Weapons of Resistance

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, one who must be watched and guarded against. Faith, humble prayers and heavenly wisdom are are our weapons of resistance.

Man without Jesus Christ is not capable of standing against the powers that seek to devour and destroy him. In the darkness of the flesh, we are unable to see that we are being lead into lives that will never be totally satisfying. We cannot see that our lives are much less than they could be, much less than they should be.

But when the light of Jesus Christ comes into our lives, we see how life can be, how life should be, how our lives are renewed in the spirit of Our Savior. We come to recognize that the renewal of our minds and our spirits is only available to us through our submission to Our Savior. We come to discover that the dominating power of the world, our flesh and Satan himself are defeated through the victory that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross.

Let us rightfully proclaim our victory over the enemy. Let us boldly stand against the one who is trying to devour and destroy us. Let us fearlessly claim what Jesus provided for us on the Cross.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to come to You to gain the armor that we need to defend ourselves from the enemy who comes to defeat us. We thank You for the weapon of prayer, the sword of Your Holy Word and the shield of faith. We rejoice in knowing that the victory is ours because Your Son, Jesus, claimed it for us forever when He died on the Cross for our sins. We humbly come before You, Lord, to proclaim that we are laying aside our own strength so that we may dwell in the protection of Your shadow. We ask all these things in the name of our Living Shield, Jesus Christ.

The Comfort That is Found Nowhere Else

Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

At some level, we all take on the heavy burdens of this world. We all seek to escape from the stress filled grind that most of us experience in some form from our day to day activities. Jesus invites all of us who labor and are carrying burdens to come to Him. He promises that He will provide us with the rest that we need.

But be assured that “I will give you rest” does not mean “I will hold your hand while you lay in bed languishing in your burdens.” It means, “I will pull you out of the darkened state that you are in. I will pull you from the oppression of the enemy. I will give you the spirit of a new life, but I expect you to let go of your old life.”

Why do we insist on hanging on to the old things that do nothing but hinder our progress toward finding the rest that is promised to us? Why do we accept anything less than the full measure that God has set aside for us? It is all about our commitment. When we come to Jesus, we are committing to leave everything of this world behind in exchange for a personal relationship with Our Savior.

Let us abandon the callings of our flesh as we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and allow His Spirit to guide all that we do. Let us take victory over all of our trials as we live in submission to Our Savior. Let us receive the peace that He promises us as we respond to His command, “Come to Me.”

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing a refuge for us – a place where we can be free from the burdens that the world tries to lay on us. We praise You for providing the comfort that we can find nowhere else except through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus. May we be drawn by the Holy Spirit to respond to the words of promise, “Come unto me.” May we learn to live our lives in the vitality and might that You offer us in Christ. We ask all these things in the name of the One who provides our comfort, Jesus Christ.