Power


 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7  

For some reason, don’t ask me, I couldn’t possibly tell you, I decided to do a little renovation project. Due to the fact that it involves a fairly large piece of furniture and some pretty noxious smells, I’m doing it outside on our porch.

          When I first went out there this morning, I had the lovely accompaniment of bird songs. I had my music playing and the birds seem to just blend in with that, so precious. The second round was the same but on my third time out there a crow decided to throw a party. This may or may not be fact, but it appears that the way a crow summons his buddies is to squawk as loudly as possibly. LOUD! First it startled me, then it irritated me. “Shut up!” I yelled at it, loud enough for my neighbor to turn his head. Oops, not you sir, not you. No, I was not yelling at my neighbor, I was yelling at the ugly, disturbing sounds of that crow. That crow, which had jarred my mind away from the beautiful praise song that was playing….. Oh!

          That’s when God really got my attention. You see, the crow did shut up. Granted several of his little crow friends arrived on the scene shortly after but there was no more squawking. Two little words, spoken loudly and with authority that I don’t really have, I mean, I don’t control crows, made the awful distraction stop. Message received Lord.

          I need to speak to the devil that way. When he intrudes on my thoughts, my faithful, joyful, God-honoring thoughts, I need to say, “Shut up!” Then redirect my thoughts and place them right back on God.

          In fairness, that crow and his buddies have far more right to be in my yard than Satan has to be in my head.  Yes, the crow was annoying but he can’t hurt me. Satan can do huge damage in a very short amount of time with minimal effort on his part, if I let him. Read that again. If. I. Let. Him. NO! Shut up!

          I’m happy to report that on my next foray to the porch, (this is a spray, wait, spray, wait, project) our very majestic hawk was meandering in the yard, quietly, as is his nature. My music played, I was able to keep my mind set on Jesus, pray that I am not totally ruining this lovely piece of furniture and praise Him for reminding that where the enemy is concerned, I do have power, the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not Really god, where are you?

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning to noon.”Baal answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said, “Surely he is a god! Perhaps his is deep in thought, or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18:26b-27 Those who know me would be quick to tell you that I am a bit sarcastic. It’s a quality that I have passed on to my children and even some of my grandchildren. Some days I feel a little guilty. Is that really a quality that God wants to see in me? Certainly that cannot be my go to attitude but there are times that it comes in quite nicely. This morning, reading a totally unrelated verse, I was reminded of this account in the first book of Kings. (It begins at verse 16 and continues to the end of the chapter. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t and it if you have reread it. It’s great!) In this p
Read more

My Offering

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also love you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2 Standing in my kitchen, I was praying that what I was putting together for a friend would convey what I want her to know, that I so deeply appreciate her. As my mind spun around what can I add? What would she really like? Is this enough? I had to laugh. That is so often my prayer, “Lord, I don’t have anything to give. I don’t give enough. What can I possibly do?” and on, and on and…. Well, you get it, I’m sure. May I just say, GOD IS GOOD! (Yes, I know the caps mean I’m shouting. Yes, I am shouting!) While I was preparing my “gift” I was thinking about how often I feel that I don’t do enough, for friends, for family, for my hubby and certainly for God. I had music playing, another pretty typical occurrence. The Third Day song, “Offering” started to play and I started singing along.
Read more

God Only Knows

    Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again; Rejoice! Let you gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7   Anyone who knows me, know that I am very skeptical of anything that presents itself as a formula to get closer to God. It’s as if we have to follow certain steps in a certain order to get His attention or receive His mercy. I am much more an advocate of crying out from the naked, transparent depths of my heart. Trusting that the God who created me and loves me is not checking the order of my steps as I run to Him.           Today I’m going a little bit of a sidestep from that. This morning while praying three phrases came to my mind and heart and immediately I knew they weren’t just for me. Som
Read more