Today, I found myself thinking about a conversation that I had with some of my girls by the sea in Montenegro. As we were talking, one of my friends brought up something that she was dealing with. She was saying that she felt like something from her past was being held over her. She had already put to death those earthly things, but it felt like they had been brought back to life in dreams that she had been having. As she continued to describe how she felt, I could feel the Spirit whispering to my soul:
“I am the Life-Giver. Only I can breathe life into something that is dead. If you have put to death your earthly nature, it is dead. Only I can breathe life into the lifeless. The Devil is a liar. What he is holding over her is just an illusion, just as skeleton.. As the Life-Giver, I would never breathe life back into the earthly nature. She is a new creation. She has already been forgiven. She has already put that to death. I have already breathed new life into her. Just choose to believe.”
I think what brought me back to this conversation was my team’s visit to the local prison here in Serenje. We clapped as the prisoners sang praises to our Lord and smiled as we saw the joy on some of their faces despite their situation.
But, as we were about to share the Word with them, a strong gust of wind came and kicked up the dust. It was completely unexpected and it left us all coughing and wiping our eyes. The dust was visible on our clothes and it reminded me of some of my days on the ballfield.
What really caught me off guard was the comments that the two pastors made about this sudden dusting:
“It’s the dust of the devil.”
“The devil is a liar.”
They had accredited this dusting to the Devil and it made me think:
What in our lives are we not giving the enemy credit for?
And while the brief dusting may not have upset or bothered anyone as much as my friends dreams had bothered her, I have come to believe that there is power in knowing the tactics of the enemy.
I think that it all starts with learning who our God is. When we learn who He is, we learn who our enemy isn’t.
One of my friends often reminds us that “Satan is not God’s equal opposite.” While Satan is opposite of God, he most certainly is not equal in power.
This illustration comes to fruition with the image of a lion.
Our God is referred to as the Lion of Judah.
“one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory.” Revelation 5:5
But the enemy is also referenced as a lion:
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
Even scripture says that the devil is like a lion. He is posing as a lion. But, our God is the Lion of Judah and He has already won the victory.
The enemy is just parading around lion-like in an attempt to be like God. And while he holds things up in front of us, we know that he is not the life-giver.
This reminds me of a song from my childhood:
The devil is a sly, old fox
If I could catch him I’d put him in a box
Lock the door and throw away the key
For all the dirty tricks he played on me
So friends, the devil ain’t no lion. He’s a liar.
Only God can breathe life into the lifeless, so don’t let the enemy trick you by holding a skeleton over you today.
Until next time,
Shelby
Here is a sermon that I highly recommend. I came across it a couple months ago and it’s in regards to the same topic from today’s blog.
Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat At Your Table – Louie Giglio
Also, here are a few truth packed songs for you to jam to today:
Belong to You (Enemy Can’t) – Iron Bell Music
Fighting For Us – Michael Farren
Surrounded (Fight My Battles) – Michael W. Smith
This one is super simple but it is a declaration. Also, it’s super catchy.
