The Flyswatter of the Spirit

My son was afraid of bugs when he was little. Flies, grasshoppers, and other sorts of bugs brought fear to his heart. One day I tried to show him that he didn't have to be afraid. I fetched the flyswatter from the house and showed it to him. I told him the flyswatter was for swatting bugs. I then proceeded to show him how he could smash bugs with the flyswatter. I told him when he had the flyswatter those bugs would be afraid of him. When I gave him the flyswatter he turned from a fearful little kid into a fearless bug-smashing vigilante. We went throughout the house together while as he shouted his battle cry, "Smash those buggies".

Something peculiar happened in my son's life that is a reminder to each of us about how faith and fear work. Everything changed when I, his dad, placed something in his hands. He now had something to hang onto that gave him the faith to overcome his fear. Our heavenly Father places something into our hands as well. He gives us the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible (Ephesians 6:17). It is what we have been given to hang onto. It energizes our faith and lets us overcome our fears.

There are many things in life that may cause us to live in fear, but that isn't the way God wants us to live. He wants us to live by faith. He places His Word into our hands and gives us the ability to fight back. Take the Word of God in your hand and watch how it will transform you. Watch how fear gives way to faith. When you are submitting to God's Word and standing against your fears with boldness the devil goes running (James 4:7). When you hear His Word, your faith grows (Romans 10:17).

Has fear taken you captive? Has the enemy been creeping and crawling around your life trying to get you off track? Has Satan been buzzing in your ear, trying to fill your mind with lies? Take what your heavenly Father has for you. Hold the flyswatter of the Spirit, that is the Word of God, firmly in your hand. Then smash fear and the schemes of Satan like the pests that they are.

Where There is Jesus, There is Peace

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a different season in your life, you resort back to your old ways? Maybe some of these old ways are coping mechanisms that have you lean on your own knowledge and strength.

In reality, you are only delaying the obvious…repeating the same cycle that you have been in for a while. Or you simply search for answers for the situation that you are currently involved in. Either way, brokenness is a place where God can come into your life and lead you into his strength and his understanding. God most certainly is leading you to Himself. How can we operate daily without him? I am sure you know how that goes.

Jesus never promised us a problem free life. He only promises peace that He can give you whether you are happy or sad, struggling or thriving. In James 1:2-4 the bible says,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

So, while we are in these trials and struggles, we are to find joy in them. Now, does that seem impossible to attain? You may think, why should I find joy in my struggles? What purpose is there for me to be experiencing and enduring this situation that has only caused me pain? Well, the Bible says in Romans 5:1-5,

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that afflictions produce endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Throughout life we must refocus on the path that God has for us. It may be that God has taken away something or someone. Perhaps pain drives deep into the heart, while anger and questions arise. You may never know why these things happen but know that God has a plan for all broken circumstances.

There is no greater love than what Jesus did. You see God has already restored our souls by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. Our brokenness in this world is only temporary. It does not define who we are or what we will become. We are defined as God’s children whom He loves enough to sacrifice his Son for our sins. So, do not be afraid of the brokenness you are currently feeling. God’s love has already covered it.

God, thank you for showing us that our brokenness is not a sign of weakness but of strength in you God. In Jesus name, Amen.

Doing the Right Thing

Sometimes doing the right thing is the last thing we feel like doing. When that happens how exactly are we supposed to do the right thing and not feel weary or have a bad attitude? Doing what is right occasionally, or for a short while, is usually not hard, but Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:13, we must continue in doing the right thing without losing heart.

That means all the time, no matter how long the time is or how we feel during that time. Doing what is right even when we seem to be getting only wrong results is difficult at best. We feel discouraged and weary, but what we "feel" has nothing to do with what we should be doing.

One of Satan's favorite things to do to us is to try and make us give up because of how we feel. Once our feelings start to quit on us, there he is to whisper in our ear that it's just not worth the effort. However, God tells us it is. He shows us how to endure, persist, continue on, and finish. He teaches us to be long-suffering, patient, determined, and steadfast, just as He is.

I am reminded again and again that I have to do the right thing with a right attitude for a long time before I get the right results. So, what do we do when we feel low on the "right attitude"? We must go to God and wait on Him to give us fresh strength so that through His unlimited grace we are able to press on until the end.

God wants us to be spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity is the ability to live beyond how we feel. It is being in control of our feelings instead of our feelings controlling us. We should live by decisions based on God's word, and not on how we feel about something or someone. Galatians 6:9 states:

Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.

So let us pray that the God of unlimited resources, will supply us all with strength and grace to continue to do good even when we don't feel like it. We all want to see what a glorious harvest it will be! So let us not give up! Keep on, keeping on!

Praying During Difficult Times

Have you ever considered how God wants us to pray during difficult times?  Many times I find myself praying for deliverance or praying that the hardship doesn’t last long or praying to just change something about the hardship I am going through.  But is that really how God wants me to pray?

Colossians 1:11 states that the Apostle Paul prayed for the church to attain every kind of patience and endurance with joy.  Paul wasn’t praying for the church to be delivered from the hardships, but to be strengthened with joy.  It is the joy that only Christ can bring to us during difficult and challenging times when we rely on Him to sustain us.

I believe God is more interested in changing us than in changing our circumstances.  He does not delight in watching us suffer or have a hard time, but He does delight in our spiritual growth.  If we are honest, we must admit that most of our spiritual growth comes during the hard times in our lives, not the easy times.

Difficult times stretch our faith, and those times teach us not to trust in ourselves to solve the problem or change the situation, but to rely on God alone.  It also gives us compassion towards others who are going through difficult times too.

Sometimes we are so focused on the difficult times or the immense problems we are facing, that we cannot see or understand what it is we are supposed to be learning.  As Romans 8:28 says God works all things for the good of those who love Him.  So, since He is working the hard times for our good then we should pray to be strengthened with joy instead of only praying to be delivered.

It is difficult to not pray to be delivered, but possibly if we pray to be strengthened with joy then we may catch a glimpse of the lesson we are to learn and the spiritual maturity we will then gain.