“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/

Hebrews 5:13-14… For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solidfoodbelongs to those who are of fullage, that is,those who by reason of use have their sensesexercised to discern both good and evil.  (NKJV)

I have always believed that spiritual growth in the life of a Christian can best be developed through spending time reading, masticating, and then applying God’s Word to one’s life…  A “babe” in Christ is typically defined as a Christian who has not spent much time reading and studying the Bible… 

Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with physical age…but everything to do with how diligent the Christian is at allowing God’s Word to help grow the spiritual fruit with-in the Christian, as they are becoming more conformed into the image of Christ…Romans 8:29…  This is a lifelong process that is known as progressive sanctification… Here is an excellent link to better understand this hopefully continuous spiritual growth process with-in the maturing Christian…   http://www.gotquestions.org/progressive-sanctification.html )

I often write about God’s spiritual armor, which the Apostle Paul so eloquently describes, in…Ephesians 6:10-20…because this protective armor God has provided for all Christians to “Put on” piece by piece…has been part of the key to my being able to stand firm against the devil most all of the time…Ephesians 6:11…  Put on the wholearmor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (NKJV)

Here is the link to the Apostle Paul’s scripture, to share with you the description of this 6 piece set of spiritual armor that the Apostle Paul penned from his prison cell in Rome…  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians6:10-20&version=NKJV;KJV

Notice that this set of spiritual armor must be “Put on” by the Christian…  God doesn’t just cloth His children with all 6 pieces of spiritual armor at the time they become a Christian…  God does give the new believer the “helmet of salvation”…the “shield of faith”…and the “breastplate of righteousness” (Christ’s righteousness), at the time they are filled with the Holy Spirit…  But unless the Christian puts on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:11-14) each and every day before they enter the battlefield called the world…I believe they will inevitably succumb to the temptations of Satan, and their own desires of the flesh…

The “sword of the Spirit” (the word of God – Ephesians 6:17b), is the only offensive piece of this 6 piece set of spiritual armor designed to keep Satan at bay in the life of the believer…  I believe that putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, is a combination of wearing thewhole armor of God, and total submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit that God gives to all of His new redeemed children…John 14:26…

The Apostle James pens this idea of submission to God as a means to ward off Satan’s attacks, in this scripture…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 drawnear to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (NKJV)

When the Christian grows in spiritual maturity through reading the Word, and is putting on the Lord Jesus Christ…the opening scripture reveals that they are more apt to be able “to discern both good and evil” through the power and the conviction of the Holy Spirit living with-in them…

Walking with the Lord on a more or less consistent basis can take years, in order for the Christian to grow in their spiritual wisdom and maturity…to reach a place in their life when they truly understand how to please God on a consistent, but never perfect, basis…  All Christians will sin…but the frequency and the severity of their sins will hopefully diminish to a point where the Holy Spirit is in control most of the time…  It is at this level of Christian spiritual maturity that the Christian will be able to successfully “test the spirits” most of the time (1 John 4:1-3), to determine whether they are from God or from Satan…

I listened to Dr. Charles Stanley last Oct. 30^th and 31^st, as he preached a 2 part sermon titled…“Resisting the Devil – Part 1 & Part 2”…  You can listen to his teaching by going to http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/audio-archives  and scrolling down to these dates…  Just listening to part 2 will give you most of what Dr. Stanley is trying to convey… 

Dr. Stanley starts out by quoting…1 Peter 5:8-9a…where the Apostle Peter pens scripture warning us about the devil, and his evil tactics… Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devilwalksabout like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith,  (NKJV)

Satan is a master of deception, doing every thing he can to keep the Christian from sharing their faith with others… Satan is even capable of disguising himself as an “angel of light”, as seen in…2 Corinthians 11:14…   Unprepared Christians can be duped by Satan’s deceiving tricks that may seem to be harmless…with Satan even posing as a messenger of truth to drag down unsuspecting Christians…

The entire point of today’s writing is to give you one comment that Dr. Stanley made…that I just have to share with all of you who are Christians…to hopefully alert you to one way of not being deceived by Satan’s tricks…  Satan is called “the accuser of our brethren”, in…Revelation 12:10…  Unrest, anxiety, fear, and a number of other negative emotions like depression and worthlessness come from Satan, and not from the Holy Spirit…  Satan knows our weaknesses, and uses our unprotected mind to connive and manipulate our thoughts and our actions…  There should be no condemnation coming from the Holy Spirit for the Christian who is walking in the Spirit…Galatians 5:16…

We see this penned by the Apostle Paul, in…Romans 8:1… Thereis therefore nownocondemnation to those who areinChristJesus, whodonotwalk according to the flesh, butaccording to the Spirit.  (NKJV)

So if you are a Christian who is being made to feel worthless and depressed…look to the Lord and submit you life to Him, as you confess and turn from your sins (1 John 1:9)…  The power of the Holy Spirit should replace negative thoughts and depression with the supernatural peace and the joy of a heart filled with the love of Christ, that only God can provide to the Christian who is truly walking in sweet fellowship with the Lord…  And Satan should be fleeing for an easier victim, as the Apostle James pens in the scripture above, in… James 4:7-8…

Heavenly Father, I am ever so thankful for the peace and the joy You provide in my life…  Urge all of Your children Lord, through the power and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to remain focused on You…as they submit their own lives to Your will and your ways…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of our lives, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ, bruce r mills