As it was in the garden of Eden when the devil tempted Eve, we are always under attacks from the devil. It has seemed like the Devil hits me the hardest when I am trying to live and do right. He knows my weaknesses and he knows your weakness and he will attack when you least expect him to.

1 Peter 5:8“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”

John 10:10 – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly

God shows us in his word how to protect ourselves from the enemy’s attack.

James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Ephesians 6:11-18 (KJV)

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

When we feel the devil attacking us turn to God in prayer and his word. It is the only defense you have against evil.

Have you ever judged anyone wrongly? I have been guilty of that many times in my life. I have also been the one who was judged without someone knowing the complete story.

Nothing hurts as bad as having someone judge you for things in our past.

Matthew 7:1 – Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Luke 6:37 – Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

We never know what someone is going through in their life. The challenges they face can be overwhelming and to have someone judge them and not know the full story can destroy a person.

Matthew 7:5 – Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

The bible does tells us to judge those who are wicked.

Matthew 7:15 – Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

The Lord is the only one that can judge us. The bible tells us

2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.

Revelation 20:11-15 King James Version (KJV)

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Don’t we all feel that way sometimes? We feel like no matter how much we are praying at times it seems God is so far away.

Certain things that I have been praying about for a long time go unanswered. We shouldn’t feel discouraged when that happens because it’s all in God’s timing and not our own.

David suffered feelings of discouragement crying out to God. Elijah felt loneliness and despair. Jeremiah also felt like God wasn’t listening and was far away from him.

Jeremiah 29:12 – Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

Jeremiah 33:3 – Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

God is always listening to your prayers.

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

No matter how alone and discouraged that you feel God is there with you. He will always be listening.

An idol can be anything in our life that we put before God. It could be money, cars, tv, sports,alcohol, sex, people and many other things.

Exodus 20:4-5 King James Version

⁴ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

I used to watch TV all the time! I loved my television programs but I soon realized that was a form of idolatry for me. I now don’t even watch much TV. Don’t get me wrong I love a good movie every now and then but I will limit it now. The choices I make now in my programs I watch, the music I listen to helps me be a better Christian.

Even our cellphones can be an idol if we put it before our God. I deleted my Facebook and it was so hard when I first did it a couple of years ago but it was the best thing I ever did! I was spending more time on my social media then I was in my bible reading.

Colossians 3:5 – Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

We have to be so careful what we do in our lives to make sure we are not putting anything before our Lord God. Nothing in my life was going right until I learned to put God first. He comes before my Husband, my children, family and friends.

1 John 5:21 – Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Evaluate your life and figure out what you are putting before God.

When someone hurts you with harsh words or actions the first thing we want to do is strike back. Jesus tells us we must turn the other cheek.

Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

A friend of mine told me of how when he was a child and one Sunday at church his grandfather was preaching a message that a man in the congregation took offense to. He walked right up to his grandfather interrupting the service and hit him and his grandfather turned his head. My friend of course wasn’t having someone hit his grandfather so as the man stomped out of the church he followed him and jumped on his back in which the grown man threw him off his back and had his older teenage son to help him try to hit my friend who was only about ten at the time but it quickly came to a stop when another man from the congregation put a stop to it. I was thinking when my friend told me that story ,how his grandfather had such strength and faith to turn the other cheek. My friend who was a child just wanted to defend his grandfather.

People will hurt us for many reasons and do us wrong but we as Christians are to not strike back in retaliation.

Luke 6:27 – But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you
.

Growing up I was bullied for being shy. I remember so many times coming home crying and praying after someone at school had hurt me. When I became a teenager I developed a chip on my shoulder from the way people had treated me and wanted to lash out until I asked Jesus in my life. People can still do things to me that hurt me but I now pray for them.

We never know what is going on in their lives to make them want to hurt us by their actions.

Proverbs 25:21-23
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.
The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

It is the hardest thing to do sometimes when someone has done something to you but that is where we use our faith in Christ the most.

Romans 12:19 – Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

We should not try to pay them back for treating us in a evil way. God knows the situation and he will handle our enemies.

Do you feel like something is missing in your life? Do you know if you will live to see another day? I heard just today how several young people had drowned. They were out with family and friends having the time of their lives. I heard of others that were killed in car wrecks or shot to death. We never know when it will be our last day.

Proverbs 27:1 – Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

We are not promised tomorrow so why wait? The most important decision in your life is receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. I was not raised in church but when I was a child we still had prayer in school and I remember a preacher coming to my elementary school and giving out bibles. That little bible I still have today. I carried it around and read it but I still had not received Jesus in my life. As a teen I was given so many chances and it wasn’t until I was twenty years old that I asked him into my heart and my life. I wished I had done it earlier but I am thankful God gave me another chance.Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 10:9-10 – That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Why wait one more day? You can ask him right now in your heart and have eternal life.

We never know when we will fall on bad times. We are all a paycheck or two from being homeless ourselves. How have you helped someone in need today? Have you made a difference in someone’s lives by just a small act of kindness?

I love helping people because I have had so many that has helped me in my life. From needing a ride, a phone call, groceries, the list goes on and on. I read today how a barber gives free hair cuts to the homeless, a lady raised money to buy meals for the homeless,and how a man uses his truck to bring mobile showers for the homeless.

When I was a social worker and Secretary for the Salvation Army in Mississippi I had so many that would come in needing help with food, shelter, and clothing. It gave me great joy in doing what God has instilled in all of us to do by helping each other.

Galatians 6:2 – Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Matthew 5:42 – Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Philippians 2:4 – Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

It doesn’t matter if it’s as small as buying another person’s lunch it can go a long way in helping someone.

What makes you angry? Is it that person who is going slow in the left lane? The person that cuts you off in traffic? What about the person who jumps in front of you in line? There are so many reasons to make us angry. We have people who makes us mad, devices that makes us want to throw them and so many other things in life that makes our blood boil. Do you have a person who is angry at you over something that happened twenty years ago? Are you harboring anger towards someone over something that may have hurt You? Are you angry at God?

Ecclesiastes 7:9 – Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Sometimes we speak before we think and when we get mad we say things to another person that we didn’t mean to say. It is in anger we can’t take back the hurtful words we say but we can ask their forgiveness.

Proverbs 29:11 – A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise [man] keepeth it in till afterwards.

I ran into someone the other day that I have seen in passing and a relative of mine knows them. They looked at me with pure hatred and anger. I have never did anything to this person or said anything to them. I don’t know if it’s because the fact I am a Christian they hate me, or someone has told them a lie, or maybe it’s who I know. I used to think they were just having a bad day and was angry at the world but after a few times of that same look I decided that may not be the case. I will still smile and pray for that person and hope one day they will let that anger go. The people we run into every day we never know what is causing them so much anger in their lives.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 – Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

We need to forgive that person who has caused us so much anger. That could mean the driver who cut you off and hurled obscenities at you, and you just want to shake your fist at them but as Christians we have to turn the other cheek.

Matthew 5:44 – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Whatever the reason you are angry pray to God about it. Pray for that person who is angry at you also. Nothing makes you feel more at peace then letting anger and resentment go.

I have been hurt so many times in my life and it was really hard to forgive those people for what they did but once I did forgive them it was like a huge weight had lifted from me. I remember hearing a true story of a family that their daughter had been tragically killed but they forgave the man who murdered her. I have heard of many stories like that.

Once we asked Jesus in to our hearts and asked him to forgive us of our sins. Our sins were forgiven when we accepted him as our Lord and Savior.

Luke 6:37 – Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What a wonderful Savior we have that washes us of our sins and forgives us! We should forgive also when someone does us wrong.

Colossians 3:13 – Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.

Mark 11:25 – And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

For all the ones that has hurt you, made you angry, and betrayed you its

time to let it go and forgive.

The last few days has had me so stressed out. My vehicle broke down on the side of a busy road and no one stopped to help me. My phone acted crazy and would not let me make any phone calls! I was in so much distress and at my last resort decided to strike out and try to walk to find help. God led me to a house where a sweet lady invited me in from the heat of the day after hearing my car and phone troubles. She trusted me to come in her home and she let me use her cell phone. As I waited on my ride I found out she also was a Christian who told me she was glad to help me where I wouldn’t have to be in the heat and on a dangerous road!! I left there feeling so encouraged.

My Husband and I later went back to my vehicle with a new battery and it cranked up fine. I drove it most of the day yesterday and as I was coming home from work it broke down again on another busy high way. God was with me then also cause my cell worked so I could call for help. I should of been thanking God that I broke down closer to home and my phone worked but I felt defeated! I had to have my car to take me to my parents every day to help them and then go to work in the evenings. I couldn’t be without a car! My Husband was stressed also and it caused us both to argue. At that moment we didn’t trust God.

My stress made my head ache with pain and the feeling of a overwhelming weight on me. I had to borrow a vehicle to drive for a few days till we could see what was wrong with mine. A relative hurt my feelings so bad I broke down crying from the stress and pure hurt. I cried as I drove home and when I got there.

With all that being said today was a new day and after being in much prayer about it last night and today I finally gave it to God. It’s in the shop and I don’t know when it will be fixed or how much it’s going to cost but I am trusting in my Lord and Savior no matter what the outcome.

Psalms 28:7 – The LORD [is] my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Proverbs 3:6 – In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

No matter what happens we have to trust God.