Resist the Devil

I shared a few months ago that I write only what I know about ... what I am experiencing and what the Lord is teaching me. One thing I have never wanted to be is a "woe is me" single woman and I think you know what I mean. I believe that I have certainly been guilty of that but I sincerely hope that the majority of the time I don't strike you in that way. In spite of what you might believe about me, I am not on a desperate search for a husband. I am not looking for a man to complete me as I am already complete in Christ. I do desire to be loved and to love another ... to have a lifetime commitment with someone ... to spend our lives fulfilling the mission that God has called us to as believers. I long for companionship. To have someone to hug and to hug me back. Someone to come home to at the end of the day and share the joys and trials with. And in so many ways I already have that in Jesus Christ but I admit I would like a fleshly representation of that as well! :)

This past week my heart and head were running in two completely different directions of one another. Satan was having a field day. Through the course of talking it out with one of my guy friends, I came to realize the message that Satan was trying to beat in my head. The Lord is not enough for me. 

My best friend prays all the time that I will know that the Lord is all I need. Nothing more, nothing less. He's enough. And I'll admit that sometimes I get irritated over that because I thought she was being a bit presumptuous that I didn't think the Lord was enough. Of course, He is enough. No, I don't need a man. She's the one that keeps bringing it up even when I tell her that the loneliness I am feeling isn't because I am single! (Please feel free to laugh or roll your eyes at me. It's ok. I am too.) The funny thing is that my best friend, my twin separated by birth 10 years earlier, didn't get married until she was 32. Our lives have tracked so parallel it would be scary if we didn't believe that this friendship, this sisterhood, was ordained by God. Even though I am younger, (LOL!) I have been able to walk beside her in some trials that I had already come through and vice versa. Isn't God good?! So maybe, just maybe, my friend has been on to something here when it comes to her prayers for me but I think what neither one of us realized is that it was an outward attack not necessarily an issue of inward, stinking thinking.

Therefore, this weekend I made a conscious decision based out of James 4:7 ... 

"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

I am choosing joy! I am seeking joy wherever I can. This is my personal mission! I am resisting the urge to believe that the Lord is not enough for me ... that I somehow need more. I am sending the Devil packing. This lie is not welcome in my life. I refuse it. I resist it. And by the power of the Holy Spirit I am asking Jesus Christ to rebuke it for His glory. Today's devotional in Streams in the Desert so beautifully captures everything that the Lord has been teaching me this past weekend that I have to share it with you.

...because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world. This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith. (1 John 5:4)

At every turn in the road one can find something that will rob him of his victory and peace of mind, if he permits it. Satan is a long way from having retired from the business of deluding and ruining God’s children if he can. At every milestone it is well to look carefully to the thermometer of one’s experience, to see whether the temperature is well up.

 Sometimes a person can, if he will, actually snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat, if he will resolutely put his faith up at just the right moment.

Faith can change any situation. No matter how dark it is, no matter what the trouble may be, a quick lifting of the heart to God in a moment of real, actual faith in Him, will alter the situation in a moment.

God is still on His throne, and He can turn defeat into victory in a second of time, if we really trust Him. 

“God is mighty! He is able to deliver;

Faith can victor be in every trying hour;

Fear and care and sin and sorrow be defeated

By our faith in God’s almighty, conquering power.

“Have faith in God, the sun will shine,

Though dark the clouds may be today;

His heart has planned your path and mine,

Have faith in God, have faith alway.” 

“When one has faith, one does not retire; one stops the enemy where he finds him.”

—Marshal Foch

I believe this is something that the Lord will answer in my life. He already reminded me Saturday morning that that He is still in the business of answering prayers anyway ... 

Psalm 6:9

The Lord is enough and by His grace I am enough! I can find joy in that today.

I love you all!

Finding Joy on the Journey ...

- Melody Faith