Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “battles

Standing With US

As the people of God assemble today may Holy Spirit bring conviction that He is surely standing with them and they are not in the battle by themselves. And, by the enablement of Holy Spirit, may they stand with one another in the battles that try to take the brethren down and put them out of the good fight of faith.  2Tim.4:16-18a,TPT—“At first there was no one I could count on to faithfully stand with me—they all ran off and abandoned me—but don’t hold this against them. 17 For in spite of this, my Lord himself stood with me, empowering me to complete my ministry of preaching to all the non-Jewish nations so they all could hear the message and be delivered from the mouth of the lion!  18 And my Lord will continue to deliver me…”


War-Torn Times

Kathy—Days of Elijah were war-torn times with fresh battles continually breaking out. Several days into the battle against lack and starvation, another battle broke out in the widow’s life.  Her son got sick and kept getting worse until finally he died (1K.17:17).  The woman shouted at Elijah, “What have I done to you? I thought you were God’s prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I’ve sinned against God?”  War has a way of bringing the struggles of a warrior’s heart to the surface.  Not only was she battling for survival and the life of her son, an old enemy showed up too.  Condemnation reared its ugly head and pushed the war-torn woman to the edge of hopelessness, anguish and anger that had her shouting at the prophet.  Hopelessness can smother the fight in us and usually leads to a pit of self-examination and despair.  The widow went there and decided that losing her son was due to her past sins.  That thinking would have had her throwing up her hands and quitting . . . BUT GOD.


New Year and Welcomed Changes

Free SparklerKathy—If you are battle-weary, I believe the new year will bring welcomed changes.  I’m not implying battles will stop suddenly and everybody goes on vacation.  I’m saying many long-term battles will end because you finally win. “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around” (MSG, Prov. 13:12).  I expect some sudden good breaks in the year to come.