SHIELD AGAINST DARTS!!

Verse for Today: Sunday, November 20, 2011

Psalms 91:5 – You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day.

The people of God who dwell under His wings are susceptible to fear, anxiety, discouragement and confusion because we live in a world of negative environment. In the night darkness is used by the enemy to create fear in our minds about the consequences of the terror which is a mere earthly reality. The thought life of the believer is often penetrated by the enemy with the power of the darts which might come against them at unexpected moments during day or night. But if our eyes are not fixed on the Lord and if we do not take care to occupy ourselves with Him, we might develop confusion about the consequences of such terror or darts. These thoughts would slowly erode our courage and faith as we would sometimes imagine about the consequences of the attacks of the enemy and the power of the enemy’s tactics against us. We are all the more vulnerable to such confusions especially if we have a negative thought pattern. When the seeds of unbelief are planted in our hearts, it would often grow into discouragement and lead us to despair. When our courage thus slowly erodes, we would become increasingly shaky and end up in beginning to believe in the imaginary consequences of terror from the enemy. But our Lord doesn’t want us to give our imagination to the enemy to work on. He wants our minds and thoughts to be fixed on Him and under His rules. He wants us to be strong and firm in our faith and trust in His power so that no matter who attacks us, we would not need to be discouraged. We have to remind ourselves of the fact that we can have victory over the discouragements which come our way in and through Jesus Christ. The victory that David had against all his enemies including Goliath was not because he was strong and skillful, but because of His Lord. Gideon won the wars because of the Lord as he was only a loyal instrument in His hands. Peter got out of the prison not because of His abilities, but solely and absolutely because of the Lord. Nehemiah was able to complete his task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem because he refused to be confused and discouraged. Our God wants us to learn lessons about faith and trust from these heroes of faith and follow their pathway in putting all our faith in the Lord. Today let us refuse to be confused and discouraged because our God is working for us in our circumstances.

Dear reader, are you facing the great enemy of discouragement knocking at the door of your heart? Is the enemy of your soul giving you all the negative possibilities of your scenario to make you doubt the work of the Lord in your life? Is your circumstance painted dark by the enemy so that doubt and unbelief can slowly creep in to your thought life? Remember, you are in the battle ground and the enemy is engaged in the battle for your mind. Once he gets access to your mind, he knows that he can defeat you just as he defeated our first parents. Let us be aware of this subtle danger and not allow even a needle point for the enemy to plant his poisonous seeds of doubt and confusion in our minds. Our Lord is sufficient to pull us up even when our scenario seems absolutely hopeless. Our Lord has the power to bring hope in any desperate situation as He is the God of the Impossible. He stops the winds and calms the sea. He keeps His promises in the most utterly hopeless situations like that of the birth of Isaac. He lifts up the forgotten Joseph to become the Governor of Egypt. He uses meager means to get His people out of Egypt and make them walk through dry land in the Red Sea. He stops sun and moon for a few hours to accomplish His purpose. He makes the donkey speak to warn people. There is nothing impossible for Him and at the right time He will emerge in mighty power to fulfill His purpose in our lives. So there is no need for us to loose our hope and peace about our future. Let us be confident and unshaken today because our God lives and He still works in the lives of His people for His glory and for joy and satisfaction in their hearts.

Psalms 89:15 – Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord.

Thought for Today