February 05, 2006

Under Attack

I really feel like our family is under attack right now. My neck has been popped out and sore for three days - starting on the fourth day - now (in terms of how much ibuprofen is good for you - this is really bad news!). I don't have medical insurance and really wish I had some narcotic pain killers right about now - or a muscle relaxer or something... other than just this heating pad. Kevin's truck wouldn't start this morning so our friends who were down for the weekend couldn't go to church with me this morning for lack of transportation (we couldn't all fit in her little car). I've been overwhelmed with all the tons of projects I have to finish (and feeling not 100% enough to tackle or complete them). Kevin had an awful headache this morning and he has been grinding his teeth at night - a sign of stress. We just really have had our share of difficulties this year in general (and for the past couple of years) - with finances, moving, and adjusting to living out of state most recently. I can see God's hand in all of these things pulling me closer to Him and know there is a purpose in these trials. There have been many blessings along the way as well. We have wonderful homeschool friends here and we love our church... it will be hard if we ever move home to Texas, and hard if we do not. Life is full of strange circumstances which we must muddle through, isn't it?

So, before I head over to the bed with my dayplanner, homeschool planner, Sunday coupons, coupon organizer, stacks of paperwork, bills, calculator AND HEATING PAD FOR MY NECK... I thought I would write down a few things to encourage myself for the battle ahead (and to encourage you - if you happened in here today)...

Things We Know About the Devil

1. The devil schemes against us.

Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

2. We are to resist the devil. Knowing the Lord helps us do this.

1 Peter 5:9 - Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

James 4:7 - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Daniel 11:32 - With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

3. The devil wants us dead - and separated from God forever.

1 Peter 5:8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Mark 4:15 - Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

Job 1:7 - The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."

4. If we don't love our brother, or obey the Lord, we are children of the devil.

1 John 3:10 - This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

5. The devil has the ability to test us and persecute us at times which God appoints. He has to ask God permission, though.

Revelation 2:10 - Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

1 Thessalonians 2:18 - For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.

Luke 22:31-32 - "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

6. The devil leads us astray... and he has lots of helpers. He sometimes tricks us into believing that he is a "good guy".

Revelation 12:9 - The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

2 Corinthians 11:14 - And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 - The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders

1 Timothy 5:15 - Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

7. The devil is angry with God and knows his time is short.

Revelation 12:12 - Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.

8. God will crush Satan and destroy him eventually. God is stronger than Satan.

Romans 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

1 John 4:4 - You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Knowing my enemy helps me to see with eternal eyes - see past the every-day anxieties into the real realm of spiritual matters. One day, the financial troubles, the neck pain, the hardships, the homeschooling, and all other things which vie for our attention will be gone. The one thing that will remain is Christ and His Word and how I lived in His presence. Whether I choose to believe that He is here with me - holding things together - or not... it doesn't change the fact that He is. Can I look past the choking weeds of the devil which distress and sidetrack me to the larger picture of this harvest before me... to the seeds of tomorrow in my children's hearts and in the lives of my husband, myself, and our friends and family?

A bible teacher once told me that if you are NOT being attacked by the devil, he probably isn't worried about you. So you should consider it flattery when you seem to be on his hit-list... because that means he sees you as an adversary to his evil cause... or in other, more wonderful words... a SOLDIER OF CHRIST.

James 1:2-3 - 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

2 Timothy 2:3 - Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.


Ephesians 6:10-18...

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

May you take up the armor of God today and may God give you the strength to fight against your enemy.


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awsome posts, girlfriend. Thanks for taking time to find and share all the scripture - very eye-opening!

I hope your neck is feeling better. One 'exercise' you might try is to lay flat on your back on your bed, shoulders at the edge of the foot of the bed with your head hanging over the edge - and relax all your muscles. Stay in that position for 2-3 minutes and then, supporting your head with your hands, slide yourself up onto the bed so that you're completely flat and lay that way for another 2-3 minutes.

Our Chiropractor has us do that a couple of times a week and it helps a lot.

Also, if heat doesn't work, try ice packs to settle your muscles.

As always, your family is in our prayers. Hang in there!

Peace,
Cindy.

Anonymous said...

Oh girlie, why haven't you called me?????? Give me a buzz and let me know what I can do to help!

Hugs,
Amanda

Obed said...

Amazing, I just got done posting about the same attack on my blog today. http://jcforlife.blogspot.com
Thank you for the scriptures to support us in trials. I'll pray for you and your family in health and stress relief. Your brother, Jamison

Sprittibee said...

Thanks Cindy. I'm up at 2:35am because the pain is keeping me awake. I hate to keep taking chemicals to mask it... but man, I'd go for some injected demoral right about now in a New-York Second! I tried the off the bed thing... and the ice pack... and some Extra Strength Bengay patch stuff... still hurting... Need your chiropractor and some MORPHINE... HELP!

Amanda... Hey sweetie. I'm just really feeling rotten. Maybe you guys could come by this week. :) That would surely cheer me up. You'd have to excuse my wreck of an apartment, though... I'm not up to cleaning it right now.

Jamison - Sorry to hear about your family's colds and moving troubles. It is hard missing fellowship. My poor hubby is working a 10:30-7:30 shift and gets home at 8pm... and he works every day except Tues/Wed... making him miss every church service for the week! He really hates it... and our schedule is shot! Prayers for your family to be well again soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

You know that ibuprofen is also a anti-inflammatory drug. As long as you eat a little something with it, it may actually help. I've had prescriptions for 800mg after I had my babies.

I'm sorry you are feeling overwhelmed right now. I wish we lived closer and I could do something to help. I will be praying for you and your family.

If you want specific help with you blog (I know you've mentioned this a few times), send me an e-mail and we can talk. It sounds like you need to get a good imaging program. I have both Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7. Photoshop costs a rather large chunk of money, but I was able to get mine for half price when my husband bought my digital camera. Paint Shop Pro is a good deal cheaper, but still expensive when you have no money. I have heard wonderful things about a free program called GIMP. You might want to go check out the website for GIMP and download it.

http://www.gimp.org/

Take care of yourself and know that you are looking in the right place when you search scripture. :o) (((hugs)))

Sprittibee said...

Thanks Firefly. I'll have to check out that free program. You can get Adobe for even cheaper if you buy it as a student - through a college bookstore. You have to be a FULL time student, though. I have seen it for as little as 128.$

Still, that's a bunch of moolah to me.... when we are budgeting every penny between paychecks right now. We are just overextended financially with storage in two states and debt from previous years still to pay off. Working on becoming free of our chains - without bankrupcy - is hard. I believe in paying what I owe... and trying to do it while homeschooling (without my extra income) is difficult. So, we plod on towards our goal, knowing that it is the Lord's goal for us as well - so no man can stand against us... we will succeed! :)

I'll email you later for help. Right now, I'm using my hubby's laptop in bed with a heating pad. It's hard to see the lovely sunshine outside and be unable to get up and go enjoy it. Tues and Wed is our days off (Kev's days off from work)... but we haven't gotten much school done this past six days of my injury anyway.

Sprittibee said...

Thanks Gena. :)

Anonymous said...

Your posting was truly a blessing to me when I came across it in my search for help when under attack. It helped to remind me that 1) My wife and I are not alone, 2) We must be doing something right, or Satan wouldn't be paying this much attention to us, and 3) God is with us, as He always is. Sometimes it's just nice and very refreshing to hear from another believer that they face trials and tribulations too. I pray for you and your family. Thank you for helping to remind me of these very important truths in God's word. I pray that He may add a blessing to the reading of His Word, and that we will all be prayer warriors and Soldiers of God for our Lord.

God Bless,
Darren Crook

Anonymous said...

btw, here's a link to a free program that uses vector graphics for drawing. That means they can be resized infinitely without distortion. Perfect for web or print.

God Bless,
Darren Crook

Anonymous said...

Whoops! Here's that link: http://www.inkscape.org/

enjoy!

God Bless,
Darren Crook

Sprittibee said...

Thanks Darren. I appreciate you stopping in to tell me that you were blessed by my post. Thanks also for the link! Looking forward to checking it out.

Blommom said...

Thank you! I just stumbled across your blog post looking for clip art to accompany teaching Ephesians 6:10-17 in our homeschool. Years ago my mother made posters with Scriptures and little picture hints for those who couldn't read. Now that my kids are getting old enough to really "hide the Word" I want to follow in my mom's footsteps.
Thank you for your Scripture-filled post that blesses me years after you wrote it!

Anonymous said...

sbees.blogspot.com is very pleasant to read. The article is very professionally written. I enjoyed reading sbees.blogspot.com. keep it that way.

 

Disclosure

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links or sponsored links. I receive a small commission whenever a product is purchased through an affiliate link. Sponsored links are paid for by a company who wishes to improve their Google ranking, but I always check to make sure these are reputable sites and never allow any links that are questionable to be placed.

The links in my "Sweet Linkage" section are either sponsored links or personal links that I find interesting (including the links to the blogs that both of my teen children run).

I occasionally run ads on my blog in exchange for money or traded advertising, or receive products in exchange for a review or giveaway posts. I also participate in campaigns by brands that offer to pay me to write about their products after using them. Any post that is sponsored will be noted as such. All opinions expressed on Sprittibee.com are my own, and any review, give-away, sponsored post, graphic ad, or product that I mention or link to are ones that I believe are reputable and worthy companies.

Stats

blog design:

blog archives