A Reminder

Reading my Bible this morning I came across this and I thought I would share it to remind all the believers who read this of the changes that take place after their rebirth:

Before	After
We were under God’s curse	Now we are loved by God
We were doomed because of our sins	We were shone God’s mercy and given Salvation
We went along with the crowed	We stand for Christ and Truth
We were God’s enemies	We are God’s children
We were enslaved to Satan	We are free in Christ to love, serve and set with Him
We followed our evil thoughts and passions	We have been taken from the grave to glory
We were under God’s anger	We were given undeserved favor
We were spiritually dead	We were given new spiritual life

With the new year starting, it wouldn’t hurt to reflect on these things and draw some encouragement from them.  In the world around us we hear and see so many negative things I think it is good to remember what the good Lord has taken us from and the blessings we receive from Him.  Today is the second day of this new year and I feel I have had a breakthrough, praise the Lord.  Last year I had a long struggle spiritually and from listening to others I think many have had a struggle spiritually also, but praise the Lord, He is in the business of making all things new in His time.  If you are struggling and problems are piling up, remember if we didn’t have any problems we wouldn’t know that the Lord could solve them.  

Sometimes I think as believers we forget when we are born-again we enter a battle with the forces of darkness and the closer we get to the front lines the fiercer the battle becomes.  This reminds me of King David when he had Joab put Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, on the front lines where the fighting was the heaviest so that he would be killed to cover up his sin.  The closer we get to the front lines and the more effective we are in tearing down Satan’s strongholds, the stronger the battle becomes.  Sometimes we are not effective because we use the wrong methods, trying to fight with our own carnal methods, which never accomplish much if we are trying to fight in our own strength.  

What we need to do is use Paul’s method, read what he said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

We also need to put on the whole armor of God with the shield of faith in place so that we can fight off the fiery darts of the evil one.  The most important thing is to never give up, or give in.  Resist the devil and keep resisting and he will flee from you.  I hope this has been an encouragement to you and may the good Lord bless you and yours.  May you have a happy, blessed and victorious New Year!!