2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
You will remember that yesterday I continued sharing Mary Shepperd’s wonderful message with you. At that time we looked at the role that Satan sometimes plays in doing what he can to interfere with you making time for God in your lives. Along with a “love-deficit” and rejection, the enemy is doing what he can to thwart God from working through you. However, we should also be reminded that God has equipped us to do spiritual warfare with His adversary, giving us the example of how Jesus Christ dealt with the devil’s temptation in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11]. It’s important that we look at how we can mount spiritual warfare in our own circumstances.
God prompts Peter to write about this in 1 PET 5: 8-11. “Be alert, be on watch! You enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings. But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will Himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation. To Him be the power forever! Amen.” The enemy can often act in subtle ways in our lives. One way is for us to gradually become over committed, causing us to not do any of the jobs we have taken on to God’s glory. Relationships with God and with other people can often be adversely affected by this. What we need to do is ask God, “Is this what you want me to do?” The further down the priority list that listening to God becomes, the more trouble we encounter in our lives. The devil loves this; he wants nothing more than to bring us grief. But, Peter’s warning is real and valuable. Yet, we do have the weapons against this that Paul reminds us about in EPH 6.
EPH 6: 10-13, “Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of His mighty power. Put on all the armor that God give you, so that you will be able to stand up against the devil’s evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.” These messages and reminders to us are repeated by more than one human author in the Scriptures. That’s no accident. Remember that God is the source of this message, and He repeats it through different people at different times because He wants you personally to share in the victory that will eventually come over Satan. God makes this entreaty to you, because He loves you enough to want a personal relationship with you.
Ephesians 6 goes on to elucidate the actual weapons in this victory over Satan that will come. EPH 6: 14-18, “So stand read, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the evil one. And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.” We need to ask ourselves if the Lord really has first place in our lives. If we are making alterations to the commissions He has given us, then we need to eliminate them, asking God for clarification of His will. Many times, we take on a task that interests us, uses what we perceive to be a talent we have, or feeds our egos causing God’s real will not to be heard or acted upon. There are times when we must simply say, “no,” to these things, so that God can be free to work through us.
David Psalm 91, “God Our Protector,” is a message given him for us by El Shaddai, God Who is more than enough for us. God is sufficient. PS 91: 1-2, “Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to Him, ‘You are my Protector and Defender. You are my God; in You I trust.” When you do this, look what happens. PS 91: 9-11, “You have made the Lord your Defender, the Most High your Protector, and so no disaster will strike you, no violence will come near your home. God will put His angels in charge of you to protect you wherever you go.” What great peace we can enjoy when we believe God’s words in PS 91: 14-16, “God says, ‘I will save those who love Me and protect those who know Me as Lord. When they call to Me, I will answer them; when they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honor them. I will reward them with long life; I will save them.’ “
This year while Peter and I are dealing with our crisis, I am trying to follow Mary’s wise advice by taking the course “Experiencing God “ written by Henry Blackaby. It’s a course I wish all of you would take, because it is putting me in touch with God in a way which is new to me and crucial to equipping me to deal with our situation. Yet, you don’t have to be going through a crisis to benefit from it. Even thought we are in the midst of spiritual warfare, God is giving us the strength to endure it and to be victorious in the end. While we deal with our situation, God is giving us ways to strengthen our faith in and trust of Him. I can witness to this first hand, and maybe some of you can too.
PRAYER: O Lord, in Your infinite wisdom and agape love for us, You allow us to struggle with the adversary in Your name to learn about the strength our faith in You gives us. You repeatedly demonstrate Your presence in our lives and guide us through the Holy Spirit to become perfected by allowing You to carry out Your will through us. While You allow us to go through the Refiner’s fire, You equip us to withstand it and be better for having gone through it. For all of this, You are to be praised and thanked from the bottom of our hearts. We dedicate ourselves to making more time in our lives for You. In Christ’s name, amen.
I hope you feel equipped for victory after reading these last three messages God has given me to share with you. I know that he has used Mary Shepperd to do His work, and I know that if we will let Him, He will use us too. I am privileged to have all of you in my life and feel He has put you there. Peter feels the same way too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn