Daily Treasure

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

As we learn about the Enemy and how to do battle against him, we see two of the greatest weapons we have to keep from becoming a casualty.  One is prayer and the other is the Word.  Today’s verse only contains three words, but they are profoundly important to the Christian.  As I mentioned before, a Christian on his or her knees makes the devil tremble.

I’m sure you will agree, you want to see him sweat.  Aside from that, being in an attitude of prayer will give you strength, courage, and determination as you go through your day. We never know what a day might bring so go to God  and fill your arsenal with prayer. Literally, saturate your day with prayer. It will unclutter your mind.  One wise quip states, “A day hemmed in prayer is much less likely to unravel.”

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for home missionaries Darin and Joy Alvis as they prepare for  a  change in ministry location.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

In the introduction of this week’s study we find these words: “My heart house is my mind, my real inside-self where I think, feel, decide and choose.  God is the king and the Enemy is the one who creates havoc in my mind. The mind is the battlefield.” Later in the introduction  we find these words: “When the Spirit of God enters a woman’s heart at salvation, He sets about to reprogram her thought life and conform her to His own image.”  Today’s verse speaks of that process.  If we do not allow Christ to “renew our mind,” it will become the “devil’s playground.”

Thinking about heart houses reminds me of spring cleaning. Now is a great time of year to apply this principle and explore ways we can “transform” and “renew” our minds. The rest of the week we’ll be sharing ideas on how we can start this process.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Jeff and Susan Turnbough, FWBIM representatives en route from Bulgaria to Spain today.

“With a strong hand, God grabs my garment.  He grips me by the collar of my tunic”  (Job 30:18 NLT).

Ever had the stuffing shaken out of you by the Lord?

Ever had Him get your attention—your full attention?

Ever had God place His hands on your shoulders, turn your face to Him, ask you to look Him square in the eye?

And once He had your attention, what He showed you was life changing.

And when you finally chose to Him fully in the face, you were rewarded with the peace that comes from being in His presence.

And when the discipline is over, the embarrassment, shame and conviction left, the complete knowledge of Christ’s love for you remained.

And when the stuffing was lying all around you, leaving just you and the Lord, nothing in between the two of you…you found He is all you need.

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Sunday school teachers in your church today. Ask God’s Spirit to fill them with insights and power to communicate the Word.

“Darkness as black as night will cover all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine over you.  All nations will come to your light.  Mighty kings will come to see your radiance”  (Isaiah 60:2-3 NLT).

Is the song, “This Little Light Of Mine,” as much a part of your childhood as it was mine?  Did you sing it nice and loud as a child?  Did you holler a resounding NO when it came time to answer whether or not we’d hide our lights under a bushel basket?  Did you huff and puff demonstrating how Satan wants to snuff out our light?

There are days when I wish I had never learned the words or the tune of that little diddy.  Please, hear me out…

I’m convicted by the fact that my little light is, on the best of days, sporadic and weak.

I’m heartsick to know my flame of righteousness is easily blown out by the draft created by a passing doubt or fear.

I’m ashamed to say there are a lot of days my light is at most a fraction of a spark.

Oh, yes, you can quote the fact to me that I am but a reflector of the light of the Lord.  You can preach the old sermon about me being a vessel of His light.  You can even quote the verse in Phillipians that I can do all things because of His light and love and strength.

There’s still this issue I deal with:  I’m a faulty reflector, a too small bulb, a teensy-tiny ember and the kind of gal who allows the pitch-forked enemy to douse my attempts to glow.

And still I am chosen to shine for Him.  His choice.  His selection to do His work, to glow for Him.

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for South Carolina Women Active for Christ meeting together today and for WNAC Executive Director Elizabeth Hodges as she speaks at this state meeting .

“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6).

If godly men like Job and Peter were tested by the devil, we have to believe he is there to do whatever he can to turn us away from God.  Will we pass or fail the test?

As children of light we must stay plugged into our power source at all times.  God stands ready to equip us each day as we battle the devil with all his ploys. We can’t “watch and be sober” if worry and fear take over our minds.  We are soldiers in the Lord’s army. We must completely trust our General.

Next week we will discuss “The Battlefield.” The Handprint or summation for this study reads, “In this war for human souls, the battlefield is the mind.”

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for women attending the Indiana State Retreat and for WNAC president Diana Bryant as she shares a devotion and interacts with women there.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfarre are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

The NIV Bible phrases today’s verses this way, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

The Living Bible paraphrases it this way: “It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t  use human plans and methods to win my battles. I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds.”  We can’t fight fire with fire.

No matter what we face, we are going to have to fight with an open Bible on our knees. This combination will always make the devil tremble.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for California Women Active for Christ meeting together this weekend and for speaker Lynette Morgan, as she shares both from God’s Word and from her heart.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

It probably would seem easier if the “wrestling” we were doing was with flesh and blood.  However, we battle an army of evil that is invisible.  As I thought about our verse, it was like I saw various ranks of wickedness. It’s like the battle escalates the more we try to live right. Romans 7:21 states “I find then a law, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”  Often times when the battle becomes fierce, some Christians retreat. We will learn in other studies what we can do to fight back.  Tomorrow we will share a little concerning this. Don’t give up!

One of my many favorite verses is found in Romans 8:31b….”If God be for us who can be against us?”  In Exodus 14:14a we find these words, “The Lord shall fight for you…”

Isn’t it wonderful to know we don’t have to do battle alone?

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Spend special time in prayer today for upcoming Easter special services. Ask God to burden your heart with individuals whom you can invite to attend.