Press beyond your battles!

It is very tempting to give up in the heat of the battle.  Walking away, or giving up, is the easy way out.  And the relief it offers feels great at the time.

But!  As Christians, we are called to persevere and fight the good fight!  I wish it weren't so, but the truth is that the Christian life contains spiritual battles galore!

What you need to know when it happens:

- there is a lie from the devil at the root of it
- Jesus always provides the strength to endure when we look to Him to see us through it
- there are rewards on the other side!
- since Christ is all-powerful and already won the battle over the devil, we can face every battle knowing that with Christ in us and on our side, we too have the victory! 
- the more you go through the battles, the more aware you become of the enemy's tactics and therefore can see it for what it is
- you will feel anxious and riled up in your emotions because the enemy attacks our feelings and emotions, but wage war through prayer and worship and your feelings will eventually turn to peace
- some battles require that you get on your knees before God asking for His protection and deliverance - just do it!
- our battles are never, never, never against people - though the enemy uses people to come against us; it is the spiritual forces in the heavenlies that we are up against;  therefore, our ammo is spiritual, too

Out of all of these, I would say the last one has the most power to derail our walk with Christ.  We take our eyes off of Him and in our thoughts look at the person or people that we see as the enemy and blow it all out of whack.   

So when we train ourselves to see the spiritual battle as a war waged in the heavenly realm (spiritual), we realize that we are never fighting against a person or people, but the demons trying to get at us through them!  These are wicked, lying spirits trying to prevent you from doing God's will in your life.  

Cry out to God for discenment to see the battle for what it really is.  He will show you if you persevere in this!

And, like earthly battles, some spiritual battles take longer than others.  Keep going!  Don't stop believing God for the victory!  There may be "defeats" along the way, but ultimately, God wins!  Always!

Press on, dear friends.  The battle belongs to the Lord and He is the winner!

Lord Jesus, the battles can be fierce because I want to do Your will, glorify You, and to work out my salvation. Help me see what is happening every time a battle is waged against me. Then give me the tools and weapons I need to fight and win the battle using Your spiritual weapons of Your Word, prayer, worship, praise, and forgiveness.  I ask You for wisdom and discernment quickly, Lord, each time so that I don't waste more time waging the wrong war in my thoughts!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.