Winning

Easter Sunday. The Devil hates days like this. Churches are packed, people are embracing, children are laughing and playing. It is a blessing to our Lord. But I can almost see the devil throwing a temper tantrum. As a matter of fact, I think I could hear the tantrum Sunday. Lightening flashed and the thunder crashed around our humble aluminum Church building. People were hearing the good news and Satan was MAD. At one point in the busiest service the power went out leaving the Pastor trying to compete with the sound of the heavy rain in the dark.

Time to throw up your hands? Say "I give up." "this is too hard" or "This is supposed to be fun." That is the Devil's goal, to take the wind from your sail (or the power from your microphone). The one thing he doesn't want You to know is: It Is Finished! Jesus has Won.

"Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."  (John 19:30)

Each of us who has professed Jesus as our savior, are Winning every single day because He already paid the price. So if the Devil is attacking you with one of his temper tantrums, tell him to go back where he came from ;) ha ha ha

"Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^"(Matt 4:10)

Reflection Question: How are you irritating Satan this week?

Look Out!

In December, I was rolling along with my Blogs and my devotionals like clockwork. Everything was flowing, the words, the timing. Nothing Sudden happened, there was no flash of light or glaring roadblock, but each time I scheduled time to write, it seemed to get side tracked. I have been sooooo busy at work lately that I’m not exactly sure when one day stops and the next one starts. Finally, a couple weeks ago when I was on my Facebook Overflow with Hope page, I realized how very long it had been since I had written. I made a promise to myself and all my Facebook followers that I would write that week… but low and behold, here it is now, and I’m just finally getting some thoughts down. I heard this quote in a movie trailer lately and it got me to thinking about everything going on in my life…

“It is the greatest art of the devil to convince us he does not exist.” –Charles Baudelaire

How True is that! How many times a day do we attribute things to coincidence, bad luck or people being irritating? We are only seeing those things that we can see with our eyes. What about the Spiritual world? We are born into a World – a Spiritual World – at war. My pastor recently said that people are not the enemy. Yes, The Enemy uses people in his schemes, but they, themselves, as BAD as they seem, are Not the enemy. To allow yourself to think that, is just another deception on “his” part to keep us fighting each other, and not loving each other, and fighting him. If you think that some people in your life are evil, you are allowing the Enemy to get a foothold in your life. Yes, I said it, You are allowing him.

If you’ve never thought much about the Spiritual World, this is your time. To use a metaphor that I understand, we were each born into the middle of a war, in the middle of a brutal firefight. There are bullets flying all around us, some coming from our side, some piercing us from the other. As urgent as this might seem reading it if you’re visually imagining a mother giving birth with bullets flying around, we don’t “see” it in our everyday life. We were born here, so it seems Normal! Isn’t that what the Enemy wants though? For us to think that hate, and murder and disdain are normal.

“Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His is good, pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

“We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)

God has given us the tools; now it’s time to use them. We can’t just stand in the middle of the flying bullets and hope we don’t get hit with one. That is the worst place to be!

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16)

The Armor of God

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:10-17, emphasis mine)

Just standing here is not an option. We must focus our efforts. Don’t just keep letting the world go on around us! Pick up a shield, defend youself! Pick up your weapon (your Bible) and use them! Start with self-defense, your shield of faith, knowing that you are in a Spiritual war, but you are on the winning side. Then maybe you can move on to offense, a sword, aka your Bible! But by God’s grace, do not just standby.

Reflection Question: Where is the Devil attacking you? How are you going to defend yourself? Will you attack him back?