Let’s Get Ready To Rumble

Ephesians 4:11-13 (MEV)
11 He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and
teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the
building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all come into the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Ephesians 2:10 (MEV)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them.

I want to start with a statement….
The moment you say YES to Jesus is the moment you say YES to Ministry
Now when some hear that, they will conclude, “No, ministry is what Pastor Troy does,
that’s Pastor Leanna, that’s those who are doing full time vocational work for the
Lord.” According to Paul as he was teaching the Ephesian believers, that is incorrect.
The saints are the ministers and those who operate in the office of Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher. They are the equippers, encouragers, the trainers.
Once you understand that you have said yes to ministry, part of the equipping process,
part of you maturing as a much-loved son, and daughter of God, part of that process is
learning how to manage and maneuver through difficulties and disappointments. God
is the father of this plan, and his process of maturing and equipping has deemed it that
there is a necessity for us to face enemies.
In this journey of equipping and maturing, I think the key to success is in two things:
• how you respond to failure
• how you steward disappointments in life
The decisions that we make at the very lowest points of our lives will determine the
trajectory of our future.
May I suggest that every one of us are battling something. We are in a fight that the
Bible calls the good fight of faith, but we are in a fight. May I suggest that battles are
necessary?
Before I go any further, let me remind you of the underlying prophetic words for 2024.
One of the words is this is the year of the OpenDoor, the year of the double door, and
some have said it’s a year of warfare, that it’s a year of the Civil War.
So, let me say it again, battles are necessary or there is no movement in your life.
Just maybe you’re going through something that you can’t make sense of. It’s wearing
you out, it’s draining you of your energy, and it’s a huge distraction. Maybe it’s just
downright painful and traumatic.
What if we could partner with the Holy Spirit, and He begins to download in us, and
Holy Spirit begins to make sense of all this?
Let me share this thought…. only fight battles where there are spoils. Don’t fight battles
where there is nothing to win. You’re going to have to pick your battles. The enemy will
give you so many things to fight about. You’ll spend all your time fighting battles. You
must choose what is worthy of your fight.
The purposes of an enemy:
1. Any attack on you is a clue that your enemy is fully persuaded that you can
achieve your goal. Hell is sending you a signal that it doesn’t doubt your ability.
Hell has not removed its efforts of attack on you because it’s confident that if
you’re left alone, you will accomplish your goal.
2. An attack always comes at the birthing of a new season and its attempt is to be
so devastating and demoralizing that it blinds you to your new season.
What if we change our perspective on the battle, the fight, and our enemy? When I see
them on the horizon, and I can tell they are coming, my perspective changes to,
Ok, I am fighting this battle for a reason. If you and I don’t understand that there is a
reason for fighting this battle the battle will consume us.
I must get a clear understanding that I am only fighting this battle seasonally. It’s not
eternally and it is the announcement to me that God is doing a new thing in my life.
The apostle Paul’s ministry was expanding and broadening, growing and enlarging.
1 Corinthians 16:9 (MEV)
For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
Doors and adversaries go together.
Let me explain this for a second.
Heaven has windows
Malachi 3:10
In the King James, it says he will open up for you the windows of heaven. When God
wants to get something into earth, he uses people. If somebody is going to be blessed,
you are the window to others. If people are in the hospital or people are incarcerated
are going to be blessed, tag you’re it. You’re the one. You are the window. God must
use people to get heaven into the Earth.
Hell has gates
Matthew 16:18 (MEV)
Jesus says upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
So evil also comes into the Earth through people. When the right people enter your life,
the right things start happening. When the wrong people exit your life, the wrong things
stop happening. You’ve got to examine in your life who is a window and who is a gate.
People who draw the best out of you are a window of heaven. People that you’re
around when always end up doing that same dumb thing, they are the gates of hell.
When God wants to bless you, He sends a person. When the enemy wants to curse
you, he sends a person. You better learn to watch those around you. You must have
your antennas up.
In Matthew chapter 16, we see in verse 17 that Peter is operating as a window of
heaven.
Matthew 16:17 (MEV)
17 Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus was saying there is no way Peter could have come up with that except heaven
revealed it.
Moments later in the same chapter, we see Peter becomes a gate.
Matthew 16:23 (MEV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to
Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of
men.”
One moment it was, “Wow, Peter, you’re hearing God.” The next moment Jesus said,
“Get behind me, Satan.” Peter had no idea he was being a gate while he was a gate.
Can’t you see Peter afterward saying, “I was just trying to help?” I don’t think he knew.
Heaven has windows, hell has gates, and
Life has doors
Now let’s build up on this. Every door is the next season to new or next levels. The
apostle said, “I have a new door, a new season. My life is about to expand, but in front
of every door is a giant adversary.” What you must understand is that when you see a
new battle/fight/ enemy spring up in your life, that is an announcement to you that God
has used every ounce of your previous season that He could use.
It’s over. He has used everything that He can use. And this new adversary, this giant,
this enemy, this battle that is in front of the door is bringing to your attention that you
are entering into a new season.
Between your last season and your next season there will always be something there in
front of that door trying to keep you out. This adversary, this enemy, this giant is
designed to keep you out. There is always a pharaoh between bondage and your
promised land. There are walls all around your Jericho designed to keep you out.
So, there is a door Paul says, but there is a giant, an adversary in front of the door.
When one season is over, when you have finished that season, you’re at the beginning
of the new season.
Let me add to this: You’re not in a season of transition. There is no such thing as a
season of transition. A transition is a span of time between the end of one season and
the beginning of another.
It is usually characterized by being short and very intense. Why? Because there is a
giant standing between your last door and your new door. There is some battle that
must be fought and if you ignore the giant, you never open the new door. Therefore,
there is no access to the new thing, the new level.
Now turn with me to Matthew 5
Matthew 5:10-12 (MEV)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you,
and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be very glad,
because great is your reward in heaven, for in this manner they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
When you feel like the things people are saying aren’t true or are lies and you feel
persecuted or hated, God says, “Be Blessed!” They hate you because you’re trying to
do what’s right and God says they’re actions and how they are responding to you has
opened up a blessing.
Matthew 10:16, 22, 26 (MEV)
Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves… You will be hated by all men for My name’s
sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved… Therefore do not fear them.
For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
When attack comes against you, God’s promise is to uphold your integrity and He will reveal the
falsehoods being spoken. This should bring great comfort to some of you here today because you
have people around you who are manifesting hell against you in your life and attacking your
name, your character, and your integrity. This scripture here is a promise from God that He will
uncover and reveal what is really going on. He will cause you to stand in the day of adversity.
Your enemies will begin to stumble and he will place them on slippery places as declared in
Psalm 73.
When you’re fighting a new battle and you’re being persecuted, when haters are coming after
you, when it seems that you’re surrounded by the wolves, REJOICE because there’s a great and
effective door that has been opened up for you.
You will outlive this devil. You will overcome this onslaught of attack. You will take down this
giant. And, in the mighty name of Jesus, you will open up this new door. Is there anybody in the
room today that’s going through hell? Begin to rejoice. Begin to shout. Begin to praise the Lord.
The announcement of a new challenge is the announcement of a new day.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!
The unsuccessful hate…..the successful, the common hate the ……uncommon. Nobody hated
David when he was herding sheep, but when he slayed the giant, that changed everything.
His brothers were serving in Israel’s army so his father sent David to bring his brothers food.
The Philistines and Goliath were in the valley taunting God and the armies of God. and nobody
would confront them.
When David saw this, he said, “Who is this guy hollering at y’all?” He’s a young teenager. We all
know the outcome. He kills the giant he slays him.
The giant was the pathway to the throne to become king. What is standing between a shepherd
and a king? A giant. If it wasn’t for Goliath, none of us would know who David was.
You cannot run from this enemy you’re facing because the door on the other side is too big.
The common hate the uncommon, and the normal hate the those who are not normal. Your
battles are signals to you that you are not normal.
Challenge only comes to the people who are advancing. Encourage the person beside you and
tell them they are advancing.
People who are not destined to open doors never feel this kind of resistance, attack, and
persecution.
Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad.” Even when you feel you are being persecuted by the giant.
What would it look like if we embraced the truth of the scripture instead of coming in gloom and
doomed? What if we flip the script and actually began to rejoice in the midst of the warfare.
What would it look like if we considered it all joy when we enter into the fiery trials, the testing?
Somebody, you need to tap into the truth. You need to get beside yourself because if there’s
something fighting you, if there’s something coming after you, then there’s a door real close that
you need to open. And there is a great reward on the other side.
Let me ask you a question – who is your enemy?
Ephesians 6:12 (MEV)
For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
places.
We are not fighting others (flesh and blood) even though it’s very hard not to take things
personally. Remember people are windows and gates.
There are people coming against you that don’t even know they are coming against you. It’s not
that it’s them. It’s that they don’t know they are being used. Remember Peter?
Here is an indicator someone is being used as an enemy….
Anyone that seeks to increase a weakness in your life that God seeks to remove
Everyone here today in this room, and everyone that’s watching, we have a dominant trait, a
dominant strength, a dominant gift. Also everyone has a dominant weakness. The enemy will use
people to try to keep you in the midst of your weakness. And this is a telltale sign for you to be
able to tell who is truly your friend who want the very best for you, and who the enemy is using
to keep you from going into the Next Door.
Anybody who tries to keep you tied to your weakness, and exploits your weakness, and keeps
you hooked to your weakness, is being used by the enemy.
Anyone who seeks to increase the weakness that God wants to remove is not your friend.
Between my junior and senior year of high school I didn’t know I was doing this, but I removed
what I thought were friends out of my life because they only wanted to honor and entertain the
the weaknesses of Jerry.
I had to change my environment of influencers.
Hebrews 12:1 (MEV)
Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us.