Search me O God

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment, you know where I am...


I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me...


You made the delicate inner parts of my body, and knit them together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is so amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous and how well I know it. You were there while I was formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!

How precious it is Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I awaken in the morning you are still thinking of me!..
Search me O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139

You raise me up!

God's love is amazing!
Let's rejoice in his love for us.

The Lord appeared .. saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with Loving kindness" Jeremiah 31:3


When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be

Singer: Josh Groban

Precious faith

"I pray not that you should take them out
of the world."
--John 17:15

  It is a sweet and blessed event which will
occur to all believers in God's own time--the going home to be
with Jesus.
In a few more years the Lord's soldiers, who are now
fighting "the good fight of faith" will have done with
conflict, and have entered into the joy of their Lord. But
although Christ prays that His people may eventually
be with Him where He is, He does
not ask that they may be taken at once away from
this world to heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently
does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, "O that I had wings like a
dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;" but Christ does
not pray like that, He leaves us in His Father's hands, until,
like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into
our Master's garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant
removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for
others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be
kept from evil, but He never asks for us to be admitted to the
inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often
want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they
tell you, "Because we would be with the Lord." We fear it is not
so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because
they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel
the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure
of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour's
company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to
depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because
to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from
trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to
glorify God by your life here as long as He pleases, even though
it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and
leave Him to say when "it is enough."


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"These all died in faith."
                                                --Hebrews 11:13

  Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell
asleep before the coming of our Lord! It matters nothing how
else they died, whether of old age, or by violent means; this
one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of
record, "they all died in faith." In faith they lived--it was
their comfort, their guide, their motive and their support; and
in the same spiritual grace they died, ending their life-song in
the sweet strain in which they had so long continued. They did
not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments; they
made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but
held to the way of faith to the end. Faith is as precious to die
by as to live by.

  Dying in faith has distinct reference to _the past_. They
believed the promises which had gone before, and were assured
that their sins were blotted out through the mercy of God.
Dying in faith has to do with _the present_. These saints were
confident of their acceptance with God, they enjoyed the beams
of His love, and rested in His faithfulness. Dying in faith
looks into _the future_. They fell asleep, affirming that the
Messiah would surely come, and that when He would in the last
days appear upon the earth, they would rise from their graves to
behold Him. To them the pains of death were but the birth-pangs
of a better state. Take courage, my soul, as thou readest this
epitaph. Thy course, through grace, is one of faith, and sight
seldom cheers thee; this has also been the pathway of the
brightest and the best. Faith was the orbit in which these stars
of the first magnitude moved all the time of their shining here;
and happy art thou that it is thine. Look anew to-night to
Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith, and thank Him for
giving thee like precious faith with souls now in glory.

Charles Spurgeon

Your maker

For your husband is your maker Isa. 54:5

SWEET assurance! Surprising condescension. Does Jesus, by whom all things were made, fill this sweet relation? Is He my nearest and dearest relative? Yes: He loves you more than any other. He is more closely united to you, and more deeply interested in you.

He is the Bridegroom, you are the bride; He has espoused you to Himself, has made full provision for all your present wants, and is gone to prepare your everlasting habitation, where you will dwell with Him and enjoy His love. The relation really subsists. He regards you as His beloved bride, and He would have you live daily in the recollection that He is your Lord.

O love Him above all! Call upon Him with confidence. Look for Him with ardent longing. He will come to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe. Think not that He will ever forget the person, neglect the concerns, or turn a deaf ear to the requests of His beloved, blood-bought bride. His love is infinite, and the whole is set on thee; and will remain fixed on you for ever. He is in one mind, and none can turn Him. Having loved you, He will love you unto the end.

Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring.

James Smith

The Plan of Salvation

If you

were the Only Person

living on earth

Jesus Christ

would still have come

to this earth

to give his life

to deliver you

from the kingdom of darkness

to the kingdom of light.



Talk to him

in prayer today,

confess your sins and

Ask his help

to turn away from them

and make him

your Lord

your God,

your best friend

your Savior.



Ask him

to create a new heart

and renew a new spirit

within you. Psalm 51



Let him fill your life

with Joy

Choose to follow him

each and every day.

God is our refuge

God is our strength, so we need not fear nor worry।

The more we know God, the less we will fear or worry. Psalm 46

Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of Christ. Rom. 10: 17
Do you hear God in your daily life?
God is speaking. There are thousands of sound waves in the air,
if we are to listen to them, we need to tune in to that particular frequency.

Have you made Christ your Lord & Savior? If so, than you have no want। He constantly watches over you. It is his responsibility to take care of you. Life becomes much easier when we give up the controlling interest of our lives into God's hands. Psalm 23

The God who created the Universe and who still sustains it by his infinite wisdom, the One who loved us with an everlasting love, demonstrated by sending his Only son to redeem us can be trusted with our lives. John 3: 16

Don't settle for less, live life to the fullest. Live in Christ!

God became man

He came

to this earth

for you

and for me.



He came

to this world

to save

you and me.



He came

to live

for you

and for me.



He came

to die

for you

and for me.



He rose again

for you

and for me.



SA


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Three secrets of the Christian life

1. Humility




2. Humility




3. Humility



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Treating people

The Bible encourages us to treat older men as fathers, younger men as brothers।
Older women as Mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity

1 Timothy 5:2


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Do you know Christ?

Many Christians nowadays know a lot about Christ. But very few know him personally.

Take for example, you may know a lot of trivia
about the President of the United states through Television, news papers etc.. but there is a lot of difference between knowing about him and knowing him
personally.

God wants us to know him intimately, on a personal level.
John 17: 3 "This is eternal life, that you may know him"

Take time to know him through his word, in prayer and in fellowship with his saints.

May God lead us into an intimate relationship with him!


Technorati Disciple

Nothing can seperate us

from the love of God which is in Christ our lord. Romans 8

Humility - the example of Jesus

In the book of John Chapter 1, John talks about Jesus.
In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. All things came into being through him.
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

What a glorious event in History! God became a human being. The Almighty God who created the Heavens and the earth
came down to earth from heaven and became a man. He emptied himself, took the position of a slave and identified himself as one with the human race. What an example to follow.

Jesus considered others more important than himself and hence he had no problem in serving anyone. He came to serve and not to be served. Phillipians 2

We as Human beings were infected with Pride way back in the garden of Eden, when Lucifer infected the human race with the spirit of Pride. Sin entered through pride and so Salvation can come only through humility, the opposite of pride.

Christ asks us to follow him, in his humility.

What do we have that we have not received. God created man from the dust of the earth. He created our bodies, He gave us our intelligence, our looks, wealth, health, job, family etc. He deserves the glory for all the good things present in our lives.

May God help us to follow his example of Humility the rest of our lives.
Amen.

God is light & God is love

The Apostle John in his letter of 1 John primarily talks about two things. God is light and God is love, in other words, Life and fellowship. 1John 1:5, 4:8 John the beloved disciple of Jesus after walking with his Lord for atleast 55-65 years, talks about the most important things that a Christian should remember and practice in his life. He talks about what existed from the beginning, life, eternal life, perfect fellowship in the trinity, between the father, son and the Holy Spirit. There can be no true fellowship without life, a quality of life, the Christ life, the divine life. Our fellowship should be in two directions, vertical toward God and horizontal toward our fellow human beings. There is a Cross between us and God. God made a way for us to fellowship with Him by sending his son to die on that Cross. Likewise there is a Cross between human beings, so you and I can fellowship ONLY if I die on the cross that is between us. There is no true fellowship without the Cross. Bible teaching cannot build fellowship, Only Life that is manifested through the death of self on the cross, can build true fellowship.

True Praise

Stan Adams In 2 Chronicles 20, when the armies of Moab, Ammon and the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, Jehoshaphat seeks God and prays for help. He prays "Oh Lord God of our fathers, the Only God in all the heavens, the Ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth - you are so powerful, so mighty. Who can stand against you? O our God, didn't you drive out the heathen who lived in this land when your people arrived? And didn't you give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham...? Jehoshaphat recognizes God as their father, God as the sovereign ruler who rules heaven and earth. He remembers how God delivered them in the past. He reminds God of the promise that he had made to their forefather Abraham.He humbles himself and acknowledges their weakness and lack of wisdom in vs. 12Earlier, we read that Jehoshaphat gathered all his people to fast and pray to God. The message for us from this chapter is that when we are facing a impossible situation in our life, It's good to seek God with the people in our circle of influence, family and friends, for a season of fasting and prayer, to acknowledge God as our loving father, who is sovereign, one who rules heaven and earth. It's good to think of God's deliverance, how he helped us in the past in difficult situations and thank him for it. It's good to remind God of his promises to us. He has promised to be with us, to help us in times of trouble. Psalm 46. And it's also good to acknowledge our weakness and our helplessness and to ask God for wisdom in our particular situation. The Lord answered their prayer and comforted them "for the battle is not yours, but God's" vs. 15.God gave them wisdom to praise him. vs 21Ps. 50: 23 says "True praise is a worthy sacrifice, this really honors me. Those who walk my paths will receive salvation from the Lord." God gave them victory when they began to Praise him in faith."And at the moment they began to sing and praise the Lord, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon and Moab and Mount seir to begin fighting among themselves and they destroyed each other."vs. 22 We need to pray to God until faith is born in our heart.Faith, that he has heard our prayer and that he is going to help us.No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. When we are praying, if the Lord reminds us of anything that needs to be settled, let us make haste and settle those things immediately. Delayed obedience is equivalent to disobedience. So when God gives us this faith in our hearts, then it's good to Praise the Lord for his help. Let us keep praising the Lord, trusting in his love and care for us. The Lord will deliver you as he did for Jehoshaphat and Judah that day and you will be filled with joy again.

Repentance

Repentance Jesus started his ministry by preaching Repentance. Mark 1: 15 John the Baptist started his ministry by preaching Repentance. Mathew 3:2 The Apostle Paul and others preached repentance. Acts 20: 21 And unfortunately this is one thing that is not preached nowadays, and that is one of the reasons Christendom is in the pathetic state that it is in right now. There is not much difference between professing believers and the people who don’t believe in Christ. We need to get back to the basics and understand what this word really means. Repentance means to turn away from our old ways of living. It is to turn from sin and turn to God. When we see the great things that God has done for us in Christ, that the Son of God himself, the Lord Jesus had to come to this earth to pay the price for our sins by his own blood on a cruel cross, it should make us turn from our rotten sins. The penalty for our sins being death, eternal separation from God. And God in his great mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, sent his Only son that we may have life, have a second chance. Repentance and faith are the foundational elements of the Christian life. Hebrews 6; 1 So we need to make sure that we understand what they mean and practice them in our lives. We live in a fallen world and before coming to Christ, we all lived our own lives. We ruled our lives, living a life that pleased us. True Repentance recognizes the folly of our old life style and acknowledges the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf and turns to God with a willing heart to live a life completely pleasing to God. It’s saying, God I trust in you, I trust in your ways, I trust in your plan for my life, I want to follow you and I surrender all. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thess.1:9 that Repentance is a turning from idols to the true and living God. An idol could be a job, a hobby, money, comfort, pleasure, a self centered life, basically anything that comes between us and God and anything which is more valuable to us than God. We all have worshiped these things in our unconverted days. True repentance involves that we no longer worship these things, we turn away from them to God. In the story of the Prodigal son, the son came to the father in brokenness and he was willing to do anything that the father told him to do, and that’s what we are called to do. Luke 15: 11-24 Christians have problems in their christian life because they have not repented properly. We need to be honest and acknowledge our sin. Proverbs 28: 13 says that He who conceals his transgressions will NOT prosper but the one who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. For example, If you lust after a woman/man, the bible calls it adultery; Don’t just say, I was just admiring God’s creation. There are many such things like these. We need to be honest before God and confess our sins and ask his help to turn away from them. Jesus said " Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" Mark 1: 15 Kingdom of Heaven means the Government of Heaven and Jesus is the king of heaven. So to repent means to live on this earth as citizens of Heaven living in accordance with the principles of Heaven, submitting ourselves to the rulership of the Lord Jesus. Everyone on earth rules their own lives, but when we repent, we are saying that we no longer want to rule our lives but we want to live and abide by the rules of the government of Heaven. Jesus is our Lord, He is our king and we are going to live our life according to the power and guidance of his Holy spirit within us and the word of God. We also need to take care of our past life as much as possible, as the Lord reminds us. Zaccheus in Luke 19: 1-10 willingly said that if had cheated anyone of money, he would repay them. Jesus then said, that Salvation had come to his house. So we see that it’s a very important principle. Repentance and faith are the strong foundation pillars that we are to lay on which our whole christian life will be built. It’s Important then that we take time and settle our past life issues as much as possible as the lord leads us. If we have stolen something from someone, we should return it to them. If we have stolen from our work spots, or have cheated the government of taxes, we must pay them back. You may not be able to pay everything back immediately, you can always pay in installments even if you start with a $1. God accepted Zaccheus the day he decided to pay things back and not after he made all the payments. If you have lied to someone, acknowledge it to them as the lord leads you. If you don’t have the courage to settle something, take a brother along with you. If you don’t know where to pay back because the person has moved or something then return the money to God, as God is the original owner of all money. Numbers 5: 6,8 Sometimes things can be so complicated that we can’t do much. But thank God, he is so merciful that He will accept us if we have a willing mind.2 Cor. 8: 12 We should not in any case allow Satan to condemn us if we are not able to settle any matter right. God accepts us even if are able to do nothing, as long we have a willing mind. The Principle is that we should not have anything in our possession that was wrongfully gained. God’s blessing cannot be on such things and these will be a hindrance to our progress in our Christian walk. I am not saying that we should torture ourselves by looking into our past, but we should settle those things that the Lord reminds us. If we have hurt someone, we should apologize. We should also seek God’s help to forgive all people who have hurt us. If we don’t forgive others, the Lord will not forgive us. Mathew 18: 35 and Satan will take advantage of us. 2 Cor. 2: 10,11 If you have gotten involved in New age, or the occult, or any other contact with Satan, you must renounce those things, destroy and not sell any materials used in witchcraft etc Acts 19; 19 and give your testimony to Satan that you now belong to Jesus Christ, and that He is the Lord and savior of your life now. Resist him in Jesus name and he will flee from you. James 4: 7 We need to walk in this way each and every day of our lives.

Christ died for our sins

Christ died for our sins
Stan Adams
God demonstrated his great Love for us when he sent his Only son Jesus Christ to this earth in the form of a human being. John 3: 16
And God did this for us when we were helpless and were sinners.
Romans 5: 8
It was the Love of God the father that sent our Lord Jesus Christ to this earth. What a wonderful Heavenly father we have. He cares for us and loves us so very deeply.
John Newton portrays the Love of God so wonderfully in this hymn.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now am found;Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,And grace my fears relieved;How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,I have already come;’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,His Word my hope secures;He will my Shield and Portion be,As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,And mortal life shall cease,I shall possess, within the veil,A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,The sun forbear to shine;But God, Who called me here below,Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun।
Yes, God has promised to watch over us, to be with us in our life’s journey. He is always here to help us in everything. Psalm 46
We can go to him anytime, anywhere . We will find him when we will seek him with all our heart.

Watch and Pray

Watch and Pray
Stan Adams
Jesus said "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14: 38
The Lord Jesus just before his crucifixion, in the garden o f Gethsemane began to be very distressed and troubled.
And he said to them " My soul is crushed by sorrow to the point of death; stay here and watch with me" vs. 34 L.B
There will be seasons in our life when we are distressed, fearful, grief-stricken and depressed. What do we do then?
The Lord asks us to be on the alert, observe the seasons and pray.
That night in the garden, the Lord’s heart was overwhelmed with sorrow and deep anguish. His soul was deeply troubled to the point of death. And he Knelt and prayed. He asked his friends to watch and pray along with him; but they were overcome by sleep.
He may have prayed atleast three hours before he came to his disciples the third time. Vs 32-41
It’s good to pray until we are strengthened from above. The disciple’s couldn’t watch and pray and they failed in the time of temptation. They ran away when the Lord was arrested.
Sometimes, we may wonder why we are overcome by selfishness, anger, lovelessness, fear, bitterness, jealousy, lust etc; we may not be spending enough time with God, in his word and prayer.
James 5: 16 says "The effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much". It’s very important to be counted righteous before God, because he knows our hearts.
If we have hurt anyone, It’s good to ask for their forgiveness. If someone has hurt us, let us seek God’s help to forgive them.
"For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if do not forgive others, then your father WILL NOT forgive your transgressions" Matthew 5: 14, 15
And no unforgiven person will be able to ENTER God’s kingdom.
It’s important to forgive others from the heart. Matt. 18: 35

The Love of God

The Love of God
Stan Adams

God so loved the World, that He gave His Only begotten Son, that Whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life। John 3: 16
God gave his Only son to us that through Him, we may have eternal life. To know him intimately is eternal life. John 17: 3 Jesus Christ is everything that we need. God has met all our needs, the Past, the Present and the future completely in Christ Jesus. God has done his part। Our Part is to believe in Jesus, to rely on Jesus, to trust in Jesus, to depend on Jesus, to adhere to Jesus, to cling to Jesus. To walk with Jesus is the greatest honor, it is the highest privilege, it is the greatest work a human being can ever do.

The Past even if it is like scarlet, red like crimson, it can be whiter than snow if we will repent, turn from our sins and confess them, the bible says in 1 John 1: 9 that he is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Lord himself has promised to be with us in our time of need. What a great Privilege. What a great honor that the most powerful person in the universe has come to live right inside of us, never to leave us nor forsake us. Hebrews 13:5 ; 4:16 So we need not be anxious even for a moment। The storms may arise, hidden dangers may be near, we need not be afraid। Christ rules over all. “The Name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Phil. 4: 10-11

How to become a Spiritual person

How to become a Spiritual person.

Stan Adams

If you look around in Christendom today, you will find that most people are
religious and not spiritual. You may say, what do you mean.
Being religious is to follow a certain set of rules, do certain activities on
certain days etc. There are many religions in the world today which people
practice. What makes true Christianity any different from them?

If you call yourself a Christian and live a life style not much different from
the people around you, then you are a religious person.
You may ask then, what is it to be spiritual.

The answer lies in Jesus Christ, God who became a human being to show us how to
live on this earth.
In the gospel’s Jesus said " Not my will but thine be done" luke 22:42. This was
his life style each and every day of his life on this earth. He did nothing of
himself, He did everything in consultation with his father. That is the life we
are called to live as Christians. It says in Romans 8:12-14, to be led of the
spirit is to be the sons and daughters of God. To put the flesh to death by the
power of the indwelling spirit every day will make us spiritual.

It is in the daily decisions that we make, if we will yield to that temptation thatwe are tempted with or if we will conform to the standards of the ungodly worldaround us. The decisions that we make daily either to follow after the flesh andthe world or Christ and his will for us will determine whether we will become spiritual or not.
You may say that there seems to be no benefit in following after God. But friends Godloves us with an eternal love which seeks our very best. God is interested inour eternal well being. He has our best interests in mind when he asks us to follow him. We love Him because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

The Defeat of Satan

The Defeat of Satan
Stan Adams

One of the greatest Joys of my life is when I understood, from the Word of God through Prophetic teaching that the enemy of our souls, Satan also known as the Devil was defeated on the cross at calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ through his death has rendered Satan powerless. Not only that, He died so that we might be delivered from all fears even the fear of death. Hebrews 2: 14,15
God wants us to overcome all fears in our lives; for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7.
We can overcome ALL fears with God’s help. The Bible encourages us in the book of 1Peter 5: 5-9 to clothe ourselves with humility toward one another, to HUMBLE ourselves under God’s hand that orders our circumstances in life, to cast all our anxiety on him and finally to be of sober spirit, to be on the alert because the Devil prowls like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
What does it mean to humble ourselves? It is to have an attitude of a child who has no high thoughts about its abilities, beauty, accomplishments etc. We should be able to take correction from anyone, spiritual elders, young people or any human being. Humility also involves gladly accepting the circumstances in which God has placed us in this world, without complaining and murmuring and comparing with others and in the due time God will lift us up.
God’s word encourages us to Resist the devil firm in our confidence in God’s love for us, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by our brethren who are in the world. Satan can deceive us at times by saying ‘You are the only one who is suffering’ but the Lord Jesus said in John 16:33 "In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." Any true follower of Christ in this world will go through trials and testing. It is inevitable. The Apostle peter
exhorts us in 1 Peter 4: 12, 13 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree that you SHARE the sufferings of Christ, KEEP ON REJOICING, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may Rejoice with exultation."
Satan assails our mind with his evil weapons like discouragement, depression, fears, doubts, envy, lust, anxiety, doubts etcetera. We can overcome him effectively only IF we have made the Lord Jesus, the Lord over ALL areas of our life. It’s good to ask God if there is any area in our lives that is not well pleasing in his sight and then to seek his help to overcome in those areas. The areas in our lives where we are not living in obedience are the loopholes that Satan seeks to enter, to steal, kill and destroy. John 10:10.
The book of James teaches us to SUBMIT to God and to RESIST the Devil, he will flee from us
The following is a good read from the living bible.
If you are wise, live a life of steady goodness, so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don’t brag about them, then you will be truly wise! And by all means, don’t brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil. For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil. But the wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds.
It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ASK God for it. And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure.
You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies-the evil pleasures of this world-makes you an ENEMY of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God. Or what do you think the Scripture means, when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy? But he gives us more and more strength to stand against all such evil longings. As the Scripture says, God gives strength to the humble, but sets himself against the proud and haughty.
So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. James 3:13-4:8