WRESTLING WITH THE ENEMY

"For we wrestle not

against flesh and blood,

but against principalities,

against powers,

against the rulers

of the darkness

of this world,

against

spiritual wickedness

in high places."

~ Ephesians 6:12 ~

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Wrestling has been a part of our lives for a long, long time. From childhood to adults, we've been exposed to the ways of wrestling.

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Whether mentally or physically, most stress-survivors are indeed familiar when it comes to "wrestling with the enemy."

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Even when we carefully steer clear of drama and discord, we can still get caught in silly situations that lead to stress. In many instances, before we even realize what's happening, we're smack-dab-in-the-middle of a wrestling match.

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Many of us admit to wrestling in physical altercations with others; tossing and turning night after night with emotional issues; and, surely, battling in our own mind.

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When wrestling with the enemy in whatever form or fashion, stress-survivors must realize that our wrestling is in vain. And that it's time to stop it. How?

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First, we do as James 4:7 suggests: We submit ourselves to God. This is so essential, because it is God's supernatural power that causes our wrestling to cease.

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Secondly, also according to James: We resist the devil, and he will flee. Yes, we turn away from the enemy. Instead of wrestling--and stressing--with our enemies, we pray them away.

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BUT, to ensure victory, we must take up permanent residence with God. For God has ALL power to defeat ALL our enemies.

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Peace I leave with you . . .

AFTER AWHILE

"Trusting in the Lord," they say, "will pay off after awhile."

And we Christians say we agree.

But what happens when "after awhile" lingers on and on--for days? And weeks? And months? And even years?

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What happens when we've "Kept a good spirit" and "Prayed both night and day" and "Cried our pillows wet with tears" and "Tied a knot in the end of our rope and held on" . . . yet, we're stressing, waiting on "after awhile?"

Few can identify with such situations, as stress-survivors can. Whether we've been there--done that or dealing with despair right now, we know the terrible stresses that results when the Lord doesn't come through when we want Him to.

Caught up in a web of endless stress, we tend to think all sorts of things. And as most stress-survivors can testify, our feeble minds don't amount to much when our lives are topsy-turvy with stress.

Once we've tortured our brain over and over again, we realize that we can't come up with a doable solution. So what do we do?

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We must learn how to keep trusting in the Lord . . . Anyhow.

If we intend to wade through the deep waters of disappointment and despair--and not drown, WE MUST KEEP TRUSTING IN THE LORD.

Peace I leave with you . . .

SPINNING OUR WHEELS

"God is my strength and power: and He maketh my way perfect.

2 Samuel 22:33 KJV

At the present time, would we say that our lives are, "Just Great," "A Little Shaky," "Headed Down Hill," or "Completely out of Control?"

We all can agree that we are prone to agitation, when our lives take an unexpected turn and veer from the path of peace and productivity.

More often than not, stress characterizes our lives as we witness things around us spiral out of control. Whether it's a personal or professional matter, when we're burdened by negative and nonsense situations--we stress.

Regardless of what we attempt to do or how diligently we to do it, we seem to be defeated. Absolutely powerless. Eventually, we believe that we're just going around and around in circles, spinning our wheels and never getting anywhere.

In her extraordinary book, "Commanding Your Morning," Cindy Trimm shares, "You must realize that the Word of God has the power to realign anything that is misaligned, especially faulty mind-sets, belief systems, ideologies, traditions, and doctrines of deception that lie and exalt themselves above the will of God for your life."

Until we embrace the essence of what Cindy shares, we won't witness lasting change.

Until we align our hearts and minds with the Word of God, we can't receive the power we need to stop spinning the wheels that govern our stressful lives.

Peace I leave with you . . .

IMITATION OF LIFE

". . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it

more abundantly."

John 10:10 KJV

In Tyler Perry's hit movie, "The Family That Preys," to her best friend Alice Evans, filthy-rich Charlotte Cartwright poses a sassy--but serious--question: "Are you living or just existing?"

Do we dare ask ourselves this kind of question? Stress-survivors, more so than any other class of people, are often guilty of routinely "existing."

Because we become so boggled in stress and anxiety and drama, we tend to forget that life can be peaceful . . . That life does possess rich rewards.

Let's think for a moment: Why do so many of us resign to stressful and meaningless lifestyles? Does it make any sense to continually struggle and stress with less-than God's best?

Struggling and striving for whatever the reason may be, undoubtedly, elevates our stress.

Jesus reminds us that real life--abundant life--comes from Him. It is His presence in our lives that makes the difference between imitation of life and abundant living.

Apart from Jesus, we cannot obtain true increase and/or peace. And until we embrace His awesome Being and accept the abundance He came to give, it is impossible to leave all our imitations behind.

Peace I leave with you . . .