Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast, taught by Reverend Paul Cannings. Our current series is titled Battlefield, and it's based on 2 Corinthians chapter 10. In this final message of this series, Pastor Cannings continues to share about the warfare every believer is engaged in. Today, he addresses the fortresses, speculations, and imaginations that keep us stuck and locked into destructive patterns. And yet, God provides all that we need to overcome these. And sharing about how we do that, here's Pastor Cannings with the message The Conqueror.

Dr. Paul Cannings: This whole week I've started off by saying that the struggles of our lives we tend to look for externally and see that those are the struggles. What that the Bible teaches is that those are not the struggles. Those are just a Satan walking around like a roaring lion, seeking how we could get into our lives and devour it. That Satan cannot come inside of us, and we look at struggles outside in the world, and we go, oh man, look at all this stuff happening. Satan is just using those things that are happening around us to expose how he could manipulate us.

So, that's why Paul would say, I know all your schemes. In other words, you can't get me no more. I've seen your schemes. I've seen what they've done to me and others and what I've done to others. But Satan, you can't get me anymore. So, Satan, he can't get inside of us. And it's like we have to get to the point where it's like a zoo. Same lion, but just there's a cage. Oh folks, when we come to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, he doesn't talk about the bottom part of verse 4 and verse 5 and verse 6 without addressing verse 3 and verse 4.

That's why I spent so much time in it. Because if you get to verse 5 and verse 6 and you have not committed to verse 3 and verse 4, it's not going to work what he's telling us to do because Satan is out here just challenging us with all these different things. He could get us to lust because he knows this flesh because he trained it. So, he knows the flesh. He knows what will get us lusting after things. He know God forbids. He would do it. So, in verse 4, look at the bottom part of verse 4 of 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

And for those who are not near their Bibles, I'll read it for you. He says in verse 4, he says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal because verse 3 says it's impossible for that to happen. But mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty. Mighty as today is the Holy Spirit who is mighty. You see, that's why we went to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 through verse 12. He is mighty. The only person that could be mighty is not us. It's the Spirit of God in us that is bigger than he is in the world, Satan.

That's why Paul says, walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We have to keep presenting our bodies a living sacrifice and practicing the word of God to summarize from yesterday. That's why we work out our salvation. Don't forget, we're not working in the salvation. We're working it out because it's already there. It's like going to the gym. Your muscles are already there. You just working the muscles out. And over period of time, we walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. So, this might through God. In other words, can't get it on our own.

It's impossible. He says to pulling down of the strongholds. How do we tear down all these different things that Satan sometimes have put into our lives? You know, some people before they got saved practiced these things that become vices that they are now dealing with. Some people, the Bible says right here, he says speculation. I mean, people slander with just speculation which Satan uses. They just speculate. They have all these imaginative things that they come up with because they're not having the word of God being strong in their life. Watch to watch this watch this carefully.

Mighty through God. What is the word of God? Powerful. Doesn't return void. So, when this word mighty Holy Spirit came to be the helper of Christ, who's Christ? The word. So, he's the one that illuminates it that we talked about. He's the one that guide us in the truth. He's the one that reminds us of the word of God. John 14:26. He's the one doing these different things so that it ends up tearing down speculations. We could come to the issues in our life, and we could say, no, this is what the word of God is saying.

That's a false argument. That is not true. We could come to the issues of marriage, and we could address those issues of marriage, and we could say, hey, in marriage, this is what God is teaching in marriage. No, no, no. He's not saying that the man comes to this marriage and he's the man. He's the boss, and that's what my daddy taught me. Okay, what does leadership mean? And I'll come to leadership. I can't understand that until the Holy Spirit now powerfully moves within me to illuminate the word of God to understand why he would say leadership and then wash your wife.

He never says teach the word of God to the wife. He says washer. What is the word wash mean? Why would he not say teach? What does that mean being the head of the house? Christ is the head of the church, and he's given us the word, but he gave us a free will as to whether or not we do it or we don't do it. So, what does this headship means? So, now we are studying at a different level. Why? Because we are busy practicing it. And when we practicing it, it automatically starts tearing down imaginations, tearing down speculative things.

It start tearing down what we believe something to be. Why? Because we're not living in the carnal life anymore because we're committed to renew the mind. We're being transformed to do the perfect will of God. So, since we're committed to now do the perfect will of God by being transformed and get our minds renewed, Romans chapter 12 verse 2 because we don't do Romans chapter 6 verse 12 through 14 and let our instruments of our flesh lead us to unrighteousness. The mind is now renewed. It's not going to be carnal following whatever our feelings I had or past knowledge I believe in or what I think this is.

No, I'm going into the Scriptures to seek it. And when I seek it, he says I will illuminate it for you. When you practice it, it'll make sense. It'll come to the truth. He says when that happens, automatically I'm tearing down speculations, wrong thought patterns. It's actually no different than a person going off to see if there's goal in this particular field and see if I could find goal in this stream, and they are speculating that it's there, and they're going through all these different things looking for the goal. It's no different. We looking at this person's view versus that person's view and we looking at what this person says and the fact that I am of this party or I'm of that particular background and this is what I've learned growing up.

None of those things dominate us anymore. Why? Because we're coming to the Scriptures. And when we come to the Scriptures and we practicing them, the Holy Spirit turns the light on us. So, if we walk in the light as he's in the light, we have what? Fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. He saying, hey, he says casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God. He says I'm bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of God. I can't capture every thought until the Holy Spirit convicts me.

That's what we talked about in John 16:7-11. He would convict me of sin. That's why Paul would sit and talk about the unknown God because they're speculating all the time, and Paul could come in and address those issues because his mind was committed to the word of God, and he could capture those thoughts and direct it in the right direction. Folks, I literally believe that until we get here, we are all over the place. And it's evident by the struggles the church is going through, the division that is taking place everywhere. There's so much speculation about so many different things, and we not opening up the Scriptures to even see what does God have to say about it.

In 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 through 4, he says, I've given you everything you need for life and godliness. Anytime we get to an issue in our lives, we automatically supposed to go to the Scriptures and learn what that is saying. I could tear down these imaginations. I could take thoughts and hold them captive. I could therefore go to the obedience to Christ, come to it with a passion to confess my sins and and ask him to turn my life into a brand new creation functionally. I could have a passion for that because that a Spirit of God is driving me for this life and life abundantly.

So, now I'm at a whole not a level of friendship with God. Everything that is a weapon going in a wrong direction, the carnal life, I'm not even in that one because I'm in the Spirit. And then when I'm walking in the mighty Spirit of God, I could tear down these strongholds. I could capture these thoughts that could take me in the wrong direction. And therefore, when I'm functionally, I can now have a clear path to obey the word of God because I'm going to sin at times. And when I do, I'm going to passionately ask God to forgive me of that sin, turn away from there, turn back from there.

He says all these things going to happen because I've picked up the weapons of warfare so that I become just like Christ. That 's why Paul is saying, hey, the reason why this church is all messed up is because you living as carnal Christians. He talks about that in chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians. He says, look at you. You come to the Lord's supper. Look at how you function. You fighting over spiritual gifts. All these different dynamics in the churches, immorality. You got all this mess happening in the local church. You got false teachers abusing you, teaching you false doctrine, acting like they're so spiritual and holy and righteous.

They are not of God, but you being corrupted by their false doctrine. You can't see this. You thinking they're good people, and I'm the bad guy. You're not seeing that they are the wrong guy because you not capturing thoughts. Imaginative things. I'm moving towards the obedience of God because you'll choose to live in a mighty work of God and the Holy Spirit and turn on those weapons so that you can fight the fight of the faith and be a conqueror through Jesus Christ. You got nothing to lose because nothing can separate you from the love of God, you know.

That's why Paul would say, for me to live is Christ. To die is gain. I got nothing to lose. People may not like you, but he says that's normal. They didn't like Jesus, never sinning one day of his life. How you expect everybody like us? Stop worrying about that and focus on experiencing the love of God as he disciplines us, grows us, matures us because you choose to be his disciple. You want to follow his commands and walk in his ways. And you can have the strength to do it because I choose to come to the battlefield with the Spirit of God powerfully moving on my weapons, powerfully activated to do what he wants me to do.

Oh folks, you not going to lose. I was teasing somebody saying heaven, man, yes, we could box in heaven. I am just being fictitious for a minute. Box in heaven. We could actually have sword fights in heaven. Why? We could do all that all day. Well, we going to lose. We going to die. There's nothing to lose. Nothing to lose. So, well, somebody could kill me. If I get on the mission field and and and these things could happen, I'm going to heaven and I died on the battlefield for the Lord. So, understand, folks, it doesn't matter what we face in this life.

It's who we face it with and what tools we use when we get out here each and every day. We got weapons, you know. Put them to work. But you can't put them to work if the Holy Spirit is not working in you. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. We hope this message series will serve as a wake-up call for you to get unstuck where needed and allow the Holy Spirit and us to transform our lives. Now, to obtain a copy of this series as well as any of our other ministry resources, log on to powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Years ago, I was blessed to be raised in Guyana, South America until I was 16 years of age. Going home is a special thing, and it's a blessing that God has blessed us to be able to be there from November the 13th through the 17th. And we would appreciate if you would support this effort. It's for this particular trip is $7,500. And we would appreciate if you would join us by going to the website powerwalkministries.org. powerwalkministries.org. We will be serving people generally and also the leaders of the assembly there in Guyana. Join us by being involved in this ministry effort as we serve.

We don't want to be a burden to anyone. We just want to serve and be effective in our service and then return back here to the states. So, I look forward to you supporting us by going to powerwalkministries.org. powerwalkministries.org. You may not be physically there, but you could be spiritually there in the impact that God will bless us to make in Guyana, South America November the 13th through the 17th. Look forward to hearing from you. We'll appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much.

Guest (Male): If you live in the Houston area, I hope you'll take the opportunity to visit us at Living Word Fellowship Church where Pastor Cannings serves as senior pastor. The church is located at 7350 TC Jester Boulevard in Houston. Sunday worship services are at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. We hope you'll join us this Sunday. And now remember, to be a conqueror, you can't do it on your own. Relying on the Holy Spirit and applying God's word will enable you to walk in freedom and fulfill God's purposes for your life.