Picture this scenario:  You’re really down—flat on your face, tired, discouraged, looking up to see bottom.  You feel the enemy’s hot breath on your neck as he whispers:
 

• You’ll never break that habit—as soon as you try, you’ll go out and do it again.
• You’ll never make it through this situation—it’s hopeless.
• God doesn’t care—if God really loved you, He would never have let this happen.
• God has forgotten you—you’re on your own.
• You’re “toast.”

 
Yes, the enemy of your soul is firing flaming arrows at you, just when you’re the weakest.  And they hurt!  What are you going to do?

God has given us two weapons:  a shield and a sword.  Paul talks about them.  He says we have “weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7).  He tells us to “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  Then he says to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16-17).

Presuming that you are right-handed, that means you have the shield of faith in your left hand and the sword of God’s Word in your right hand.  One is a weapon of defense and the other a weapon of attack.
The enemy will throw flaming barbs in your direction; you can count on it.  But if you have the shield of faith, you can fend off the attack, and those darts won’t reach your vital spiritual organs.  In turn, you can attack with the Word of God—and your enemy is no match for God.

So, the next time you are in a spiritual battle, remember you have two powerful weapons—the shield of faith and the sword, the Word of God.  These “weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world,” says Paul.  “On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
 
The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect (me) from the evil one.
 Thessalonians 3:3 
 
Claim that promise today when you go out to do battle!
 
(Author, Darlene Sala)
Blessings,
Lisa Beretz, 518-330-9277

On a stormy day, a woman climbed the Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps with two experienced guides.  As they neared the peak, exhilarated by the view before her, the woman sprang forward and was almost blown away by a gust of wind. One of the guides caught her and pulled her down, saying, "On your knees, madam!  You are safe here only on your knees."
We typically regard "on our knees" as the standard position for prayer, but talking to God isn't limited to a certain position.  He can hear us, regardless.

Three Christian women were talking once about the "best" position for prayer.  One argued the importance of holding one's hands together and pointing them upward.  The second advocated stretching out on the floor.  The third thought standing was better than kneeling.  As they talked, a telephone repairman listened as he worked on a nearby phone system.  Finally, he could contain himself any longer and interjected, "I have found that the most powerful prayer I ever made was while I was dangling upside down from a power pole, suspended 40 feet above the ground."

Pray while driving in your car (with your eyes open, of course).  Pray while cleaning your house.  Pray while working in your office.  And yes, pray while kneeling in your quiet place.  The important thing is not your position of prayer, but the fact that you do pray!  Because when you do, God hears you.
 
Blessings,
Lisa Beretz, 518-330-9277