These last few months have been some of intense spiritual warfare. Learning how and why counterfeit relationships appear and what happens when they infiltrate our lives has been eye-opening. The enemy always tries to come up with counterfeits for everything. Counterfeits bring about knowledge on how to war in the spirit. It causes us to take a look at how to pick up our sword and fight because we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities.
How can I grow from this and what spiritual warfare tactics can I learn from the counterfeits placed either in my life or in front of me?
Ask for better vision
Sometimes, we do not see the counterfeit in our midst. They can be familiar or have become part of your circle of friends. It takes time to truly see someone’s intentions – good or bad. In the process of figuring out one’s intentions, take the time to ask the Lord for better vision. What do I need to see about this person, situation or circumstance? What am I missing or not discerning? How can I be a better person regardless of how this person or counterfeit acts?
Keep in mind that people can play games and hurt people hurt people. Ask the Lord to see the counterfeit as He sees them because God can open your eyes up to see what’s really going on. Discern in the spirit what is taking place and spend intentional time with the Lord to discern next steps.
Learn to discern and hear
Discernment is a spiritual gift. The dictionary defines it as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure; skill in discerning; an act of perceiving or discerning something.” In the Christian faith, it is a similar concept, but it is bestowed by the Holy Spirit, and many denominations believe it can allow someone to know whether a demonic of heavenly influence is over a person, place, or event. Learning how to discern the situations which come from those who are heavily influenced by evil is important. Consulting God in prayer, asking wise believers for their input, and reading the scripture helps cultivate a spirit of discernment. Applying this wisdom is where the life of a believer makes the difference.
Learn to hear. What is God saying about the situation? How am I hearing from the Lord? What can I learn from this circumstance and how can I apply this to the outcome? Sharpening your discernment will help you to grow in knowledge and wisdom which will keep counterfeits at bay.
Have gratitude no matter what
The more wisdom and discernment a Christian can exercise, the stronger his or her faith, and the better that person will be able determine what is good, and God’s will. This also happens in conjunction with gratitude. Having and cultivating gratitude is a gift to be able to see the good will of God. Learning to pray blessings over your enemy is a huge lesson. This lesson will cause you to walk forward in gratitude for the circumstance or counterfeit and make you realize you have a choice in the situation – to bless or curse someone. Our goal as believers is to always bless someone and treat them with the love of the Father. This helps not only witness to the counterfeit or situation but allows the love of the Father to work through you and bless them. Working through forgiveness and praying blessings over them will reap huge abundance in your own life.
Questions for reflection:
- Where are you allowing counterfeits to come into your life?
- Where can you open your eyes to see what’s going on?
- How can you incorporate more prayer into your life in order to discern?
- Where and over who is God asking you to bless someone? How can you pray abundance over a counterfeit?
- How can you be a blessing and light to those around you regardless of the circumstance?
