I Want It All Back

There is a song by Tye Tribbett called "I Want It All Back". I love this song because it is very scriptural, and it reminds me that we need to take back those things that the enemy of our soul has stolen from us.

Ephesians 6:10-18: 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12. 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. 13. 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.
14. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15. and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16.In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Sometimes it's difficult to remember that our battle is not with people. Our battle is with the enemy who uses people to come against us.

Matthew 11:12, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Isaiah 59:19 tells us that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift a standard against him.

As you grow closer to God, the attacks against you will become more agressive. It's important that we get off the defense and get on the offense as far as the enemy is concerned. Our only offensive weapon in the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) is the sword of the Spirit. What is the Sword of the Spirit? We are told plainly that it is the Word of God. We have read and study the word and apply the truth of the Word to our lives.

Matthew 16:19, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Jesus has given us power over the enemy. We can take back our joy and our peace and the other things the forces of evil have stolen from us. Note that we must keep sin out of our lives to do this. I can't have cherished sin in my heart and expect to be able to overcome the enemy.

Luke 10: 19-20, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Jesus reminds us that we have power over the enemy, but he also reminds us not to become arrogant. Remember He is the one this power comes from. The enemy can bring attacks, but it's up to you how much power you will let him have in your life.

Realize who you are in Christ and take back what the enemy has stolen from you. Jesus suffered and died and rose again so you could have that power.

Click on the following link to watch the video and listen to the song, "I Want It All Back.":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUtJgU7sdd0

Enjoying God's Presence Even In Adversity

From Jesus Calling: "Continue on this path with Me, enjoying My presence even in adversity...The One who goes ahead of you opening up the way is the same One who stays close and never lets go of your hand...I am everywhere at every time, ceaslessly working on your behalf."

I am learning to enjoy God's presence even in adversity. I have been through some adversity the last few weeks. The bank I am working for has been in the process of a merger, and I have had to work some long hours. The stress level at my job has been extremely high. I am so thankful that Jesus is with me through all of this. I am enjoying a weekend at home, and I am so looking forward to church this weekend.

I need Jesus so much. I cannot get through life without Him. He is my joy and my peace. He is so awesome. I praise Him for how He can bring peace and good things out of the worst of circumstances. He has done that over and over in my life.

Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose.

Psalm 37:3-4, Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Guard What God Has Given You

2 Timothy 1:6-7, For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.

God has given us all gifts or talents to be used to bring glory to Him. To know what your gift or calling is, you have to go before God and seek Him. Also, look at the things you enjoy doing. If you enjoy singing, maybe God wants you to sing. If you love to help people, maybe you are called into some type of helps ministry. This is just to name a few of the things we can do for the glory of God.

We have to fan these things into flame like the above scripture stated. We do this by dedicating our gifts or callings to God then using them. The more we use them for God's glory, the more He increases them.

I also like what verse 6 of the above scripture says. "God has not given us a spirit of timidity.." God will give us boldness that we need. He will give us power, but we must walk in love and self-discipline."

I have found that in sharing my struggles with overeating and sexual impurity that I have been able to help others who struggle. I praise God for this!! If you are overcoming a stronghold or have already overcome it, share with others (as God leads) what God is doing for you.

2 Timothy 1:14, Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Whatever God has given us, we must guard it. The enemy will try to come and sidetrack us in someway. We must not allow him to take what God has given. Yes, the gifts and the callings of God are without repentance, but in order to use what we have to help others, we have to keep our hearts pure and our hands clean before God.

The enemy of my soul has tried to get me distracted from my focus on Christ just in the last several days. I noticed it (because of the Holy Spirit's prodding) and I have put my focus back where it needs to be. I am doing what I need to keep it there.

Let's guard the good deposit that God has entrusted us with, and let's lead others to freedom.

Trust and Thankfulness

I don't know if I have mentioned this or not, but I love my newest devotional "Jesus Calling". The lady who wrote this was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit if ever anyone was.

Today's devotional talked about trust and thankfulness.

The following is from "Jesus Calling, February 21": "Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day. Trust protects you from worrying and obsessing. Thankfulness keeps you from criticizing and complaining: those sister sins that so easily entangle you."

I never had thought about these sins being like sisters, but they are. One leads to the other. They seem to feed from each other.

Many times I catch myself worrying and obesessing. This always leads to frustration which in turn causes me to criticize and complain. When I am frustrated, I often start finding something to take that frustration out on. I then become critical and negative. I have found that when I release my frustration to my God, I am free from the sins of criticizing and complaining. Those sins are so demeaning. We do not realize how they affect our witness for Christ.

I do not want to complain and remain. I want to praise and be raised. Complaining only causes us to have to stay in our trials and tests longer. I certainly don't want to stay in mine any longer than I have to. I want to learn what God wants to teach so that I can move on.

Pride In Thinking My Sin Is Too Great

Jeremiah 13:17, If you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride.

Pride is so subtle. We can be walking in pride in an area and not even realize it. I pray for the Lord to keep pride from me.

In today's devotional of Breaking Free Day by Day, Beth Moore points out a way we can be walking in pride that I had never really thought of, but it is so profound that I want to share it.From Breaking Free Day by Day, "I have known people, for example, who thought they were too far gone to save- too wicked, too sinful. Such people would be shocked to hear that even this attitude is a form of pride as well. They think their sin or problem is bigger than God."

Ouch and amen!! Who do we think we are that our struggle with overeating or any other sin is beyond God's reach? I have been guilty of that type of thinking. It may be over my head, but it is under God's feet.

Alive In Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10
1.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2.
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
4.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5.
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7.
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
9.
not by works, so that no one can boast.
10.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are reminded once again of what God has done for us. We used to walk in the ways of disobedience. Used to. This should be the case of anyone who has come to Christ. We will not always be perfect, but our lives should reflect the glory of God.

Because of God's mercy, we have been saved. We did not earn this salvation, but He gave it freely. After salvation, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms. Hallelujah!! How blessed we are. We do not have to feel sorry for ourselves when things don't go our way. We can remember that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. God has wisdom and revelation available to us. He has a work for us to do, but we have to be obedient.

God raised us to heavenly places so that He may be glorifed just as verse 7 says. If we bring glory to Him with our lives, we will be blessed.

Our salvation is a free gift, but as a result of our salvation, we have a work to do. Verse 10 says that we are His workmanship created to do good works. He had this prepared in advance, before we were even born.

The purpose of our lives is to bring glory to our God. I want to do that with everything I have.

Wisdom, Revelation, Power

Ephesians 1:15-23
15.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16.
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
17.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19.
and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,
20.
which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
21.
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
23.
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

I think Ephesians just gets better and better the more I read it. Verse 17 tells us that God will give us wisdom and revelation. He doesn't give this to us so we can look intelligent, but He gives this to us so we can know Him better. The more I get to know God, the more I love Him.

We can have wisdom in making important decisions, and we can have wisdom to make decisions about every day life. We need wisdom in handling difficult people. We need wisdom in raising our children. We need wisdom for many different situations. We can also have revelation. God will reveal things to us as we are able to handle them. He will reveal His will for our lives. He will reveal hidden knowledge and wisdom; however, we have to be in a place spirituall where we will not become prideful about what He gives us.

Verse 19 tells us that we have His imcomparably great power available to us. We can live a godly life. We can overcome adverse circumstances through this power. We cannot do it on our own, but through Christ we can live powerful and victorious lives.

The last few verses tells us that God is above all rule and all dominion. Everything is under His feet including what is over our head. If your problem is over your head, remember it is under His feet.

During this journey to overcoming the strongholds in my life, discovering what God has available for me through Christ has encouraged me not to give up. I want to keep pressing forward. There is no way like His way. His ways are better than my own. If I followed my ways, I would still be a slave to sexual sin and to overeating. His ways are victorious. His ways bring freedom. Submission to Jesus Christ may sound like it takes your life because it does. It takes your sin and bondage, but it gives you a new life, a better life, a victorious life.

I thank God that He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. Not only has He blessed me, but He has blessed you as well. What will you do with what He has given you?