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Neither give place to the devil...
Ephesians 4:27
It doesn't take much to see that there are
wars and rumors of wars all around us.
But do you ever stop to think that you are in your own
personal battle?
It may feel like a cold war,
but still the battle rages from within, and from without.
This was brought to my attention this past Sunday.
Pastor Perry gave a powerful message,
reminding us that we have an enemy, and his name is Satan,
and his mission is to destroy us.
He gave the modern day example from the movie,
Captain Phillips,
showing scenes from the movie as he spoke.
It was riveting.
(pour a cup of java and go to the website below;
you will be reminded of the importance of being aware of your surroundings, both physically and spiritually.)
(If you haven't seen Captain Phillips, you can Netflex it.)
In a nutshell, wherever our walk of faith takes us,
we are not to surrender--give any ground--to the enemy.
The devil knows our weaknesses and lurks behind the scenes, waiting for the right moment to jump out and exploit us.
When he finds an opening in our armor (Ephesians 6:11-18),
he can weaken our effectiveness in what God has called us to do. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to avoid giving Satan that opportunity (Ephesians 4:27).
As believers we have the possibility of making forward progress without ever having to lose any ground by putting on the whole armor of God. Unfortunately, there were times in my journey when I laid my armor down and allowed the devil to have a field day with my life.
In 1984, after being married for sixteen years,
the process of my divorce put me in a numb state of mind.
Instead of fighting the good fight, I placed my armor aside,
so to speak.
I went about my daily routine of working a full-time job,
coming home to focus on my two children (ten and eighteen), giving special attention to my mother who had been
recently diagnosed with MS,
and to my father who was in the beginning stages of ParkinsinsDecease.
Three years of ups and downs,
I finally decided to pick up my armor and fight the good fight.
Why did it take me so long?
I loved Jesus, and I still prayed, but
I had been living my life according to Sharon.
Not very smart. And I was miserable.
So I began my path of saying no to wrong choices,
wrong relationships.
I started going to church again, praying more.
Within a short time I met Rob, fell in love.
Within a year we were married, and
suddenly I felt that I was making up for the lost time
the devil had stolen from me
(for more details, you can email me OR buy my book,
Lady and the Sea, a novel based on my true story.)
A few tips:
(1) Read Ephesians 6:10-18.
(2) Keep your armor on.
(3) Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Key word: resist!
(4) and watch the video! newspring.cc/watch/noothername/the-one
I wish you oceans of blessings while fighting for your life!
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