He's got it out for you.

"In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by the evil one." Eph. 6:16

He's got you in his cross hairs. How easily we forget this. Maybe we even find it hard to believe. Hard to feel like I'm even that important, that he wants to take me-lil' old me who is only one person and don't account fer much when you look at the world as a whole-out of the picture. Off the playing field, down with a fiery wound that does deep burning damage.

Really?!? Really Satan? Was I THAT big of a deal that you HAD to take me down?

Hard to imagine... unless we really think about what the word of God says about it. We might piece together a different picture.
The God of the universe goes to great trouble to express to us how each one of us- down to the hairs on our head (Matt 10:30) is VERY IMPORTANT to Him. He cares for us individually. He loves us individually. He prizes each and every single one of his children, and encourages intimate relationships with each one, even lil' old me. Luke 15 goes on and on, through several examples (first a sheep, then a coin, then a man) about how important the ONE individual is. Wouldn't God's immortal enemy fight with a method that matches his opponent's strategy? Of course Satan cares about the individual- because God does.
One of Satan's tactics is to get us to stop believing this. "You're not important" he'll whisper to us. "In the span of things, you're nothing, you don't matter" he convincingly coaxes. Here's a plummy little twist- he'll persecute us, and use his own wiles as an example of how God 'doesn't' care. "If he really loves you, how can he let this happen?" We can enter a spiral where we begin to doubt God's goodness and character.

"One day maybe he'll hold out his hands and say 'look at these hands- do these look like the hands of a God who doesn't care? All those times you wondered if I cared, do you have any doubts now?" -Randy Alcorn

Our God cares so much, that he gives us the tools to defend ourselves and fight back. In Ephesians there's a whole list of things. The defense for the fiery arrows of the enemy is Faith. Believe with strong conviction, loyalty and trust that the Lord our God DOES care. He DOES work in my life. He IS my defense and my shelter. The Holy spirit my comforter. The Son my savior and redeemer. Remember God is who he says he is- he goes to GREAT lengths to show us.
AND (from Eph 6) there are more tools:
Truth.
God's righteousness- note, not our own righteousness (which is as rags) but the perfect righteousness of God.
the Gospel of Peace- remind yourself about the peace we have in the gospel! Christ's redeeming power because of his death in our stead, it's no little thing folks. (How often we trivialize this!)
Salvation- it transforms us. We ARE saved. Forever! Live like it, in gratitude and worship.
The WORD of GOD- GET INTO THE WORD. Hide it in your heart, treasure it. Digest it and live it.
It's so important to be ready with these tools at all times. The scripture emphasizes over and over again, be ready for attack! Christ told us to expect it. (Matt 10) It's never gonna be a picnic. You're either gaining ground, or losing ground- there is no treading water. It's either sink or swim. Let's live in power and strength, liberated by walking in our God's way, worshiping in Spirit and Truth.

GRRRRRRR - go get em!

spotlight on courage, part 2

I had identified my problem: I wasn't in the word of God.
The Solution: Start reading the Bible.
Hurdles: Guilt... the guilt that I was presenting myself to the world as a Christian who didn't really know how to stand on her own two feet.
There was also the fact that when I would read my Bible on my own, I felt like I was missing something-missing alot actually. There were things that I simply assumed I would never understand. That frustrated me.
So what was my solution?
Prayer. It was so simple, it felt foolish. Praying to the Lord to help me understand what I was reading. Praying that something would change and I would understand what was going on. So I committed my heart to praying honestly for understanding. I also had a willing spirit... to do whatever work I needed to do to get to that place... truly open to whatever the Lord led me to.
Next came the step of faith: committing to discipline myself to read regularly, expecting results.
These were the necessary inner changes that prompted behavioral changes.
And God met me.
As I read, I would find that things became more and more clear, and easier to understand. My entire walk was truly revolutionized. The confidence in the God I serve grew exponentially. The confidence that I could know God's direct will for my life, for humanity, his plan for salvation... the answers to SO many questions I struggled with, were all there! It was like I was finally reading the manual to life.
I was astonished. I knew it was an answer to prayer.

Spotlight on Courage

K. I could pretty much be the poster child for the growing up Christian. Raised by Christian parents-check. Homeschooled for early education-check. Private Christian Education-check. Involved in many church functions, ministries, activities, extra curriculars-check. Was a "good kid" who hung out with other "good kids". And we really were good actually...
Being inundated with the Christianeese you find in all these places, I knew the jargon and the theological terms, and how to use them. I could sing on any worship team and deliver any speech (I once gave an abstinence talk for extra credit) and think nothing of it- in front of a primarily Christian audience.
Inside, hidden away was something I considered a shameful secret: I was a coward. Whenever people would go out street witnessing, I would make some excuse and opt out. When it came time to move out of my pond and transition to a bigger school - public college, there was a small part of me that always remained frightened. The idea of getting into a discussion about my Christianity, and my beliefs put me in a cold sweat.
I was fearful of looking foolish: of saying something that was unsound and therefore ridiculous. Fearful I wouldn't know the answer to the questions or objections of a skeptic. And to my deepest shame, there was a part of me that was nervous that if I truly listened without being armored up, I might be shaken in my own faith.
This fear stemmed from something quite simple actually- I lacked regular scripture in my diet.





The environment that spoon fed me the truth of who God was, and how to look at things with a Biblical perspective had not done something quite vital-I had not been motivated to read the Bible on my own. In fact, I was so burnt out by everything I was doing for necessity in school, church, ministry... I viewed personal Bible reading as a chore that I didn't have the will to complete. I felt that my environment gave me enough-more than.
I needed a change.
Truth be told, I always knew I needed one.
But what? How?