I’m so sorry about all the disunity among Your children right now. Humility, gentleness, patience, accepting one another in love (Your gifts) are in short supply.
The enemy has really done a number on us. I suppose he is working overtime because he is running out of time to steal, kill, and destroy the life You have planned for us.
We can’t see beyond all the hatred, bitterness, and personal attacks on each other to be able to recognize how Satan has duped us. He is our enemy, not each other.
Those who reject You don’t understand that it is their own disbelief that condemns them. But Satan conceals that from them too. I am so sorry that Your children don’t show more of Your love towards those who have rejected You. Satan blinds the world to the fact that Your love leads to peace and sets them free from their bondage of disbelief.
Perhaps we could start by asking for Your help to trust You more, especially during these dark days. Help us to trust You like Mary and Joseph did when they faced the dilemma of Mary’s untimely pregnancy. Help us to quieten down, let go of the negativity all around us, and trust that You ARE in control (for we act as if You are not)!
Ephesians 4:2-3, “with all humility and gentleness with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with peace that binds us.”
There are seasons in our lives when in spite of what we read in the Bible, we feel abandoned by God. (and if we aren’t reading our Bible then we, for sure, feel abandoned and even hopeless) We walk around in a cloud where hope is vague and happiness is something we grow more unfamiliar with by the day.
So what should we do? How do we survive such desolate days?
We all have a singular enemy! He is called Satan! He has plans to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). He influences false assumptions, prideful thinking, and deceptive human reasoning. (2 Cor 10:3-5)
Then how is it that we are so easily devoured by Satan’s plans?
I’ve been told that the lion stalks those who are distracted and weak. Therefore, Satan is on a constant vigil to detect the weak among us. Those who rarely feed on God’s word, are most vulnerable to his manipulation and deception. Those who have become more familiar with the lies of the world than the principles declared in the Bible are easily led astray and distracted.
Without a healthy understanding of how much we are loved by God, of His good plans for us, of how His plan is for all things to work together for our good, we can easily be consumed by the burdens of life. Therefore, Satan’s foremost attack is to make us ignorant of such understanding. By doing so, he can easily convince us that God has forgotten and abandoned us. He feeds our thoughts with negativity and lies. Our hope soon gives way to hopelessness and despair.
How do we counter Satan’s attack?
Satan attacks us first in our thoughts. A weapon referred to as fiery darts. If we don’t know how to recognize those fiery darts, then we are doomed to falling prey to their poison. How we feel will be filtered by the fiery darts we have allowed to take root in our thinking. Consider the following excerpt from my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice:
First we entertain a thought. That thought will cause certain related feelings. Thus, our behavior is influenced by our thoughts and feelings. Psychologists say that if behavior is to be changed, then the flow must be interrupted, either at the initial thought or at the feeling point. p. 28 3rd ed FD’s
Satan must be defeated at the first thought level. When we accomplish this, then the darkness will diminish. We won’t succumb to the deception of the enemy. We may have to deal with unhappiness but our joy remains. And instead of becoming overwhelmed we will discover that
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-16 NLT
The question that came to my mind as I was reading the verse above was, “How would your attitude toward your problems change, if you really believed this?”
Would I worry so much about my future, if I really believed the LORD Himself was already there preparing a solution?
Would I be so susceptible to fear and discouragement, if I really believed God was with me constantly and had NO PLAN to forsake me?
Of course, we would desire to have the kind of faith Deut. 31:8 makes reference to. So, why is it we succumb so easily to the fiery dart that this kind of faith is impossible for us? Why is it we believe Satan’s lies before we believe God’s Truths?
If Satan can deceive us into discounting the power of a fiery dart, and then add to that our unfamiliarity with God’s Word (caused by a lack of realization of its power), is it any wonder why we fall prey to fiery darts … p. 40 FD’s 3rd edition
Satan doesn’t want us to believe God. Therefore, if we aren’t familiar enough with the Truth’s found in Scripture, then Satan’s trap is set. He will be able to manipulate us into believing the lies of fiery darts. We have a choice to make dear readers.
I think a mother’s love is about as close as it gets on this earth in comprehending the depth of the love God has for us. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Satan’s fiery darts (temptations) are particularly designed to undermine and destroy it. For many a recalcitrant soul’s path out of darkness has been illuminated by the faithful, loving prayers of a godly mother.
Yet, we find in today’s society this icon of pure love has become tarnished. What was once the safest of havens for a new life, has now become a death chamber for “approximately 1.21 million” unborn individuals each year in this country!
How is it possible that such a vast number of women have become convinced that abortion is their ONLY answer? Consider the following excerpt from my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice
“Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation, for the enemy is more easily conquered if he is refused admittance to the mind and is met beyond the threshold when he knocks. Someone has said very aptly: ‘Resist the beginnings; remedies come too late, when by long delay the evil has gained strength.’ First, a mere thought comes to mind, then strong imagination, followed by pleasure, evil delight, and consent. Thus, because he is not resisted in the beginning, Satan gains full entry. And the longer a man delays in resisting, so much the weaker does he become each day, while the strength of the enemy grows against him.” p46 FD
As Americas have grown weaker in their resolve to resist temptations, the strength of the enemy has grown stronger. By failing to grow in our familiarity with what God has to say about the Truth of Motherhood, we have allowed Satan access into our minds and he has moved beyond the threshold.
It should be obvious we are rearing our children in a world that has traded freedom for bondage. The enemy has deceived us. We don’t realize we have been deceived into thinking we are seeking freedom. In actuality it is only license disguised to appear as freedom.
Too many are unaware of the plans the enemy has for mankind. Yet we are vague on the plans God has for us. This has come about simply because we are not familiar with God’s Truth on the subject. Therefore, we must open our Bibles. Thereby learning to live lives that proclaim the God’s Truths for the sake of our children’s and our nation’s futures!
Satan’s Plan:
Scriptures are obvious in describing Satan’s plan in John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;…” (NIV) p. 13,FD 3rd edition
God’s Plan:
The second half of John 10:10 reveals an aspect of God’s plan for His children, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV) FD 3rd edition
Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice 