Appreciation & Spiritual Warfare – The Battle for Our Souls – Purity 1681
Purity 1681 06/11/2025 Purity 1681 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo, which I am calling “Sea of Mountains Sunrise”, comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this inspiring scene on social media back on August 7th, 2024.
Well, it’s Wednesday and I share Fred’s photo as a visual reminder that we have once again reach the midpoint summit of another work week, happy hump day, and to encourage all of us to get out there to see some of God’s creative beauty and to make good use of the time that God has blessed us with. I have come to the realization that if I don’t plan to do things that I enjoy, I don’t do them and I get caught up in the hum drum status quo of life and become susceptible to the lies of the enemy, who would love to convince us that our lives are boring or that our good days are behind us.
Tonight, I am hosting another meeting of the Celebrate Freedom Support group and at each meeting I encourage the attendees to practice appreciation and while a good deal of that practice involves being thankful for the simple things in life that we experience every day, it also encourages us to plan for, anticipate, and experience things and activities that give us joy. To overcome our hurts, habits, and hang ups, we replace them with a journey mindset (focusing on steady progress rather than perfection) , an appreciation for what we do have, and the determination to believe the truth that we can think and live in different ways that will increase our peace and joy in life.
Of course the enemy would love to keep us in bondage so we have to submit to God and resist the devil and his schemes. Speaking of the devil, the Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah devotion for today, address the reality of spiritual warfare and I am sharing it on the blog today to remind us that our efforts to find peace and live a simple, good, and holy life will be a battle with a very real, although unseen, adversary. Dr. David Jeremiah writes:
“HEDGE OF PROTECTION
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail.
Revelation 12:7-8
Because we do not see the warfare that takes place in spiritual realms, it is easy to forget that it even exists. In his vision of the End Times, John saw the war between God’s angelic agents and Satan (Revelation 12:7-9).
The oldest example we have of this warfare occurred in Job’s life. Satan wanted to prove to God that Job was only faithful because God had put a “hedge” of protection around his life (Job 1:10). That is, God had prevented Satan from having access to Job and his family. But God removed the hedge and allowed Satan access to Job in order to prove that his faithfulness was not based purely on blessing but on love for God—which Job ultimately proved.
Daniel discovered that a war in heaven for three weeks had delayed an answer to his prayers (Daniel 10). And Paul taught that we are in a struggle with principalities and powers in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
Do not let your guard down. Pray that God would keep a hedge of protection around you and your family as you pursue a righteous life.” – David Jeremiah
There is no holiness without a warfare. – J. C. Ryle
Amen. Christianity isn’t just a set of rules to follow, and the Chrisitan life isn’t just a matter of “choosing to make good choices”.
The word of God informs us that there an actual spiritual battle going on around us at all times and that the “spoils” of this war is our souls.
God sent Jesus to save us and to bring us into His kingdom.
Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy anything he can before he meets his final destiny in the lake of fire – not as its king but as its most notorious prisoner.
Scripture tells us that much of this war takes place in our minds and the enemy’s tactics include:
- Deception – Getting us to believe lies that lead us away from God and into sin and death.
- Accusation & Condemnation – convincing us that we are not accepted or worthy of God’s love, that we aren’t “real Christians” – that we are evil – no good, sick, or crazy.
- Temptations – all our bad ideas are not necessarily all our own as the enemy tempts us to do what is wrong and to feed the appetites that will separate us from God, make us feel guilty or shameful, and that will keep us in bondage.
All these ways of the enemy are real. They are not just metaphors. The Bible tells us the truth about the things we cannot see.
Even though the enemy does his best to conceal his campaign against us, we can see it in operation when we know it is there.
The best evidence for this demonic activity is “intrusive thoughts”. These sudden – tempting, condemning, sexually perverse, alarming, violent, angry, anxious, or depressive – thoughts are nothing that a loving God would put into our heads and they are not things that we would choose to think about. These “intrusive thoughts” lead us into temptation, fear, anger, or despair. These are the “fiery darts” of the enemy mentioned in Ephesians 6.
When we don’t know of the spiritual war for our souls, we wrongfully assume that these thoughts are ours and are proof that we are evil, sick, or crazy. But that is not true.
The truth is that God loves us and calls us to be with Him. When we put our faith in Jesus, we become new creations – fully accepted, secure, and significant in Christ.
But the enemy launches his campaign of lies against us to make us doubt and to not live according to our new lives in Christ, because if we do – he is defeated and we walk free in victory.
So, watch those thoughts that lead you into sin, anger, anxiety, or depression. They aren’t true and they aren’t you.
Instead focus on what God says about you – that you have been forgiven and have been given a new life that is good and righteous. Turn from the sinful ways of the past and those “demonic invitations” that would drag you back into the darkness.
God has set you free. So submit to Him and resist the lies of the enemy and he will flee from you.
We are in a battle, but we are on the winning side and all we have to do to be victorious is to believe the truth and live according to it.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
James 2:14-26 (ESV) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Today’s verses are the third of three passages of scripture that falls under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
8. Listen to God’s Word and do what it says.
Today’s Bible verses encourage us to put our money where our mouths are – to be real authentic Christians – by practicing what we preach – to give life to our profession of faith with faithful actions.
“All talk and no action” should not be a phrase that describes us as disciples of Christ for God has saved us for a purpose – to do good works (Eph 2:10) and to go into all the world to make disciples (Matt 28:19-20).
As much as we are saved by faith alone, our faith should not be alone – it should be accompanied by action – things that clearly demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ.
So don’t be a closet Christian, instead seek our God’s purpose for your life in Christ and do the good works that He has prepared for you to do.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 180
Rather, happy are those who hear God’s Word and keep it. – Luke 11:28
It is not earthly family ties, wonderful as they can be, that bring the greatest joys in life. True believers who hear and do what God says in His Word are the happiest people in the world. How blessed is the earthly family that is composed of believers! The ordinary pleasures of family life are greatly heightened by the spiritual dimension that is added to them. Jesus helps us catch the spirit of all of this by His poignant words. To find those who believe as you do and who seek to live for Christ, as you do, creates a spiritual bond that is thicker than blood! It was a tender moment when He uttered these words, helping us to enjoy the faith and fellowship of fellow believers with whom we walk along the way. Are such moments lacking in your life? If so, you need to cultivate the happiness that such relationships alone afford.
How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. – Psalm 119:1 nasb[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 188.
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