It's War!!

I had a horrible nightmare last night! It wasn't a bloody, gory horror film kind of nightmare. But, at the same time it was gut wrenching sickening and I won't even go into it here on the blog. Besides, one of my precious family members was the victim of this nightmare and there is just no way I want to get into this. Do you ever wonder what gives us nightmares? I sure do. I don't have them often, but when I do they are kind of hard to forget for a while and it takes a lot of praying asking God to erase the images from my mind.

I believe God gives us answers or sends us messages through dreams. For example, we've been members of our current church for 3 years now and started going there because I dreamed about it twice in one week and felt God was telling us to go there, so we obeyed and it has worked out great for us. But nightmares are from the devil. Oh, he is such a crafty liar, and is so evil. He loves to mess with my mind, so I guess that means he could mess with my dreams as well, creating the dreaded nightmares.

Do you know who Joyce Meyer is? I love this woman. She is a preacher/evangelist/TV show host/author, and to me an incredible woman. One of the books she has written is called Battlefield of the Mind. I finished this book for the second time a couple of months ago. I love that book. She teaches us how to change our thinking and control our thinking--Godly, and scriptually. I decided to read her newest book called Power Thoughts. It's kind of a continuation of the Battlefield of the Mind book. I have had a difficult time getting into this book and enjoying it, even though she has some great questions to make you think, some great examples and stories to illustrate her points, some great scripture to support her points, and some great sayings people have said. I have been wondering what is my problem and why can't I concentrate and focus on this book? The answer is obvious--because the devil is fighting me in my mind. He wants me distracted and unfocused. Last night's nightmare was him upping the ante and coming on stronger.

Why would the devil be trying to do this to me you might be asking? Because there is obviously something from this book that God wants me to learn that I don't know about yet, and the devil has decided to wage war on me to try to prevent me from gleaning this information and maturing and growing closer to God. Yes, the devil feels threatened. He hates anything about God, and he hates it when God's children mature and become more Christ-like.

Are you a child of God? Have you ever noticed that when you take a huge step to mature more in Him that there seem to be hindrances? Have you ever taken a get out of debt course (I love Dave Ramsey) only to find that all of a sudden your car breaks down, or you are in danger of losing your job, etc. and it seems anything that can go wrong financially is happening? Or have you ever taken a relationship course (I love Love and Respect) only to find that you are wanting to fight more with your spouse because you recognize all of the things that he or she is doing wrong according to the Bible and all of that fault-finding is taking precedence over your own faults? All of this is because the devil knows that if you succeed in these tests that you will become closer to God and the enemy is going to do whatever he can to make that not happen.

So what do I need to do now? Fight, fight, fight, and fight. The devil has waged war. I already know that God is on my side. Now I need to use all of the weapons I can to fight and be victorious. These weapons include, the Bible, prayer, self-control over my emotions and thoughts, possibly asking others to join me in my battle. Believing that I will overcome with Jesus' help and the help of the Holy Spirit.

I do not know who said this, and I don't remember where I first read this, but one of my favorite sayings is, "Live your life in a way that when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says, "Crud, she's awake!"" That describes me well. I am a fighter; always have been. There is not much that intimidates me. However, if I had to constantly fight, I would be exhausted, and probably want to retreat and give up. But, guess what? I have God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit on my side. They can do the fighting and protecting for me when I am weary. I do need to do what I can, but I also know and trust in this trinity to help me be an overcomer and win! It may take a while, but it will happen.

If you are battling with something, don't give up. It's okay to cry, scream, question, be angry--it really is okay to be all of these ways--you find lots of people in the Bible who were warriors for God feeling these ways. But, at the same time, these people also knew to keep talking to God and keep believing He will help. Here's hoping for no nightmares tonight!