Resisting the Enemy, episode 170

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help

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and hope for your wilderness journey right here

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at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. And

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also help and hope for your own life journey.

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And as always, I encourage you, if something

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strikes you that you want to remember or to take

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action on, you should jot that down. It's so

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easy to forget. So has spring been a good time

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with your prodigal? Has warmer weather and new

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life for flowers and trees brought attitudes,

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better attitudes for your prodigal and you? Or

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have the challenges continued or grown worse

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even? Loving a prodigal can be like a roller

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coaster. The ups and the downs, the unexpected

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turns, the dashed hopes. I've been there, both

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on a roller coaster and with our prodigal. It

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can be very much like a roller coaster. In our

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last episode, we looked at our persistent enemy,

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a roaring lion we know as Satan. This week, we'll

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look at what an opportunist he is and ways that

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we can resist him. Not long ago, I spoke to a

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small group of women about spiritual warfare.

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We who follow Christ have an enemy, and he is

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wily and tricky. And when I speak about this

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reality, it always becomes real. It's like Satan

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or his emissaries hear me talking about them,

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and so they come on the attack. Why am I surprised?

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I thought we were past the prodigal time, that

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our prodigal had learned well and was consistently

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making better choices, showing greater maturity

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and stability, and I had hope for a good future.

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Then, several years ago, he crashed again. Hard

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things happened, pain seared, despair overcame.

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Old patterns and bad choices returned. It felt

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like we had reverted five years or more. And

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the downtime, his depression from this, lasted

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about a year. And I was really tired of it. I

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thought we were out of it, and it came back again.

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So why am I surprised? It happens to me as well,

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though not on such a destructive scale. You see,

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I have an addiction to sugar. especially in the

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form of ice cream or cookies. My body and health

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are affected by too much sugar. Many times I

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make commitments to myself and to God to limit

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my sugar intake. When I was speaking a while

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ago, they offered large, luscious cookies for

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dessert. I resisted. Then someone brought a whole

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plate of cookies to our table and left it there.

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That's as far as I got. I had not one, but two.

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Now, no, this is not the worst trick the evil

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one plays on me, but it's a day -to -day real

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and significant one for my life. So why am I

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surprised the evil one is after me as well? Even

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on a recent trip down to Miami with one of my

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co -workers, it bore evidence that our enemy

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was after us. Our online map, which this was

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a while ago, and so they weren't quite as dependable.

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But three times it took us to the wrong place.

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And I think the reason was that the devil knew

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that I was going to talk about him. And perhaps

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he thought he could waylay us and that we would

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never get there. We all have an enemy, an enemy

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that is after us as well as those we love. We're

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told in 1 Peter 5, be alert and of sober mind.

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Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring

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lion seeking whom he may devour. John tells us

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the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

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He is wily and smart. He and his helpers Study

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each one of us. I'm sure there's someone assigned

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to each of us, maybe many for some. He studies

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each of us to know the right temptation, the

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most likely to succeed stumbling block, the best

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time to attack. Again, why should we be surprised?

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He did it to our Lord even. When he followed

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Jesus into the wilderness, where Jesus was fasting

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for 40 days. The devil was intent on destruction.

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He was clever. He waited until Jesus was weak

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from hunger and thirst. He used the Father's

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own words, quoting Scripture repeatedly. He offered

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Jesus shortcuts, an easier way to what was already

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to be his, power and authority and immortality.

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Jesus, of course, was not deceived. He saw through

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the devil's schemes and he refused Satan's offers.

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Satan left, not defeated yet, as he planned to

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return at a more opportune time. There it is

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again. He's an opportunist. He's willing to stop

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for a while and pick up again at a more opportune

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time. He's always looking for the right time.

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The devil is ever vigilant to capture our loved

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ones, to regain the advantage, to remind them

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of the pleasures of sin, to woo them back into

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places they have left. He watches for an opportune

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time. We have some clear instructions from the

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Lord. In James 4, 7, we read, Submit yourselves

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then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee

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from you. We can pray that our prodigals will

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remember the teaching they have received and

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resist the devil themselves. But often, they

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will not be in a place to do that. We have an

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enemy, and that enemy is after those we love.

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So we, those who love them, and pray for them,

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must stand in the gap. We must pray on their

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behalf. We ask God to be their strong defender,

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and we must personally make sure we are resisting

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the devil and his temptations directed at us.

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We can walk with Christ in humility and holiness

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and in the power of the Holy Spirit, so we have

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supernatural resources to resist the devil. and

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his temptations that are directed at us. All

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that we ask God to do for us, we also pray on

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behalf of our loved ones. So I'm going to go

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through here some ways to resist the devil, but

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we're praying it for ourselves so that we can

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stand in the gap, so that we can respond well

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to the Lord, but so we also have the resources

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to go to the Lord on behalf of our loved ones.

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We must personally make sure we're resisting

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the devil and his temptations directed at us.

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We must walk with Christ in humility and holiness

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and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must

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stand firm then, always wearing the full armor

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of God, so we can stand against the devil's schemes.

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But how do we do that? How do you resist the

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devil? I'm going to give you four simple but

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practical ways to stand up against that demonic

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bully. Each of these could be a session of its

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own, but these ideas will get you started. And

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I encourage you, as I go through this, to think,

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all right, which of these can I really grab hold

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of and learn and grow and see God work in me?

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And then prepare me better to love my loved one,

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my prodigal, but also prepare me better to stand

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in the gap on their behalf. The first way to

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resist the devil is to praise God. The evil one

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does not like to hear our God lifted up, glorified,

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praised. So we do just that. For Scripture tells

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us that God is holy. and that he's enthroned

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in the praises of his people. So it's like God

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is being honored, lifted up, shined when we are

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praising God. And I assure you, the evil one

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does not like that. And if we keep doing it,

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he'll leave. God's glory and greatness are revealed

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as we praise him. So just praising God helps

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others to see what he's like. What a privilege.

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When you feel under attack from the evil one,

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you can name God's names and attributes and qualities,

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such as he is good and faithful and loving and

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merciful. He is God Almighty. He is Jehovah Jireh,

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the God who provides. He is our shepherd who

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cares for us and takes us to still waters to

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rest. And many, many more names and qualities

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of God that you can find in the scripture. And

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Satan gets out of there because he understands

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that those things are praising God, and he doesn't

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want to be a part of that. You can read aloud

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from Psalms that especially praise our Lord.

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There are lots of them, but in a quick and easy

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place to go, start at Psalm 95 and go to Psalm

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100. Those are all praises of God Psalms, though

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there are many more. You could sing the doxology,

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praise God from whom all blessings flow. I'm

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not going to sing it. You'll be glad. You can

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sing praise songs if you know them. I love to

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when no one else is around. And if you have a

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book of liturgy from a church that you attend,

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you can read aloud from the liturgy because,

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again, it's lifting up our God, and Satan runs

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from that. That's one way to resist him. Another

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way, and this is a little different, but very

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important, and that's to thank God in... all

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things. Now, I didn't say for all things. I said

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in all things. In the hardest time, when something

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terrible is going on with your loved one, or

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you have no idea what's going on with your loved

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one, or there's been a disaster, anything, anything,

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God says, give thanks in all things. Personally,

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for me, Giving thanks in all things has probably

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been the most life -changing way of life practice

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that I have learned. I have learned, no matter

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what happens, to give thanks. My son, in the

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early days of his really coming strongly toward

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the Lord, was actually doing well and making

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good progress at a job. trimmed down a huge,

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big, long bush that needed trimming. And so he's

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going back and forth with his chainsaw, and all

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of a sudden the fence behind it caught the chainsaw

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and kicked it back, and it hit Josh right in

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the forehead and down his face. He has a nice

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Harry Potter scar now. But the first thing he

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did was call 911. He was pretty sure he was going

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to need them. The second thing he did, because

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he heard me saying it all the time, he said,

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thank you, Lord. And when he told me that, I

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cried and laughed at the same time to think that

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that had worn into him. He'd really captured

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that you need to give thanks, no matter what

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it is. Not for it, but thanks that God is there,

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and he can do good things in spite of it. rescue

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you, and he can help you. It's been a wonderful

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thing that I have learned that has stood me in

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great stead in many hard situations. But Satan

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doesn't quit still, and he'll confront or attack.

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He'll come after us, just like he did then with

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Josh. And giving thanks rescues me and him over

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and over. When I give thanks to God in these

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kind of situations, here's what happens. My perspective

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begins to change. I affirm to God that I trust

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him. And saying, thank you, Lord, is like handing

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God a key to open the door of my mind and my

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heart to show me what he is doing. I believe

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if you would begin to make that a practice, you

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would find. wonderful results in your life and

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for your son or daughter as well, or whoever

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your prodigal is. So we're to praise him, and

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we're to give thanks in everything, and we're

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to put on our armor. This reminds us that the

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real battles in life are spiritual. Yes, there

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are wars, and they're terrible, but Our enemy

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is stronger than all of those enemies. We do

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not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against

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principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness

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of this age. Therefore, take up the whole armor

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of God that you may be able to withstand the

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evil day and having done all to stand because

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you are protected by the armor of God. And you

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can go to the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, and

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it lists all the parts of the armor of God that

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God gives us and will enable you to withstand

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Satan's attacks and to give thanks in all things

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and to give you wisdom in actions that you need

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to take. Sometimes I even speak the following

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aloud. and all your demons, you have no authority

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in my life. I belong to God. I'm washed and cleansed

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by the blood of Jesus, adopted by the Father

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into God's family, filled and guarded by the

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Holy Spirit. I believe that when I speak aloud

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in the presence, if the devil is around trying

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to influence me and trying to influence my child,

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My son, this sends him because that's stronger

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than he is. We have God himself living in us.

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We have Jesus himself who protects us and saves

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us and gives us new life. And we have the Spirit

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of God who will also be there to protect us and

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give us whatever we need. And that's the last

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of the four. things I'm giving you to resist

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the devil, and that is to walk in the Spirit.

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And this is even more key than giving thanks

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in everything. It is the ultimate means of resisting

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the devil to make sure I am consistently living

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in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's something

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we can have just by asking. Putting aside our

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will, our desire to control our lives and say,

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Lord, I surrender to you and I ask you to fill

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me with your spirit, to give me everything I

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need to live a life that honors you, that is

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a model for my loved one and gives me the power

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to be beseeching you on his or her behalf. Think

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about it. The Holy Spirit comes to live in us

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as we put faith in Jesus and his sacrifice for

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us. He offers us so many realities and helps.

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The book of John. 14 through 16 just is filled

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with what the Holy Spirit offers us, things like

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comfort and peace and wisdom and protection and

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many more things. Whatever you need is available

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to you as you let the Spirit fill you, guide

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you, and empower you. And I'm praying that whenever

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you or your loved one your loved prodigal, is

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attacked by our enemy, you will quickly turn

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to the one who is totally stronger than the devil,

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our God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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And know that even though our enemy is powerful,

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our God is far more powerful, and he lives in

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us, and he will give us what we need for ourselves.

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and to be beseeching him, to be calling on God,

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to sending angels to protect them, to send a

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piece of metal that's flying at his head away.

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We never know. But God is willing to be the resistance

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to the evil one in us and through us. And so

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we are not alone in this battle. God is with

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us every step of the way. And I just really encourage

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you to take all that to heart and ask God to

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speak especially what it is that he wants you

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to learn today. It's a lot to apply all of it.

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And if you go to the show notes, you're going

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to find some more resources. and a transcript

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of this message so that if you want to read again

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about how to resist the devil and some things

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there, and also some places to go to get more

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understanding of this, I really encourage you

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to check that out. And, you know, write down

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what you're going to do. God bless you.