ISAIAH 51:22-23:
22) Thus says the Lord, The Lord and your God, who pleads the cause of His people; "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, The dregs of the cup of My fury; You shall no longer drink it
23) But I will put it in the hand of those who afflict you, Who have said to you, 'Lie down, that we may walk over you.' And you have laid your body like the ground, And as the street, for those who walk over."
In this passage, it is explaining how the children of Israel had basically become a doormat for their enemies. Those that wish to dominate & take control of them. They just allowed the enemy to walk right in & take what they wanted. They had long lost the vision of who they were & what weapons of God that they had at their disposal.
After reading this, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me that we can become the same way.
There are times when the enemy can come in like a flood (Isaiah 59:19) or he can sneak in without us even noticing. Regardless of the method he chooses, sometimes we can be so overwhelmed spiritually or just out of touch spiritually that we just simply lie down & let him do his worst. I have seen people make statements like "well this is just how life is I guess" or "well mama was that way so I guess I will be too".
When are we going to realize that we do not have to lie down & take the attack of the enemy. We do not have to accept his lies. Life does not have to "be this way" from now on.
WE MUST FIGHT! We must realize who we are, who we serve & what spiritual weapons we have been given.
We serve a mighty, mighty God, who has already overcome the world, especially the enemy. With which nothing is impossible with Him. We are a child of the Most High God. We have direct access to the throne room. That in itself is more than enough, but he gave us the best weapon of all, THE WORD.
EPHESIANS 6:17 - And take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;
The only way the enemy can be defeated in your life is to get in the word. We must read it, know it, pray it, repeat it, memorize it, eat it, consume it & live it.
JAMES 4:7 - Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil & he will flee from you
The first step, as it mentions in this verse, is to submit ourselves totally & completely to God. We will not survive spiritually if we are not consistent in prayer. We can ONLY keep up our spiritual strength by praying to the one that gives it to us in the first place.
Next, we must resist the devil. How you ask? By getting in the word & throwing it back in his face. If we are not confident in the word, the enemy will definitely know it & will not budge in the least. We can ONLY be confident in the word by being consistent in the word. Which requires us to read it daily.
We are warriors in Christ & must act like it. We do not have to lie down & let them enemy wreak havoc in our lives.
Tests & trials will come. Life will get difficult. We are human, we live in a fallen world & it is a part of life. The key is that we do not have to walk in fear & anxiety because of the difficulty. God has called us overcomers & more than conquerors. We will not be able to live spiritually as an overcomer & a conqueror if we do not know the word. By reading the word daily, we are able to build that spiritual confidence so we can literally let the devil know what he can do with his ideas.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 JOHN 4:7 - You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
ROMANS 8:37 - Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
