"Give It Up To Him"

"Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein." (Psalms 69:34) Don't you think it is interesting how John uses the phrase "You have won your battle with the evil one?" The KJV has it, "Ye have overcome the wicked one," but it means the same thing: "The devil has been defeated!" It is pretty much done and won; we like "Jacob" get to ride the heel of the one who saved us; but nonetheless, we are His "prisoners" into eternity. It's funny how that all works out, because people really try to make it all about something else; when it's really about, just holding onto Jesus and never letting go! And the greatest news of all, is that He has hold of you! You are not going anywhere, even if, for some very strange reason you wanted to, He is not letting go of you! So, how exactly did we win our battle with the evil one? I don't know about you, but for me it was around the middle of September in 1981; that is when I said "Yes" to Jesus, and said, "No" to the devil; just like that, I won my battle! That does not mean that there is not a war to still overcome; but as far as the devil having a hold upon my life, I am now a child of the King, and the devil can't destroy my soul, because my soul has been ripped from his hand. Don't underestimate the powerful work that Jesus completed on that cross, because when He said, "It is finished," He meant what He said. He had overcome the power of sin by taking the sin of the world upon Himself! I heard something yesterday from Pastor Mike that I thought was pretty interesting; it was an answer he had to a caller about wayward children or disobedient children, to which he said, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, because God's very first children were also disobedient in the garden." It's true, we all are disobedient in one way or another, in something we are to do or not do, we all fall short. But isn't that why Jesus came in the first place? Jesus did not come for the righteous who think they don't need to be saved, but for the unrighteous ones that know they need a Savior...
"I will exchange your bronze for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for bronze, and your stones for iron. I will make peace your leader and righteousness your ruler. Violence will disappear from your land; the desolation and destruction of war will end. Salvation will surround you like city walls, and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there. No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the LORD your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set; your moon will not go down. For the LORD will be your everlasting light. Your days of mourning will come to an end. All your people will be righteous. They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with My own hands in order to bring Myself glory. The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the LORD, will make it happen." (Isaiah 60:17-22) NLT