July 13th
Read: 1 Peter 5:6-9; 1 John 2:16; Eph. 6:11-17; Psalm 55:16-19
Both Peter and John in the above passages have outlined the three areas wherein we battle daily: the flesh, the world, and finally the devil … that enemy of our souls who goes about like a roaring lion proclaiming to all that he is the king of the jungle. We need to get it straight. Satan is legally and effectually unable to harm a true child of God without his permission. He may attack. He may feint. He may try to surround us. He may tempt. He may lie to us. God allows him to do all these things so that we might learn to battle him and resist him. Satan is not king of the jungle any longer. He is a defeated enemy who slinks around and attacks from the blind spots in our lives. We must be alert to those fleshy areas of our own lives which draw us away from God and give our foe a toehold, a beachhead in our lives from which to infiltrate. We must learn not to deny the battlegrounds but to stand in the full armor provided for each of us in Ephesians 6:11-17 and then look to God for His deliverance.
As true children of God we have the promise of His continuous presence. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” is His promise. When He stands with us, how can we fear on any field of battle? Our prayers, our ongoing communication with Him become the activating key to God’s machinery of action, and not our prayers alone! Notice that David says, “There were many with me,” in Psalm 55. When the Church of Jesus Christ recognizes the need in the lives of others besides themselves, their intercessory prayers stand with our own, and our souls know the peace of trusting the outcome into our Father’s powerful hands. He will handle our enemies: the flesh, the world, and Satan. Is it any wonder that the Apostle John was able to say, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world”? (1 John 4:4).
When we fight the flesh we must do battle, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and the promise of victory . When Satan or the world comes against us, we must stand in full armor, prepared for defense and expecting God’s deliverance, trusting His timing and His authority over all things. Then and only then will we be prepared to do the great commission given us by our
Lord Jesus Christ, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.”
FORTRESS
I seek Your high tower when trouble is near;
When I look for Your power doth refuge appear.
When I meet temptation or need confidence,
You are my salvation, my strongest defense.
I find the strong rock-place that’s higher then I,
And there, by Your grace, is eternal supply. My sure habitation in adversity,
All my expectation is met, Lord, in Thee.
Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for Your presence and the prayers of Your people which allow my fort to be held.
