WEEK 9: JANUARY 21 - 27

Thursday, January 21

Read Matthew 8:23-27 (Matthew is the first book of the New Testament)

Ok. Do me a favor and place yourself in this situation! It’s crazy. You are in a boat (not a cruise ship, but a fishing boat… think small) in the middle of the open sea. After a few hours of being on this boat, you are far from land, and the sky starts to rumble. The waves become, compared to your boat, giants causing you freak out. I mean you’d freak out, wouldn’t you? I know I would! I’d immediately go to someone who knew what they were doing and scream for help! Can you imagine reaching that person and find that they were sleeping through the big storm? I’d shake, I’d poke, and I’d do anything and everything to wake them up.

Do you ever feel like this sometimes? Do you ever feel like you’re screaming and begging for help out from the storm going on around you? Don’t you just want to go on a trip without waves crashing on you? It feels like a battle sometimes, doesn’t it?

As we continue to dig deeper into a deeper knowledge of this war over our hearts, let us consider 1 John 4:4. “… for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” This is an amazing truth that we have to cling to as our safety! In the moments when the disciples were on that boat, the one who was in the boat with them was the one who could calm the sea. Just like that, in our lives of confusion and storms, we have that same Savior living INSIDE of us against the schemes of the evil one (aka big waves, lightning, threats of death, etc).

Monday, January 25

Read Luke 15:11-32 (Luke is after Mark and before John in the New Testament)

Let’s focus on the part of the story when the younger son messed up first. Let’s name him Sammy. Sammy has just lost everything he owns. He has no place to go, nowhere to sleep, no friends to help him out. He’s borrowed money from people who now want nothing to do with him, and he’s flat out broke. Sammy decides the only place to go is to beg for a job from his dad who he previously insulted and abandoned. Can you imagine?!? The enemy was definitely fighting for Sammy’s heart. There was a battle being fought for who Sammy would give the glory to. Wouldn’t you agree? Look through the “agreement” statements below. Write down the one(s) that you believe Sammy has already agreed to so far? And what are some agreements that he may come in contact with in returning to his dad?

“It’s just…”

“No one will know if I…”

“Did God really say…”

“If only I…”

“I can’t stop…”

“Wow, you really…”

“You’re just…”

Now, place a check next to the ones that you’ve said before. Maybe you’re saying them now in a certain situation? There are many moments in my life where I’ve been the younger son. I’ve listened to some of these agreement statements and I’ve agreed with the enemy, believing them to be true, wishing for them to be true… Grace abounds! God picks us up and severs the agreement as soon as we RETURN to Him. But, by returning to him, it doesn’t mean that the lies of the enemy stop. They will be there. But, now we have the knowledge to speak truth the lies. We have victory in the cross of Jesus! Spend some time praising God that those statements you check are no longer yours to carry, but that you believe in His truth now.

Tuesday, January 25, 2010

Let us be prepared for EACH battle by looking to Scripture.

Read Acts 16:16-24

Paul and Silas are in the slammer. Not only that, but they were falsely accused, stripped, and beaten with a rod. And all because they longed for people to know the God who saves! This would be an extremely difficult thing to swallow, would it not? What if you were just walking down the hallway in your school and out of nowhere a group of teachers grab you, take off your clothes in front of everyone and just start throwing punches? There is a police officer nearby that you believe will surely come and take over at some point, however you find out that he is the one giving the orders!

Let’s again do what we did yesterday with the “agreement” statements. It is good to be on our defense and see places in Scripture where these moments with the enemy could have occurred. Looking at the below statements, right down the statements that Satan could have and probably did throw at Paul and Silas in this moment?

“It’s just…”

“No one will know if I…”

“Did God really say…”

“If only I…”

“I can’t stop…”

“Wow, you really…”

“You’re just…”

There are many agreements here that many of us would be thinking if we were in the same situation. Do you ever feel falsely accused? Do you feel like you’ve been beaten up all day for no reason? What are some sentences that the enemy says to you in those moments?

Read Acts 16:25

“…Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…”

Wow. They were praying and singing hymns to GOD! They did not give in to the easily heard lies and defeated thoughts at that moment. Instead, they spent their first few moments in prison praising God. Spend some time right now doing just that. And ask Him to keep you aware of the war around you so that you may respond in the same way that Paul and Silas responded.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Read Number 13:25-30 (Numbers is after Leviticus and before Deuteronomy in the Old Testament)

Why do you think that God wanted the Israelites to go and spy out the land? Part of me is thinking that God already knew what was in the land, so what was the point? But, after everything that we’ve been talking about with the battle that we have on us daily, it kinda makes sense to know the person you are facing before the battle actually happens. In a football game, the teams are usually spending time looking at the tapes of the other teams. They watch the defense and they see their weaknesses and their strengths, and then they go out and they practice ways where they can be better than the opposing team.

We should be doing this exact thing in our daily lives. We should be looking at ways of the past and seeing how the enemy works and how he has lied to us. From what Rob talked about last week, we know that the enemy’s native tongue is lying and he can’t speak truth. Therefore, we should not believe ANYTHING he says. How do we know when a truth is a truth and a lie is a lie? We look in God’s Word! It is our source of TRUTH.

Spend some time asking the Lord to reveal to you ways in the past where the enemy has fed you a lie. Tell him that you want to be prepared for what is coming up in your life so that you won’t believe those lies anymore! Let us be as the 12 spies were in Canaan. May we be ready for the battles we have ahead of us.

“But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to OVERCOME it.” Numbers 13: 30