Get Your Own Word!

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. (Matthew 13:3-4)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ( John 10:10)

The enemy is the devil. He doesn't want me to say this but it's not the person that cut us off, betrayed us or otherwise done us wrong. It's the devil. Many times our co-workers, neighbors, relatives and just people in general do things that are obviously "enemy energized" but we have to remember to hate the sin and not the sinner. We have to remember that the devil does not want us to be blessed. Of course he is going to send all of his imps to try to hit us with all they've got because he knows his time is running short and he's already lost. Misery loves company and he wants to have us angry with leads to bitterness and ultimately wrath. He wants us to hold grudges, hide iniquity in our hearts and sin because sin separates us from God. We have to truly understand that devil wants us to step out of our covering and good standing with God so that we are susceptible to the snares he has waiting for us.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ( 1 Peter 5:8)

The enemy would like us to be caught up focusing on the cares of this world: what we don't have, what we need and who's upset us and anything else that would cause us to take our minds off of what God can do. He wants us to be angry so that we loose our temper and are no longer alert. Why? Because the moment we focus on the cares of the world instead of casting our cares on Jesus he is able to devour us. But it doesn't stop there. He wants to kill us and destroy us as well.

So we must take a stand not to look at what the situation looks like but towards the hills. Our help comes from the Lord. We have to look to Jesus, the only wise God that is able to keep us from falling. The bank account, the spouse, the job, the friendships can be perfect today and gone tomorrow. Happiness is temporal but joy is eternal. Only God can provide the kind of joy that can say "hallelujah anyhow" when your life goes array. Even if everything all around us is crumbling, we can find peace in knowing that we stand on the foundation of Christ the Solid Rock.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18 NIV)

I've come to notice that as soon as I receive a Word from the Lord or God begins to open His Word up to me that someone will come along and do or say something to try to knock me off of my square. I can get blessed with all sorts of material/natural things and there usually isn't a problem but when God begins to bless me spiritually the enemy is very upset. He ultimately tries to cause friction in my life to try to seal the word away from me.

But he can't have my Word. It's my Word. And I'm willing fight (the good fight of faith that is) to keep it. The enemy doesn't want to see us happy. He wants to rob us of our joy, steal our peace, cause us to fear and most of all cause us to doubt God. That's why we have to take the Word of God and hide it in our hearts because there are times when we aren't always able to see God working with our natural eyes. It is during these times that we have to walk by faith and not by sight.

So they next time you leave service and get a dirty look before you walk out the door or get cut of trying to get out of the parking lot, remember that it's only the enemy trying to steal your Word and tell him to get his own Word and keep it moving.
Have you ever seen the devil try to set you up to miss out on your blessing? What happened?