----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pat Ferguson


> Phil,
> Can you explain this to me, please? <smile>


Pat,

It is sort of one of those things that cannot be explained but it basically
means, what we believe is what is true in our minds.  I know that sounds new
age and not Biblical but awhile back, the Lord told me about what believing,
or belief, is.  For years, I have been confused about how to believe God.
It seemed it was all my responsibility and I had to do all the heavy lifting
before anything I asked God for would come to pass.  I knew that couldn't be
right because He has already done all the heavy lifting on the cross and
especially as a result of His bodily resurrection.  So how do we believe?
Where we stand is what we believe.  I get this idea from the Ephesians
chapter 6 passage about putting on the whole armor of God.  The shield of
faith is not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon.  You don't throw a
shield at the Enemy.  In this case, you stand fixed in place, not attacking,
but standing your ground and when the fiery darts come, your shield of faith
alone quenches them; kills them dead in their tracks.  So in my opinion, and
I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, believing God is where we stand,
that is, what we believe.  If we believe we are cursed, ok, that's fine.
You prayed about it and sent them packing.  Good for you because that's the
right thing to do.  Then, however, we stand fixed and hold our ground.  We
don't need to fight, Ephesians 6 is a metaphor, and therefore not real in
the since of literally fighting.  Besides, the Enemy was clearly defeated
and exposed openly to the world by the Lord at the resurrection.  Therefore,
we embrace the complete meaning of the cross but live in the Lord's bodily
resurrection.  That's where we stand.  So the saying, "The curse that works
is the one we believe," to me means the truth is God aware and the Enemy is
a lie.  So the question becomes where are we standing?  On God's Word or the
lie of the Enemy.  I hear faith in your voice even as you write to us about
what is going on.  That's where you keep standing and don't throw your
shield; just hold it up to deflect the lies thrown by the Enemy.  The fiery
darts, if you study it from the Greek, carries the meaning of emotions and
feeling.  They aren't literally fiery darts, of course, but the Greek
meaning of the words implies lies thrown at what we think because what we
think is where we are defeated or victorious.  Before my spinal surgery, I
kept feeling, thinking in my mind, but feeling it emotionally as well, that
I was disappointing my family.  My physical pain and circumstances were so
loud, I couldn't hear the Lord about why I felt this way.  One night, I
heard Him say, "It is a lie."  I was being demonically attacked, in a manner
of speaking, and the fiery dart was a lie that said, "If you die, you will
be disappointing your family," that is, I would be making them suffer over
my death and thus failing my family.  I know it sounds stupid now but when
you are in the thick of things and the Enemy is throwing fiery darts into
your mind and thoughts and the circumstances are off the scale, standing
firm is all that is required.  Ask others to agree in prayer, which you have
done, pray against the attack, which you have done.  Now stand.  No working,
no charging into battle trying to defeat the Enemy, who is already defeated,
but hold and stand your ground.  Be God's Word on earth in your present
circumstances.  The Enemy cannot defeat you if you just stand and let what
you know represent who you are in Christ.  Sorry.  I got to preaching there.
The curse is broken so stand in what you know as one of His children.

Phil.