Different Sources...

I went out to my soon-to-be new house late yesterday afternoon to meet with my realtor, our two daughters and granddaughter to check on the few repairs that our inspector had deemed necessary the previous week.  Everything looked good and it gave me a great opportunity to measure things, look in all the nooks and crannies and dream with my girls about many potential upgrades I could make to the house.  We even discussed some ideas for a new Christmas tradition with our Oklahoma families.


I can’t help but take the time every-so-often to simply look around me here and now and thank God for all of His goodness.  So much has happened in so little amount of time since Piper’s heavenly exit.  In many respects, I feel like the Lord has left my comprehension back in the dust as He continues to move me forward in this new chapter of my life!  Just when I begin to wrap my head around a blessing of His, it seems like two more have occurred.


One thing I have noticed in the midst of all of this though, is that there are still pressures but that the placement of those pressures has changed.  When Piper and I first began to face her declining physical situation, we had certain outside sources that almost immediately started to pressure us against following the course that we whole heartedly believed that the Lord was leading into.  Those pressures increased in the first few years and then began to decline after we moved to the East Coast.


With Piper’s passing last year, those outside sources have become quiet and contact with them is pretty much zilch!  I realized this morning as I sat in my blue recliner studying my Bible and listening to the National Quartet Convention on Sirius satellite radio’s enLighten Southern Gospel channel, that the pressures I now face on a regular basis, are coming from inside of me!  Most of the disagreements I fight today seems to be between my ears!  Have any of you ever experienced anything like that?


I’m discovering that some of these battles are even harder to fight than when there was a flesh and blood combatant speaking against me.  The enemy of our souls is relentless in his attacks against you and me and he’ll use any source… be it outside or inside of us... in his attempts to throw us off course or get us to quit entirely in our stand or fight of faith!

In the midst of all this though, I’ve also discovered that our defense against these different kinds of attacks IS THE SAME!  

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us that “The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people's defenses, that is, their argument and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.” (God’s Word ©)


God’s weapon of choice for us to employ is our working and active use of His Word to combat the attacks of the enemy.  When the source takes a human form, His Word in our hearts and on our lips tends to tear down people’s negative defenses and false arguments while deflating their intellectual arrogance!  When the source emanates in one’s head, we remove the negative and potentially destructive thoughts by taking those words captive and obedient to the truth of God’s Word… in other words… you exchange the lies that the enemy is attempting to insert in your brain with the Word of God that you begin to actively fill your thoughts and mouth with!


And you know, it takes a little work and diligence but is well worth the effort!  It means time set aside to study the Word personally and at church and then taking the corresponding actions to dispel the physical or mental sources and their words that come against you and yours.


I’m not too sure which form of attack is worse… The personal sources can be physically shut out from the peace and security of one’s home, but the mental intrusions aren’t quite that easy!  For me, it just means that I have to up my time in the Word in order to better fortify my inner man from listening to the subtle lies that try to enter in.  What should you do?


Have a wonderful weekend!  I get to spend some time with my granddaughter tonight developing my “Grandpa skills” and tomorrow I begin a two week “Growth Track” class at church.  The class is the church’s next step for learning about the workings of the church and gives opportunities to get involved.  So… I’m getting deeper and deeper into this new chapter of life… and am actually kind of excited about it!  Besides, with God moving so fast around me, I don’t want to fall behind!


So… as I move forward, say with me… “I am expecting God’s victory in my daily life as I take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and His Word!”