Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Whoa.  Wait a minute, you might be thinking.  How could this mess I am going through be a blessing ? Let us review, dear friends!   Here's a short list of how trials formed the saints of Scripture: - Daniel experienced firsthand God's supernatural power in protecting him from the voracious lions - Jesus was in  the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (and He is with us in our "fiery furnace!") - God protected David from Saul's murderous plans again and again, bringing him into his destiny as King - Job was doubly blessed - more than he had been - after he lost everyone and everything in life - Paul's letters to the churches are the most-quoted Scripture of all time; he wrote them from a prison cell - Jonah needed to learn that God's grace is for all - even for those he couldn't stand; he finally learned obedience - Joseph was left for dead by his jealous siblings; he ended up ruling over them eventually - Jesus endured severe hunger and

Did you know that as Christians, we do not have it in ourselves to win spiritual battles?  We are no match for the devil. Now this should not scare you because when we are in Christ, He has the power to beat the foe.  Every Time. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:14 that Christ always  leads us in triumph.   Always.  That means always! So why, then, do we still fail in our attempts to live a godly life? Simple.  At that moment, we are not following Jesus. We call ourselves followers of Christ.  And overall, we are. But in the heat of the battle, when we are suffering, when others are upsetting us, or whatever the case may be, are we following Christ then? He always leads us  in triumph.  So that tells me that triumph, or victory, is not a given.  We must do  something.  And that something is not what we think!  It is not to fight back in our own strength.  We lose when we do this because our battles our spiritual, remember? Christ leads us.  We are to follow. How exactly does He lead us