Strengthened Above Your Enemies, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

Strengthened Above Your Enemies, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

I have come to understand that for a man to enjoy a life of peace; joy; stability; expansion and prosperity; one of the things he ought to have is to be stronger than his enemies.

The reason God was making the Israelites increase greatly in Egypt was that He intended for them to be stronger than their enemies (Psalm 105: 23-24). The then Pharaoh was witty enough to take notice of this (Ex. 1: 8-22).

The reason that Solomon had a peaceful and prosperous reign over Israel for 40 years was that he was stronger than all his enemies (I Kings 4:24-34).

The reason why David was able to fulfil his destiny as the king of Israel was that he became stronger than the house of Saul, who was on the throne (2 Sam. 3:1).

May God strengthen you above your enemies in Jesus name.

Who & What is an enemy?

An enemy is a person(s) (either spirit or human) who have hatred for; or foster harmful designs against another (Mt. 5:43-44).

An enemy is also something or anything that seeks to harm or make one not to succeed (2 Kings 5:1). Whether it is spirit enemy, human enemy, condition enemy, today may God strengthen you above them all in Jesus name.

When a nation is going to war with another nation, one of the things they do is to assess the strength of their enemy first. They will need to strengthen themselves above their enemies before the actual engagement. Some of the information they would gather through reconnaissance are training (discipline, mental alertness, tactics, weapon handling); physique; war arsenals (air, water, land); kits and gadgets; troops number and morale; etc.

It is only when a nation has figured out that their strength is higher or at least equal to that of their enemy that they can engage them in battle. Otherwise, if the leader of the weaker nation is wise, there is no need to go to war (Luke 14:31-32).

May God strengthen you above your enemies in Jesus name.

7 terrible enemies of a man

Flesh

The flesh of any man is one of his greatest enemies. The flesh always wants to please itself and not God; and when a man does not please God, he is heading for destruction (Rom. 8:6-7). Carnally minded is death; spiritually minded is life and peace.

Jesus warned His disciples about the dangers of flesh (Mt. 26:40-41).

Apostle Paul stated how he struggled with flesh under the Law before he met Christ (Rom. 7:15-25). He equally mentioned how he had to deal with his flesh after being born again (I Cor. 9:24-27).

How does flesh manifest? Through the love of the world (I John 2:15-17).

Is there someone here struggling with their flesh? May God grant you strength above it in Jesus name. Are you struggling with the lust of the eyes, flesh and or pride of life? The apostles were able to overcome flesh after the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

By the power in today’s anointing, may God rescue you from your flesh in Jesus name.

Satan and Demons

– Satan and his demons are spirit beings, which add to the complexity of fighting against them. They are principal enemies of man, especially believers (Eph. 6: 10-18). They can know when a believer is strong or weak (Mt. 4:1-4); so as to attack effectively.

The activities of Satan and his demons are basically 3: steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).

That is why the Bible encourages the believer to be sober and vigilant (I Peter 5:8-10).

Satan attacked Job and caused him great suffering. Job, however, overcame Satan eventually (Job 42:12-17).

Luke 10: 17-20 (The 72 retuned in victory over demons).

Is there someone here going through sufferings caused by Satan or Demons? God will grant you victory over them. May God make your life become perfect.

May God establish you. May God strengthen you. May God settle you in Jesus name.

Household enemies

– This is particularly a surprising one. Surprising because a family is supposed to stand together and defend themselves against external aggression. But when there is hatred internally in a family, the problem is a huge one.

The problem is huge because it is very difficult to hide from your own family.

Mt. 10:34-36 (Acceptance of the gospel will lead to enmity within families).

It was surprising that the brothers of Joseph were his enemies rather than supporting him (Gen. 37: 3-11).

It was surprising that the elders of Israel were Jesus enemies rather than the Roman occupying power (Mt. 27:1-2). They even tried to stop His resurrection (Mt. 27: 62-65).

The bible says that children born at the time one’s youth are like arrows in the hands of a warrior.  That happy is the man that has his quiver full of them; and that such a man will not be ashamed; but shall speak with his enemies in the gate.

The life of David was supposed to be like that, having given birth to about 19 sons. Absalom, however, became a household enemy unto David – his father. He couldn’t just wait for his father to die before struggling for the throne; he eventually hung himself (2 Sam. 18: 1-17).

Joseph became great as the Lord has purposed. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day with a glorious body. David returned to the throne after Absalom’s death.

You will be great as God has purposed. Your life shall be glorious. You will not be dethroned in Jesus name.

Is there someone here going through attacks fomented by household enemies? People that are supposed to support you, but are rather looking for your downfall. The Lord that disgraced Absalom will disgrace them. God that disgraced the Jewish elders and Joseph brothers will disgrace all of them in Jesus name.

Sickness & Diseases

– These are enemies that can hinder the performance of a man and stop him from fulfilling his destiny. Sickness seeks to incapacitate and render one useless; so that things that one can readily do becomes impossible. They are terrible enemies to have.

The Bible tells us about the woman that had the issue of blood for twelve years. She must have been strong and possibly wealthy before; as she was able to afford the cost for physicians for years. She, however, became weak and poor because of the effect of that sickness over a long period of time. Thank God she met Jesus and she became stronger than the enemy of issue of blood (Mk. 5: 25-34).

Disease can also make one not to achieve his potential and thereby serve as a limitation to one in life. Lepers in many societies are always segregated from among people and kept in their own colonies. They are therefore already limited in who and what they can become. Jesus met a group of ten lepers one day, and their lives became transformed. They overcame the disease that had held them captive for years (Lk. 17: 11-19).

Is there anyone here who is sick in the body? Is there anyone here who has a particular disease worrying them? I decree healing upon you right now in Jesus name.

Jesus gave us authority over sickness and diseases (Mk. 16: 17-18). These signs shall …

If you have taken up serpent by mistake; I command its venom to be neutralised now in Jesus name.

If you have drank something deadly, it will no longer hurt you in Jesus name.

If you are sick, today the power of God will make you to recover in Jesus name. Recover …

Poverty

– This is a subtle enemy. Every one of us can not be super-rich. However, it is the will of God for us not to suffer lack. God does not want His children to struggle to have their daily bread; when that is the case; an enemy has crept in, that must be overcome.

3 John 2 – Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health even as thy soul prospers.

The Bible tells us about the situation of a widow who used to be a wife of a prophet, who because her husband had owed so much while he was alive; at his death, the creditors came to take her two sons as slaves as she was not able to repay their loans.

She, however, ran to Elisha who by the power of God enabled her to obtain strength above the enemy of poverty. She paid back all their debts and have enough money to live on daily (2 Kings 4: 1-7).

The widow of Zarephath as well was apparently overpowered by poverty. She and her son were about to eat their last meal and surrender to death. God miraculously averted their death (I Kings 17:8-16).

Is there anyone here suffering from lack? Are you finding it challenging to obtain your daily bread? May God grant you the power to overcome it in Jesus name.

Is that lack as a result of borrowing or loan? May God grant you the supernatural power to pay back your loans/debts and have enough money to live on in Jesus name.

Is the lack as a result of a natural phenomenon beyond your control? Again, God will surprise you supernaturally in Jesus name.

Failures

– Failure is defined as the condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends. It can also be defined as a lack of success. Failure has many faces, in all, it is not achieving the desired outcome.

It may be lack of academic success; lack of relationship success; lack of business or vocational success; lack of conception success; inability to settle in a place of one’s interest; etc. no matter which failure it is; God is able to supply strength to overcome it.

In Luke 5: 1-10, the Bible tells us that Peter and his brother Andrew who were seasoned and experienced fishermen went out to work on a particular night and caught nothing. It was a night of failure. What would their family eat that day? What will they sell to buy other daily essential? It was hard. Thank God, Jesus met them as they were washing their nets to go home; He granted them the supernatural power to conquer failure. They became too successful, to the extent that they asked friends to come and benefit from their success.

There is someone here, you are experiencing a particular failure; by the power in the name of Jesus; that failure comes to an end right now.

There is another person; those who are seeing you as a failure and those who had pitied your lack of success will later become beneficiaries of your success.

To another fellow, God says I should tell you, ‘your now empty net will catch fishes again’.

Untimely death

– Death is inevitable to all humans. Every one of us will die if Jesus tarries (Heb. 9:27).

God can also call any of His children home at any point in time (Gen. 5:18-24 – Jared/Enoch). Essentially though, God wants His children to live long in life. He does not want us to die untimely.

Psalms 91:16: With long life, I will satisfy him, and I will show him my salvation.

The Zarephath widow’s son was revived through Elijah (I Kings 17:17-24).

The Shunamite woman’s son was revived through Elisha (2 Kings 4: 18-37).

Jesus revived the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7:11-17). Jesus revived Jairus daughter (Mt. 9: 18-26). He revived Lazarus too (John 11:1-44). He even shed tears when He saw the pain Lazarus sisters were going through.

Apostle Peter revived Dorcas (Acts 9: 36-42).

Apostle Paul revived Eutychus (Acts 20: 7-12).

God allowed all these people to live longer. That is why I know that you too will live long. Everyone under the sound of my voice; you will not die an untimely death in Jesus name.

The power to live above the enemy called ‘untimely death’; may God grant it unto you in Jesus name.

Strengthened above your enemies. May that be your portion in Jesus name.

 

Prayers

Father, grant me strength above my flesh

Father, help me to exercise strength above Satan and all his demons

Father, enable me to exercise strength above all household enemies.

Father, grant me supernatural strength above sickness and diseases.

Father, grant me strength above lack and poverty.

Father, grant me the power to live above all kinds of failures.

Father, assist me to exercise dominion over untimely death in Jesus name.

The sermon was delivered on February 23, 2020.