Today was no different than any other day for us. Whether we were cognizant of it or not, we were in the midst of spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, far too many of us on far too many days are not aware of the warfare that Satan wages against us daily to discourage our faith and to make us ineffective for Christ. We are far more engaged with the conflicts we have with each other, completely ignoring the fact the Bible informs us that our fight is not against flesh and blood: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places - Eph 6:12. We must wake up and get prepared to fight daily: Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind) be vigilant and cautious at all times: for that enemy of yours, the devil roams around like a lion roaring (in fierce hunger), seeking someone to seize upon and devour - (I Pet 5:8 AMPC). Satan is waging a warfare of influence and the spiritual battlefield is in our minds. He is attempting to infiltrate our thinking so our thought life will not reflect God's truth about ourselves, others or our situation. Nor does his thoughts reflect God's ways. Once we grasp hold of his demonic thinking, we wrap our emotions around those thoughts and we find ourselves feeling discouraged, defeated and doomed to acting in ways that are not consistent with our faith. We don't have to own those thoughts. Remember we are in it to win it! So how do we fight? Resistance! So submit to (the authority of) God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him) and he will flee - James 4:7 and Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world - I Pet 5:9. How do we resist? Opposition. Oppose the lies he is putting in your thoughts with the truth, God's thoughts. Satan will have us thinking crazy thoughts about ourselves, crazy thoughts about other people, crazy thoughts about our lives and crazy thoughts about our God. We must resist him steadfast in the faith and by faith. Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil by resisting the influence of the devil with the truth of the word. But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God - Matt 4:4 We win the battle one thought at a time. For 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 pulling down of strongholds) Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ - II Cor 10:3-5. We must gird up the loins of our minds -I Pet 1:13a. Bring our wondering thoughts in, arrest our thought life and don't let any thought loose to have free reign in our lives until we identify its source. Is the thought from God or Satan? Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God's word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things (center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart) - Phil 4:8. We have to bring in our wandering minds; minds that are consumed with thinking about getting our nails done, our next social media post, what we are going fix for dinner, or what we have to get done tomorrow at work. We must be alert, aware, and prepared to dismiss every wrong thought because Satan is daily ambushing us, waging war in our minds. Recently I experienced the danger of not bringing my thoughts into captivity. I allowed my adult kids this summer to convince me to get on a body waterslide. Now I know I don't like body slides; nevertheless, I succumbed to their pressure. So as I started down this winding dark slide which was initially very slow moving, I started having a conversation with myself: What in the world was I thinking? Why did I let them convince me to get on this thing? I hate body waterslides. I was frustrated with myself, angry even. All of sudden I accelerated as the slide took a 90 degree dip, plunging me into the water. Because my mind had been filled with thoughts of frustration and self anger, I was shocked and unprepared when I hit the water. I had not thought about what I was supposed to do when I entered the water. I opened my eyes underwater saw a tank and thought I had to swim to the top, so I panicked. As I come up for air, arms flying everywhere, my kids and everyone else are on the side looking at me like I am crazy. The lifeguard is approaching me asking if I am okay and can I swim. Insulted and embarrassed, I said yes, so I quickly regrouped and proceeded to swim to the side with the smooth stroke I am known for in my family. Spiritually, that's what happens to us when we allow our thought life to have free reign. Suddenly, without warning, we will find ourselves in situations we are totally unprepared for, disoriented, discouraged, defeated and often we end up responding with disobedient. Let's gird up the loins of mind, bring our thoughts into captivity and reject any thinking that is not true, honest and pure ! fighting wrong thinking and resisting the devil with truth, Diane p.s. start paying attention to what you are thinking. Fill your mind with truth. Dismiss self talk that does not line up with what God say's about you, others, Himself or your situation! Have you been calling upon the Name of Jesus daily? We can call on His Name with confidence because we know that He pays attention to our cry (Ps 116:2) and because there is provision in His Name, for our help is in the Name of the Lord (Ps 124:8). The third reason we can confidently call on the name of Jesus is because there is protection in the Name of Jesus. The name of the Lord is a strong tower that the righteous runneth into it, and is safe - Prov 18:10. His Name provides the protection of a strong, impenetrable tower.The kind of protection a military fortress provides. When we find ourselves in the midst of trouble we can call on the name of Jesus, run to the name (wholeheartedly put our trust in it) and find safety. The Psalmist in Ps 34 declares:This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them - Ps 34:6-7. Sometimes it feels like trouble is chasing us. For when were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears - II Cor 7:5. We are chased by troubling external circumstances, relational conflict, as well as our own internal fears, failures frustrations. grief and temptations. No matter what external or internal trouble is chasing us, when we call on the Name of Jesus, He provides an elevator to the top of the tower, and we are able to look down from the top at the fears, foes, and frustrations that were chasing after us and say, " you can't get to me up here". So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him - Is 59:19. The name of the Lord is strong tower that righteous runneth into it, and is safe. What is chasing you? Call on the Name of Jesus! from the top of tower, Diane p.s. #saytheName How are you making out on the journey ? Are you getting enough light? Light is essential to this journey: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Ps 119:105). Often I see parallels between photography and our spiritual journey. One of the first principles a photographer must learn and understand is that photography is all about the light. Likewise we must understand our journey is all about the light: In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4-5). Then Jesus spake again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12). Jesus is the Creator of life and the source of our spiritual life and His life brings light to mankind. Jesus refers to Himself as the light of world and all those who follow Him shall enjoy His presence, protection and the personal guidance needed to walk in light. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Pet 2:9b) and are instructed to walk in the light, as He is in the light (I John 1:7a). In addition to the light principle, understanding the camera's features and functions is also important to the photographer's success. While knowing how the camera operates is important, it often leads to a common mistake many photographers make. A photographer comes upon a beautiful scene and immediately starts looking at the camera trying to figure out what the camera settings should be, takes the picture, gets home and finds out he or she is disappointed with the results. The photographer forgot the first principle, it's about the light. Instead of looking at the camera he or she should have been looking at the light in the scene. Looking at light will help the photographer to determine the camera settings. We do the same thing. When we are confronted with an interpersonal conflict or pressure, immediately we start operating and reacting based upon what we think and how we feel. Instead of looking to the Light, we go right into defending our position and determining what we need to say and do to win the argument. If instead in the midst of conflict , we would take a moment to look to Jesus, who is the Light, our response to the conflict would be different. A photographer's goal is to capture the light, our's is to reflect the Light: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matt 5:16). Looking to the Light with a desire to reflect the Light will enable us to speak the truth in love even in conflict and to respond in humility instead of hostility. If a photographer effectively captures the light he or she ends up with a beautiful portrait. If we reflect the Light we end up as a beautiful portrait of the Master, we become a Masterpiece: And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continued to behold (in the Word of God) as in the mirror the glory of the Lord are constantly being transfigured into His very own image...(II Cor 3:18 -AMP). The next time we find ourselves in a fight we must look to the Light! looking to the Light, Diane p.s. Let's practice looking to the Light before we react. Every time conflict or pressure arises be intentional about looking to Light. Let the Light of the Word direct your response. p.p.s. you can check out my efforts as a photographer to capture the light at just4hisglory.com |
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