News from Potter's Wheel Ministries

Every believer in Jesus Christ must learn and understand the authority that we have been delegated from our Lord. When we fully understand this position of power then we can advance and pursue what has been taken from us and recover it all. There is a story found in 1 Samuel 30:1-31 that I want to bring to your attention that solidifies this subject that we will be studying in our devotional today. Whenever the Word of God tells us that if God is for us then who can be against us. We need to make note that for God to make this kind of statement it gives way to the idea that someone is obviously against us. Howbeit, this enemy that is against us is not a very mighty adversary because he has ultimately been defeated. Nonetheless, the devil poses the very idea that he is a force to contend with for those who rarely discover just what Jesus Christ delegated to them by way of His victory over our enemies.

The Bible teaches us that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy; while Christ came to give us abundant life. The Bible also tells us that our adversary seeks whom he may devour. In other words, he looks for a weakness in your perspective of who you believe that you are. The thing about our enemy that you should know is that he uses no new tactics or strategies then the ones that he has always relied on. God's Word teaches us that we are not to be ignorant of the devils devices. To protect us from his assaults we are instructed from the Word of God to put on the whole armor of God. The sad part about this is that most believers put on their helmet of salvation while leaving off the other equipment that God has supplied us with. In other words, many believers are naked from the neck down. When we are unprotected, we become easy prey for our adversary the devil.

Our story which we will use to clarify some very important principles that we need to develop in our daily life is found as mentioned in 1 Samuel, chapter 30. Here is a story that shows David along with his soldiers pursuing an enemy. David's ally, at this particular time was with the king of Gath and his name was Achish. David found favor with Achish when he was running from Saul who wanted David killed. So David found refuge in the land of the Philistines. It was during this time that David with his soldiers went to battle with Achish who was gathering with the Philistines to battle against Israel. But the princes of the Philistines did not trust David nor his men to fight along side with them against Saul. So they demanded that king Achish make David and his men return back to their city. So as it was commanded of Achish, David and his men returned back home.

When David and his men arrived into their city they found that it had been ransacked and everything including wives, children and all their possessions were taken by the Amalekites. Our story finds that every man when he had saw what had happen to his personal possessions began to weep bitterly. When the men could weep no more, it says that they thought to stone David in their anger towards their leader for their personal loss. As a side note: I don't understand why it is that every time someone loses something they want to attack the very ones who care about them the most. It can be God, a pastor, a close friend, or even a family member. Instead of venting it at the real enemy they blame someone close to them for their pain.

I like what David did in this true event of his life when faced with great loss of his own while facing betrayal from his own friends. It says in verse 6, that David encouraged himself in the Lord. David was putting on the spirit of praise in place of allowing heaviness to rule his heart. The results was a transformed man in the midst of great challenges. He didn't use the language of a whiner nor forget what manner of man he was. David's constant meditations and conversations with God each day of his life had prepared him for opposing his adversaries because he never lost sight of who he was in God.

When you and I gain a revelation of what Jesus Christ did for us; then we will find the inner strength to rise up after the weeping has passed and begin surveying the land with determination to destroy our enemy. I love the answer that God gave David when he inquired of His Lord in what he should do. "Shall I pursue these troops? And if so shall I overtake them?" The Lord's answer jazzes my world each time I read it. "Pursue! For you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all." I love it! When we recognize the position which we hold as God's children, we will triumph over our adversary every time. The devils growl will sound like a little kittens meow when he is faced with our boldness in God.

The Amalekites are an enemy that just won't go away. They are representation of our enemy the devil. He will keep coming back time after time to see what you believe about yourself. If you become distracted in this life and start ignoring the reading of God's Word and keeping your armor on; then your adversary will take advantage of that moment and cause you much trouble. The devil not only wants your salvation, [which he cannot really have, he just wants you to think he can steal it]; he also wants your righteousness. If he can get you to focus on your failures, mistakes, errors, and any other short-coming then he knows that you will forget that you are the righteousness of God based on what Christ did for us. When that happens he will steal, kill, and destroy your life.

If we neglect staying in God's Word for strength and wisdom, then we will essentially be wearing the belt of truth a little loose in this life; and when that happens we will experience the loss of seeing the real truth about who we are in Jesus Christ. What happens next is that you start speaking things contrary to what the Word of God says concerning you. That's a big mistake on your part! Changing the truth by substituting it with the devil's negative suggestions about who you are is deadly. The poison is when you use your tongue to speak against what the Word of God says. The devil will always work from the angle of you being so distracted with life that you will not think it is very important to stay in the Word of God and fellowship with other believers. He loves it when you think you have it all down and don't need to spend much time studying it anymore. Because that is when your words will derail from being wholesome and become polluted with error. We become forgetful of God's divine Words so quickly when it is out of sight and it is here that we change our song.

Remember how David who was a musician and he would write many songs of praise to God. These songs that David wrote were not songs of hopelessness, dreary, and full of woe is me. No! In the Bible you will not find words filled with negative connotations or demeaning words about who we are. They are not in the Bible. You won't find them there. God's Word always encourages and promotes who we now are in Christ Jesus! And the Father's love for us.

Let me close with this last point. There are two kinds of groups that evolve when the enemy has ravaged our lives. The first group is those who just sit around weeping, complaining, becoming bitter and always waiting on God to do something for them. The second group are those that have wept bitterly over their tremendous losses until they cannot weep anymore over it. [All of us have done this kind of weeping and it does not mean we are weak]. This second group will then become encouraged as they remember who it is that is that stands with them, and they will lift their countenance with the look of the Lion of Judah peering from their eyes. They will begin encouraging themselves in the Lord, and boldly inquire of Him if they can pursue their enemy?

Friends, God always tells us to pursue valiantly and expect to recover all from our adversary the devil. In Proverbs 6:31 it says, "If the enemy is found out, he must restore seven times [what he stole]; he must give the whole substance of his house [if necessary - to repay his fine." My friends, that is what I would call real recovery of what the enemy stole from us, and interest to boot! If we do not know these promises are in the Bible and the many others like these; [because we think reading it is unimportant], then you can never enforce these principles in your life and realize their benefits. Simply, because you would be clueless of their existence. You cannot operate in what you do not know you have. Failure to know who you are and what authority you have received from Christ will give the enemy access to your life every time. And you will live way beneath your privileges in God. I hope I have stirred you up to realize the importance of knowing what the Bible says concerning you. We are truly blessed and unconquerable, if in fact we truly know who we are in Christ Jesus. Has the enemy stolen something from you? Then I hear God's Words loud and clear. Pursue! and recover it all. Praise to our King!