devil | By His Grace

Posts Tagged ‘devil’

Satan is the enemy to those who want to follow Christ, to those who are called according to God’s purpose. Satan is the enemy even to unbelievers. We as Christians know that the devil hates us. He hates us because we love God. I wish unbelievers knew just how much Satan really hates them too. He may “appear” to be happy with them because of their pride, greed, immorality, and material possessions. But he hates them just the same. Satan likes to see people do his work on this planet, whether they are Christian or not.

And it’s not so much that the devil hates “us”. Satan’s true hatred is toward the Almighty God. He wants to do everything he can to grieve the Holy Spirit, upset the Lord, get Him angry, demean Jesus Christ, whatever it takes.

I think what the devil loves most is stealing and destroying any kind of joy in a Christian’s life. I think he gets his biggest kicks out of doing this to us. Sometimes I feel like I fall so easily into this sneaky trick. Doesn’t it anger you to think he does this? or even worse, we allow him to do it!

One way Satan kills our joy is to doubt ourselves. I’ve been doing this a lot lately! And quite frankly, I’m tired of allowing him to steal my confidence and my joy. Today was a very stressful day at work but I find my peace and rest when spending time with the Lord and reading His Word. The Lord has been reminding me that He is there and will take care of me. To not stress and to do the best I can. God will even put people in our presence to give us encouragement and to remind us that He is watching and is with us.

I had a customer tell me that I have a “light” about me. Comes to find out, they were a Christian and we had a quick talk about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It made my day for someone to see me like this. I wasn’t sure I ever really portrayed a difference by my mannerisms. It reaffirmed my love for Christ and that even in the midst of chaos we can still allow Jesus to shine through us for strangers to see. Satan tried to steal my confidence and joy that day, but…

“Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world”

….take THAT satan……

Tags: Bible, Christ, Christian, Christianity, confidence, devil, God, HolySpirit, Jesus, Lord, Religion and Spirituality, Satan

I Can’t But God Can

Posted by: Sober Chick on: June 17, 2012

In: Christian Walk | encouragement | recovery
14 Comments

I want to share with you an experience I had that involves how God empowers us and guides us in our daily life.

Recently, I was promoted to the assistant manager position at my job. I have only worked there for 2 months and by being quickly promoted, it had me both excited and scared. My confidence level needs much improvement though. In fact, I almost didn’t accept the position because I was really psyching myself out. I was allowing Satan way too much time in my thoughts and almost worked myself into a panic attack. I was questioning whether God really gave me this job or was it my own will taking over. Satan had me questioning everything and I was obsessing over it. I was stressed to say the least.

Most of you know my past and the bad choices I have made in my life. My struggle with addiction and years of verbal abuse all play a part in how I feel about myself and my abilities.

Yesterday was my first day running the store by myself. I had a staff of 7 and it was important for me to not only keep everything running smoothly but I also had the strain of having to cut people early due to high labor costs earlier in the week. We have a couple employees who are “high maintenance”. You have to constantly watch them and stay on them to do their job. This alone is very stressful.

As soon as I walked in, there were problems. Running this store is like a machine. If all the parts aren’t working properly, it quickly falls apart and it can be difficult to recover. So if one of the employees is lacking, it affects the whole thing. Five minutes after I walked in I said softly out loud, “God you have to help me.”

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:31

No matter what problem was put in front of me and needed my attention and/or leadership, I remained calm and focused. I handled things without getting upset or freaking myself out. I was able to solve any problems that came up and from what I could tell, customers appeared happy with the service. The day wasn’t perfect and we did have a few customers who got upset but I was able to resolve any issues and make them happy before they left.

God gets all the credit!

This had nothing to do with me. God was with me totally and it was all Him. Our lives can get so busy that we don’t always realize just how much God does for us on a daily basis. We don’t see just how much God is in control and faithfully loves us and guides us 24 hours at a time.

I encourage all of you to take a few moments today and reflect on how God works in your daily life. Ask Him to reveal the “little things” that we so often miss. And remember that by humbling ourselves to Him, He empowers us to do things that we normally couldn’t do if left up to our own will.

The Proper Response To God’s Grace

Posted by: Sober Chick on: May 5, 2012

In: Christian Walk | Growing In Christ | recovery
13 Comments

As Believer’s, we obey God because He loves us and know that He wants to help us succeed in this life. Once we realize how much He loves us, we are motivated to trust in Him. God provides the power for us to live a godly life.

The proper response to God’s grace is right conduct.

The apostle Paul writes in Titus 2:12,

“And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God.”

I always find it intriguing how Scripture written 2000 years ago can still apply in the crazy world we live in now. Obviously, men’s (and women’s) hearts back then are in the same shape as our hearts are today. Our world has definitely evolved since Paul wrote this letter to Titus back in A.D. 63-66, yet we can relate to what Paul is talking about and apply it to our lives here in 2012.

Paul goes on to say in verse 13,

“while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.”

There is an excellent payoff to being a Christian and working hard at having self control and right conduct. That payoff is the “blessed hope” of Christ’s glorious return. I certainly look forward to it and can’t wait to hear those 3 sounds talked about in 1 Thess 4:16. We will hear 3 sounds as Christ descends from heaven:

A shout.
The voice of the archangel.
The trumpet of God.

Talk about a grand entrance! God’s grace is for everyone on earth. God desires for all people to be saved.

“For the grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation to all people.” (Titus 2:11)

None of us deserve God’s mercy and grace, but it is available to everyone because of what Christ did on the cross. Having self-control and living a godly life involves daily devotion and committment.

The devil wants us to focus on how little we have grown spiritually. One of the lies he tells me is, “you should be a lot further along by now Michele.” It’s a trick to stifle my self-confidence and get me to feel guilty. When feeling like this, I get upset with myself and I am playing right into the lie. If I were to keep believing this lie, I become an unproductive follower of Christ.

If we want to have any kind of chance in this evil world, we need to focus instead on how far we have come! God’s amazing grace gives us the confidence we need to live a godly life, have right conduct and the power and strength we need to accomplish any kind of right behavior.