BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Daniel had been fasting for 21 days. Then an angel of The LORD appeared to him: “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before they God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (verse 12). This angel had departed from heaven the very first day Daniel prayed his prayer. He came because of Daniel’s words. But it took 21 days for him to appear before Daniel. Why? Look at verse 13: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” Then in verse 20 he says: “...and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” No Flesh-and-Blood War These scriptures are clear examples of the activity and warfare going on in the spiritual realm. Here’s what I want you to see: We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in heavenly places. Throughout the Bible, we are taught that there are three different areas called heaven: (1) The heaven where God resides. (2) The stellar heavens (what we refer to as outer space). (3) The heavens around this earth (the atmosphere of this planet). Ephesians 2:2 calls satan “the prince of the power of the air.” Ephesians 6:12 speaks of wicked spirits “in high places.” There was a wicked spirit assigned to Persia. There was a wicked spirit assigned to cause the kingdom of Grecia to come into existence, and then to rule it and run it. What does all this mean to us? It means that we are involved in spiritual warfare. Jesus said in Matthew 18:18, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The heaven Jesus is talking about is not the heaven where God is. Nothing needs to be bound there. We have no authority there. Our authority lies here in this earth through the Name of Jesus. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). We have been given the authority to pull down the strongholds of satan. We can bind the wicked spirits in heavenly places and loose the angelic powers of God to work in our behalf. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus told Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The Greek text literally would read, “I give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you declare locked on earth is locked in heaven and whatever you declare unlocked on earth is unlocked in the heavenlies.” Daniel couldn’t do that. He didn’t have the authority of the Name of Jesus. All he could do was hang on for 21 long, hard days until the angel of God could get through to him. But, praise God, you and I, as believers and as children of the Most High God, don’t have to wait 21 days. We don’t even have to wait 21 seconds for the angels to begin their work in our behalf. Philippians 2:9-10 says we have been given a Name which is above every name, and at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow! Where? In heaven, in earth, and under the earth. That covers it all! As believers, we have total authority over the powers of satan. We can take authority over the evil spirits that are trying to destroy this nation. We can take authority over them in the Name of Jesus and pull down their strongholds. 24 : BVOV

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