RSS

Tag Archives: rulers of the darkness

Lord I need you

14 May

Lord I need you

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

It has been a rough couple of days. As many of you know, I openly struggle with anxiety and depression. I borrowed the label from the apostle Paul, and call these struggles my “thorn in the flesh”. It seems as though it is a messenger of Satan that torments me also. He loves to attack when I have my defenses down, when my eyes are on the world and not on God. When I spend little time in the Word, and when I am not prepared for battle. I am not a worthy opponent for my enemy, but I find strength only in Christ to fight this war that is on a plain I cannot comprehend. Ephesians 6:12 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. There is no strength found in medication, there is only strength found in Christ for the spiritual war. It is found in the secret places with only you and God; the time spent alone in His Word and prayer; his strength that is planted in your soul for these battles. You are victorious when you rest in Him; you are fighting a war you alone cannot win, but is only won in the understanding you are fighting a defeated enemy in Christ.

It gave me peace to sit in my secret, quiet, place this morning with God. It gave me peace to know that He allows all the trials of my life to draw me closer to Him. In this I come to deepen my understanding of my daily need for Him. I come to comprehend the depth of my lostness without my strength found in Him. I am nothing without Him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. In this quiet place I find peace; I find the ability to talk to God, to share my struggles and my need for Him; to share my hope that is found only in Him; to praise him for all that He has given me through Christ’s sacrifice for me. All that I have is found in, and through Christ. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

My heartfelt plea in this small ministry that God gave me, is for you to come to seek to be a disciple of the One whom died to give you eternal life. To live a life of sacrificial love for the One whom sacrificed His life for you. To seek the life after, with a heart so focused, that this world holds nothing for you. To have a heart for God and the things of God, to the point you realize you cannot live without God. Your life may get harder, for your enemies desire is to take your eyes and heart off God. He knows the power that rests in the heart of a disciple. God uses all these trials that He allows in your life against Satan. He strengthens you when Satan seeks to defeat you. You are nothing without Christ, but you are everything through Him.

Praise Him in this Chris Tomlin video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rR_Rdb1CTE

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 14, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Preach the Word!

13 Feb

Preach the Word!

Romans 13:11-14     And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Sometimes the wars in my head make me feel as thought I am loosing my mind. The battles of good and evil; the focus of life; the direction of life; the state of life. Big things that war in the spiritual battle of my mind. Fought on a plain that I cannot fight; fought in a means that I cannot understand, yet I understand I play the pawn they are fighting over. Ephesians 6:12 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.These things preoccupy the mind, take me places with both the highs of victory, and the depths of defeat. There has come the feeling of a new urgency that has settled in; a feeling of an elevated war; a battle that is key in the strategies of warfare. It is creating anxieties in underlying tones, for I feel the importance of it. God is at work, in control, and is the victor; Satan is a defeated enemy as I am a child of Christ.

There is an urgency in the air in the world that we live in. This urgency is the signs that God is placing before us in all areas of life. The world as a whole is dark, Satan is peaking before his final fall. Our governments are turning their backs on God, and religions are teaching that all ways lead to God. There are consequences for both upon societies, much more than individuals. Paul spoke into Timothy this urgency in his final words to him in 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Do you too see and feel this urgency that Paul speaks of?

I hope and pray that you will take some of what I share with you of my personal walk with God, to draw in closer to Him yourself. I pray that Christ is knocking at the door of your soul and that you are answering the call. I pray that you also see and feel the urgency of this I describe. I pray that God is using me to encourage you to begin to deepen your walk with Him; to share your faith with those He places before you. I pray that you are becoming more than a Christian; I pray that you are becoming a disciple. 2 Timothy 4: 2 Preach the word!

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on February 13, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Pick up the Word and fight

28 Oct

Pick up the Word and fight

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.

This has been one of the roughest weeks of inner battles I can remember. The strains of the inner world peaked yesterday with a bought of depression. I have had an incredible life load this week with big discussions with the banking industry about life changes. All of them are geared towards life changes that are more focused on God. Satan sees my plans and has sent his armies of spiritual warfare on the offensive. I have kept these battles to myself, and this is not the place for the details either; we all are battling something; mine are none greater. I had never battled anxiety and depression until the last five years or so; but it has shed a new light on the unseen. There are many types of these; some chemical, some spiritual, some mental. The point of my battle is to open it up to you and share with you how cope, as in the scripture above.

I am not a doctor, I only know my side of this experience; the anxiety feeds the depression. The anxiety is where the war begins, and the anxiety is where the war is either won or lost in the attitude change. The battle cannot be won without a heart that is seeking God in the realm of this spiritual war. This battle is fought on a plain we are not; so we must fight with the only weapon we have, God’s Word. Ephesians 6:17 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; When the strains become great, we must go to God.

Ephesians 6 speaks of this warfare of which I am entangled; and the requirements as a soldier of Christ’s army.  11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

All I face every day; all I share every day here; all I try to do is to point you to God. I am no different from you; I face the same struggles as you, I have many of the same pains as you; I only wish to show you where my eternal hope lies, in Christ. This small ministry is a rock in my strained world right now. God laid this ministry on my heart, and Satan knows God is using it, so he comes at the vessel of it. I can only know he is a defeated enemy, for I am a soldier for Christ.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 28, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

A glimpse

05 Sep

A glimpse

2 Kings 6:15-17 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

“And he saw…..” The Lord gave Elisha’s servant a glimpse into a spiritual world that surrounds us every day, and very few have ever seen. The king of Syria had sent a great army after Elisha, but God had sent a greater army to protect him. Elisha was a man of great faith, and God used him in powerful ways throughout his life as Elijah’s successor. The servant in this story was about to hit the panic button when one of life’s situations came at him. He did not know which way to turn, but Elisha simply told him to look up; to focus on where his faith lied and the understanding that God was always in control.

Ephesians 6:12 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. We all get so wrapped up in our own little worlds and our focus of things in our daily lives. We have families, careers, desires, and the list could go on and on. The world through stresses and strains almost daily tries to us to drag our attention away, or to even readjust our focus to another. But all the strains of life will either take us simply one direction or the other. We will be pulled down into those anxieties of this world, or we will look up to our Lord for the strength He and His army provide. Can you imagine Elisha’s servant’s immediate leap of faith with that glimpse?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I openly battle anxiety and everything that comes with it. I return to God’s Word and prayer daily for the strength He provides through them. It is only through these things that I gain the strength and the faith to fight this war that I cannot see. I am not worthy to even be considered for the tasks my Lord may place before me; but as a soldier for Christ I am only to obey and to rest in the faith He is sovereign, and in complete control. The faith that Elisha’s servant, and even Elisha had is available to us. It will only come with a heart consistently looking upward, and not being dragged downward to the strains that lie before us.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 5, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Warfare

26 May

Warfare

Ephesians 6:12 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.

This morning my mind seemed to be in reflection of what the Memorial Day weekend represents. Those fallen heros that have fought and died for our freedom. I thought of the ultimate war, the war against sin; and how Christ had paid the ultimate price with His life, and won the war for eternity for us over sin. I thought of writing of the defeated enemy Satan and how I believe he does not even understand he is already defeated. He is the great deceiver and liar, and he has ultimately deceived himself. But I thought of the Spiritual War that is still prevalent around us with this defeated foe. Satan still works his evil every day in every way to draw you away from Christ. You can’t see this war, but you do feel the very real effects from it. But through the strength and power of God you can still fight in it.

2 Kings 6:15-17 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible for it gives us a peek into the unseen Spiritual World that surrounds us at every moment of every day. This gives us a glimpse into the unknown, which affects the known we experience. The two are tied together, but yet since we cannot see the Spiritual one before our eyes, we are tempted to dismiss it. The Spiritual battles are fought on plains that we can only fight through the power of God and His Word. 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. We must fight the sin of pride in believing we can war in the Spirit, and only commit our Spirit to God to fight that war. Our Spirit steep in faith and armed with His Word will realize the battle we are in and follow the leadership of Christ in that battle. Through the training and understanding that comes with time with God in prayer and His Word, we can rest on the assurance of our supreme commander that He will not lead us where He cannot protect us, and that we ultimately win the war.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,