Spiritual Warfare Training Part 2: Consider Your Environment

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(In this exciting series on Training for War, Prophet Shyju shares his heart on how to protect your environment!   Part One if you missed it, is right here.  Next week, we will explore Structure in the Church, a powerful teaching to train the Warriors in the Body of Christ! )

Have you every bought a plant, only to see it shrivel up and die because you forget to water it?  Or how about the one from your auntie that you accidentally drowned, whose leaves turned yellow and fell in a heap of oh-ohs?

Friend, for anything to grow and produce, we must consider the environment.

Think about an apple tree:  Which tree produces more apples, one in a messy backyard without care or consideration, or one carefully tended, watered and weeded by an expert farmer?  

Certainly, both trees will produce apples, but the one whose environment is strategically cared for will always produce much greater fruit.  A tree’s capacity is directly connected to how its environment is maintained.  An environment maintained with wisdom, strategy and intent will bear fruit exactly how an apple tree is designed to produce because environments determine capacity.

You will see a similar dynamic in a believer’s life. Though we may love Jesus,  if we’re not careful with our environment, whether physical, mental, or emotional,  like a garden not tended, our growth will be hindered. 

A believer’s fruit can be stopped by sin weeds and negative disarray. Just as a tree will not produce at capacity when not tended, a believer may limit their spiritual growth with an untended environment.

Here is good news: When a believer takes inventory of their personal environment, this investigation alone produces huge effect! 

Friend, as you seek the Holy Spirit and begin to identify areas of your life needing change, growth will come.

Today, take inventory of your environment to increase your capacity to bear fruit in the Spirit.

A word of caution: Be tough on yourself but don’t be hard on yourself! When you find changes needed, dear saint, you have found wisdom! Rejoice in the grace revealed and stay reasonable as you begin the journey to transform your life.

Consider your Physical Environment:

What kind of environment have I created physically?  Physical uncleanliness can be a reflection of your spiritual uncleanliness.  Are there things falling apart in your house? Is your home in a state of disrepair? Have you left things broken and untended that need to be fixed? Is your body healthy? Do you take care of your hygiene?

Friend, as you connect with the ways of the Spirit, your decision-making becomes tailor-made to heaven’s preferences. The more of heaven touching your spirit, your tastes, your style, your friends, your life choices, every aspect of your environment will begin to change.  Look at your physical environment and begin to reflect heaven’s order in your earthly environment.

Regard your Mental Environment:

Your mental environment has five windows: touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell. Your human senses create your mental environment, so guard what you gaze and hear. Even a simple movie can hijack you. That sense that you picked up with your eyes and your ears may have created a certain thought that has now altered your spiritual DNA.  Do not be casual about the environment around you. Consider what you are thinking and what you are experiencing in the natural world.

The Bible says, Be transformed in your mind (Rom 12:2).  Friend, think differently. You are in charge of your house, your family, your marriage, your garden, so seek the Lord to understand how heaven’s systems work out, how godly structures work, how practices could be passed from father to  a son. Let all your understanding be framed by the Spirit of God.

Observe your Emotional Environment:

Ask yourself, has my mind created a mess in my emotional environment? 

To fix the environment of your emotions, begin by renewing your mind. Your emotional environment is a result of your mental process, and this is affected by your friends’ influence, your thoughts, and your surroundings. 

Take an inventory. Why have you allowed certain things in your house? 

You cannot allow certain thoughts to inhabit your mental environment. Your emotions are reflection of your mental environment and both must be filled with light!

Be calm: 

If you talk to any warrior in the natural, they will tell you that one of the most important ways you can have victory is when you are emotionally calm. Fighters often trash-talk their opponent before a battle; they will do anything to get their opponent’s emotions worked up, because once they are angry, their mental preparation is affected. 

Dear friend, when breakthrough is taking time in your life, don’t give up. Don’t worry, just keep fighting and be calm as you are fighting. 

As you start researching your environment, stay immersed in the Word of God for an extended time, until every DNA can be reversed. You can bring this around! 

Immediate victory is not as important as much as building and repairing your foundation. The more you are transformed, the more growth will come to you, in your heart, in your character, in your environment, and as you bring structure, you bring order, and you, dear friend, will bear much fruit. 

To God be the Glory!

(RN Friends, we hope you are enjoying this exciting series on Spiritual Training for War!  Please share with someone you love and may our lives be forever changed!)