WHEN YOU ARE LONELY, YOU HAVE AN ENCOURAGING FRIEND AVAILABLE

BIBLE PASSAGE:
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them
(those who deny that Jesus is from God and who have the
spirit of the world), because the one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world.
(1 John 4:4)

MEDITATION:
Some people say that it is hard to live as a Christian. And you know
what, they would be right except for the fact that the Holy Spirit is
IN those who belong to the Lord. Think about what that means. The
omnipotent power of God’s Spirit is living in every Christian. That
means that we have the potential to overcome the forces that want
to trip us up, cause us to fail, and bring discouragement into our lives.

Is Satan a strong force in the world? Yes he is, BUT the Lord is much
stronger and He wins every time. The world can often become a hostile
place for believers. God wants his ‘spiritual children’ to know that they
are not alone. He lives in us through his Spirit.

We can be assured that no matter what spirit someone else may have,
the Holy Spirit of God is greater, more powerful, and more glorious.
The victory is ours because God’s presence in us is greater than any
force that we will ever face. We have our victory assured over all forces,
powers, spirits, or opponents.

ACTION:
Have you been discouraged in your Christian walk by others
(maybe even friends or family members)? How we react begins
with our ‘receptors’. In other words, we can be impacted by how
we receive the comments or actions of discouragement from others.

That is why we need (and God has given us) the Holy Spirit. When
His Spirit is in control, our receptors can rightly handle the things
that want to ‘bring us down’ and discourage us. In addition, His
Spirit can overwhelm and replace those negative thoughts with
uplifting and encouraging ones that drive us closer to the Lord.
We have to make a choice of which force we allow to have control
of our lives.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for empowering me to live
a victorious life by Your Spirit who lives within me. I want
to live a life that is bold and according to Your Will. Give
me the confidence, boldness and conviction of the promises
You have given. Whenever I am discouraged, remind me
that I am not alone and I have Your omnipotent, powerful
Spirit living within me. I can overcome whatever tries to
destroy my relationship with You and my commitment to
obeying and serving You. You are my Heavenly Father
and nothing else is going to take the place of You in my
life. You are the One I choose to worship, praise and serve
in spite of any attacks from Satan and his forces.”

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