Fighting Against Satan's Attacks

Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7
 
I saw this passage in a whole new way today. Whenever I have read this verse in the past, I thought of it as "When Satan tempts you to do something wrong, run away from him." This is definitely true, but today I dug deeper into the verse. Satan will not only try to tempt me to do sinful things, but while I am walking with God, he (Satan) will put obstacles on my path. Slamming me with depression, disappointment, anxiety, worry, darkness, confusion, fear, pain, etc, he then leads me to believe that such abuse is from the Lord.
 
"I had always thought the most God-pleasing thing I could do when bad things happened was to simply accept them and move on. But God was showing me that when the enemy attacked, He didn't want me to accept it. He wanted me to fight by the power of His Spirit." -Leslie Ludy (From Set-Apart Femininity)
 
I feel kind of silly to have never thought about it that way! When I have gone through tough times, I have assumed that they were God's way of strengthening me. Satan has often prevented me from living out God's purpose for my life to the fullest, because he put pain along the way... and instead of standing firm and resisting his attempts to attack me, I have accepted it, quickly fallen, and blamed God in the end. It's scary how sneaky Satan is.
 
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. -Ephesians 6:10-11
 
I definitely believe that God disciplines His children- but what I learned today is that it is NEVER in cruel ways. God is love, and He will not hurt His children.
 
"I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you." -Luke 10:19

I have realized that accepting the depression, anxiety or any other type of pain from the enemy is ultimately sin. When I accept Satan's cruelty, I am living as his servant, instead of God's devoted follower. When I let Satan put misery in my soul, I become extremely depressed, and that prohibits me from being a light of Jesus Christ. It also takes me off of the path Christ wants me to be on, onto a path of selfishness. From now on, instead of accepting Satan's attacks, I will try to stand firm, and fight against them!
 
"Despite the popular notion today that it is more spiritual to remain weak, struggling and vulnerable, God desires to build us into valiant, valorous, fortified warriors who fear none but him alone and are vulnerable to none but Him alone." -Another quote from Leslie Ludy's book, Set-Apart Femininity

Good Morning!

I feel very free! I have been beyond busy the last couple of weeks. Last week I felt like I lived at the theater- it was dress rehersal week for the play I was in. The play was a huge success, my Mother was the one who wrote and directed it, and I cannot applaud her enough! She put an extreme amount of work into it, and did an astounding job :)

Since the play has been over, I have been busy catching up on things that I didn't have time for during dress rehersal week, especially homework. Last night I finally got to the point where I didn't exactly have TONS of things that I had to do, so both last night and this morning, I was able to spend time focusing completely on God without hardly any distractions, and it was so very refreshing :) He has been teaching me so much... it's so exciting! I want to blog about all of it, but I don't know where to start! I've been reading Leslie Ludy's book Set-Apart Femininity, it has been really inspiring. I desire more than anything to be truly set-apart, and to love, honor, glorify and worship God with every breath I take, word I speak, thought I have and thing I do... I fail most of the time, but He never stops working on me! It is SO encouraging to know that He will never give up on me! Praise God for His unfailing love! ♥

Do Hard Things

My good friend Kerra got me a book for my birthday called Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. I didn't get into the book straight away, but ever since I did, I have been challenged and excited on a very deep level. I highly encourage YOU to read it, even if you are not a teenager. I haven't read the whole book yet, but God has taught me a lot in the chapters that I have read so far.

In general, people don't have high expectations of teenagers. This book is for anyone who wants to rebel against those low expectations, and live with the intensity that God desires. As teenagers, we need to stop being lazy, and stop doing things that won't matter for eternity. I know that I have been letting other people's expectations control how I do things much more than I have been letting God's expectations guide the way I live, which is horribly sad.

Anyone who has not read Do Hard Things should make time to do so. It's time for our generation to rise up! =)

Glub Glub!

I'm having a hard time. I'm trying to figure something out, and it's very difficult. Maybe one of you blogger buddies of mine can help me out =)

The thing that I am having a difficult time with is finding a happy medium between 2 things:

1. Study hard, focus on your education [and]
2. Live today as if it were your last

I don't know about you, but if today was the last day of my life, I would NOT be doing school, or chores, or anything like that! LOL!

I read a book this summer called "Driven by Eternity", and it was about using your life to do things that will matter for eternity in heaven.

-If I work extremely hard on schoolwork, then I will probably have more options of things to do that will count for eternity when I get out of school. I will be knowledgeable, which will really help living for God.

-If I "live today as if it were my last", I SO wouldn't be doing school! I would be constantly focusing on my relationship with God, letting Him use me to lead others to Him, and also, I would be doing things for people I love, and letting them know that I loved them in every way I could. I woodnt b wastin non time of mine wit educaton. LOL =D

So... that is what I have been thinking a lot about lately. I feel like I must find a happy medium, or go with one extreme or the other. What are YOUR thoughts?

Moving on...

Last night we went to see "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The majority of the cast was age 17 or younger, mostly young children. They did so well! It was SO BEYOND HILARIOUS!!! It made my week! Seriously, my Mom and I were SCREAMING with laughter, it was fabulous! =D Garrett came with us, which made it even more fun, and oh my gosh, my Mom and I were hysterically giddy! It was really funny! I hope Garrett doesn't have an insane headache today, though. He did have to listen to our loud laughter for a couple of hours!

It was SO funny... during intermission, I had the sudden urge to turn to my Mom, or Garrett, and say, "Guess what sound a fish makes?" and then say, "Glub Glub!" HAHAHAHAHA!!! I don't know WHERE that sudden urge came from, but it seemed like such a random, funny thing to say! Just the sound "glub glub" is hilarious... I LOVE it, and I will be saying it all of the time now, esp. when there is an awkward silence! =D People will think, "What a dork!" but I won't care =)

Somedays I feel immensely happy! Today is one of those days, and it is truly splendid!

Thank you for reading my blog! I really appreciate it! I really appreciate YOU! JESUS LOVES YOU!!! =D