November 9, 2019

November 9
Running with Jesus

Acts 18:23  And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples

     Paul was a missionary and traveled all over the Roman Empire starting churches. At this point he is ending his second journey and this verse tells why he traveled back to all the churches, to visit and strengthen the disciples, believers.
     So many times we share the gospel and people are born again but we fail to strengthen and disciple them and they do not remain in the church!
     I know that was what happened to me I was told how to come to salvation, but I did not know how that was to help me daily with life. I was not aware of the spiritual battle that was surrounding me. I had no idea that Satan was roaming the earth seeking to devour and destroy our lives. I knew I was a sinner and needed to be saved in order to have eternal life. No one told me I was in an army and needed  **special ops training. More like Marine training! I walked around bound up in my grave clothes like Lazarus coming out of his tomb. I needed someone to take my grave clothes off. Fear had me wrapped up so tight. One day a Pastor's wife, Helen Curtis, came to our church and taught on a spirit of fear and how God had not given it to us in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. For the first time I recognized I was being tormented and controlled by that spirit of fear. I began to bind the powers of the enemy and learned about discerning the spirits around us. You see we are in a spiritual battle to control us. We have our old nature pulling to follow it’s desires and a new nature pulling to obey God. The one we yield to is the controller.
     That day my life was strengthened and I began to grow in wisdom and knowledge in the Lord. That was the beginning of deep Bible study and my life began to change because I knew how Satan was attacking my mind. I learned the battle of the mind.
               

 Father, I pray for my friends to grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of Your Word. I pray they will get into Your Word and allow You to bind the powers of darkness that seek to destroy their lives. My prayer is for You to use me to unwrap their grave clothes and be strengthened.

Let's meet Apollos, in the morning!

** Become One Of The Army's Most Specialized Soldiers. Special Forces (SF) Soldiers are the experts in unconventional warfare. They deploy on a variety of missions all over the world. They are the specialized 'minutemen' of today's Army — highly trained and ready to go anywhere at a moment's notice.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015