“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht   

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/ 

2 Corinthians 4:7… But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  (NKJV)

I like the way the Apostle Paul explains the fact that we as God’s children are merely the vessels that the Lord uses to bring Himself glory…  Too many of God’s children, myself included…tend to speak about how our lives have changed, without pointing people to Christ as the only reason…  And the good works we are suppose to do for the Lord, as positive proof that we are indeed a Christian (James 2:14-26)…well, we tend to boast about how much we do for the Lord, without mentioning the fact that it is God who energizes us to live for Him…  And it is God who we must give glory to for everything that we have, and for all that we do in His name…1 Corinthians 10:31…

Here is the link written by the Apostle James (Jesus’ half brother), teaching us that “faith without works is dead”…

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jam2:14-26&version=NKJV

For a Christian to be truly living for Christ…they must be Spirit filled, as they walk in sweet fellowship with the Lord…  All sins must be confessed to the Lord, and turned from through reverent prayer (1John 1:9)…  Fear, and anxiety, and doubt, and anger, evil thoughts…and all the other baggage that Satan will use to keep Christians from being Spirit filled…along with our own carnal flesh, which is a constant threat to our spiritual health…can only be suppressed by the power of the Holy Spirit, when He is left in total charge of fighting our spiritual battles for us…

I was asked some time ago, how I was seemingly able to always be at peace in my own life…  The individual asking me, was going through some tough times, and was asking for my advice…  When I tried to speak about the power of the Holy Spirit who was the One totally responsible for giving me the fullness of joy (John 15:9-11), a love of Christ beyond knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), and a supernatural peace which surpasses our mortal understanding (Philippians 4:6-7)…the individual told me they didn’t want to talk about God or spiritual things…

Friends…until a person gets to a point in their lives, where they understand that their pain, and their fears, and all of their other doubts and worries are from Satan and/or their own flesh…and that they MUST  open their minds and hearts to the fact that only God can help them rid their lives of these evil thoughts and desires…they will continue to live under Satan’s thumb…

The unredeemed sinner has absolutely no chance of fighting off Satan’s temptations, and their own carnal fleshly desires…  But the Christian who has truly been filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment God graces them with the gift of salvation (through faith alone in Jesus Christ…Ephesians 2:8-9)…will be no better off than the sinner headed for hell…if they turn their backs on the Lord, and insist on living a life filled with the same lustful sins of the world (1John 2:15-16)…  I believe God will withhold His blessings, except for the fact that I believe they will still be going to heaven when they pass on from this short life… 

Their sins and their carnal flesh will zap every bit of help that the Holy Spirit wants to give them…and their own selfish desires or self-control of their lives, will have the Holy Spirit sit back and patiently wait for them to come to their spiritual senses…

Friends…stopping Satan dead in his tracks, can be accomplished by the Christian systematically putting on the entire 6 piece set of the spiritual “whole armor of God”,that the Apostle Paul writes about, in…Ephesians 6:10-20; in combination with total submission to God… The Bible tells us this; and the Bible is 100% truth…

Ephesians 6:11… Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (NKJV)    And the Apostle James pens this, in…

James 4:7-8… Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (NKJV)

I cannot help anyone eliminate the attacks of Satan through evil thoughts and temptations to sin; or sins created from their own carnal fleshly desires…  It is the saving grace of the Lord, and the full power and protection of the indwelt Holy Spirit, along with the God given spiritual battle gear…that if combined for both external and internal protection…will have Satan headed for an easier target…   I praise the Lord everyday, for this truth and His power in my own life, to keep Satan and my own flesh (for the most part) in check…

Heavenly Father, Your Word is filled with what all of us need, in order to be protected from evil and sins of any kind…  I pray Father that You would draw those in need of Your saving grace to Yourself (John 6:44)…and that Your children who are less than Spirit filled, would come to their senses, and submit to Your will and Your ways…  I pray for this Spiritual fullness of Christ, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills