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Glory Seed Devotionals, 2015: Year of Promise
There is Peace in the face of defeat!
“I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world.” (John 16:33, NCV)
When we think of enemies we think of the human family or the animal kingdom yet some of our fieriest enemies have not been human or animal but instead have come from everyday life like the likes of the “Ness Clan” Hopelessness, Helplessness, Hardheartedness, Spiritlessness, Insightlessness, fearfulness, and Thoughtlessness. At head of the Ness Clan is Focuslessness whose primary weapon/goal is keeping us focused on us and the rest of his clan and oblivious to the Holy Spirit living and breathing in our hearts.
There is only one way to defeat Focuslessness and his family and that is by refocusing ourselves on the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist talks about refocusing on the Holy Spirit's constant struggle to help us defeat our enemies. “Since the time I was young, enemies have often attacked! Let everyone in Israel say: “Since the time I was young, enemies have often attacked! But they have not defeated me,” (Psalm 129:1–2, CEV)
Writing out of experience Paul's testimony is a lesson for us in refocusing from us to God. “Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. But he replied, “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10, CEV)
Let each of us in the face of adversity look in a mirror and declare, “I will not be defeated because the Holy Spirit in me is stronger and more powerful than any enemy life can confront me with.”
Believe! Anticipate! Experience! Be transformed!
Grace and PEACE, Amen!
Gary
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“I pray that the Lord will bless your life and will be kind to you.” (2 Timothy 4:22, CEV)
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Scriptures marked CEV, “Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.”
"Scriptures quoted from The Holy Bible, New Century Version, copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Dallas, Texas 75039. Used by permission."