We commit ourselves to becoming proficient and expert in the art of spiritual warfare.

• We resolve to focus on becoming offensive fighters.

• We will anticipate the Devil's next move and preempt it.

• We resolve to storm the gates of Satan's strongholds.

• We dedicate ourselves to learn to fight effectively.

• We resolve not to be intimidated, or discouraged by the battles.

• We choose to love the fight and to relish the opportunity of hitting the Enemy where it hurts.

• We determine to go to bed at night and wake up in the morning with our weapons in our hands.

• We resolve to constantly look for the next way we can defeat, surprise, and devastate the Enemy.

• We will not waver in our knowledge that we are seasoned, veteran fighters, dangerous to the Enemy, and that we have the power to defeat him every time.

• We commit ourselves to engaging the Enemy.

• We resolve to focus on the victory.

• We determine to ambush‚ rout, massacre, obliterate, and slaughter the Devil.

• We determine to learn to anticipate the Enemy's moves and preempt them.

• We commit ourselves to fighting and killing Satan's minions wherever we find them.

• We resolve to use all the spiritual power available to us.

• We resolve to welcome the battles because they are our teachers and make us stronger, wiser, and more fearsome adversaries, more equipped to be effective soldiers.

• We commit ourselves to persevering with the key of determination.

• We resolve not to give up until we see victory, and not to rest until we have seen our Enemy slaughtered.

• We determine to fight him, heart, soul, body and strength.

• We determine that we will be moving targets.

• We commit ourselves to advancing on the Enemy's territory, attacking him first, and not waiting for him to attack us.

• We will fight the Enemy with passion and fervor, and will not give up until we see victory.

• We will not rest until we have seen our Enemy defeated.

• We determine to wallop him, assault him, bombard him, combat him, blast him, confuse him, and finally obliterate him.

• We resolve to use all of our firepower and put down his forces completely.

• We will take up the undefeatable weapon of praise and use it in every situation, no matter how we feel.

• We will brandish our weapon of prophecy, and through it have foreknowledge of the Enemy's attacks and chart the course to victory.

• We will skillfully use the weapon of loving our Husband intimately, till we are known as His intimate brides who are victorious in every battle!

• We will wield the weapon of humility, even at the times we least feel like it.

• We will diligently use the weapon of focusing on the power, and will put down all attempts by our adversary to distract and confuse us.

• We will charge with the weapon of the keys, knowing that their power is unequaled and victory is guaranteed.

• We will wield the weapon of love and unity, knowing that Satan is defeated by it.

• We will rely on the weapon of prayer, exercising and stretching our faith in this area as we claim the miracles promised to us.

• We will rely on full possession by our Husband, for though we are weak, He is strong in us.

• We will depend on the weapon of working with our spirit helpers, and through them be all that our Husband needs us to be.

• We will unleash the weapon of the Word on our adversary, and not rest until he is defeated.

• We choose to lead the way and be the attackers‚ the aggressors, the conquerors!

• We will persevere, endure, and triumph!

Copyright © 2006 by The Family International