John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
I always get a good laugh when I hear two little boys arguing about whose dad is stronger:
"MY dad could beat your dad up!"
"No way! My dad's a cop!"
"Oh yeah? Well my dad's in the army!"
The argument goes on and on - but we'll most likely never know whose dad would be stronger. I assume that the majority of grown men tend to not get in fist fights to prove to their sons they're the strongest dad in town.
Although I poke fun at the little guys that do this, I've found that I did the same thing today - only with my heavenly father. Let's just say Paul's message of "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness" took on a whole new personal meaning for me. I had been around demonic manifestations before, I'd seen and helped deal with them, I'd even managed a small one myself once, but never had I seen anything like the one I just saw a while ago. When all was said and done in dealing with this wickedness, I walked away with physical bruises along with my spiritual battle scars - and I was exhausted. I had seen a powerful demonic manifestation like this one; but at the same time, I had never felt more confident of God's great love and power. It's like Alyssa said, "If our enemy is that powerful, how powerful must our God be!"
And amen to that! But I was still struggling. I was having a hard time recovering spiritually and emotionally from the battle that I had with the demons in that last manifestation. In so many ways, things kept happening, event after event popped up - seemingly just to make an attempt at discouraging me again. The smallest things from seeing creepy shadows to having to fight off another manifestation from someone else, it was like I just couldn't break free from the battle of this thing.
But praise be to God who remains true to his Biblical character! The psalmist wrote, "He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me" - how amazingly true is this. Not only does God provide us victory in the battle, but also peace and victory from the battle. It was when I realized this great truth that I spoke boldly the words of 1 John 2:13, "I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one" and those words from John 16:33 became more powerful than ever before - Jesus has overcome!
As I prayed over this truth, an unsaved friend of mine stopped me and randomly said, "I had the weirdest dream about you last night!" Turns out, her dream was a prophetic picture of how God had used me the day before, and a prophetic foreshadowing of the purpose. Hallelujah! For though the principalities of darkness work in fear and in bitterness - only my God can perform works such as these! I suddenly found myself acting like those little boys bragging about their dads being the strongest, "Look at my Daddy! Look at my God!"
And my Daddy is this most powerful! Jesus said it, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." This truth is still truth today - and everyday. Lord, let us live in the love of God that delivers us through the battle, sets us above the battle, and places us in a position of victory - we are the overcoming saints of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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