IN THE MIDST OF BATTLE
Christ has already won the battle. He has taken the victory, and I know that He will take care of me. But we must be warned that being a follower of Christ and having the power to stamp out Satan is a 24-hour job. The powers of God are for whosoever will. How much time are we willing to put into our relationship with Christ? The devil wants us to be a Christian in word only, but does not want us to exhibit fruit in our lives We must not give any opportunity to Satan in any capacity. It is impossible to give God authority in my life one minute and take it way from him the next.
With this writing I hope to leave with us some positive thoughts that bring life, joy and peace. My personal choice is life, and that is what I wish for us all. I want us to have real joy and deep settled peace in our lives. Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us:
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God.
As for me, I am going to choose life, and I hope you will join in the battle with me.
God's arm is long enough to reach us in any pit we may be camping, or in any place we are trying to hide from Him. His love is unconditional. He loves us for who we are. We are sometimes like fatherless people, who have not had good parenting. Too often we are looking for fathers, to parent us, or for some one to stand over us and tell us what to do, what to say and where to go.
But I want to be one of those who will take on the parent role, not one who is craving for father or mother to come to my aid all the time. I want to follow his example as seen in John 3:16, which most people know by heart.
For God so love the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
We are going to believe in something. So be sure it is God. Don't put your faith in a world system of Satan's choice, nor, in knowledge, or money, or any other such things. God wants to be our friend. He wants to forgive all our sins, and he wants to give us a future. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but we all need Him. Sin leaves a stain in our lives and Jesus wants to be the stain remover. He came so that the stain might be dissolved. He can and will dissolve the work of the wicked one; and in fact He has already defeated the enemy.
He wants to heal our lives, mentally, physically and spiritually. He wants to give us favor, and take away depression, darkness, discouragement, and pain. He wants to fill us up with love and hope and to make his grace available, and free of charge.
For by grace are you save through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Ephesians. 2:8-9
We must not just believe with our heads; but we must believe with our hearts that God raised him from the dead. Think on these terms. “I know He is real; I know my redeemer lives, and I know he has come to give me life and to give it more abundantly. No one can take His love away from me. If we become a Christian what do we have to give up? For one thing, we give up sin and depression.
We are in warfare. We are fighting a battle against the enemy, and he doesn’t like it. He is everywhere trying to pull us down, and discourage us so that we will break away form our triads and small groups. But we must jump headfirst into this fight, putting on the entire battle regalia and heed the words of Second Chronicles 7:14, 15.
If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.
That is my prayer for you throughout this week, and throughout the rest of our journey.
Dock Caton 07/10/2011
