God’s Plan For Spiritual Battle Series – Conclusion
Today, we continue on in our series Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil
Author Russell M. Stendal reminds us:
The war horse in the last chapter was trained for battle, snorting, stamping, and straining to hear the sound of the trumpet and the shout of the commanders. This horse is described by the Greek word, praus, or meek, because the horse is perfectly trained, perfectly submitted to its master, and can be relied upon to obey orders even in the heat and confusion of battle.
Then Mr. Stendal goes on to give another example of meekness in none other than Moses. He reminds us that Moses started out by taking the law into his own hands, killing an Egyptian, but God dealt with him in the desert. God prepared and trained Moses to do battle God’s way. Then Moses submitted to God. He became meek, and God used Moses far beyond what he ever thought possible. God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh after that, and although Moses was probably nervous, God empowered him!
Let’s stop right there and think of the possibilities … of all the things God could do with and through us if we would only submit to Him! God has equipped us with unique gifts which are to be used for His glory. Are you allowing God to use you to His fullest potential?
In this chapter, Mr. Stendal talks about a time in his life when he wasn’t very disciplined with his school work. He would goof off and just not get his work done. It wasn’t until he had a hunting accident where he accidentally shot his foot that landed him in the hospital that he was forced to slow down and actually throw himself into his studies. Prior to his accident, he has been asking God to help him to focus more on his school work. While this probably wasn’t the intervention he was hoping for, God allowed something to happen in his life that forced him to focus more on his studies. While he was recovering, he studied and ended up finishing his course on time and also scoring very high on his college entrance exam! Some people may say they will not commit their lives completely to God then if something like this happened, as one girl did say to Mr. Stendal after one of his talks, but Mr. Stendal asks the question of what if God hadn’t intervened in his life then? Had he not been disciplined every time he needed it, he would be a mediocre Christian, doing mediocre things completely incapable of facing the enemy, of winning a victory. Instead, he was now disciplined and able to be used for God’s glory in God’s army.
This book has really made me stop to think several times while reading through it. This time was no different. Having just had an accident on a horse, it makes me wonder what area I need to stop and focus on. What does God want me to do now while I wait in recovery mode? I can’t ride a horse at this stage of the game. While my hand and hip recover, I need to seek God more to see where he wants my focus to be. And … I will.
I don’t want to give too much of this book away in this series. I would like to leave you with a desire to invest in the book and, more importantly, into your relationship with Jesus through the tools offered in this book. Therefore, I will conclude the series with a teaser for the last half of the book which consists of:
Integrity vs. Hypocrisy
The Peacemakers: Those Whom God Identifies As His Sons
Putting Satan To Flight
Virtue: The Key To Activating God’s Promises
Rebuilding The Ancient Ruins
The Seven Woes
And finally …
Overcoming The Curse
Invest in this book to further grow your relationship with Jesus Christ and seek Him fully for what plans He has for your life. Equip yourself with Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil
You won’t regret a closer walk with Him!
A Magical Visit to London, England & Paris, France
Today we are in for a real treat as we have Jackie Toews posting as a contributing writer on the blog! We are so excited to share what impacted her the most on her Senior Trip to Europe!
But first, here is a little about Miss Toews!
Hey! My name is Jackie, I’m 17 and I’m a proud Canadian living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I’m an aspiring singer songwriter, but until that takes off, I’ll be going to college to work as a Health Unit Clerk. Before I left to Europe, Shirley had her daughter, and also my best friend, Nicole, ask me if I’d write a post for her website, and here I am!
From the moment I woke up on March 27, 2014, I knew I was in for the time of my life. And, was I ever right! London, England and Paris, France are two places that are for the dreamers. In each city, I felt surrounded by creativity and inspiration.
The journey to London was full of little interruptions, like an hour delay on top of the seven hour wait to board the plane from Calgary to London.
By the time we got to London, we met up with our tour guide, Vanessa, who arrived all the way from Belgium. She has had a huge impact on my life. Hearing her story, about moving away from home at 17 and everything she’s been through to finally get herself to where she is now, really made me realize that just because things aren’t working out the way you want them to doesn’t mean that they’ll never work out. On the train from London to our hotel, which was a half hour out of the city, I overheard her talking to some other students in my group about how important it is to not rush into real life. She was saying how you should take all the time you need to find that career that you feel you 100% belong to.
There was a girl in my group, let’s call her Taylor, that wants to be an author, and she said how she keeps hearing things like:
Oh, you’ll never make a living off of that
And Van said:
Don’t even worry about that.
Despite only knowing her for eight days, I feel a connection with her. I love Van for being such an encouragement when it comes to finding your place in this insanely big world full of possibilities. Even now that the trip is over, I keep hearing Van’s voice in the back of my mind telling me that everything I want to achieve is possible, regardless of those who doubt me.
While my friend and I were walking through the streets of Paris during our free time on the last day of the trip, I couldn’t help but notice the outstandingly large amount of people living on the streets. See, where I live, we don’t have people sitting on every street corner. When I decided to give some money to this woman, her face just lit up, and it really surprised me of the fact that just a little bit of change, something that we take for granted, can give someone so much joy. We don’t always think about how a small act of kindness like that can make someone’s day just a little bit better.
Going to London and Paris has always been a dream of mine, and now I’m beyond ecstatic that I can say that is has been a reality for me!
When I left, I kept saying how I’d never want to go home, but when I got home on April 6, 2014, it was a wonderful feeling to see my family again. The moment that made me the happiest to be home was seeing my one and a half year old niece come running to me. Seeing her do that was what reassured me that she didn’t forget about me.
The saying really is true. No matter where you visit …
There’s no place like home!
*Thank you so much, Jackie, for your wonderfully inspirational post about your travels! We appreciate you being a part of our team at Light, Love, Hope!
I Had The Best Day … With You
My daughters and I love to sing that Taylor Swift song together, and it is on days like today that we can turn to each other and honestly say, “I had the best day … with you.”
Today was definitely one of those days!
We went to one of our most favorite places in the South … Folly Beach! They were having their 24th annual Sea & Sand Festival. Having never been in all of these years, we decided to see what it was all about. We walked through the streets filled with vendors and looked at all of the items on display. We stopped to listen to a band playing on the streets. We even looked through my daughter’s favorite surf shop there. Then, we headed to a little restaurant right on the pier to enjoy a nice meal together. We didn’t realize just how hungry we were until the food came! It was delicious, too, I might add!
We walked on the pier, all the way to the very end, snapping pictures of the sea gulls and various birds that graced us on the pier. We soaked in all of the sunshine that warmed our pale white skin. There were several times that I just closed my eyes and threw my head back as I breathed in all of the salt air and released all of my worries and cares. It was as if the birds were carrying them to God above, relieving me of the need to fuss over them any longer.
There is just something so refreshing and rejuvenating about the beach. I’m not sure if it’s the powdery white sand between our toes or the sound of the waves crashing in, but it is soothing for the soul.
My youngest daughter is her absolute happiest on the beach. She has always enjoyed it and would walk to the water’s edge, wait until the waves start crashing in, and run with all of her might back to us with the biggest and widest smile EVER on her face! She had not a single care in the world and was just enjoying herself to the fullest. We could learn a thing or two from these little ones!
As our day was winding down, we decided to take a little drive to the end of Folly. As we came to a dead end road, we pulled off to the side of the road and began to make our way down a long sandy path. It began to wind around and then … there it was … right before our very eyes … the Morris Island Lighthouse! Oh I’ve seen it plenty of times before, but every time is like the first time all over again due to the thrill that I get each and every time I see it.
There it stood … all majestic and magical in the distance …
We walked a little further, and then the path opened up to reveal the lighthouse in all of it’s glory.
My youngest daughter frolicked and played in the water’s edge near the rocks with the massive lighthouse in the background.
My oldest daughter and her boyfriend climbed the rocks.
I whispered a silent, “Thank you, Lord.”
After several rounds of pictures, we decided to call it a day. Nothing could top this moment in time … it was like the entire world stood still, and it was just us and the majestic beauty before us … being one with nature … standing on the sandy shores with the waves lapping at our feet … thanking God for this moment in time and the memories we’ll carry with us forevermore.
