He will attack
Let me be the first one to tell you a little secret that you may share with the world after you hear me, "the devil closely attacks those whose focus is on God, their day is spent honoring Him & their life is devoted around Him."
You may have an incredible life, no stress, no drama, no hard times, but are you fully & faithfully relying on Go for your need? That means in the good times as well as the bad times.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Christians who are devoted to God are in a spiritual warfare whether they want to be or not. That's because satan is very angry at the choice you have made in your life. He is filled with rage towards you. The devil knows once you are saved that you will be a messenger of Christ to make others more aware of His wonderful ways.
And he said to them, "Go into the entire world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
The devil doesn't mess with those that are not saved because he feels they are no threat. He attacks Christians every single day hoping that enough burdens will cause them to doubt, to fear, and to not trust Jesus. When you devote your every waking moment to being a full time messenger for the Lord, be prepared ahead of time.
- Know the word (the Bible & scriptures)
- Be firmly planted in your faith
- Pray every hour
The devil will do everything in his power to convince the Christian believer he is not the source of their conflict. He wants you to see him as not the enemy, so that you will look to God as the one who allows your difficult time, but it's all a lie. Don't fall into this trap.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
If Jesus Christ came "to give life, and life more abundantly," as John 10:10 says, then it should not be too difficult to understand that the one who comes to, "rob, steal & destroy," is not of God.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus himself had to face satan head on with attacks when God led him into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. During the time in the wilderness, satan was allowed to literally temp Jesus with three different temptations.
If God allowed his son to be tempted in this manner, then you know the chances are very good that we will have to face this same kind of attack from time to time.
Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God
God's word tells us "we are not ignorant of santans devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). We have to be cautious at all times, the devil will attacks us at not only our weakest moments, but right after a spiritual high as well.
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
The enemy cannot attack us unless the Lord allows him to, and if the Lord allows him to it is only for our good, to make us stronger, to teach us lessons that will only push us to trust God completely.
When my husband had his heart attack they took him by ambulance from Hillcrest Hospital to the Heart Institute in Greenville. On the second day I was downstairs eating lunch and the Cardiologist called my phone and asked where I was at. I panicked and told her I was just downstairs. She needed to see me rather quickly. I have never darted across a hospital and up to the fourth floor that fast in my entire life. She sat me down when I came upstairs and told me that a few moments earlier my father had been brought to the Heart Institute with chest pains. I felt at that very moment like giving up, just throwing in the towel and just cave. The devil would have been delighted; too bad I didn't give him that pleasure. No, I prayed and I learned through prayer that my husband's heart attack was a blessing; Gods saving grace spared my husband his life that day, but gave him the warning sign that something was wrong with his heart. His heart disease was diagnosed and further treatment was needed. If it had not been for that day, I wouldn't have him in my life today. My husband and my father were both okay, but the devil sure knew how to attack me that very day.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world
Don't let the devil get you down, he will provoke you, discourage you, fill you with doubt, show your failures, and stomp on your weaknesses any chance he gets. He watches you very closely to see how you tick, what sets you off, what causes you to start getting anxious and what literally sets you over the edge. Once he zooms into a specific area where you are weak, he jumps on it over and over until you feel that you are literally at your breaking point. He wants to see you shrug your shoulders and tear up; he wants to see the sight of defeat in your eyes, exhaustion in your bones from worry, and chaos in your life from fear. He will slam you face first into an already bad day just to hear you groan. He takes your flaws and manifests them one million times. He takes your mistakes and exaggerates them beyond recognition. He blows everything minor into huge ordeals to stomp what little bit of courage you might have left. When you allow him to discourage you, you show a lack of faith.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Most people associate the devil with showing up when a person is already experiencing a pretty tough time. A loved one may be sick, your finances may be all over the place, or your day just might be hitting one brick wall after another. He is there trust me, making everything seem much more grand than it really is. He also loves more than anything to attack us when we are coming off of a spiritual high.
In 2008 my family was facing the possibility of losing our home due to a medical hardship in our finances. We started working with the mortgage team to come up with a possible loan modification to help save our home. This went back and forth for 6 months and I had a notebook about 5 inches thick of all the paperwork we had sent back and forth and back and forth. It was getting really old, my nerves were shot, and I couldn't seem to get out of the rooted position of defeat I had buried myself into. I felt it was all my responsibility to save my family's home, not to put any more added stress on my husband. So night and day I pecked away at this and still could not make sense of anything or see a light at the end of the tunnel. Well I realized one day that there was not a thing I could do to make these people understand where my family had walked, for they had not stood in our shoes. I couldn't make them care because this was not their family. I couldn't make them help me just because I thought they should and the hardship showed every reason why they should. So I prayed about it and realized that I had not let go of the wheel so that God could drive and be in full control. I vowed that night to let go and let God. I gave up the reigns of my control and gave it "fully" to God this time. Within a week I got a call from our mortgage company saying that we had been approved for the loan modification, but we would need to send 1400 dollars as a good faith payment. We didn't have that much and I immediately started to stress over that, but I stopped and told myself, "Kylie, God has brought you this far, he will not drop you now." I told the lady that was fine and we would send it the next week. Not even 30 minutes after I hung up the phone with her a lady from the Greenville County tax office returned my call about our property being zoned at a certain percentage because I thought we were supposed to be at a lower percentage. She informed me that we were being zoned at 6% and should have been zoned at 4% because we were inside the city limits. I thanked the lady for helping me and she said, "Excuse me Mrs. Davis, where would you like the refund check sent, you overpaid us this year?" I said okay please just send it to our address. Within three days we had a refund check in the amount of 1400 dollars. God is amazing!!!
Well the devil was right on time; I just crossed the Jordan River the day before and met the towering walls of Jericho the very next day. My husband was sent home from the academy, his pace maker had gotten stuck on high and he had to go right back in the hospital. I was so far up on a spiritual high; no one could pull me down not even the devil and his squeamish plans.
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown.
You have absolutely nothing to fear from the devil and his forces because Jesus is always with you.
You have not sinned by the devil tempting you alone, it's only sin when you cave under temptation and do it.
Learn to recognize the devil. He comes in all shapes & sizes, pretty little packages tied up with beautiful bows connected to a stick of dynamite. Learn that if it seems too good to be true, it is definitely the devil. Learn that if it is not going to boost you forward in your spiritual walk it is not of God. If it doesn't please God it is certainly not going to be blessed.
The devil will come to a lonely single mother and deliver a nice, handsome and rich man. He will show a major interest in her and the children and be the best thing that they have seen in a long time. The mother will compare him to everything she has ever stated she wanted in a man and he will call her the most beautiful woman in the world. One problem, this man doesn't love God, appreciate him or think God is important. This man is not a Christian. The outside cover of this man is portraying a dream man sent straight from Gods hands, but inside it is not what this family needs at all. The mother was blindsided and didn't seek Gods wisdom and direction and now she is a single mother for the second time. This time she has double the pain she had the first time.
Learn to see every angle of something that seems amazing. Bring God to the center and let everything that develops from your life, first go through him. If he approves move forward. If you do not have clear understand and direction, do nothing. I cannot stress that enough, do not give into your selfish flesh of wanting things now & risk the plans that God has mapped out for your future.
The devil is anything that is not pleasing and uplifting to God. Anything that stands in your way of your faith is certainly not of God.
Ask God if he approves?
I am going to get real for a moment and it may step on some toes, so ask around if anyone has steel toe boots you can borrow:
- If you are dating a man/woman who is cheating on their spouse, do NOT expect God to bless this. This may be the man/woman of your dreams, the one you have prayed about. It is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
- If your tax accountant tells you to not report something on your taxes so that you can get a bigger refund, the IRS doesn't play, they will find you. It is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
- If your neighbor comes over with a really long cable and tells you that you can steal cable from them for a while to save you money. Charter is going to get you, It is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
- If your coworker says to leave early they will clock you out, don't do it. If that coworker is willing to lie, they want your job; it is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
- If you want others to help you financially, don't lie and say you have nothing to work with if you have 3,000 dollars in the bank, they will find out, It is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
- If your friends want you to hang out at a bar you know very well your wife would not want you go to, don't do it, you will run into a person that knows her, it will be a girl, she will tell your wife. You can't hide. It is the devil all the way. Look for the warning signs!!
God gives us plenty of chances to see the red flags o temptation before we actually embark upon it. Be aware and cautious to your surroundings at all times. Go into your future with your eyes wide open and keep all of the devils plans under your foot from the beginning. Let God fight your battles, but don't make the battle be harder than it has to be. Don't be selfish and stubborn. Do what is right and when you are in doubt, don't. When you cannot pull yourself away from a situation that seems to be controlling your every function, pray about it. Ask God "is this pleasing to you?" If it is not pleasing to God, give it up, walk away. Don't continue sinning on a daily basis just because it feels right. Feeling right and being right are on two different sides of the ball field. Learn to go with what God "says is right" at all times in your life. It may not seem comfortable, you may have to wait longer than you wanted, but the end result, the gratification of seeing God work miracles in your life, is the most amazing feeling in the world. Once this happens to you, you will never try to run your own race. Instead, you will look to God and say "go ahead, I am content with following."
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
In all things, great and small, God loves us all,
Kylie Davis
Blog:
http://thedentedbucket.blogspot.com
Email:
Please feel free to send me comments, praise/prayer requests or just a hello.
I cannot tell you how much this blog has helped my walk of faith in just 32 days. I am into my 2nd month and God is opening up doors right & left. I have been praying about going into ministry and I can definitely tell you that God is showing that just might be possible. Please pray for me as I meet with a lady about moving towards ministry for women who are pregnant.
I am super excited and blessed!
Amen!!
Thank you for your wonderful ministry of devotions! Carol Barkley was kind enough to share with me and i am so thankful she did! Please add me to your daily emails. Thank you and have a Jesus filled day!
ReplyDelete