If your life was a movie, would it be one of delight for the Heavenly Father or enjoyment for Satan? As a Christian perhaps yours is a drama filled with both, like mine.
Our lives are continually unfolding and being written one hour at a time. The Author and Perfector of our faith is at work and we are given responsibilities and choices within the script. As children of God our movie shows God reaching down from on high and rescuing us from our enemy who is too strong for us. God wins and salvation is provided! God then fills us with the His Holy Spirit as He brings us from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light! God doesn’t stop writing our stories at salvation. He continues to give us new lands to conquer and enjoy. That sounds like a movie worth watching!
In Deuteronomy 9:1-9 we can identify with God’s children, the Israelites as they are told to be confident of His presence and movement in their lives. We learn that God goes across the land and before His children. He rolls in like a consuming fire and destroys enemies that are too strong for us. Then it is up to His children to possess and occupy the land that He has given. It is also our, not God’s, responsibility to destroy any leftover enemies.
“But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly as the Lord has promised you.” Deuteronomy 9:3
What are some of your leftover enemies?
That question caused me to slow down and try to identify my own enemies. As a child of God I wonder if the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit is a good place to begin?
Love/hatred, joy/despair, peace/turmoil, patience/frustration, kindness/cruelty, goodness/dishonesty, faithfulness, /disloyalty, gentleness/harshness, self-control/thoughtless.
These leftover enemies seemingly pop out of nowhere and ambush me. They feel like little rodents that hid in the rocks when God’s consuming fire rolled in at the time of salvation. Are your leftover enemies ravaging the land of marriage, singleness, family, employment, retirement, ministry or finances?
Annihilate means: to cause to cease to exist, to destroy, to defeat, to nullify. How successful are you at defeating hatred, despair, turmoil, frustration, cruelty, dishonesty, disloyalty, harshness and thoughtless choices in the land you find yourself?
My leftover enemies typically ambush me at night and can linger for days. Recently, it has been despair, turmoil and frustration toward situations for those I love. Actually, I should be charged with treason! I not only let them linger but I feed and aid these enemies with worry and fear.
If we do not deal with our leftover enemies, I’m convinced we are providing entertainment for the enemy, Satan himself. It is as if he finds an easy chair and breaks out the popcorn as he anticipates our next response in life.
It is my job to deal with my leftover enemies. Focusing on the truth of scripture strengthens me and helps to expose and weaken their attacks. My goal is to identify them quicker than I did the last time they appeared and truly annihilate them.
God’s word is the sword of the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:17) I am using these verses in battle against my leftover enemies of despair, turmoil and frustration.
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as I trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Psalm 57:1,2 “…..I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. I cry out to our God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.” (and my loved ones)
So pickup your sword and battle well my friends! Refuse to be entertainment for the enemy. Kick that popcorn right out of his hands!
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
Lynn Jackson
CO-Founder
Thrive Leadership Foundation
journeylynn@gmail.com
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