What you can see, feel, hear, taste, touch and fully understand are the devils best tools against your Peaceful life in the Faith of Gods Unconditional Love and Grace! Why? Simply put Faith is what you CANT see, feel, hear, taste touch or fully comprehend – FAITH is you resting in HIM and not in anything else!
“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13
The devil is constantly looking for ways to make you doubt the Goodness, Love, Grace, Mercy, Peace and Ability of God Almighty! That’s his full time, 24/7 365, Hell or high water (pardon the pun) job and I might add he has had a whole lot of practice at it and is Very good at what he does!
That being said you need to remember Who you belong to and What He is capable of and What He has done in the past – when you do the devil becomes a limp wash rag to the power that you have inside of you! That power Never wavers and Never bends and Never leaves you or forsakes you – AS LONG AS you recognize it for HIS power and not your own you will be fine!
So what is an “opportune time” for the devil? Lets take a look at a few of the top ones for me and some of our Biblical heroes and maybe you might see some similarities in your life:
1. When I am “me” confident – DO NOT have any confidence in the flesh it will mess you up Every time! What does this look like? It looks like Peter being confident in his ability to not deny knowing Christ after His arrest. It looks like me thinking I am calm and I can handle a “jerk” with Love who was put into my path to remind me that without Him – I am Nothing!
Solution: See the meditation below – start and end your day with this gentle reminder!
2. When I am unplugged from Him or His ways for me – Remember His ways are Not our ways! Jesus was tired, hungry and isolated when the devil tempted Him – in short He was physically weak and spiritually cut off from His support system!
Solution: For short times this can be good but at some point you have to listen to His still small voice that brings you back to good health and encouragement. This is why God had the dietary laws that the Jews followed and even though Jesus Himself didn’t really follow them, we need to know what affects the food we eat has on us and basically know our limits.
3. When I fade into or get into pain alleviation instead of His Pain elimination – This usually involves something that “takes your mind off of” your current situation or allows you to forget for a while. The problem is God wants you to turn it over to Him, admit your weakness or your pain and rest in the fact that He made you the way you are, He made your life, your day and your pain ALL for a reason!
Solution: Accept that you are no longer under the law, Thank God for the past that has created who you are now and Rest in what is in Full Peace knowing He allowed this to be as it is, Not as it “should be!”
Here is a short meditation I am starting each and every day with for 5-10 minutes – care to join me? Find a comfortable spot or as soon as you open your eyes just lay in bed and practice this:
Breathe in and say:
“Thank you God”
Breathe out and say:
“For ______________________”
Just keep going with a new “Thank-Full for” every time you breathe and if you get interrupted – Be Thank-Full for the interruption as All things come through His permissive will! Keep doing this and lets see what difference it makes in our lives, our smiles and our Love for ourselves, each other and God!
