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| Know Thy Enemy ~ Part 3
The Devil of Defeat! |
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Greetings!
Today's devotion is part three in the series "Know Thy Enemy". To live in victory we must know the tactics, strategy and plan of our enemy. To know thy enemy is to understand he has "snares" set for our defeat (1 Timothy 3:7, 2 Timothy 2:26). Defeat is a tactic of the enemy of your soul to steal joy, kill hope, and destroy faith.
It is not act of losing but the consequence of defeat that the enemy parlays into hopelessness, shame, guilt and unbelief. When it seems that we lose, if we are in Christ Jesus, we never lose. We have the opportunity to walk in victory only if we find victory in defeat. If not, the enemy will set a snare at every loss. The devil's tactic is to keep your focus off God and His work in your life and upon your defeat.
I remember when I signed my "letter of intent" to play soccer at CSU Bakersfield. The team hadn't won a conference game in the ten year span of the program. Talk about defeat! I remember thinking about the challenge of "turning" the program around. It was a daunting task but something I knew we could accomplish. Let's just say it was a long season. In fact, it wasn't until my sophomore year that we won our first conference game ... the first conference win in the 12 year history of the NCAA soccer program.
Winning that game in the fall of 1987 was a defining moment in my life but it never would have happened if we allowed "defeat" to dictate our future. As a team, we moved beyond our pitiful history through hard work and aggressive play. By the time I finished my career, CSU Bakersfield was ranked as high as fourth in the Nation. We were no longer a doormat. We were a National title contender. Again, this never would have happened if we allowed defeat, and the history of defeat, to dictate the future.
My faith is much more important then NCAA soccer yet I have learned many spiritual principles on the field. Defeat cannot dictate the future for followers of Jesus Christ! We must fight the fight of faith looking forward and not back for we fight a current fight in a world full of snares, traps and the wiles of the enemy. |
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7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
~ 2 Timothy 1:7-12 ~ |
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You have the Spirit of a Champion ... the Spirit of Jesus Christ!
God has not given you a spirit of defeat! Even in your losses, sufferings, and trials, God is working and God is King. Like Paul, recognize you have been saved and called, not according to your wins and works, but according to God's own purpose! Your victory is not dependent upon your results but upon your God!
It is the manifold grace of God that is the victory of all saints. We do not earn our victories but are blessed by God to live victoriously. Often, losses are used by God as stepping stones of faith. God truly means what is written in His Word - "all things work together for good of those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). God uses the defeat the enemy designed to "rob, kill and destroy" to bless your life. Defeat must be looked at as an opportunity for growth in God.
Defeat is an opportunity. It is an opportunity for the devil to take a shot at you through shame, guilt and regret. Defeat is also an opportunity for you to grow in Jesus Christ. The choice is up to you. You can be a victim or a victor. To know thy enemy is to know that he will come at every loss and defeat to pull you from Jesus and into despair and hopelessness. To know God is to look defeat in the face and state like Paul, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day".
This week, look at defeat and challenges differently. Stare the enemy of your soul down and let him know that you "count it all joy when you face trials" because you know God, the Champion of Champions, is in your corner! |
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For King and Kingdom,
Randy Martin |
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