He Is Greater

And greater is the One living inside of me than he who is living in the world.

Mercy Me - Greater

Bring your tired

Bring your shame

Bring your guilt

Bring your pain

Don’t you know that’s not you’re name

You will always be much more to me

Every day I wrestle with the voices

That keep telling me I’m not right

But that’s alright

‘Cause I hear a voice and He calls me redeemed

When others say I’ll never be enough

And greater is the One living inside of me

Than he who is living in the world

In the world

In the world

And greater is the One living inside of me

Than he who is living in the world

Bring your doubts

Bring your fears

Bring your hurt

Bring your tears

There’ll be no condemnation here

You are holy, righteous and redeemed

Every time I fall

There’ll be those who will call me

A mistake

Well that’s ok

There’ll be days I lose the battle

Grace says that it doesn’t matter

‘Cause the cross already won the war

He’s Greater

He’s Greater

I am learning to run freely

Understanding just how He sees me

And it makes me love Him more and more

He’s Greater

He’s Greater

1 John 5:4-5  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

---

Satan hates you and wants to kill you. If he can't take your life then he definitely wants to take the life out of you. He loves to make you feel shame and guilt, he wants to defeat you and make you cry, he wants to hear you curse God.

You may wonder why, what in the world did I do to have somebody hate me so bad? You didn't have to do anything. The main reason that Satan hates you is because he hates God and you are the greatest part of God's creation made in his image.

The Lord loves his children and he has plans for us, he has called us to do great things for him and he gives us the strength and courage to do them. God's children have the ultimate source of hope despite our circumstances we know the ultimate victory belongs to our Father.

God's Armor

This is a serious battle so you better get your gear on.

Ephesians 6:10-13  A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  11  Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.

12  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.   

13  Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

---

Our world has seen wars come and go, the battle between men can last for months or a few years and then it is over, there are estimates that there have been over three thousand wars in recorded history.

There is a different kind of battle taking place that has been raging for a long time, it is a battle that has caused many casualties and the enemy has taken captive a lot of prisoners, it is a battle that many people don't realize is happening or they just don't care. We are in a fierce war with a powerful enemy but we have no reason to be afraid if we are on the Lord's side.

The Enemy: Satan

1 Peter 5:8  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Satan is seen in different forms in scripture, as a deceiving serpent, as an angel of light that wants to trick us and also as a roaring lion that is ready to devour and destroy. He resist every effort that we make to do something to please God and he wishes to destroy us by violent opposition, persecution, and death.

The Battle: Against Demons

Ephesians 6:12 warns us that one of Satan's most effective strategies is the delusion that everything is fine and that there isn't any serious threat in the supernatural realm. This is a very big danger and it is very naive and it leads to apathy, and indifference.

It is very dangerous to be a part of paganism, the occult, and various other things that Satan uses to trick people into his schemes. It looks harmless and it looks like a lot of fun to some people but the danger is real.

The Provision: The Armor of God

2 Corinthians 10:4  We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

The Greek word translated "put on" (enduo) carries the idea of permanence. The full armor of God is not something to be put on and taken off, there isn't a casual day where you can choose to wear part of the armor and you can't rely on a friend that is using part of the armor that you are missing.

We already know that we aren't fighting mankind and the enemy is in the spirit world so we should realize that we cannot rely on man's weapons any more than David could rely on Saul's armor.

The Victory: Standing Firm

1 Peter 5:9  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

The way to gain the victory is to stand firm. At the beginning of Jesus ministry he stood firm for forty days in the desert and and as his time on Earth came to an end he was bombarded by Satan again in the Garden of Gethsemane until he was sweating drops of blood. (Luke 4:2, 22:44)

Victory in Jesus
1 John 5:4-5  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  5  And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Notice that John says in the verses above that all of God's children will have victory over this evil world. That's a big deal because the enemy is very powerful but God has provided for our ultimate victory in heaven and he has provided the gear that we need to wear so that we will make it through the battle that is going on down here.

Thank you Lord for giving me the tools that I need to be able to live in this world and to be able to stand firm against Satan's attack.