But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3
We are so easily lead astray. Distracted and sinful. We must be aware of the war that is going on around us, but even more so the God that is on our side.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23: 4
This makes me think of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings at the bridge of Khazad-dum. Gandalf leads the fellowship through the mines of Moria which probably felt like “the valley of the shadow of death”. They face many troubles in the caves and would not have made it out if it were not for Gandalf’s leadership. As they make their way out of the mines, they are being chased by a Balrog (basically a huge scary demon monster). Gandalf leads them over the bridge and turns to the Balrog with his staff in hand and says “You cannot pass, I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass!”. I don’t know about you but if I am going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I want someone like that with me. We have someone even greater. There is always a battle; the enemy is always chasing after us, but with God as our guide and with his rod and staff we can find comfort! When you feel attacked, imagine Christ turning to your trouble saying “You cannot pass. I am the light of the Glory of God, in the face of Christ. The image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation and I have rescued my child from the dominion of darkness and brought him/her into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom he/she has redemption, the forgiveness of sin. You shall not pass!”
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5
Not only does God protect us from the enemy, but he prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemy. It’s like Satan intended for something to distract us or bring us farther from God and not only does God save us from that, but he can take the attack and turn it into a feast; an opportunity to know God more and glorify him more than if there was no assault in the first place.
No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height no depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39
I love how this verse says that we are more than conquerors. It think it’s pretty great to be a conqueror, but in Christ we are more than conquerors. Not only does sin have NO authority over us and it has been defeated, we have the opportunity to take the struggles and sin in our life and let God use it for his good…more than a conqueror. So I leave you with this…
What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
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