So, what works for me? How do I overcome my spiritual battles?
Well, #1. I can't so it has to be the power of God. And, #2. Don't think you'll overcome the devil. He'll keep coming back as long as you have breath. But you can dismiss him, ignore him and rebuke him. Again, that has to be by the power of God.
How do we get the power of God?
Take a look at the title of this blog: The Most Important Book has the power. In fact, as I may have mentioned previously, the Bible has ALL the answers to every problem you will ever face in life. But, it takes you looking for the answers in there. Fortunately, I have done quite a bit of "digging" and "mining" to come up with lots of gems to use in your spiritual battles.
Although this is not exactly a Bible quote, it has helped amazingly over the years:
"PRAISE IS THE VICTORY!"
You may well ask, "How does praise give me the victory over the devil?" And that's a good question. There are lots of ways praise does it and praise is probably your most powerful weapon.
Praise declares to the devil, to yourself and even to those around you (if anyone is hearing you praise God) that Jesus Christ is Who He is! And the devil hates to hear that! He hates praise. He plugs his ears and runs. So, right there, you have overcome the voice of the devil preaching in your ear.
Praise fills the atmosphere around you with positive, faith-building vibes.
Praise is the sacrifice that God has requested us to make, so that means, you are obeying God when you praise Him and you are giving him what He wants. You're loving God when you praise Him.
Praise shows God that you are looking to Him for the answers and not depending on your own strength.
Praise feeds your faith and helps you rise above!
Praise is powerful! Your praise coming out of your mouth in words has spiritual power. It unlocks the vaults of heaven.
Praise is like locking into the heart of God. You're not pleading, begging, sobbing and doubting anymore if you're praising so that shows God you BELIEVE. You are already thanking Him for the solution.
Praise pushes the devil and his little helpers far away from you and from your receptors.
Praise brings down the Spirit of God! It literally opens up Heaven to you! Nothing is impossible.
The book of Psalms is full of David's praises to God. He says,
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust." Psalm 91:1
We are not to fear any of the devil's devices or lies. Because we TRUST in God.
Develop your trust muscle by using it. Starve your doubts to death and feed your faith the Word.
"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against Him." Isaiah 59:19 That's a promise you can claim and tell that to the devil.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Sometimes we have to put forth a little effort to resist the devil and his temptations. When we allow ourselves to fall into his temptations, it makes it harder on us later I find. And, the devil knows what your weaknesses are.
I hate to tell you this, but the enemy of your soul knows you pretty well. That's a bummer because he has insight into all your weaknesses and knows all the buttons to press to get you totally down and out, useless, helpless and defeated.
That's the reason why you cannot give him an inch. Not even a fraction of an inch. Resist him right at the start before he leads you off into "La La Land" to waste your time and energy.
Since the punk knows us so well, it sure is a good idea to get to know HIM and his usual dirty tricks, accusations, lies, traps, temptations, confusions, illusions, negative thoughts, etc. I mean, really, he has no new tricks. We've seen them all. But, we can't underestimate him either and think that we have any power of ourselves to overcome him.
Don't let your guard down!
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life!" I Timothy 6:12
"Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Ephesians 6:14-18
God has provided armour for us. How cool is that? All we have to do is put it on!
Did you get the parts? There's a girdle or skirt of TRUTH, a breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS, shoes of the GOSPEL, a shield of FAITH, a helmet of SALVATION and a SWORD of the WORD!
God knew we would need it. The more active we are for the Lord, the more the devil is going to fight us. I actually have begun to feel privileged when the devil pulls out his big guns and declares war on me. I just look up at Jesus and say,
"Hey, looks like something's got him going, eh?"
Then, I talk to the poor little shrivelled, ugly devil and I say nasty things to make him feel even worse than he already must feel. I remind him,
"You know you're going to burn in Hell for eternity, right? You're going to get tossed into the bottomless pit. Up and down back and forth. First you fall as far down as possible before gravity pulls you back towards the surface so you can fall again and again over and over forever! Too bad. Poor you! You really blew it when you thought you could be better than God, eh? Sorry for you, bud. NOT. BUZZ OFF! In the name of Jesus Christ my KING!"
Yeah, the battles are getting heavier. I feel for those who are newcomers to this game because they have to grow up really fast and learn how to fight!
The very first battle you'll probably have as a new believer (after you have received Jesus as your Messiah and Lord) is you'll look at yourself and feel hopeless. That's the devil's favourite lie. He'll tell you,
"Look at YOU. You're nobody. God can't possibly use you. You're a failure. You know you are... bla,bla,bla, lie, lie, lie and a little truth mixed in to help you swallow the lies..."
The devil will tell you you are NOT saved but you are going to hell and that God does not even exist. He wants to destroy your faith right at the "get-go" and wash you OUT fast. So HANG ON.
The devil does NOT want you to pass the message of salvation on to others. So, he tries hard to make you doubt it yourself. He tells you to quit, that there's no use in even trying. Besides, you're a mess and there really is no hope for you. Lies, lies, lies, ...
But, cheer up! At least you're on the Winning Side! You have chosen well! We have actually already won! Even when it looks like we're losing, we have already won because Jesus died on that cross at Calvary.
He bled and died and paid the price for all of our sins. If we always remember that, that alone will give us strength to face any battle because He fought and won the hardest battle of all!
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Hebrews 12:2-4
Keep looking unto Jesus. He's the Example to follow.
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