Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008

TWG - April 23, 2008

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TWG - April 23, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Genesis 36; Ezekiel 41:13-26; Matthew 3

Today is April 23, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. You are part of a devotional community where we put Christ first and our commitment is to spend time with each other and Time with God every day.

Yesterday was another day, hard at work in the office. I edited a chapter in the children’s book I intend to publish called “Stories and Parables.” I began work on our Radio Broadcast. John called about EE. He is going to be gone this week, so I will be teaching. Susan came into the office to work on secretarial things. I stopped by to see Evie. I spoke to Ken about softball. That should begin soon. Later in the day I ran home to eat and then both of us went to Jay and Sherry’s open house for their bed and breakfast at the CH Bailey House. The place is beautiful. You can check it out at http://www.chbaileyhouse.com/ and if you are in the area, you can even make reservations on line. I put a picture of Susan and Jay on the blog at www.timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Isn’t that a sweet picture? After the open house, I ran to “12” – our men’s meeting at Church. We had a great time of fellowship, fun and prayer.

This week’s theme verse is Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

“The Devil made me do it!” Remember that line from Flip Wilson? The Devil is a powerful fellow, but I doubt he made you do it. As a Christian, he has no authority to make you do anything. But he does have numerous schemes up his sleeve that are intended to weaken your resolve and make you cooperate with the enemy. One of his favorites is deception. He is the father of lies. If he can trick you into believing false ideas, he can watch you destroy yourself. Another highly touted scheme is temptation. He knows your weaknesses and he exploits them. He regularly places temptation in front of you to render you ineffective. A third plot involves frightening. He wants to fill you full of anxiety, fear and depression to render you useless. He loves a good pity party! There’s not one of them he doesn’t celebrate. Then there is the attack of doubt. This is a biggie. If he can get you to doubt God and His word, you will become unstable and unsure of everything. Add to the list of schemes “distraction.” Satan wants you to focus on anything other than your relationship with God. He distracts us with amusements, work and whatever will make us apathetic to God. The next temptation on the list is busyness. He sends as many of his lieutenants your way as possible to fill your plate that your list extends beyond your time and ability to perform. We get so busy with all the activities of life that we don’t make time for God and His Word. That leaves us empty. Even busyness about the King’s business is no excuse for neglecting the King! That goes hand in hand with his final design; “harassment.” He harries us and hounds us until we are inattentive and fatigued. He wants to wear us out. He wants us so exhausted emotionally and physically that we don’t have time to commune with God. These are the seven major strategies of the enemy. Now that you have identified them, you need to counter each one as it comes.

Dear Father, please protect me from the onslaught of the enemy. Keep me aware of his schemes. I do not want to fall prey to them. Some of them are so ingrained in my life that I was not even aware that it was the enemy. I thought it was Just the way I was made. Now, I rebuke those threats in Jesus name and ask for the freedom that comes in Chirst.

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