Regulación de la Pensión de Alimentos en el Derecho Comparado

Revelation 12 relates one of the fiercest episodes of spiritual warfare imaginable. Michael and his angels are fighting against the dragon and his angels. Michael wins “by the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11).

When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, satan’s power was de- finitively broken. It was on the cross that Jesus “disarmed principali-

ties and powers” and “made a public spectacle of them” (Col. 2:14-15).

Satan hates nothing more than to be reminded of the blood of Jesus. The cross is an embarrassment to him. Every soul saved by the blood of Jesus is a further embarrassment to him. Satan cannot stand his ground against the blood of Jesus.

I teach the 120 Fellowship adult Sunday school class in Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California. This is a

class in which we have experienced the miraculous power of God for several years. Although we have ministered to the demonized through the years, we were spared from open demonic manifesta- tions in class until I began a six-month series on spiritual warfare, teaching many of the concepts found in this chapter. During that time we experienced two powerful manifestations.

In one of the instances, I had bound the demons before they had made any noise and was gathering a small team to minister to the woman. One of the team members somewhat routinely claimed the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Just the mention of the blood totally changed the situation from relatively quiet into shrieks and screams “NOT THE BLOOD! NOT THE BLOOD!” While claiming and applying the blood of Christ must not be regarded as some magic formula, it certainly must be recognized as a powerful weapon of spiritual warfare.

Agreement

Undoubtedly the greatest day in the history of the Church was the day of Pentecost. On that day “they were all with one accord” (Acts 2:1). The accord was “in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14). Few weapons of spiritual warfare are more effective than agreement in prayer.

What is it we agree upon? We agree first of all on what the Word of God is saying to us. Then we agree on what we see the Father doing by the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus said He did only what He saw the Father doing (see John 5:19). It is possible for us to know individually what the Father is doing, but given our human tendency toward the world and the flesh, we are on much safer ground when others agree with us.

Jesus sums it up when He says, “If two of you agree on earth con-

cerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). This is one reason why corporate prayer is

so important in spiritual warfare. When numbers of believers in one local church or from many churches in the same area get together to agree in prayer, power against the enemy increases dramatically.

Fasting

While there may be several forms of fasting, at this point I am referring to voluntarily abstaining from food for a given period of time. This is the most common sense of the term.

Apparently some forms of spiritual warfare require fasting as a prerequisite for victory. When Jesus was explaining to His disciples why they couldn’t cast the demon out of the epileptic boy, He said,

“This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21).

The apostles fasted when they wanted to hear from God. When the prophets and teachers in Antioch fasted, the Holy Spirit spoke and told them to send out Barnabas and Saul. Then they fasted again before they laid on hands and sent them out (Acts 13:2-3).

The highest level power encounter of all time was Jesus’ tempta- tion in the wilderness. As part of it, Jesus fasted for 40 days. Did that weaken Him? Yes, it weakened Him physically, but it strengthened Him spiritually. Paul says, “ . . . When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

We must be careful that we take the proper attitude toward fast- ing. Fasting is a privilege that draws us closer to God and makes us more sensitive to hearing from Him. It is not a spiritual merit badge that makes us better than others. It is not a method of manipulating God into doing what we want Him to do. Jesus says that we are not supposed to make a public display of fasting, but to do it quietly to the Father (Matt. 6:16-18). This does not mean we shouldn’t talk about it discreetly, but it does mean we shouldn’t brag about it.

With the right attitude and with God’s timing and guidance, fasting is one of our most useful weapons.

Praise

We often think of praise only as an expression of joy when some- thing good happens to us. We hear of some victory and say, almost as a reflex action, “Praise the Lord!” But there is more to praise than

that. Our praise, under any circumstances, blesses God. The psalm- ist says, “Every day I will bless You and I will praise Your name forever

and ever” (Ps. 145:2).

Paul and Silas show us clearly how powerful praise can be as a weapon of spiritual warfare. In Philippi, Paul had cast a high- ranking spirit of divination out of a fortune teller. Her masters were incensed and had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into jail. They found themselves in the inner prison with their feet in stocks. One could hardly imagine a more dismal and discouraging situation.

What did Paul and Silas do? They praised God! “At midnight Paul

and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God . . .” (Acts 16:25).

The result was a divine earthquake that loosened their chains and opened the prison doors. The jailer himself was saved and a strong church was planted. Paul and Silas were victorious, but the secret was that they had praised God even before they saw the victory.