29 November, 2005

Your "Ites"

Today I want to share the following devotion that I read this morning. This is taken from "The Word For Today" devotional from Bob Gass Ministries.



YOUR "ITES"

"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE . . . THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE."


MATTHEW 11:12

Sometimes we think God's like Santa Claus; if we just sit and wait He'll drop His blessings into our lap without any effort on our part. No. The Bible says, "the violent take it by force."
Sometimes to get what you want from God you have to get down into trenches, grab hold of His promises and resist the enemy's advances in your life.
Even when you're in the right area to succeed, unless you become proactive it may never be yours.
Before Israel could inhabit the Promised Land they had to fight the Canaanites, the Hittites, and other "ites." So, you've got to fight your "ites," if you're going to enjoy your rights!
We're so used to thinking in terms of the "sweet by-and-by" that we've come to believe God's blessings are reserved for heaven.
Wrong! God didn't tell the Israelites they'd inherit the Promised Land after they died. But they had to fight for it! There were 31 kings and 7 nations that had to be conquered before they could move in and possess it. And they had to be dealt with one by one.
Are you getting the idea?
It's not enough to be strong in faith, you must be strong in fight! The enemy's strongholds in your life must be pulled down.
Your "ites" must be dealt with!
God will give you the strategy and the weapons.
He'll even empower you, but you've got to fight for your inheritance!
Plus what you become in the process is often more valuable than what you gain on the other side of it!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Amen Pastor, I got my armor on , IM BATTLE READY!!!!!


Amy

Henry Haney said...

I was speaking with another minister on the phone last night and we discussed something along similar lines. We both lamented that many Christians live far beneath the level of blessing God has for us.

Libby said...

I seem to have a lot of "ites" but I'm not sure I always let God help me win the battle!

Speaking of battles...I got my blog to work again so I back.

(Pastor got on to me for not posting.)