Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of images from t Bebo Norman singing … I Will Lift My Eyes, poignantly praying what each of us who know Christ as Lord/Savior should pray … to take the high ground of prayer when we’re down in life.
Highlight Passage: Mark 14:38… [NKJV] …
38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
… Jesus on how to avoid temptation in spiritual warfare …
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Highlight Context … Mark 14:32-42 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus taking the high ground of prayer in His battle with Satan in the Garden.
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Reference Passage #1 … Psalm 121:1, 123:1 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Songs of ascent to the high grounds where God resides
Reference Passage #2 … Ephesians 6:13-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul in describing our armament and strategies for spiritual warfare, gives us the #1 battle strategy in verse 18 … taking the high ground of prayer.
Reference Passage #3 … 1st Peter 5:8 [NKJV] …
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
… Peter knows that we all … ALWAYS … are in a battle with our arch enemy.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Keila Ochoa, a Mexican evangelist, used a story of war to illustrate our need to be vigilant in the daily battles of spiritual warfare. She wrote: From my window I can see a 1,700-meter hill called the Cerro del Borrego or “Hill of the Sheep.” In 1862, the French army invaded Mexico. While the enemy camped in the central park of Orizaba, the Mexican army established its position at the top of the hill. However, the Mexican general neglected to guard access to the top. While the Mexican troops were sleeping, the French attacked and killed 2,000 of them.
Would any of my readers here deny that we, … Christians, … are in a constant spiritual battle, which requires daily and disciplined vigilance to do battle against our spiritual enemies? [See 1st Peter 5:8] And our enemies, … Satan, the world, and our own flesh, … are powerful, aren’t they? Do I sense an “AMEN!” of agreement?
Well, with that agreement, what are we to do to walk in victory? Well, Jesus, when He was battling His arch enemy in the Garden of Gethsemane, gave us a strong clue as to a primary battle strategy. Above in the highlight passage from Mark 14, Jesus exhorted an inner group of Disciples to watch and pray with vigilance lest they fall to the enemy. And the Apostle Paul in exhorting Christians as to how to do battle (see Eph. 6:13-18) ended His teaching by emphasizing the need for us to take/hold the high ground of prayer in battle.
And that reminder and exhortation was my primary take-away from today’s ODB … that we simply must do what is depicted in today’s photo and song … to take the high ground in battle with prayer, lifting our eyes to God daily, … even momentarily, … and then holding that high ground with an attitude of surrender and thankfulness (see Phil. 4:6-7).
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … Every day here, Lord, I lift my eyes to You for help and strength for battle. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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