"The Will To Succeed" -3

Get engaged in the battle!!! I know what you might be thinking, I am already in the battle, I don't need to be engaged anymore than I am! Well, if that is what you are thinking, then let me assure you of something that the Lord has spoken into my heart: if we think that this material world is where the battlefield is fought, we are gravely mistaken! So you begin to give all of your all to Jesus, finally deciding to put down your pride, give up your selfishness, and follow Him with all your heart, and then you lose your job, your house, or even a loved one; is this the battle that we wage? Or could it be that the enemy has only so much at his disposal to be used against us? We, on the other hand, have far more to be used against him than he has against us; however, we must be suited up properly in order to wage the proper war, because the proper war is not what we think. You do know that God is the one in control, right? Some will try to convince you that He is not; as if Satan has full rein, and can do whatever he pleases; but that is not so. Satan can do nothing more to us than God will allow; besides, he is limited to messing stuff up here, and here, we are only Pilgrims, waiting for the place where we will call home. Do you understand that? And because this is not the home that we are looking to, then anything which happens to us here is only a temporary matter; which cannot hinder that which is to come; that is unless we are fighting the wrong battle! Here is another point to the verse, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin", because sometimes the battle will get ugly, really ugly; but if God is for us, who can be against us? Sometimes, what we need to do is pray, pray, pray; knowing that God is more than able to bring to the other side, yet we must pray still for the collateral damage which will be forged alone the way; accepting what is done as God's will, and striving alongside of Him to the tearing down of strongholds. That might sound like more than you bargained for when you asked Christ into your heart; but what we are talking about here is the battle for your mind; and when I say mind, I mean your soul, as in the seat of the desires, affections, and appetites; the will to succeed... "Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12:12-16)