I want to encourage you to read today’s devotion out loud in a strong voice so its message can penetrate your heart and mind! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you want the Word to become effective in your life speak it out loud! Believe it by faith! Stand firm on it until your reality catches up with it!
“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9 AMP
As I ended Day 176 I spoke of the things that I could not be doing right now if the Word of God was not treasured up in my heart because I would be bound up in my own knowledge and relying on humanistic strength to fight this supernatural battle! This week the Lord has reminded me of the many great battles that He instructed His people to fight once they entered the Promised Land. I am sure that Joshua brought to remembrance God’s spoken Word many times when leading the people into battle. And I am sure he spent time meditating on it before he engaged in the battles because he understood the importance of walking in the strength of the Lord. He had witnessed what happened when the people walked in their own strength or in their knowledge and when they turned their eyes away from the leading of the Lord.
I understand the Children of Israel more than I would like to admit because I have done the very same thing at different times during this journey of faith. I have found myself moving in a direction of independence and self reliance and away from the Lord’s leading only to be moved by the Spirit back to a place of dependence as He reminds me of the Word that is treasured up in my heart. And it has been His Words of promise that have given me the strength to stand strong in the midst of this battle! He continues to remind me that as His disciple I move from faith to faith, from victory to victory. That doesn’t mean my life will be absent of troubles or battles! On the contrary Jesus said that in this world we will have many troubles, but to take heart because He has overcome the world! But what it does mean is that I have an assurance that with every battle we are facing right now we will be able to give a victory shout of praise to the Lord when He delivers us out of it!
He cannot fail! He cannot lie! His Word is true and it says that we are more than conquerors! We are the head and not the tail! We are above and not beneath! We have all we need for life and godliness! We are strong in Him and the power of His might! As He is in Heaven so are we in the earth! He is not sick, broke, burdened, homeless, abandoned, depressed, helpless, forsaken, or alone! No! Our God is whole, healed, strong, victorious, empowered, exalted, and glorified! Therefore we have an assurance that He is at work in the midst of our reality and He is working on our behalf to perform His Word in our circumstance!
I don’t know what you are facing in life right now but don’t let the devil lie to you! As a new creation in Jesus Christ you are a VICTOR not a victim! You are a CONQUEROR, not the conquered! If you are feeling overwhelmed in the midst of your circumstance; get the Word of God in your heart and meditate on it! Commit it to memory and let it have its perfect work in your heart and mind! IT WORKS and it is the only thing that can MAKE YOU STRONG, VIGOROUS, AND COURAGEOUS! Listen to what Paul told the church in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it].”
We are in a supernatural battle against a defeated enemy who has lied to us and made us believe that we are without hope and doomed to failure! He has no power except for the power we give him so it is our responsibility to remind him of his defeat by standing firm on the Word of God! But if that Word is not in our hearts and minds, he will gain a foothold that will eventually turn into a stronghold, and then it will become a strangle hold! The superhuman power to overcome in every circumstance comes from the Word of God working in our lives! There is NO other power in heaven or on earth that is able to put the works of the devil to death!
Our human reasoning can’t do it! Our striving in our own strength can’t do it! Our human wisdom or knowledge can’t do it! NO! The Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword! It is mighty in the tearing down of strongholds! It is the light in the darkness that illuminates the path to victory! It should be the first and only authority in our lives! John 1:5 says, “And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].” In order to walk in a mindset of victory we have to believe God’s Word over what our eyes see or our ears hear! We have to bind ourselves to it and not separate ourselves from it! Read it! Believe it! Claim it! Walk in it! And we will see the day of deliverance in the house of the Lord! Amen!
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