Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Unspoken singing their song … Call It Grace … poignantly singing of the power in all Christians to defeat the powers of hell … God’s grace!!
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Highlight Verse[s]: James 4:6-7 [NLT] …
6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, … “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [Prov. 3:34] … 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
… Our power to resist Satan is to surrender in humility to the grace of God.
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Highlight Passage [context]: James 4:5-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Jesus’s brother, defines the power in all Christians to defeat our sin nature … and that is, God’s grace.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Luke 4:1-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… If Jesus’ strategy to defeat Satan’s temptation was to use His living word, it’s good enough for me to use to defeat my enemies.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 1st John 4:4 [NLT] …
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
… The truth about the power within us to defeat sin and Satan.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, James Banks, used a legend from history to teach on the power to defeat Satan’s temptation in our lives. The ODB author wrote: They call it “The Devil’s Footprint.” It’s a foot-shaped impression in the granite on a hill beside a church in Ipswich, Massachusetts [see photo]. According to local legend the “footprint” happened one fall day in 1740, when the evangelist George Whitefield preached so powerfully that the devil leaped from the church steeple, landing on the rock on his way out of town.
Though it’s only a legend, the story calls to mind an encouraging truth from God’s Word. James 4:7 reminds us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” … God has given us the strength we need to stand against our adversary and the temptations in our lives.
That story of “The Devil’s Footprint” is likely a quaint legend to honor the powerful word preached by George Whitefield; but the reality today is that we all face Satan’s temptations every day as Christians, desiring to be victorious over sin and self. And very personally, I’ve learned that I have the power within me that I need to cause Satan to flee from my life; and here are the truths on which that power lies …
… 1. God’s power in me (i.e., His grace) is greater than Satan’s or that of my own flesh (see John 4:4).
… 2. When I retreat, humbly in surrender, to God’s word, Satan will flee from me (see Jesus’ strategy in Luke 4:1-13).
… 3. My power over self and Satan lies in humility and surrender to my Lord to receive God’s empowering grace [hear the song for today], … NEVER in prideful arrogance to stand boastfully against our enemies (see highlight passage above).
Hence, that’s why you find me here every morning, going into God’s word, … getting God’s word into me, … to sharpen the sword of God’s Spirit in me (see Eph. 6:17 on your own); humbly and trustingly relying on His truth to guide my life (see Prov. 3:5-6). And when I do surrender to His word, I know that I have a ready, sharpened, and practiced sword (i.e., God’s word) to do battle for the day.
So, today I go forth to do battle in Jesus’ Name and for His glory. … How about you? … Are you ready for battle today?
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I stand humbly prepared by your word, Lord, to do battle today. … 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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