Whereever we are we need to be prepared for battle....

I have had the great joy of being up on the mountain top recently. By this I mean, I have had victory over an issue (sin) that I had been dealing with for a few months. Nothing between me and my Savior - it is an awesome place to be!!



I began this post a week or so ago and I must confess - my time up on the mountain lasted about 3.2 minutes!! ~Ugh!  No, it was longer than that, more like three or 4 days. It seemed such a short time...

God had given me complete victory over an issue of sin in my life during that time and I thought I would never struggle with it again. This was very naive on my part. You hear of people being completely delivered from sin but for most of us there is still a bit of struggle. (We still can walk moment by moment with Christ. Keeping short accounts of our sin with Him. What I am referring to, is the euphoric feeling we get when we have that fresh clean "slate" with Him.) When the temptation returned I got REALLY discouraged for an entire day. I didn't even want to talk to anyone. Then, finally that evening, the Lord made it clear to me. What He had given me was the boost I needed to have deliverance from this issue. I might still be tempted but I didn't need to give in to the temptation and sin. What I did need to do was fully rely on Him.

The thing about being on the mountain top is that while we are up there, we are totally exposed - wide open for attack. We need to be prepared for this by putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10 - 20). Yet even with a full set of armor on there are usually areas where a dart can penetrate. Perhaps there is a gap in the armor or maybe we don't have a piece on completely or properly.

A benefit of being on top of the mountain is that many arrows and darts of the enemy (even bullets) can not reach us. We are too far up from the valley below. The downside of this is that it means the enemy will get out the sharp shooters, the larger weapons, and the big guns to attack us.

He is a powerful enemy and this is just what he is doing to me.  I tell you he is a cunning enemy. He can tempt me with things that to all others would be a good thing, a right thing even. As our pastor shared recently, the battle is in our minds.

Excuse me now, I must go check my armor. I must be sure I have it all on properly and I need to have my sword drawn.