Are You a Pawn or a Knight? (Revamped10:18:22)?

When I first awoke this morning I found God and His will on my mind. The song that came to mind was "Good God Almighty" by David Crowder. I grabbed my phone and looked it up on you tube, for my heart was overflowing and it needed to worship. Next I opened up my phone and sought out what others in my followersof Christ group had to share and instantly, I was shown this picture that referenced Psalms 150 which just so happens to line up with my heart song. Next I opened up my email searching for an encouraging word for the day from a devotional:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek him. ~ Hebrews 11:6 NIV

I read this and instantly grabbed my computer knowing the words were about to flow.

It was Abraham’s faith that allowed him to find favor with the Lord. It was David’s faith that the Lord would protect him that allowed him to show grace to Saul even as Saul was trying to kill David. It was by faith that Noah built an arc in dry land, where they had yet to see a single drop of rain!. It is by faith that you are saved through grace. Grace. It is a beautiful thing.

I think along with faith, one must have trust in the Lord. When we read another verse from God’s Word, we discover this:

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding. ~ Proverbs 3:5 NIV

You see, we live in a fallen world. While so many of us are willing to consider the possibilities of vampires,  werewolves, zombies, along with other things that go bump in the night, the majority of us refuse to see the truth of our circumstance. We live daily in a world that is fighting a spiritual war. Whether we like it or not, all of us are participants in the war. Some of us are awake and see what is going on and we dress daily for the battle. Sadly because those of us that see are a minority compared to those of us that either don’t see and those that refuse to see, family and friends alike are being used against us.

Trust in the Lord is part of your armor. When you have trust in the Lord, you fight the world differently. In a way you rest through the battle compared to fighting the battle without the Lord on your side. You do work but it is work that is gratifying verses the type of fighting that leaves one exhausted and depleted. The work you do is prayer and giving things to God and NOT taking them back! Another part of your work is reading God’s Word daily so that you are prepared daily with words of both wisdom and grace. King David, known as a great warrior, dressed daily for the spiritual war he faced. He was a part of more than one monumental battle. Can you imagine having to serve a king who was out to kill you? Could you fathom having the opportunity to kill this foe, not once but twice, having found him literally delivered to you? King David had this happen in his lifetime and both times, he extended his enemy grace. He also spoke to his enemy telling him of all that had taken place while he slept. Saul saw that David loved the Lord and was not really  his enemy but sadly Saul was not dressing for the war he was fighting. He allowed his mind to be tormented with thoughts of jealousy and it was in all actuality the death of him.

David was not innocent of sin. None of us are. There is a story in the bible where King David wanted a women who belonged to another. He wanted her so desperately that he sent her husband off to war with the intention of getting him killed. King David paid a dear price for this sin. Rather than shout at the Lord angrily for his loss, King David owned up to his wrong doing and asked for forgiveness and again worshiped the Lord and stepped boldly back into the light for the darkness that was overtaking him was now overshadowed by God’s loving grace. Had David quickly grabbed his necessary armor when sin crouched at his door perhaps he might not have stumbled. I doubt it though for all of us stumble. We are human. Satan has been around tormenting souls for a long time. He even sought to tempt Jesus. He even tried to keep him from his purpose by weighing him down. Jesus though was without sin and dressed properly every moment of His life.  You are only fooling yourself if you think you are an exception when it comes to the ways of sin.

The evil one fights in various cruel ways. He sends negative thoughts to you and if you are not properly dressed, carrying your shield of faith at all times, you simply don’t possess the needed items to distinguish the fiery flames of self-doubt, jealousy, anger, bitterness, and worry just to name a few.  Even with being prepared the majority of the time, the evil one comes at you day and night. I wrote a blog that is featured on my home page about a time that the enemy was trying to convince me that I should stop writing for the Lord. He was mocking me and telling me that my writing was awful and that people saw me as a joke and even suggested that I destroy all I had written prior including my first published book. This took place as I was in the process of editing my sequel. Had I not been in the habit of beginning each day with a snippet of God’s word I would have been sucked under and who knows where I would be today. Instead, I knew I was under siege. An attack so forceful I told Mike, my significant other, what was taking and place and dashed to the kitchen to my special stash of brain empowering chocolate! The whole sequence of events just replayed in my head and admittedly I needed that dose of humor.

Today I could allow myself to be sucked under by negative thoughts. It would be easy in a way to lay in bed all day and bawl my eyes out over all that had taken place in the last 12 months. However that moment too has passed and today is a new day. I know with all my heart this very reason, the emotional heart throbbing, breath stealing pain that we all face at some point during our lifetime, is why we are also given the mandate to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. If he is our stronghold, nothing in this world will have the power to ultimately destroy us. Combine that with these words of wisdom:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ Matthew 6:34 NIV, and you will always be able at stand firmly on your faith.

The evil one wants to pull us into tomorrow while he also jerks us into the past. The purpose of pulling us into tomorrow and next week and next year is so that our focus is ahead of us. This little trick of his increases our anxiety about the future. So much so that many of us seek to have it told to us. What on earth are we in a rush for? Enjoy this moment. You only live it once!  The reason he drags us into the past is to highlight our failures. This way he can fill us with self-doubt and self ridicule. That my friends is a vicious battle to fight without the right armor. If you were to read the bible you would understand that Jesus, both the son of God and the Son of Man, also battled against Satan while he resided on earth in the flesh. Interestingly enough do you know what Jesus used to defeat Satan? He used ALL of his armor EVERY DAY. He taught his disciples to dress for battle. There are incredible examples of solutions to all of life’s problems within God’s Word. People are always reading self help books and searching for the perfect recipe for success. If they spent half that energy on their relationship with the Lord they’d be much more joyous.  If we got real honest that is what we are all searching for; A life without worries of any kind so that we can live peacefully and enjoy life. That my friends is what happens when you discover the truth. I ask you this simple question, “Do you know who you are in Christ?”

When you read my story from the beginning you see fully the battle being waged. You see how not being dressed for war can affect your life and the abundant ways you live it. We live in a fallen world. We must recognize this fact and then arm ourselves the best we can. I’ve fought a lot of battles. I guarantee I have something in common with you. Come find the message in my books that is meant for you. For only $10 you can own my first three True Life books in paperback, and in electronic format, the 3 book set is only $3.99. A link to both of these formats runs on the right of this blog. If your device doesn't show them, click on this link for paperback purchase and this link for kindle version. See if my story speaks to you. If it does, support my ministry while helping yourself gain an advantage in this Spiritual War!

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Be blessed and be a blessing.

Father, today I come to you singing your praises. How glorious it is to be your friend. While daily life deals me blows I am able to not only stand firm, I am also able to continue in my purpose for it is by your strength that I do all things. I thank you for my many blessings. I thank you for the bouts of laughter that help heal my heart. I thank you for sunny days and beautiful views. I thank you for those who sing your praises through music for their lyrics and words help me in so many ways. I love the way they strengthen me and help to renew my mind with words of wisdom and truth. Please help me find those who are so in need of your light. Put me in their path Father. Use me for what you created me for. Help me rock this thing! In Jesus name I pray.

If you’d like to know me a little better before subscribing to my blog, check out this video: Marriage, Motherhood & My Moral Meltdown

Wendy, Mom of Many, walks with God

© Wendy Glidden 2014