Good morning beloved!

In every challenge we face, we have an enemy~ Satan ~ and he doesn’t fight fair.  He identifies our weaknesses and attacks us in those areas.  However, we can easily win when we use the weapons God has equipped us with.  Ephesians 6:13 tells us to take up the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having all, to stand.  Then we read in verses 14-17 (NLT),

  •  Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.  For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.  In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

To CONTAIN us, Satan used 3 strategies:

  1. Ignorance ~ Hosea 4:6-7 declares that the people of God are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.  In other words, we’re destroyed when we don’t know God and His Word.  Satan wants to keep us ignorant of God’s provision and His blessings so we come up short in certain areas.  In addition, the enemy has blinded the minds of the unbeliever, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Chirst, who is in the image of God, should shine on them (see 2 Corinthians 4:4).
  2. Deception ~ We must know the truth and continue in it for it to make us free (see John 8:31-32).  We must not deceive ourselves ~ whatever we sow, we’re going to reap (see Galatians 6:7).  
  3. Distraction ~ A distraction is an intrusion of the mind that causes confusion.  We must keep our minds focused on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2-4).  We must know what the Word says when distractions come or we won’t recognize them.  The enemy uses subtle tactics to distract us.  He will even use our service to God and our noble works.  He tries to get us to become worried, frantic, overly anxious, and overwhelmed with too many tasks.  

DON’T BE CONTAINED!  When you give, give with affection for the kingdom of God ~ otherwise, your giving has no future.  Make sure that you don’t fall in love with material possessions.  You can’t serve God and money.  When you are a cheerful giver, you will prosper in every area of your life.  

There are two gifts God gave to all mankind:

  1. The first gift is dominion and authority, which is the right to command (see Luke 10:19).
  2. The second gift is “seed.”  The Word of God is seed that is incorruptible; it’ll never fail (see 1 Peter 1:23).  

Isaiah 40:6-8 tells us that the Word of our God will stand forever.  The heart, or the spirit of man, is the ground where Word seeds are planted.  Whatever is in your heart will bring forth a harvest; for out of it (the heart) flows the issues of life (see Proverbs 4:20-23).  

These “seeds” are planted through the “gates” of our hearts: our eyes, our ears and our mouths.  We must watch over our gates and not allow bad seeds to come into our hearts.  In addition, we must be sure we’re consistently putting the seed of God’s Word with us.  We must take care of the Word seed planted in our hearts by nourishing and protecting it, and keeping out all intruders.  When we honor God, we allow His Word to determine all of our decisions in life.

Our God is limitless,

Lisa Gordon

Assistant Pastor

Jesus City Church