Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

It is not crazy to speak Scripture out loud to the devil. Jesus did it and Jesus was not crazy. When the enemy is after you, put him in his wretched place! He holds no power over those of us who are in Christ. He wants you to think he does. But trust me. He is scared witless of the power of Christ in you. Question is, are you walking in His power? It is only available to those who are actually walking in His Spirit. The prayer of a righteous man avails much. And we have the righteousness of Almighty Christ in us, which is the only reason why our prayers are so powerful. The devil wants to keep you on the defense, always believing that he is a threat. But when we take our rightful place on the offense in Christ, the devil is literally toast! Oh he never gives up, sad to say; especially in the lives of us who are following Jesus wholeheartedly. It’s all a matter of faith. Do we truly believe that there is power in Gods Word to defeat the devil? Or do we fear acting the religious fanatic

So I told the Lord yesterday that I surrender my life to Him. I have done this before.  I don't recall the earth shaking, or any lightning bolts or fireworks when I surrendered before.  I don't remember anything changing outwardly much at all.   We are to live in daily surrender to the Lord.  This means giving up our will, plans, agendas for His. If we truly believe, "Your will be done," then how does this play out in daily life for us? Are you strong-willed?  This seems to be an admirable trait according to some.  People are wowed by the most idiotic things, aren't they?   Jesus is not wowed one iota by your strong will   Jesus not once exerted His own will when He walked this earth.  Do you respect Jesus for that?  Do you? Why exactly was Jesus so powerful in His earthly ministry?  Precisely because He was surrendered to His Heavenly Father.   Jesus had no agenda of His own.  Jesus was perfectly obedient to God and His ministry was the most powerful ever.  Power

Where is my focus?  If it is on anyoe or anything else other than Jesus, I will get tripped up, distracted, even deceived.   So how do we keep our focus on Christ?  Mostly through prayer.  Talk to HIm and with Him throughout the day.  Trust Him to lead and guide us.  our work, and be sure to obey Him. He will perform His miracles, healings, and casting out of demons through us as we stay focused on Him, stay connected to Him.   As we give up control and allow  Him to take over our heart - mind, will, and emotions - He lives His life through us.  This is to be our core and how God does His work in this world - through our yielded selves! When we focus on the work, or on goals, instead, they can take over our hearts in place of Christ as gods to us. This always leads to stress and turmoil within because nothing else is meant to usurp Christ on the throne of our hearts. This takes surrender and trust.  We won't surrender to anyone or anything that we don't trust or believe in. Whe

There are all kinds of strength.  You can be physically strong, emotionally strong, mentally strong, and so on. But there is a strength that trumps all of these and that is spiritual strength. This is because when we are strong in the spirit - in the things of the Lord - then we have an inner strength that empowers us to do and face whatever life asks of us. Think of it as a tree where the roots are your spiritual strength and the tree, branches, and fruit are all possible because of the strength of the roots - how deep they go, how strong they are, etc. People can put on all kinds of "shows."  But only God knows each heart. Sometimes, those who "act" the strongest on the outside carry the most fears with them on the inside. Anyone placing all of their confidence in their physical strength, or any other strength, will deep down be insecure.  Why?  Because all other strengths, aside from spiritual, can be weakened and deteriorate.  Because we were not built to build