Verses That KICK SOME DEVIL BUTT!!

On Wednesday, the last question in the daily Bible study asked us to think of and look up our own verses. That's one thing I like about this study ~ the answers are NOT necessarily right there in front of you in the passage at the beginning of the day. It makes you THINK!!

I mean, geez, we were compared to CAIN, for Pete's sake!! CAIN!!! The first murderer in the Bible! You wouldn't think that the occasional nibble when no one's looking could be equated somehow with murder, would you? But God asked Cain what was bothering him. Asked him to make it right, and what did Cain do? Completely IGNORED God and went and carried out the plans of his blackened heart anyway.

Isn't that what we often do when we hear that little voice saying, "You don't really need a snack. Just turn around, walk away, and find something else to do."? Have you ever ignored that voice? If you're like me, a better question is probably "have you ever NOT ignored that voice?"!!

But every time we ignore it and stuff our cake-hole anyway, then we ARE like Cain. And not only that, but, as Alicia observed, we make a mockery out of God when we allow the devil to win in these "little" situations. It's like he does the happy dance behind our backs, teasing God and singing, "I made her cave in! I'm stronger than you are!" in that nasty little sing-song voice we're all so familiar with.

I don't know how you feel about that, but.... OUCH!

The last question in the day's lesson asked for verses not necessarily mentioned in the study, and I thought it would be good for all three of us ~ Alicia, Susanne, and Tammi ~ to share with you the verses that popped into our heads (or that we had to search the concordance for!) and some of the reasoning why. After all, our hope, OUR MISSION, here on this blog, is to help you find ammunition for YOUR fight!!

The question read:

The Enemy wants you to think you can never conquer him. But that goes directly against God's Word. When the Enemy comes, defeat him wtih God's Word. This is an important point, for we defeat the lies of the Enemy with the truth of Scripture.

Find a Scripture from the New Testament or Genesis 4 to combat each of the following lies.

Here are our responses:

LIE #1. You are going to fail in this program and you can never be a woman of moderation.

• Alicia: Genesis 4:7 (the week's memory verse) ~ "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
• Tammi: James 4:7 ~ "Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
• Susanne (shoutin' at the demons!): John 8:44 ~ "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

LIE #2. You can gratify the flesh now and start tomorrow.

• Alicia (focusing on the idolatry of overeating): I John 3:6 ~ "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." (HARSH!) Also, I John 5:21 ~ "Dear children, keep yourself from idols."
• Tammi (focusing on choosing the right thing TODAY): Hebrews 3:13 ~ "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Also, Joshua 24:15 ~ "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
• Susanne: I John 3:7-8 ~ "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."

LIE #3. The consequences for disobeying won't be that bad.

• Both Alicia and Tammi instantly had the same verse pop into their heads for this one: Romans 6:23 ~ "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
• Susanne (back to the memory verse!): Genesis 4:7 ~ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.

Another question instructed us to pick a particular Psalm that we could turn to for encouragement and I'd like to share the one I chose:

Have mercy on me, O God,

have mercy on me,

for in you my soul takes refuge.

I will take refuge

in the shadow of your wings

until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfils His purpose for me.

He sends from heaven and saves me,

rebuking those who hotly pursue me;

God sends his love and his faithfulness.

~ Psalm 57:1-3

So, is your ammunition store restocked to handle the challenges of today? Because there will be challenges; there always are! We hope you can turn to these verses and find encouragement and new resolve ~ and maybe even the desire to seek out some passages on your own that you could share with us!

Wishing you a victorious, butt-kicking weekend,