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” The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” John 10:10
The thief of our joy. The thief of our love. The thief of our peace. The enemy of our souls seek to rob us, to kill us and to destroy us. And if we are not careful, we can find ourselves making the job easy for him. Like leaving a purse or iPad visibly in a vehicle, we can make ourselves targets for his thievery.
And a few times already this week he was nearly successful in ensnaring me. Boy, did he try it. At every turn, it was seeming like I couldn’t catch a break. He was relentless is his pursuit to devour me. I am standing right on the precipice of my kingdom NEXT. I can feel it stirring deep within. Do you know that feeling? The feeling so strong you can literally feel it on your physical person? God is up to something MAJOR! And the enemy is agitated. So he’s stirring strife with my children, planting false evidence, and even literally blindsiding me with objects. BUT GOD! I am determined all the more to KEEP PRESSING!
Here are three ways I’ve seen and experienced the enemy’s tactics. He’s being put on blast so you won’t be caught unaware. Then the next time he comes with some of this tomfoolery, you’ll see it a mile away and you’ll be able to defeat him as he is already a defeated foe. That work was completed on the cross so let’s walk it out. But this is what he tries to do.
DISCOURAGEMENT
Have you lost your enthusiasm, belief, and fervor in something you used to be passionate about? Have you tried at something and tried again with no success so you resigned that you were no good at it and you threw in the towel? Have you made a big mistake and felt like a failure? That was me yesterday. I made a big mistake and a costly one at that. And for a good part of the day I was so discouraged. I began to talk craziness to myself saying, “Why even bother? See you can’t even get this one small detail right. Just forget it! Everything you’ve worked for, just let it go.” One mistake and I was nearly ready to give up everything. That’s how discouraged I was. Then my kind teenage son said to me, “Mommy you got this!”, to which I nearly came undone because in that moment I didn’t feel I had “that” situation or anything else for that matter.
And this is exactly his MO, to get you to look confidence; to lose confidence in yourself and confidence in the God you serve. He wants you to become so disheartened that you lose hope. My friends, be reminded, God is THE GOD of HOPE! The God of hope will FILL you with all joy and peace as you trust Him (Romans 15:13) and He will renew your strength (Isaiah 40:31).
So how do you keep from being discouraged?
- Speak the Word of Truth over your situation
- Thank the Lord for all that He has taught you, shown you, and for the never-ending loved He has lavished on you
- Celebrate your wins! Yes you may have had a stumble, but you can get back up again to keep pressing toward the mark
DISSUASION
He starts whispering lies and half truths in your ear in an attempt to persuade you that God isn’t who He says He is and won’t do what He says He will do. Just like he did in the garden with Eve, deception slides off his tongue. He will try his best to scare you off, to convince you otherwise, to advise against and to get you to question what’s actually true.
How do you keep from being dissuaded?
- Encourage yourself in the Lord
- Have prayer partners and accountability partners who remind you of the truth and promises God has already declared over you
- When the deception comes slithering in, be armed by meditating on the word of God. Take the lies captive and replace them with truth. Continually abide in God by communing with Him all day, every day
DISTRACTION
God desires to be the focal point of our attention and affections. He urges us to seek the kingdom first. Let us keep our eyes, our hearts and our minds focused on Him. “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.” Proverbs 4:25
But it is oh so easy to get distracted. Every second of the day things are clamoring for our attention. I told you that the enemy was trying me this week right? Just the other day I was heading to shoot the final photo for my upcoming book, 30 Days 30 Ways to Salad Heaven. (For some salad inspo while you wait for the new book, check this post HERE) If you’ve been around for any length of time, you know honoring the temple is near and dear to my heart. So I stayed up late prepping some of the food and rose extra early to head out. And on the way out the door, an item caught my eye that literally changed the trajectory of my entire morning. That one, insignificant item caused a whole ripple of friction with the children. I had to call my husband who was on his way to work. The whole scenario was just a MESS! By the time I headed out the door to go to the shoot, I was completely out of sorts. I was emotionally distraught, agitated and outright distracted. “Holy Spirit intervene! Help me God”, was my cry.
To be distracted is to have become DIS-TRACKED, off track and off the course God intends you to be on. Check out this video HERE as Minister Kevin Winters dives deep into the concept of being dis-tracked. This teaching was a real eye opener.
How do you keep from being distracted?
- STAY FOCUSED – be tethered to God’s word, not looking to the left or the right but eyes focused on the Father, observing to do all He has commanded (Joshua 1:8)
- Guard your ear and eye gates. Be very mindful of the type of information, words, and images you allow to enter your person
- Recognize the little things for what they are and don’t sweat the small stuff. Ask yourself will this matter in a day, in a month, in a year? If it’s insignificant, just chill as my 15 year old would tell me
The devil uses these D’s, discouragement, dissuasion and distraction to get our focus off the kingdom. He tries doubt, depression, deception and a whole host of other D words to try to break us. But my God knows a thing or two about D’s also. He is the God of deliverance, decisiveness, dexterity, diligence, defense, detail, distinction, and dunamis (power). With His Spirit empowering you, the Father loving you and Jesus’ blood covering you, you are duly equipped to conquer the D’s of the devil.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
Friends, do you know we are in a crisis? And it’s very likely that this crisis has shown up on your doorstep or even entered your own body. The World Health Organization has dubbed stress the health epidemic of the 21st century. If not properly dealt with, stress WILL adversely affect your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.
As a business owner, mom of 6, ministry leader and wife, I’ve been faced with my fair share of stress. When I am not aggressively abiding in Christ, stress has the propensity to overtake me. I’ve been beaten down by being overwhelmed, anxious, fearful and irritable. And in those moments, I’ve come to see that I don’t like those feelings. I don’t like being edgy and frustrated. It is downright sickening to be plagued with aches, pains and tension headaches caused by stress.
So what can we do to combat it? Consider employing these simple steps.
- Awareness. Bring awareness to your body. Are you clenched so tight that your shoulders and ears have become one? Is your brow furrowed? Are you clenching your teeth? Listen to your body. It’s talking to you. If your body parts are tense, command them to relax.
- Just Breathe. Literally. You know about lack of sleep but what about lack of breath? Most of us are depriving ourselves of deep, cleansing breaths. Deep breathing slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and invites calmness. Go ahead. Give it a try. Just as God breathed the breath of life into the first man, invite Him to breathe afresh in you today. I talk a bit more about breathing in another post I did on STRESS.
- Meditate. Whatever you think about constantly is what you are meditating on. Since you’re meditating anyway, be sure to FOCUS those thoughts on things that are true, lovely and of good report (Phil 4:8). If you find yourself consumed with toxic thoughts, arrest them, cast the down and replace them with the truth of the Word.
- Atmosphere. Do your physical surroundings promote peace or chaos leading to stress? Clutter and disorganization can create a stressful environment. Enlist help if you need to, in order to create an orderly environment. Bring calm into the atmosphere with the use of essential oils. Two of my favorites for whoosah are clary sage and lavender.
- Get Out. Yes, as in get outside. Just today I invited my husband to break his normal routine and to join me in sitting for a while at one of my favorite wildlife preserves. He said his time there was amazing. Being outdoors is so good for you. When God created man He placed him in a garden (outdoors) to connect with creation and to have dominion over it. Lower your blood pressure, sharpen your mind, boost your energy and MORE just by getting outside. And when outdoors feel free to take your shoes off, stand in the grass and exhale as you give God thanks for fresh air, for being root and grounded in Him, for keeping the earth spinning on it axis and for loving you all at the same time. He is truly an amazing God!
- BONUS ONE….Since I did list breathing as a stress reduction technique in an older post, I wanted to give you a bonus pointer and that is to watching your eating. What you consume directly impacts you so try to choose foods that work in harmony with the wonderful design called YOU. Avoid processed foods and consume foods that are nutrient dense, wholesome and are what God created. Eating this way fuels your body and brings clarity of thought while consuming unhealthy foods can make you feel bloated, sluggish, and raise blood pressure among other things. And that alone can certainly cause you to become even more stressed.
So what’s currently stressing you? And what wellness practices do you use to combat it? I am here praying in advance that you employ the simple strategies listed above. Be sure to come back and let me know how they worked for you.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired to Live Fully!
I marvel over the myriad of ways God speaks.
Through a person, through a gentle summer breeze, even through a pack of gum that catches your eye at the checkout in the grocery, God uses the simplest of things to communicate with us.
On this particular day, for me it was a song. As the choir belted out these lyrics, I sang right along with them,
“We are here for You
Come and do what You do,
We set our hearts on You
Come and do what You do
‘Cause we need a move,
We need a move.”
Yes God, we need a move, I thought to myself. And I started to pray.
Make a move God. A big move. A bold move. A mighty move. A book of Acts, Day of Pentecost type of move. Holy Spirit move!
I need a move. I need a move. I needa move. I NEEDA MOVE!
Right then the Holy Spirit arrested me on the spot and said, “Tyra you are right, You NEEDA MOVE. YOU NEED TA MOVE. YOU NEED TO MOVE.”
Did y’all catch that?
You want to see a move of God but He wants to see a move from you.
We cry, we beg, we pray, we lament, beseeching the Lord to perform great miracles, signs and wonders but are we willing to MOVE?
We are encouraged by the testimonies of biblical figures who made great moves.
God told Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s house to go to a land he would show him. And Abram went as the Lord instructed him and became the father of a great nation.
The man at the pool of Bethesda had been afflicted for 38 years! Jesus commanded him to rise, take up his bed AND walk. We obey those moves and was made whole.
Four lepers stood at the entrance of the gate contemplating their next move. They could stay at the gate and die or risk heading into the enemy’s camp where death could just as easily meet them. But they made a decision. They moved! They headed right into the enemy’s camp only to find it abandoned and they spoils were at their fingertips.
How about you? Do you need to get unstuck? Have you been mulling over something God said for too long? Have you allowed analysis paralysis to hold you hostage? Are you still “praying’ about it? Come on now and make a move already!
Here’s how you do it.
- Repent. Let God know that you are sorry for allowing ______ to keep you from moving. Rebuke that thing that held you in place.
- Decide. Purpose in your mind that you WILL move.
- Step in Faith. Make the move. Make the call. Submit the proposal. Do that thing you’ve been promising yourself you were going to do for YOU.
- Flow. Moving has a rhythm. Get in sync with heaven by spending time with God and hearing from Him. Once you take those first few steps, you may begin to recognize or feel God’s flow. The unction may come around the same time of day or God may give you instructions to follow at certain pattern. Flow with it.
Yes, we need a move from you God, so we are willing to do our part and MOVE!
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable. Read more