You choose~
There is an enemy that knows us better than we know ourselves, but once we know he exists we are armed to not allow him to hinder our choice!
In the world, we will have trials and tribulations(John 16:33), but Jesus has overcome the world, never lose sight of that! Never let yourself believe that you are walking through the world alone. If we choose the path the Lord has shown us in His love and His life then we are walking the same path as He! We are not alone!
Walking through trials and tribulations is not always an easy thing, but when He walks it with us it is easier than any other option that we may face.
Do not allow the enemy to deceive you into believing that you are not able to do this, you are! Because you are not alone! Do not allow the enemy to cause you to wear "grave" clothes through your days and life when you are battling for the Lord's glory. The Lord's promises and glory are reflected through your attitudes, words, and outlook. Do yours show your faith in what is happening in your life? Are you wearing a "self-pity" attitude or a "praise" attitude? I list "self-pity" here because it is the one the Lord has shown me is my battle, if it fits you then welcome to my world! If I allow that sneaky spirit to come into my thinking then it can turn anything around to be something to feel sorry for myself about. The tough thing is when you learn to let go of the smaller things and move past those, it starts throwing bigger things at you. In the bigger things you still have to learn to apply the same winning attitude, the Lord is with you, you can trust Him and walk victoriously through the big challenges in life also!
Pretty much the choice comes down to an easy one,
1. We have a trial or testing and we are being stretched, it may be beyond what we think we can endure.,
2. We choose to either trust and grow through the trial or feel sorry for ourselves and mope through our days. Through scripture, there are examples of God's people being stretched, corrected and then helped to go through the trials they faced. The Lord sent a ram for Abraham to sacrifice after Abraham had proven his faith in His willingness to obey a command that had to try and stretch his very core.
3. We may have to ask for help to actually change our attitude, but we have to make the "choice" to change it. The Lord has sent His Holy Spirit to us to help in areas we are not able to change by ourselves, but we have to remember there is an enemy that is whispering in our ear, trying to deceive us trying to cause us to choose wrong! He will hit us in our weak spots, our children, our bodies, our self-image, our spouses, our friendships, our employment, our finances, wherever you invest your ego is most likely a big target for him.
Praise is a weapon that we are given to battle the enemy, not just for singing at church on Sunday mornings, but in the still quiet of the nights also. If you aren't able to sing your own praise songs to the Lord find a good Christian CD and play it. I advise against the radio for times you are doing battle because there are a lot of "poor me" type of songs mixed in with the praise and they can really distract you from a praise attitude. Praise is not about thinking about yourself and your situation, it's about the Lord and how big and powerful, loving and merciful He is. Praise is all about God, not man. The "self-pity" spirit likes to distract you with whatever means is available if he can get you to think you are praising while you're really wallowing in self-pity then so much the better! Choose good, strong lyrics about what a mighty God you serve! Not about how wimpy you are and how He will chase all over the countryside to try to save you!
Once you know you are battling an enemy that has most likely been with you since very young childhood when you learned the words, "nobody loves me", think, who taught you those words? The enemy whispered those poisonous words in your ear! Eliminate them from your very spirit! The Lord loves you! If He stands with you and for you, who can stand against Him? You are a special person! You are a child of the One True King! What better standing can you have than that?
Now you know your enemy, and he will use any lie available for his disposal. and he has many lies available, he is the father of lies. His first victim was not actually Eve, it was the angels he convinced to follow him in an uprising against our Lord! For their loyalty to him, they have been cast out of heaven and are now part of his forces tormenting us. Our Lord was a victim, but He dealt with him quickly and showed us how, cast him out of our domain! Our lives are our domain, do not allow his presence in your life! Cast him out! Resist the devil and he will flee from you!
When he comes with tales of self-pity and woe, battle with praise! Have a go-to song that has lyrics that speak to your spirit, that praise our Lord!
"I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!"
or ~
"Waymaker, miracle workerPromise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
Waymaker, miracle worker
Promise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are!"
There are many songs that sing true words of the God we serve, just make sure the lyrics are about God and not about you. As you do choose to resist the enemy, he will flee from you, the Lord's word has told us this and we can count on it.
But we have to take the first step and choose to change our "grave clothes" for "praise clothes"! Let your praise be seen in your countenance, in your actions, in your attitudes. Let your life be a reflection of praise to your Father if it doesn't come easily at first, ask the Holy Spirit to help make the changes that reflect your "choice". He is here to teach, comfort and correct. He will step in where we ask for help.
