The New Red Truck

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

Saturday, we bought a new red truck.  David was pretty excited to be able to do it.  But this post won't be about havng a new truck, or being thankful for the blessings that allow it, although all of that is true.  This post will be about something I experienced that day that made a much larger impact on me than a "thing" we purchased.

It took us a while to make up our minds to do this, but by Friday we decided it was a go.  We had to go back Saturday, because we didn't have some things in place.  We waited for a while, and it was finally time to go back to the financial office and do the paperwork.  I had previously heard about the situation with this particular man we dealt with, so I mentioned I had heard he had just returned from an illness.

This gentleman was just coming back to work after a cancer battle. He had been at Mayo's in Minnesota all summer.  Most of what he had to say was not about that......it was more about now.  He spoke of his deeper appreciation for family and time.  He talked about his joy in the little things, something he hadn't had as much of before.  The one thing that really stuck with me, however, was this statement he made: " You know, I just don't have bad days anymore.  Every day is a good day."

As I write this, I'm having an exceptionally bad day.  The enemy is having a field day with me, throwing depression, anxiety, regret, and heartbreak at me over and over again. The problem is, as he throws it, today I have my catcher's mitt on.  I'm grabbing everything he throws at me, and swallowing it hook, line, and sinker.  Right in the middle of my pity party, God told me to go back in and work on this post.  So I think this time it may be more for me than for anyone else.

God doesn't want this for me.  He has told me, in his Word, that I am:
- a child of the King ( John 1:12)
- delivered {Psalm 56:13)
- a friend of His ( John 15:15)
-set free (Romans 8:2)
-A fellow heir with Christ ( Romans 8:17)
-accepted (Romans 15:7)

And yet, I still let the one who wishes to devour me.....well,  go ahead and devour me occasionally.  I don't use the authority given to me by Christ to defeat that monster who is geting to me today.

Phil Hopper in "Defeating the Enemy"  makes an easily understood example of the misuse of the victory we have in Christ.  He says:

"As a child of God you have been given a badge and a gun.  Youv'e been given spiritual authority in Christ and spiritual weapons so you can win.  As a chid of God, you are "armed and dangerous"!  You may not know it, but Satan sees you as a threat to his kingdom.  All he can do is hope you never learn how dangerous you are, and how to exercise your authority over him.  Here's a simple analogy to help you understand this vital truth.  If someone steps out into an intersection and sticks out his hand as if to tell me to stop, I'm going to drive around him and keep right on going.  He doesn't have the authority to tell me to stop.  On the other hand , if that person is wearing a uniform and a badge and holds up his hand for me to stop, it doesn't matter if the light is green, I'm going to stop.  He has been given authority to take control of that intersection.  However, if that same officer is just standing on the curb doing nothing, I'm going to keep driving.  He has the authority to seize control of the intersection, but he's not exericising it.  As Christians, we have God's delegated authority,.  But some Christians either don't know it or won't exercise it.  Perphaps they're too fearful to step on into the insection of life and take contraol.  There are just too many "giants."

That's me today.  There are too many giants, and although I have the uniform, the badge, and the authority through Christ, I am letting the enemy take control today.

I need to take Him at His word.  I need to remember the "big, red truck" guy, who no longer lets someone or something else control his days.

I like to make visual pictures in my mind.   They help me remember certain things better.  So this afternoon  the picture in my mind looks someting like this:

Christ did the work.  He fought the battle.  I don't have to fight it , unless I allow the fight to begin to control me. The man at the car dealership has learned some lessons on those fights. So tomorrow, I'm going to work on having a 'big red truck good day'. I can.  I just have to get off the curb.