|
Welcome to
Relationship Advice by Nancy Pina
IN TODAY'S RELATIONSHIP ADVICE ISSUE:
Guest Article: Triumph In Our Troubles
By Joyce Meyer
Today’s Relationship Advice by Nancy
"Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young
to hope, to love - and to put its trust in life "
*Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, Polish Novelist and Short Story Writer
Triumph In Our Troubles
By Joyce Meyer
As Christians you and I are engaged in warfare—spiritual warfare
that rages and never stops until we go home to be with the Lord.
As long as we are alive, our minds remain Satan's battlefield. And
that is where the majority of our problems are rooted—in wrong
thinking patterns. I believe what we often miss about temptation
and the battle our enemy levels against us is that it comes to us
through deception.
Suppose Satan had said to Eve, "Eat of the fruit. You'll bring
misery, anger, hatred, bloodshed, poverty and injustice into the
world." Eve would have recoiled and run away. Instead, the serpent
deceived her saying, You shall not surely die, for God knows that
in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God… (Genesis 3:4,5). He told her what would appeal to her,
and that is the same thing he does to you and me.
Satan promised Eve, "You will be like God." That's always the
appeal of sin. The temptation is not to do evil—the lure is that
we will gain something. Eve lost the first battle of the mind, and
the battle has raged ever since. Thankfully, as Christians, we can
win our battles because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
However, we need to be aware of the enemy's schemes.
Satan works slowly and in small steps to inject unholy,
self-centered thoughts into our heads. He rarely begins with a
direct assault or frontal attack. Instead, he attacks our minds
starting with little things—little dissatisfactions, small
desires—and he builds from there. If we allow his deceptive
thoughts to remain in our minds rather than kick them out, then he
can get a foothold.
Through these well-planned strategies, Satan builds strongholds in
our lives. He constructs a castle, or fortress, of thoughts in our
thinking that holds us in bondage to wrong behavior. For example,
if you grew up with parents who were angry and critical, then you
will probably struggle believing you have worth and value. If you
have been abused by a male figure in your life, then you may be
tempted to believe no man is trustworthy. This is one of the
strongholds God helped me destroy. It was a serious problem in my
life because of the abuse I suffered from men while growing up.
There are countless lies the enemy uses to establish strongholds
in our minds. What we need to understand is that Satan takes our
circumstances and attempts to build strongholds in our minds. If
the devil can darken our minds by convincing us that we can't
possibly win—we've lost.
The Word of God, along with prayer and praise, are powerful
weapons that God has given you and me to set us free from these
strongholds. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (2
Corinthians 10:4 NASB).
In order to break free from destructive strongholds, we must learn
to use these mighty God-given weapons against the enemy.
Gaining our freedom can sometimes be a slow process. But don't
give up! Most of us do not get released from the bondage of
strongholds in one day. We are God's children and He is a good
Father, so as we put our faith in Him, His truth will set us free
indeed!
Remember, after fasting for forty days in the wilderness Jesus
depended on the Word of God to overcome the enemy. His response to
each temptation was to declare the truth of God's Word. Jesus did
not just think the Word, He said it. We must think and speak the
Word of God (see Matthew 4:1-11). When the devil attacks our minds
with wrong thoughts, you and I must counter these thoughts with
God's Word.
The good news is when you and I are engaged in battle with Satan
we are not alone. God is always with us and we have the support of
other believers. We need other Christians—but most of all we need
to learn to depend on God's faithfulness. As we learn to use the
weapons God has provided, we can break the strongholds the devil
has built in our minds. The Truth of God always overcomes the lie
of the enemy.
It is true that breaking free from strongholds in our lives can
seem difficult. But God never promises an easy life—He does
promise a blessed life. You and I have a choice. We can do what it
takes and use the weapons God has given us to be set free or
remain captive and miss out on all that God has for us. In Romans
5:3,4, the apostle Paul says …let us exult and triumph in our
troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and
affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved
faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces
[the habit of] joyfull and confident hope of eternal salvation.
I encourage you to keep reminding yourself that we serve a
victorious God and that He makes us more than conquerors through
Jesus Christ (see Romans 8:37). You and I have spiritual
weapons—His Word, prayer and praise—to tear down strongholds. His
grace is sufficient to lead us in victory no matter what the
battle may be. When men go to war they gain courage by looking to
the strength and courage of their leader. Jesus is our Champion
and our Leader. When you and I come against the strongholds in our
lives we can look to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ
(see 2 Corinthians 2:14).
According to John 8:31,32 NIV, If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples…and the Truth will set you free. When you know
the truth that you have mighty weapons of warfare and learn to use
them, you are on your way to freedom.
There is a war going on, but God is on our side. Our mind is the
battlefield, and the Holy Spirit offers spiritual weapons so that
we can win. If we allow Him to, God will win the battle for us.
.
.
Joyce Meyer is a NY Times best-selling author and one of the
world's leading practical Bible teachers, spreading God's Word to
millions of people around the globe.
Through her ministry, Joyce has taught on hundreds of subjects,
authored over 70 books and conducts close to 20 conferences per
year. In 2004, almost 2.5 million copies of her books were sold,
and well over 1 million were donated around the world. Her
television program is broadcast to two-thirds of the globe and her
radio program is broadcast on hundreds of stations worldwide.
Joyce Meyer believes that the call on her life is to establish
believers in God's Word. Finding herself a Christian in need of
victory many years ago, she discovered freedom to live
victoriously through applying the Word. She believes that every
person who walks in victory leads many others into victory.
http://www.joycemeyer.org
Dear Nancy,
My ex boyfriend CJ recently wrote you a letter. Well since then we
have broken up. He found a picture of me dancing with another guy
at a
party.
I had earlier lied and told him nothing had happened that night
with any guys. He saw the picture and broke up with me mostly
because I
had lied to him about the situation. I did not think dancing with
another guy was that big of a deal. We go to separate colleges 350
miles away. I loved my boyfriend sooo much. College life and
partying
got to me and I thought I could carry on my lifestyle and still
have a
healthy relationship with my boyfriend. I was very wrong and I now
realize this. He tried to warn me but I thought nothing bad could
happen. He is heart broken and it breaks my heart to see him so
upset
and for me to know that I have lost him. We talked about it a lot.
He
said there was a small chance that maybe we could get back
together.
But he does not know how to trust me again. Do you think I deserve
another chance? I still love CJ sooo much and I would do anything
to
reverse my actions. I realize that he is the perfect guy for me
and
that I messed up really bad. I admitted to my lies and he said
maybe we
can start fresh later down the road. He had a very hard time
getting
over stuff and forgiving people but I am so completely lost with
him...
Thanks,
Amanda
Dear Amanda,
If you had told CJ that you would be going to a party and dancing
with other guys - and on the slim chance he would be okay with it,
then dancing with someone other than your boyfriend is not a big
deal per se. However, you chose not to tell him and betraying the
trust in your relationship is extremely harmful. If you are
sincere about having a committed relationship with CJ, you must
make an effort to select friends who do not place you in tempting
situations. I understand how fun fraternity parties can be and how
liberating it is to be on your own for the first time. However,
the combination of single guys, late evenings and alcohol
eventually lead to situations you do not want to find yourself
facing and may not be able to undo. Life changing events can
happen in a split second, so keep that in mind.
The reason it is important to pay attention to the people you
select as friends is that their bad habits, morals and values will
rub off on you quicker than your good habits will influence them.
If you truly want a relationship with CJ, you will need to find a
way to restore the trust that has been lost. That will take time
and effort. Also, CJ needs to be able to truly forgive what has
happened and start anew in your relationship. He cannot hold onto
this hurt if your relationship is to survive.
There is no reason why you and CJ can't make your relationship
work if you both are willing to do so. You can't turn the clock
back and undo what has already been done, but you can get through
this storm of life. It will take a committed effort from both of
you to strengthen your relationship which will ultimately allow
you to grow emotionally and spiritually together.
Please write to me at
asknancy@yourtruematch.com to see your advice here.
Confidential replies can be obtained through
your purchase of ‘The Right Relationship Can Happen’
Visit Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931947082/103-3406444-9942253
Simply forward your receipt to
nancyp@yourtruematch.com
along with your relationship question.
I will reply to you within 24 hours or less.
With God on your side, who
dare be against you?
I pray that He shine
His light upon you and bless you with
peace, joy and happiness.
May God bless your life and may you
experience abundant love!
|
