Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from Zach Williams singing … Fear Is A Liar … powerfully singing of how we, as Christians, need not fear the monsters we perceive in this world … that we have the power of God’s Spirit in us to overcome any forces in this world.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 4:10-11 [ESV] ... 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.
… Jesus, the living Word, dispels the Devil with truth from God’s word.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 4:1-11 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… Tempted in the wilderness, Satan flees before the truth from the living Word, … Jesus.
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Reference Passage : … Isaiah 41:10 [ESV] … 10 … fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
… God’s promise is to lift us up when we need His strength to overcome our own weakness or fears.
Reference Passage : … John 16:33 [ESV] … 33 I have said these things to you [Jesus’ disciples], that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
… Jesus promised His disciples (and us) that we need not fear the world because HE had overcome all the forces of the world.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul learned from Christ that he need not fear anything because of God’s grace ministering to him (and us).
Reference Passage : … 2 Timothy 1:7 [ESV] … 7 … for God gave us a spirit NOT of fear but of power and love and self-control.
… When we sense a spirit of fear in our souls, that cannot come from God.
Reference Passage : … 1 John 4:3-4 … USE THIS LINK [ESV] …
… We need not fear the world - or even Satan - because the Spirit in us is so much greater than the spirits who are in the world.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David H Roper, uses a personal story of involving fear of a bear and the reality of a mouse to show that we Christians need not fear our circumstances, having the power of God in us. … The ODB author wrote: Several years ago my sons and I spent a few days camping in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Northern Idaho. It’s grizzly bear habitat, but we carried bear spray, kept our campsites clean, and anticipated no major grizzly encounters.
One evening, in the middle of the night, I heard Randy scramble around trying to get out of his sleeping bag. I grabbed my flashlight and turned it on, expecting to see him in the clutches of an enraged grizzly.
There, sitting upright on its haunches and waving its paws in the air was a field mouse about 4 inches tall. It had Randy’s cap firmly clenched in its teeth. The little creature had tugged and tugged until he pulled Randy’s cap from his head. As I laughed, the mouse dropped the cap and scampered away. We crawled back into our sleeping bags. I, however, fully adrenalized, couldn’t get back to sleep and thought about another predator—the devil.
It’s easy to experience fears when we’re constantly seeing or experiencing attacks from Satan or the world; and so often we feel too weak to take on these worldly or other-worldly forces. As Christians too often we see monsters when they are really just mice (see photo).
But, ... if you’ve taken in the linked song by Zach Williams and meditated on the truth of the Scriptures above, most certainly, … as I was, … you are lifted up with courage to take on the monsters out there. Because when you compare them to the strength in us from God’s Spirit, they’re just mice, aren’t they, … not monsters?
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for giving us Your empowering grace to take on Satan and the world.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to forge ahead in life, KNOWING that we have God’s Spirit in us which is so much more powerful than any force which would come against us. 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.</ span>
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