I. The Beginning of Birth Pains

Revelation 13:7 (NIV®)
He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

Mark 1:21-25 (NIV®)
²¹ They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²² The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. ²³ Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”

James 5:16-18 (NIV®)
¹⁶ The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (MSG®)
¹⁰ And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. ¹¹ So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. ¹² This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. ¹³ Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. ¹⁴ Truth, righteousness, ¹⁵ peace, ¹⁶ faith, ¹⁷ and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. ¹⁸ In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

II. Gifts, Tools & Weapons

A. 3 Categories of Resources

Gifts; physical gifts, circumstances of your birth — DNA/birth order/location
Tools; money, time, health/strength, perception, intellect
Weapons; God’s word, name of Jesus, blood of Jesus, prayer, praise, proclamation, truth

B. Gifts are Personal

Adversary wants you dissatisfied
You are unique —

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV®)
¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

C. Tools are Temporal

Tools can be used for good or evil
Master craftsmen vs. novice (time & effort)

Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV®)
¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV®)
¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

C. Weapons Have Supernatural Power

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV®)
⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV®)
³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV®)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NIV®)
⁹ Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

III. Training Components

A. Become Better Listeners — To the Holy Spirit; direction/manifestations of God’s power/supernatural responses/discernment

B. Sanctify Ourselves; No unnecessary baggage — Walk with the Lord as closely as possible

C. Learners — Implementers NOT accumulators of information

D. Willing & Obedient

E. Aware

F. Gifts, Tools & Weapons

Conclusion

1 John 4:3-4 (NASB®)
³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Romans 8:31 (NIV®)
If God is for us, who can be against us?

PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the glory forever, amen.

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