Ephesians 6:12 (New King James Version)
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
I think it's important to remember that every battle you face down here on earth - any situation you're facing and trying to win - may be spiritual. On the surface, you're fighting people that make you want to scream with frustration. Or perhaps the person fighting against you leaves you crying from the heartache of a broken relationship. But the Bible says here that we do not fight against the actual people in front of us, but against the enemy and his legions of demons behind the fight. It sounds scary and weird, but it's very simple. If the Holy Spirit is in you, you are full of light and goodness. The opposite of light and goodness is dark and evil. And that's what you fight every single day of your life if you love and follow Jesus.
I don't know what situation you're up against right now. I don't know what family heartache, work drama or person you're "wrestling" right now. But I honestly do believe that when you're a child of the King, things are no longer what they seem at face value. Things got spiritual when you gave your life to Jesus, and it's no longer about the person in front of you. It's about dark powers and an enemy who hates the Jesus in you more than you can even fathom in your mind.
Be encouraged. When the battle is raging and you feel like the world is against you, remember that you have the victory in Jesus. You don't fight "flesh and blood" standing in the form of a person in front of you, you fight the devil and his angels whose only purpose is to destroy your life and anyone who matters to the Father. Fight to the finish! Don't back down!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
113
Deuteronomy 7:9 (the message)
"Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations."
I must believe this with all of my heart. I must believe that as the generations pass by, and the state of the world seems to be getting worse and worse, God simply gets stronger and stronger and more faithful and more faithful. He is God. He is the one you can rely and depend on. He is not a liar and He does not choose to love and bless only some people who love Him and not the others. It's nice to know that if I pray for me and my family, my children and my children's children, He is faithful to look after them and protect them. He is a generational God, He sees the big picture of our lives and sees the big, massive plan. We sometimes get caught up in seeing the 'now' and what is or is not happening as we seek Him and ask Him for help. His love and His ways and His thoughts are higher - much much higher - than ours.
When it's all going great and when it's all falling apart, either way, know that you know that you know that you know that God is the God He says He is, and He is on your side. He is dependable and reliable and He will love you and love you and love you and love your children and love your grandchildren and love your great grandchildren and love your great great grandchildren. You get the gist. His love is forever... a thousand generations is more than you can even fit into your head. And His love goes even longer than that. Don't panic - He is someone to trust.
"Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations."
I must believe this with all of my heart. I must believe that as the generations pass by, and the state of the world seems to be getting worse and worse, God simply gets stronger and stronger and more faithful and more faithful. He is God. He is the one you can rely and depend on. He is not a liar and He does not choose to love and bless only some people who love Him and not the others. It's nice to know that if I pray for me and my family, my children and my children's children, He is faithful to look after them and protect them. He is a generational God, He sees the big picture of our lives and sees the big, massive plan. We sometimes get caught up in seeing the 'now' and what is or is not happening as we seek Him and ask Him for help. His love and His ways and His thoughts are higher - much much higher - than ours.
When it's all going great and when it's all falling apart, either way, know that you know that you know that you know that God is the God He says He is, and He is on your side. He is dependable and reliable and He will love you and love you and love you and love your children and love your grandchildren and love your great grandchildren and love your great great grandchildren. You get the gist. His love is forever... a thousand generations is more than you can even fit into your head. And His love goes even longer than that. Don't panic - He is someone to trust.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
112
Psalm 34:17-19 (The Message)
"Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath. Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every time."
I was thinking today that life truly is a balancing act of holding on and letting go. I find myself in this constant tension, honestly I do. Sometimes it all gets too confusing for our hearts and minds to cope with: we must hold on to the people who love and cherish us, and try to let go of the ones who break our hearts and walk away from us. We must let go of the people who have said mean things to us and about us while still working in the same environment as us, or, worse yet, live in the same family as us. Maybe we have to hold on to the memories of someone we adored who left the earth too soon, as we then try to let go of the idea of having them in front of us. It's a constant tension that the whole human race is faced with on a daily basis.
Yes, the human heart gets overwhelmed trying to cope with the concept of love and loss on this earth. Holding on and letting go. Ask the Holy Spirit in you to show you what you need to hold on to, and what you need to let go of. It could be a person you have to let go of, it may be a dream you have to hold on to and clutch on to with all of your might because you feel it slipping away. It might be a friend who needs to be cherished more, and you need to hold onto them and never let them go. It might be a child, a parent, a spouse.
Jesus died on the cross as an act of not just holding on to you, but gripping on to you and your heart with everything in Him. He let go of your sin and death once and for all, and holds onto you always always always. You may have been let go by someone here on earth, but you will NEVER be let go by Him.
"Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath. Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every time."
I was thinking today that life truly is a balancing act of holding on and letting go. I find myself in this constant tension, honestly I do. Sometimes it all gets too confusing for our hearts and minds to cope with: we must hold on to the people who love and cherish us, and try to let go of the ones who break our hearts and walk away from us. We must let go of the people who have said mean things to us and about us while still working in the same environment as us, or, worse yet, live in the same family as us. Maybe we have to hold on to the memories of someone we adored who left the earth too soon, as we then try to let go of the idea of having them in front of us. It's a constant tension that the whole human race is faced with on a daily basis.
Yes, the human heart gets overwhelmed trying to cope with the concept of love and loss on this earth. Holding on and letting go. Ask the Holy Spirit in you to show you what you need to hold on to, and what you need to let go of. It could be a person you have to let go of, it may be a dream you have to hold on to and clutch on to with all of your might because you feel it slipping away. It might be a friend who needs to be cherished more, and you need to hold onto them and never let them go. It might be a child, a parent, a spouse.
Jesus died on the cross as an act of not just holding on to you, but gripping on to you and your heart with everything in Him. He let go of your sin and death once and for all, and holds onto you always always always. You may have been let go by someone here on earth, but you will NEVER be let go by Him.
Monday, April 26, 2010
111
Hebrews 12:14
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..."
Don't worry about building kingdoms and empires on this earth. After a week of tragedy and loss in this lives of my dearest friends, plans falling through, and in general things and lives not working out how we all thought they would, I have come to realize that nothing I build here on this earth which does not involve building the human heart and soul, matters. It will all fall to the ground, and if I haven't built into the lives of people, showing them the love and peace of Jesus Christ, I have done nothing at all worth while with my life. I will lose it all, and I will be left alone.
Pursue peace with all people. Fall in love daily with the Holy Father that is above all other gods we, subconsciously or consciously, end up worshipping here on earth. You will get glimpses of the beauty and splendor of the King all day long.
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..."
Don't worry about building kingdoms and empires on this earth. After a week of tragedy and loss in this lives of my dearest friends, plans falling through, and in general things and lives not working out how we all thought they would, I have come to realize that nothing I build here on this earth which does not involve building the human heart and soul, matters. It will all fall to the ground, and if I haven't built into the lives of people, showing them the love and peace of Jesus Christ, I have done nothing at all worth while with my life. I will lose it all, and I will be left alone.
Pursue peace with all people. Fall in love daily with the Holy Father that is above all other gods we, subconsciously or consciously, end up worshipping here on earth. You will get glimpses of the beauty and splendor of the King all day long.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
110
Psalm 26:8 (the Message)
"God, I love living with you; your house glows with your glory."
I said to my husband the other day how much I love living with him. There is nothing like his around-ness. Just being near him, waking up to him, doing the day with him - the mundane and the fireworks - is the best part of marriage. Well, it is marriage. When he isn't in the house, I miss the space he takes up. Doing life with God - walking and talking with Him, waking up to Him, sorting out the day with Him - is what knowing and loving Jesus is all about. It's simple. It's simple, but when you start to get closer to Him you realize that He is the most beautiful one to live with. His glory brings you peace, joy, comfort, security, hope and a love so deep no human's love for you can match it. It's meeting Jesus, knowing Jesus and loving Jesus. It's holding His hand and discussing things throughout the day. It's His around-ness that keeps you wanting to stick it out with Him in this life on earth. He is so great to be near - when you are near Him you realize that there is nothing and no one like Him at all.
Treasure the every day with Jesus. It's the best part of this whole thing.
"God, I love living with you; your house glows with your glory."
I said to my husband the other day how much I love living with him. There is nothing like his around-ness. Just being near him, waking up to him, doing the day with him - the mundane and the fireworks - is the best part of marriage. Well, it is marriage. When he isn't in the house, I miss the space he takes up. Doing life with God - walking and talking with Him, waking up to Him, sorting out the day with Him - is what knowing and loving Jesus is all about. It's simple. It's simple, but when you start to get closer to Him you realize that He is the most beautiful one to live with. His glory brings you peace, joy, comfort, security, hope and a love so deep no human's love for you can match it. It's meeting Jesus, knowing Jesus and loving Jesus. It's holding His hand and discussing things throughout the day. It's His around-ness that keeps you wanting to stick it out with Him in this life on earth. He is so great to be near - when you are near Him you realize that there is nothing and no one like Him at all.
Treasure the every day with Jesus. It's the best part of this whole thing.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
109
Romans 5: 2-5
"...And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
At what point is it too much? At what point does life break our hearts and spirits and permanent damage is done? But I don't think we read this scripture and hear that God is saying to pretend to be happy. Life is painful and the situation we're currently facing sometimes feels like hell on earth. I don't believe in being fake happy Christians, coyly smiling at a dying hurt human race. No one needs that. What they need, what we all need, is hope. And that is what the scripture is saying. The only thing we all need from trials and suffering is hope. Our character evolves through perseverance and we are left with hope. Immediately after the verse says, "rejoice in our sufferings," it says that we get perseverance, character (both painful to gain) and finally, praise Jesus, we have hope. The only thing that doesn't disappoint us in this life is hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. Without the hope that Jesus' love brings into the depths of our hearts, things will break us beyond repair and the little pieces left from a shattered heart would be too teeny tiny and scattered to put back together. His hope repairs our loss and the damage caused from our pain and brokenness.
This hope is what keeps our minds from breaking under the pressures of our lives and all it's outside forces. If you're facing something that is too much for you to take, don't give up, and when you have the energy, and the tears stop flowing, let it build character in you. Take heart and smile because you have hope for tomorrow.
"...And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
At what point is it too much? At what point does life break our hearts and spirits and permanent damage is done? But I don't think we read this scripture and hear that God is saying to pretend to be happy. Life is painful and the situation we're currently facing sometimes feels like hell on earth. I don't believe in being fake happy Christians, coyly smiling at a dying hurt human race. No one needs that. What they need, what we all need, is hope. And that is what the scripture is saying. The only thing we all need from trials and suffering is hope. Our character evolves through perseverance and we are left with hope. Immediately after the verse says, "rejoice in our sufferings," it says that we get perseverance, character (both painful to gain) and finally, praise Jesus, we have hope. The only thing that doesn't disappoint us in this life is hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. Without the hope that Jesus' love brings into the depths of our hearts, things will break us beyond repair and the little pieces left from a shattered heart would be too teeny tiny and scattered to put back together. His hope repairs our loss and the damage caused from our pain and brokenness.
This hope is what keeps our minds from breaking under the pressures of our lives and all it's outside forces. If you're facing something that is too much for you to take, don't give up, and when you have the energy, and the tears stop flowing, let it build character in you. Take heart and smile because you have hope for tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
108
John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Jesus is such a good man. The words He spoke made so much sense back then, and even more today. It seems as though the earth and it's people have been crying and searching for peace since the beginning. The peace He left on the earth is the peace that the human race really needed then and needs (more than ever) now. It's not as the world gives peace: the world gives peace and security via cash, job security, a few properties, prettiness, people liking you, et-cetera. He left the kind of peace that lasts. The kind of peace that no earthquake, economic crash, bad choices or people-leaving-you-alone can take away. He left the kind of inner peace that, when all else falls away, leaves the human heart and soul solid as a rock. He gives peace through comfort, company, support, friendship, lordship, relationship and love. He looks after you and says that your times and heart are in the palm of His Hand every moment of every day of your life.
Don't choose the fake peace over the legitimate peace. Go after the dreams in your heart but remember the only peace that lasts, the only peace that is stable and eternal is the peace that Jesus Christ left with humanity.
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Jesus is such a good man. The words He spoke made so much sense back then, and even more today. It seems as though the earth and it's people have been crying and searching for peace since the beginning. The peace He left on the earth is the peace that the human race really needed then and needs (more than ever) now. It's not as the world gives peace: the world gives peace and security via cash, job security, a few properties, prettiness, people liking you, et-cetera. He left the kind of peace that lasts. The kind of peace that no earthquake, economic crash, bad choices or people-leaving-you-alone can take away. He left the kind of inner peace that, when all else falls away, leaves the human heart and soul solid as a rock. He gives peace through comfort, company, support, friendship, lordship, relationship and love. He looks after you and says that your times and heart are in the palm of His Hand every moment of every day of your life.
Don't choose the fake peace over the legitimate peace. Go after the dreams in your heart but remember the only peace that lasts, the only peace that is stable and eternal is the peace that Jesus Christ left with humanity.
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