By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
A few years ago I had a short, yet very vivid dream.
The dream started with a man trying to get in the back door of our home. He had one foot in, but I was pushing hard against the door and managed to close and lock it.
Suddenly, I saw him through the window walking around the side of the house. I remembered that I had left the front window open, so I ran to the living room where he was already trying to climb in.
Now, in the dream, my hubby was not at home at the time, but I pretended to call out for my husband to get his gun as I was trying to keep the thief out of our home.
I was yelling threats at the intruder, and I had even grabbed a blunt object that I preceded to pound over his head. (Lol!)
My efforts were keeping him at bay, but he was still a real threat, and smirking at me the whole time.
Suddenly, I woke up.
A bit shaken I said, “Lord, what was that about?”
This is what He spoke to my heart, “You are trying to fight spiritual battles with physical weapons. You are keeping the enemy at bay, but he still has a foothold in certain areas. This is why you are so weary.”
Then the Holy Spirit gave me these two verses.
“Wherefore He says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:6-7
I knew exactly what the Lord meant.
I was struggling with circumstances in my life, and fighting battles that have already been won in Christ Jesus!! That is why the thief was smirking at me the whole time in my dream. Because, I had forgotten that “I (we) are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Eph. 6
Submit to God means to trust in Him (yielding your heart/mind) and His word. Find every verse that deals with your particular circumstance “battle” and stand on his word, (meditate/chew on/speak/declare) until it gets down into your heart. “How a man thinks in his heart so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
(As born-again Christians, we are not trying to obtain anything from the Lord. We are defending what we already have been given in Christ Jesus. You know, truly we are not trying to get healed. We are simply defending the good health that we already have- “by His stripes we WERE healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 The thief comes to “steal” the word. John 10:10. The only thing we are lacking is wisdom with understanding of what the Lord has already provided us by grace. If we are lacking in any area of our life, we do not have a faith problem, we have a knowledge problem.
At that time, I had been studying the Word for many years, yet in recent months I had neglected to “abide” in Him (His word/presence to build up my faith muscles.)
“Now faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1
See, I was living off of “yesterday” faith, not “now” faith. This is how the devil was able to steal my joy and peace in a difficult situation. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, because “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” I believe when your soul is not at rest, it affects your physical body as well.
“A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drys the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
I was not focusing on God’s love for me, I was too busy fighting off the intruder.
You know, by choosing to stand (believe/put faith in) the word of God over what we see, taste, hear, smell, or feel, we are “resisting” (actively fighting against) the devil.
When truth comes in, light is shed in our lives. When a burglary trips the alarm, the bells go off, the property is flooded with light, and the thief flees in terror! Likewise, when truth comes in, light is shed in our minds/hearts/lives/situations expelling darkness/lies/demonic strongholds.
We are not fighting the devil anymore. He is a defeated foe!
As I was writing this column, and reflecting on these truths it occurred to me that when we are abiding in the word of God, then we are fully equipped with truth, and ready to rebuke the “father of all lies.”
If he even approaches us and tries to steal the word from us, alarms will sound in our spirit, and the light of the Gospel (good news) will send him running … before he even gets a foot in the door.
We are standing on the word of God, and reminding Satan that every born-again child of God is in the body of Christ, and “all things are under His feet,” therefore Satan is under OUR feet. Eph. 1:19-23
The devil already knows this. But he’s just not sure … if we do.
“Fight the good fight of faith.” 1 Tim. 6:12
(All scripture NKJV)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
