Lately, I have been in so many situations where God has been speaking to me about trusting Him, giving it to Him fully, and not letting the devil get in. What about you? Have you been getting those same messages?
The devil wants us to give up.
Give up with our parenting.
Give up in helping our kids through their struggles.
Give up in our marriages.
Give up with our finances.
Give up with our walks with the Lord, spending time with Him.
Give up in our jobs.
He wants us to run away!
The devil wants to attack those who are trusting God, who are doing good for the Lord. The best way to attack and push away the devil is with our personal sword—God's Word, the Bible. The closer we are to Him and the closer we cling to His Word, the less Satan has to try and destroy that.
I know in my toughest of days with Charlie, the devil will attack me the most. I am vulnerable and weak. He will use other people to attack me. He will use my thoughts to give doubt. He will whisper, "Give up Patty". He will whisper, "No one cares about you. This is too hard." Those are LIES! Don't listen to lies. Listen to truth - God's Word. He is your Father, cry out to Him and ask Him for help. Thank Him each and every day. There are many things even in the pit you can be thankful for.
I started years ago a gratitude journal and have written in it off and on. On my lowest of days, I seem to think of this journal and force myself to think of the positive things in my life. I just pick 5 things to write about. Sometimes finding 5 can be challenging when you are so down. I encourage you to start doing this today.
How can you keep the devil away?
- Pray
- Read the Bible daily
- Fellowship with other Christians weekly
- Serve and help others
I find when I serve and help others, I stop thinking about my own problems and struggles. There are various ways you can help others. You can write a letter to a friend telling them how much you care about them. You can surprise them and bring them a meal for no reason. You can mow their lawn and not say a thing. You can pray for others. You can volunteer to watch their kids.
When you are digging in God's Word daily, He won't let you quit. He won't let you give up, even if you want to.
A little secret I will share with you. On my toughest of days and how I keep going is I picture God's face smiling so big at me like I am at the end of a marathon. I can barely walk and he is standing there with His arms outstretched and he says, "Patty I am so proud of you. You fought hard, you didn't quit. It would have been much easier to quit, but you didn't. There were many obstacles in your way: judgement, negative comments, bullying, exhaustion, but you never gave up. I am so proud how you used your past hurts to triumph and fight! You are so loved."
As I write that tears are streaming down my face and this is what motivates me in life not to quit anything. I want to reach my Lord and not care about others opinions of what I have done right or wrong, but only care about what I did right in Christ's eyes. That is all I need.
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Don't give up. God is there rooting for you and is your biggest cheerleader. He wants you to come to Him, resting in His Word.
Here is a new song from Switchfoot. I Won't Let You Go. I hope it encourages you today!
https://youtu.be/PChL1dcGJCw
Blessings,
Patty Myers
