DAILY "MANNA" DEVOTION: A War of Triumph!
Reading Time: 5 Mins. 8 Secs.
Scripture Readings: Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:11-18.
Read Last Devotional: When Grief Steals the Show!
Day 19
Have you ever felt something deep down in your gut to do, such as a mandate that you were being tugged into, even though the task at hand seemed beyond you?
It seemed that every time you put forth your hand to do what it is that God has placed on your heart, everything else important around you began to fall apart and started to look a little bleak.
When looking at the confusion behind the task, you contemplate if you've even heard from the Lord, so you wrestle with the idea to give up and not do it.
If you've experienced this to some degree, I want you to listen to the very next words you are about to read very carefully!
Although it may not seem or feel this way...you are fighting in a war that is beyond you!
Picture you and that one main enemy fighting on a battlefield after you and the soldiers around you have already killed many others.
This enemy, you can't take down any kind of way. In fact, it is not in your human strength or power to take this enemy down at all.
But you can outsmart him!
This enemy is sent to discourage and weaken your attempts to live your purpose and he wants nothing more but to stop you from finding such. This is an enemy strategically designed with a mission to bring forth destruction in your life.
He wants your head!
His plan is cunning but simple because he comes in ways in which you can't see him coming, but the very thing he attacks first is your beautiful mind.
If he could get you caught up in your past, defining your very being through the lens of the history of YOU, he has already won half the battle!
He can tell you things so enticing that will make you think twice:
"You will never get out of this one!"
"You will never change."
"What's the use in trying when things will always be this way."
"God doesn't love you because of what you've done"...
Oh, he will say all the things you DON'T need to hear, all while keeping from you the things mostly needed to be said.
He doesn't like you one bit and he is after what you are for. He doesn't like the fact you serve the Lord in spite of struggles, you keep praying when you see no results, you keep standing when you've been knocked so far down.
He cannot fathom your strength, your tenacity, your courage, and yet your passion to yet continue in what is strong on your heart to do!
"She's a mere fox!" he says, roaring loudly as a lion.
But what a lion will never understand is that even with its strength, its mind will never be as sharp-witted as the little fox!
After Jesus had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, Satan came to tempt him right before His time to save the world (Matthew 4:1-3)! Because of the wisdom of God that resided on the inside of Him, He was able to attack those thoughts using the Word of God against Satan, the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).
When we submit our ways and plans before God, we are in automatic resistance toward our enemy and his schemes.
Our enemy will flee because of what's on the inside of us! It's our ammunition against his lies and series of devious stratagem.
We are to fight spiritually in this way because otherwise there will be no battle, only defeat. A fleshly war filled with rage is a willful commit of spiritual suicide!
You are intentionally inviting your enemy, Satan, into your heart and looking for trouble for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but the things which are out of this world (Ephesians 6:12).
You must understand my friend, no one picks a fight just to be picking one, there is always an agenda! Your enemy's agenda is that he sees what is about to take place in your life and he tries to stop you before you can see it. He knows that if you can see the peak of your fortune, you will fight to live for it!
He's not so much concerned with stopping you from fighting him, he wants to stop you from fighting for your God-given purpose.
It's our encouragement of purpose that gives us the strength to fight him in the first place!
This is the battle that you are experiencing, it is the war of triumph. A combat that is over your victory in finding your purpose!
So I'd like to pose you with this question: If you were to look back over your life, whether you've experienced this now or sometime in your past, has there ever been a struggle with reaching forward toward a task you felt strongly to complete or achieve?
If this is the case, I challenge you to dig a bit deeper into that situation and ask the Lord why!
Maybe you've tapped into something your enemy didn't want you to find or maybe you had a lack of understanding for a certain season concerning your purpose, but whatever the answer is, ask the Lord how to proceed.
Prayer (for those who's found their purpose): Lord, I thank you for the purpose and the calling you have placed inside my heart to do. I ask that you would increase my faith to understand that you have equipped me with all of the supplies I need in my spiritual supply's kit. When I get weary, I ask that you would encourage me, when I feel like giving up, you would send strength to keep me going. Thank you for all the things you are doing in me and for all the people you are allowing me to reach. In Jesus' name. Amen!
Prayer (for those who's still searching for purpose): Lord, thank you for helping me during these times of finding your purpose for my life. I ask that you would help me to see, with full light, what you have placed in me in order to fulfill my destiny. Lord, strengthen me in the times of battle so that I can fight the good fight of faith against the enemy, the right way! Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen!
Quiet time meditation: Wait for the Lord to minister to you personally on what He may want to say to you. Be sure to pay attention to any areas that may pop up in your spirit (even silly things such as: how quick you may be to get angry with things or a friend or family member who has been bugging you with their problems.) This process could take anywhere from 10-30 minutes or longer. But, try not to rush this because you could be missing out on a great breakthrough. Within this quiet time, the Lord wants to restore you in any broken areas and he wants to replenish your spirit for what has been used up.
Understanding what He means: This is a time to jot down some of those things the Lord has ministered to you while in meditation. Sometimes, the Lord will wait to speak to you throughout your day. Pay attention and jot these things down so that you won’t forget. You may even come up with more scriptures that may come to mind.
Read Next Devotional: Nothing Can Separate You!
May the Lord bless your day abundantly!