The Key to Overcoming the Enemy...
Intimacy with the Lord


In my quiet time with the Lord, He has been teaching me about some of the tactics of the enemy.  In particular, the lies and deception that the enemy of our souls wants us to believe about ourselves or the situation that we are facing.  I was recently reading 1 Sam 17 -- the familiar story of David and Goliath.  This event was an important one in establishing David as the future king of Israel and one who's God was bigger than anything or any enemy that tried to overtake him.
 
The enemy was very strategic in trying to keep David from gaining a victory over his enemy.  The first attempt of the enemy was his working through his brother's jealousy, pride and envy. The accusations that he hurled at him could have caused him to turn back, but he didn't...he pressed on.  The second attempt of the enemy was to work through one who was in authority over him...King Saul.  The doubt and fear that King Saul cast against him could have caused him to turn back and totally doubt what he thought he was to do, but he stood strong and respectfully pressed through King Saul's concerns.  The final attempt of the enemy was using Goliath himself.  Through the use of belittlement, pride, arrogance and all out name calling accompanied with murderous threats, Goliath stood before David and basically scoffed at the thought of this "little one" defeating him with a few stones in hand.  
 
All the preparation in the field that young David had experienced...defeating lions, bears and other predators while he was tending sheep, helped him face this huge giant of a man.  More importantly, all the time in the field, alone with his sheep and God almighty, helped him know who he was and who his God was.  He had a deep and intimate relationship with the King of glory Himself.  He knew His God intimately and worshipped Him freely in the field.  The key to his victory over Goliath was his having a very real relationship with God.  Because of the time that David spent with God prior to his encounter with Goliath, he knew that could stand boldly before his enemy and through faith and a knowing of who his God was, be assured that he could defeat him.  He had been prepared all along for this encounter.  He knew Who the battle belonged to...God Himself.
 
Isn't it like the enemy to hurl insults, fear, and words of condemnation at us to keep us from having total victory in our lives?  He uses whatever method he can to keep us from having what God desires for us...total freedom to live and move and have our being with Him.  At the first mention of the enemy's lies and deception, we want to turn and high tail it in the opposite direction to hide in the "man-made shelters" that we have built within our hearts and minds. 
 
The key to overcoming the enemy is to know who we are in Christ and to know all His attributes and His Word.  We then must release our faith and press forward in what God has called us to do...overcome the enemy in our lives in order that we may live in the abundance of life that God has predestined for us.  We can then go and gather the plunder that the enemy has robbed from us. 
 
Like that of David in the field, whenever we are in the presence of God almighty, we can be transformed.  When we worship Him with our hearts totally abandoned to Him, we can truly know who we are in Him.  There is preparation that needs to take place in the intimate place of His presence before we can successfully defeat our enemy. He is calling each of us into His presence, into His chamber of intimacy so that we are filled up and prepared to face whatever challenges we have for the day.  If you have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ, He has given you the key to enter into His presence...into His chambers of intimacy.  Go there...He is waiting for you.  When you have been prepared by having a real relationship with Jesus Christ, you can stand and defeat your enemy with His help.

With His Key in Hand,
Brenda
Used by permission Brenda Marlin 2008

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