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Spiralling from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Transcript: 
Today I am going to be talking about: “Spiraling” 

For those that may not know what I mean, Imagine that you are standing on top of a spiral staircase, and when you slip, you fall down, down, and down.  

We all get up in the morning, might have a cup of coffee or breakfast, and we start our day. We have plans to do this, and plans to do that. So many things are in our mind that we need to get done. Much like an ant scurrying across the counter, they are on their way to something they believe is important at that moment. 

Yet all the while there is a spiritual war going on in the heavens above us, and an enemy plotting a strategy to use against you today. We are usually completely blind to the spiritual realm and cannot see it anymore than we can see the wind blowing, but oh we feel the effects of it. The enemy is relentless and he wants you broken, defeated, and powerless.

When the people of Israel began returning to their land, after being exiled for 70 years, Nehemiah and the priests began to teach them the law of Moses, which they had not kept during the exile. 

Nehemiah 8:9–10 (NKJV) — And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

He told them: “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” That is worth making note of. Joy is strength. There are many times while doing some aggravating work, and I don’t take the time to pray, that I am not feeling that joy, or that strength. I feel something else. 

We get up in the morning and try to start our day off right, but behind the scenes evil spirits are plotting on how to ruin it. They get up early to. I have faced many problems that I knew without a shadow of doubt they were spiritually influenced. I have worked on computers that seemed possessed and had to play the exorcist with them. 

We bought a dell server off eBay once and when it arrived, I started it up and it would just flash error after error. I would fix one and another would pop up. I reseated the memory, the processor, the hard drives, re-checked all the connections and you could push the power button, and it would just die with some new error. I dreaded shipping it back as it weighed around 85 pounds. I finally stopped, laid hands on it and prayed a moment, and it started right up and ran perfectly fine. It is in use here today. I should have opened with that.

We are part of a spiritual war, like it or not, know it or not. Ignorance does not exempt you from it. When you chose Jesus, you gained an enemy faction on the other side. 

Now more about spiraling:  When the disciples were in the boat, Jesus came to them walking on the water. 

Matthew 14:25–31 (NKJV) — Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter was walking across the water with no problems. Then he took his eyes off of Jesus, began to look at the circumstances surrounding him, began to panic, and then he started to sink into the water. This is a perfect example of spiraling to me, and what I want to make clear in this message.

When you begin to doubt what the Lord has told you, and begin to look at the circumstances surrounding you in fear and panic, you will go down, down, down. The Bible is very clear on this: 

Isaiah 7:9 (NIV): “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

Ephesians 6:11 (AMP): “Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. 

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 (NKJV): Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.

The evil spirits get up early to, just like us, and they begin planning to attack you. The goal is wreck your faith in God’s help. To make you believe that you are alone, and that God will not help you. Ultimately, when something bad happens, they want you to blame God for it. They will tell you: “It is HIS fault that this happened to you. God is the baddie!” All the while, it was them, and they stay hidden out of sight planting the seeds of doubt, fear, and confusion. 

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) — Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

It is a slippery slope, once you take the bait and let go of your faith, down, down, and down you will go, just like rolling down a spiral staircase. Once you slip, the evil spirits will ride you all the way down to the bottom, pushing you along. Walking in doubt and fear is the direct opposite of walking in faith. Faith is believing God. Doubt and fear is not believing God. Stand firm in what God has told you and do not be shaken by circumstances. Remember His promises. 

How do you stop rolling down the staircase? Be proactive about your faith. Instead of waiting on something to happen to you to begin praying, start by praying first. Include it as part of your morning and then you will be prepared to face the coming attacks of the day. Whatever you do, stop falling down that staircase. Stand firm in your faith.