Defeating the Enemy: Daily Victory in the Little Things
Part 3 of 3
Read Part 1: Defeating the Enemy of Our Hearts and Souls and Part 2: Protecting Baby Seeds
Do you remember when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain by themselves and was transfigured before them? What an experience! Peter’s reaction was to say, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You want, I will make three tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:4)
But they weren’t meant to camp out alone with Jesus on the mountain top, they had to come down. It would be wonderful to stay in a state of perpetual communion with God without any distractions (i.e. people), but we must learn to carry the peace and power of God with us into every situation, even messy ones.
As soon as they came down off the mountain and got back with people, they were confronted with a demonic situation. (See part 2 of this Blog series about protecting baby seeds.) It was something the disciples hadn’t been able to deal with themselves. After Jesus rebukes the demon and heals the little boy, He tells them why they were unable to cast it out:
“Because of your meager faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21)
The mustard seed is tiny. But this small seed was all that was needed to produce a faith that would move mountains. Sometimes the most challenging things, and the most powerful things, come from a small beginning.
Do we have eyes to see everything spiritually, even the little things? Our greatest discontent, distraction, and disruption from our purpose can come from designating small parts of our lives as “not spiritual”. Rather than take everything to God, we decide some things don’t warrant His attention and we can deal with them ourselves, and that can lead us into a twisted mess!
Catch the Little Foxes
“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song 2:15 NKJV). The little foxes are deadly, because we tend to ignore them as simply small nuisances.
Over time, they destroy the vine and eat away at our peace. These foxes could be trite worldly details, annoying habits, or perhaps something small someone said that continues to grate on your mind.
Don’t be deceived by the size of a thing. Little foxes can destroy the vine, but big mountains can be thrown into the sea by faith!
What we must do is catch those foxes before they cause destruction, and this comes from submitting absolutely everything in our lives to the Lord. We need to immerse ourselves in His presence, and we need to bring His presence into daily life.
And we can’t do this alone, we need to surround ourselves with the support of others. Don’t live in isolation, but join together in faith with others to catch the little foxes together.
Three Keys to Daily Victory in the Little Things
Get alone with the Lord daily. Jesus made this a regular practice and we must do the same. In His light, lies are exposed and truth is clear. We need to be centered in kingdom living because the world can be very distracting.
Bring the Lord into the daily details. God sees and knows everything, so we can freely talk to Him about every detail of our lives, and ask for His guidance. When we do this, we ensure there aren’t “little foxes” sneaking through the cracks.
Worship God as an act of daily living. Yes, sing praises to God all day long, but also understand that worship is a position of our heart. We make God Lord over everything in our lives. We don’t just worship when we sing in church, we worship God with everything we do as we put Him first.
As a final charge, read how Romans 12:1-2 is portrayed in the Message Bible and walk this out:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Part 3 of 3
Read Part 1: Defeating the Enemy of Our Hearts and Souls and Part 2: Protecting Baby Seeds
