I was thinking about the various sounds we associate with certain subjects. Pictionary for instance is supposed to resemble a drunken brawl in a country tavern when you play it. Have you ever played the game Pictionary? What a wonderful exercise in humiliation for the sake of defeating your competition by discerning the hieroglyphics of your teammates. One of the clues you can use in compensating for your lack of artistic skill is a move where you grab your ear in an effort to get someone to scream, “sounds like!” Then, you draw another picture that is more indistinguishable that the first picture you drew. Everyone screams to their loudest capacity what they believe you are trying to communicate. Of course it is hilarious, and it is a great tool to get people out of their shells, but the sheer volume of the sound the game invokes is the amazing phenomenon to me!

This got me to thinking about the sound of spiritual warfare and the daily battles we face in maintaining an overcoming lifestyle. It seems we are constantly pushing toward a breakthrough. No matter how significant our last victory, the celebration is short lived in the face of the impending assault the enemy of our souls unleashes next. This is why 1 Peter 5:8 commands us to, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” Satan is on a search and destroy mission. One of his strategies is to hide in the noise of confusion. 1 Corinthians 14:8 declares, “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” We are locked in a spiritual conflict that requires an audible clarity for direction and purpose.

1 Corinthians 2:14 defines the process as spiritual for us, “But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” You and I were born into this conflict. Job 14:1 tells us, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” What is the first sound a newborn makes? They all cry. We identify the first signs of life by the screams and sounds of crying. The first natural response a supernatural being can utter is a cry! 1 Timothy 6:12 states we were chosen to, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called…” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27gives us Paul’s insight on this innate conflict, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…” He correlates mastering the battle with maintaining control over fleshly impulses. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 makes the rules of engagement clearly understood, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” and if that wasn’t enough, 2 Timothy 2:4 narrows the field to our actions by saying, “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” I want to talk to you today about three battles to your breakthrough.

First let me qualify who is chosen for these three battles. You must be a Mighty Man of God. Mighty men of God are born out of personal distress, discontent, debt, and delusion. You and I, if we are greatly used of God in this generation will fight our most fierce battles within ourselves, rising above the mistakes we grow out of in our quest to answer the supernatural call we were born with. 1 Samuel 22:1-2 paints a vivid picture of David’s Mighty Men, “David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.” These were the men who would become David’s inner circle of warriors, instrumental in protecting David and ushering him to the throne of Israel. No leader in spiritual warfare can be trusted in the heat of the battle when he has the unstained attire of the untested! Yes! Your mistakes and scars are the identifying marks of your ability to stand in the day of adversity. Wear the shroud of misunderstanding with a confidence that dispels the question, “can you stand the battle?” When I am in the troughs of spiritual warfare I want someone beside me who can identify the mortal struggle we face for immortality!


The first battle you will face in winning your breakthrough is The Battle of the Dream. You will have to determine the value of your vision. Value is not the sum of costs, it is the price paid by those who will to possess. Your vision is not valued by what you have in it. Your vision is valued by what you will pay to keep it! What are you willing to personally expend to keep your dream alive!

2 Samuel 23:8 relays the account of the first of three mighty men, “These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.” The name Adino in the original Hebrew meant: “His Ornament”. Tahkemonite meant, “one who possesses insight and practical wisdom.” Adino had a dream that he could connect with David and regardless of his past, together they could establish God’s Will in the earth. He was the ornament of intuitive skill. He was the golden boy of the region. The answer man! Then life brought him a series of events that landed him in the Cave of Adullam. No one could have been more out of place in this rag-tag army of misfits. That’s what we all think until our only refuge is the unspoken acceptance of the broken and bruised.

YOU HAD A VISION OF A LIFE THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE AGONY YOU HAD LIVED. YOU WERE A DECORATIVE DISCOVERY FOR DISPLAY. YOU KNEW THE JOY OF A CELEBRATED POSITION. BUT THEN TROUBLE FOUND YOU AND YOU HAD TO LIVE THE FEAR & DREAD OF THE UNCONTROLLABLE.

When I read 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,” I am amazed that this scripture is describing me. Why? Because I know me, and the days that I feel chosen, royal, or holy are far outweighed by the reality of the inner conflict of my daily life. But the truth from God’s vantage point is that He has declared this as our inheritance. He signifies His acceptance of us by noting that we were called out of darkness. When your dream has been completely engulfed by the darkness of failure, intentional or unintentional, it is only then that you can determine what the value of that vision really is. What are willing to spend to recover and possess the dream of your vision?

The first battle to your breakthrough is the personal resolve you exert to place the highest value on your dreams and visions. You give those up and you will be an empty, soulless shell, existing in the quiet torture of apathetic acceptance, among the community of the unfulfilled. Pay the price to value your dreams and visions above all else. Listen among the crushing sound of eight hundred advancing warriors to the quiet solitude of your lonely existence. Raise up your spear! Make a declaration of value for the ground you stand on! No ground is worth living on if you are not willing to die standing on it to protect it! Adino did just that and God wrought a great victory by using him to kill all eight hundred of his advancing enemies at once. Your breakthrough must be worth the battle. You have nothing to go back to from the life you were expelled from. You are a Mighty Man, raise your spear and signal the enemies of your soul that death is the ultimate price you will pay to give birth to your dreams and visions. This is your battle for the dreams God has given you. How much are they worth? Only you can say. Raise your spear!