"Some Powerful Words To Remember" #1

During my years of ministry I have known and been blessed by a multitude of men and woman, young and not so young, who live their daily lives in the shadow of a verse or umbrella of verses from God's word. As a young teen my grandfather insisted that I attend a scripture memorizing class at our local church building every Sunday afternoon. At the time I wasn't too keen on the idea but I idolized my grandfather so I mostly did it to please him. Now, looking back on it, many of those verses I memorized have stuck with me through some challenging times over all these years. In fact I still quote them from the KJV.
So, I want to encourage the Hallelujah Chorus to adopt a similar stance against our common enemy who only wants to disrupt our lives with his carefully tailored personal attack on our faith and spiritual health. These will be a series of posts that center on some things we just need to constantly remind our hearts to embrace and never allow the enemy to rob us of our peace in Jesus.
So, here we go.
"You dear children are from God and have overcome them (the spirits that serve the antichrist), because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 3:18 NIV
There is always a very personal presence in the life of every disciple of Jesus that will not allow the evil one to dominate. But that doesn't mean he wont always try and try and try.
Probably the two areas of our life in Christ where we are most vulnerable to the devil's attempts to take over our lives are marriage and parenting relationships.
Every marriage is an up and down proposition and at any given time either partner can fail in ways that cause the other partner to react in ways that can easily put the relationship at risk of total breakdown. Having lived through it and walked with many married couples through this tangled jungle, I can testify to how time and space alter one's perspective. What seems to be a deal breaker today, can appear very different after some time to calm down and think through it. People of true faith are never alone in ANY personal struggle, but the evil one can put you in a defensive stance that goes way beyond what might be advisable. The result can lead to emotional disconnect and the evil one achieves his goal of disruption.
So here's the take-away for now. Trust in the One who is in you and listen for his words to rise above the anger or disappointment. Commit John's statement to memory and repeat it to yourself over and over. Allow the greatness of the presence of Jesus' Holy Spirit to dominate. He only wants to do you good, never harm. HALLELUJAH!