Pastor Stephen Dedman

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Stay On Focussed

Encouragement, Trust

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭10:12‬

Have you experienced a great victory in the recent days? We love to hear about great victories. We love to hear about people who have fought against cancer and are cancer free. We love to hear about people who overcame addictions.

The best victories are the stories of how someone was the underdog and came out on top. There is nothing like the feeling of standing on the mountaintop after a great victory. 

We can read countless stories in the Bible, Old and New Testament, of great victories and how God led the small armies to defeat large armies. We read about Joshua and the walls of Jericho. We read stories like David and Goliath and it brings us hope for the battles we face.

Certainly God fights the battles for his children that belong to Him. But something interesting always takes place soon after the victory. After a great victory there’s always the potential for a great fall. We must remember to stay on guard even after we win a great victory. 

Possibly the reason why we witness great falls after great victories is because the enemy attacks when we least expect it. After great victories we tend to have a time of celebration and we rest or let down our guard. We must be very careful when we let down our guard against the enemy and give him an opportunity to strike back. 

A good example of this is found in 1 Kings 18 when the prophet Elijah experienced a great victory on top of Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal were defeated after Elijah prayed for God to send down fire from Heaven. Then the power of God consumed the sacrifice on the alter and the rain came after the long drought. But Elijah let his guard down. 

When the wicked Queen Jezebel heard what had happened to her prophets, she sent a messenger to tell Elijah he would be killed the next day. Elijah ran in fear and and got very depressed. He let his guard down and quickly forgot how God gave the great victory. 

We face battles everyday. And when we win and experience times of victory we need to stay on guard. If we get relaxed in our spiritual warfare we give room for the enemy to enter in and catch us off guard. Make sure you are always glorify God for your great victories, but stay on guard for what is about to happen next. 

Pray

Lord, You alone receive honor and glory for your great power. Help me to establish myself in you everyday and to never allow temptations to overcome me.

Learning The Will Of God

Faith, Trust

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!”
Psalm 143:10

Learning something new can be a bit of a challenge. But once you discover how to do something new it can be rewarding and great. For example, learning to play an instrument can be difficult and time consuming but once you learn to play a song it’s exciting.

In the same sense, learning to do God’s will can be challenging but the reward is worth it all.

In this Psalm David is cries out to God for help. It’s a desperate cry for help. But right in the middle of this Psalm, David seeks to understand the will of God because he knows it’s the best thing. He knows that God is in control of all things but he wants God to reveal His will to him.

This is the best attitude to have when we face difficult times in our life. Instead of praying for God to remove our trials we should face them with a perspective that God is trying to teach us something new.

Just think about all the challenges that David faced during his life.

  • He was the youngest and smallest of his brothers but he knew he had a purpose.
  • He took on the biggest and strongest Phillistine and experienced victory.
  • He committed many sins but found forgiveness through God’s love and grace.
  • He lost a child who was only a few days old but knew the child was with God in Heaven.

The list can go on and on but David was always aware that God was maturing his faith and increasing his spiritual strength.

That is how we should look at our life. God causes all things to work for His glory. God wants to see you grow in faith.

Pray

Lord, teach me to do Your will. Let Your Spirit lead me along the path that You desire. Increase my faith and give me strength to endure to the end.

Enemies Of Darkness

Encouragement, Faith, Trust

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

Satan knows our weaknesses better than we do.  He knows where we are most tempted. We need to know where we are most vulnerable and arm ourselves for the battle.  Satan will attack when we are at our weakest point.

Paul had many people trying to attack him.  He had many enemies and was hated to the point that some wanted to kill him.  Paul was persecuted for his faith in Jesus.  Paul was always on the lookout for his enemy and especially Satan.  

He viewed his enemies as vessels of spiritual darkness.  Paul knew Satan was using people to attack him. It’s easy to get angry at someone when they do harm to us.  But we always need to keep in mind that they are being tempted by Satan.  

Satan will tempt Believers to act in ways that they shouldn’t.  He will make them say things that they shouldn’t.  We must all be aware of this struggle.  Don’t be the one who Satan is using against another person.  

When you experience someone who intends to do evil to you make sure you understand why they are doing what they are doing.  Instead of reacting with anger we should react with grace and love.  Your opponent needs to witness the love of Christ and experience the joy that you have. Do not let the enemy steal your joy.

Pray

Lord, I thank you for defeating my enemies.  Show me how to be Christ-like in all my circumstances. Help me to be an encouragement to others.