The Blessings of Battle
Devotion: Term 3, Week 7
When you commit your life to Christ, you switch sides. Now you’re up against three things. The world with its pressures, values, and agenda. The flesh, with its impulses and weaknesses. The devil, who is out to defeat you. But God would never allow us to get into a fight we couldn’t win, so let’s consider three blessings of battle.
1) It teaches you to live on high alert. It was when Samson slept that Delilah shaved his head and robbed him of his strength. It was when the servants slept that an enemy sowed weeds among the wheat and threatened their harvest.
2) It’s a sign of spiritual progress. When Israel entered the promised land, thirty-one kings and seven nations had to be conquered. Plus giants! They had to take it one city at a time and one giant at a time. When Jesus becomes Lord of your life, He will address the unsurrendered areas of your life, and He will deal with them one at a time. And the battle will be harder and last longer when it comes to your stubborn areas. You know which ones they are, right? Be encouraged. God won’t give up on you: ‘… He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;’ (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).
3) It’s an indication of your value to God. You are a seed capable of producing a harvest for God. That’s why Satan targets you. He is after the deposit of God that’s within you. So, keep fighting the good fight of faith, knowing that by God’s grace, you will win.
SoulFood: 1 Chr 23:21 – 26:19 Luke 13:18-35 Ps 119:57-64 Pro 21:7-9
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024
Other Devotions
Devotion – Are You a True Friend?
Two men were travelling down the road together when a bear appeared out of nowhere. Before the bear could spot them, one guy ran for a tree at the side of the road, climbed into its branches, and hid. The other man, who wasn’t as nimble as his tree-climbing companion, threw himself on the ground and pretended to be dead. The bear came up, sniffed all around him, and appeared to whisper something in his ear. The man had always heard that bears won’t touch a dead body, so he lay perfectly still and held his breath. Sure enough, the bear took him for a corpse and left. When the coast was clear, the man in the tree came down. Curious, he asked….
Devotion – You Can Change
Self-help books sometimes claim you can change your life in five or ten simple steps. It takes a lot more than that to make substantial and lasting changes in your life. First, change comes by drawing on a power greater than your own—God’s power. Paul writes: ‘I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:12-13 NKJV). Second, change comes from steady and determined hard work and effort. ‘And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart’ (Galatians 6:9 NKJV).
Devotion – Keep Praying About It
Many of our failures result from our failure to pray. As we examine our mistakes, we discover a forsaken prayer altar and an unopened Bible. James bottom-lines it: ‘… You do not have because you do not ask God’ (James 4:2 NIV).