Press On

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  ~Philippians 3: 12-14



I wasn't necessarily planning on posting anything new until the end of this week or maybe the beginning of next... and even then, I had no idea if God would lead me to post anything specific.

But evil hunted me (and our family) in a big way on Monday night - just one day after I committed to encourage Adam and just one day after I started this blog, a place for all of us to encourage each other.  Coincidence?  I'm sure it is not.

Liam, 4, had a very scary allergic reaction to walnuts (we think) on Monday afternoon (angioedema - rapid swelling - inside his mouth).  We had no idea, previously, that he was even allergic to them, or to any other foods, for that matter.  Still, there we were - scrambling to get him help - Adam speeding away from our house with Liam... and me, staying behind with the older 2, sobbing and praying.

We are in for a big change, the likes of which I cannot even fathom at this point, but praise God - he is OK.  After throwing up twice, once in the car and once in the waiting room, Liam got the medications and the help he needed.  God was holding him, when I could not, and He chose to deliver Liam safely back home into my arms.  Grateful doesn't begin to describe the way I feel.

Though I did NOT have a "real" quiet time on Tuesday (thanks to emotional exhaustion from crying and the physical exhaustion from adrenaline), I did "press on" in my efforts to encourage Adam.  I wrote and sealed the three cards that I bought, and then I put them into his suitcase before he left yesterday.

Then this... Back with God in my quiet time today, part of my scripture reading was Jesus encountering Satan in the wilderness.    Later this morning, I received an email devotional about "the subtle attacks of the enemy."  Again, no coincidences here.

I was encouraged - and I am encouraging you - to keep fighting.  We cannot make too much of the enemy, but we cannot make too little of him either.  You know the truth, but it bears repeating.  Satan's evil warfare is both obvious, like with Liam, and subtle as well.  In any case:

He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  Jn. 8: 44

He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  I Peter 5: 8

He leads the whole world astray and is filled with fury because he knows his time is short.  Rev. 12: 9, 12


I am encouraging us all, yes, even 4 days in!!  STAND FIRM!!  Flee from the devil, and hold onto Jesus.  We can't do it alone, but nothing is impossible for the one who believes!  (Matt. 17: 20)

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess...  Heb. 4: 14-16

Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4: 7

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.  I Jn. 3: 8


Satan would love nothing more than
*to distract us ("something else - fill in the blank - is more important"),
*to deceive us ("this is really not all that important" or "you've already failed, why keep trying?"),
*to distort God's truth - which says that we are more than conquerors and that we have what it takes to finish the race we have started.  (Romans 8; 2 Peter 1: 3; Acts 20: 24)

But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ~I Cor. 15: 57