The enemy is subtle, and we often respond to his cues rather than the Holy Spirit who always desires to point us back to Jesus. True deep joy is found only in the Lord’s presence and too often we get tripped up and sidetracked by the things of this world. Rather than time in the Word as we go into a new day, the enemy will often tell us we need to first check our phone; he knows it will rob us of time with the Lord and get our focus elsewhere for the day.
I read today Romans 14:17 which says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” When we chose to listen to the Holy Spirit we will be filled with joy and flooded with peace. But if we choose to listen to the voice of the enemy, we will become stressed and laden with anxious thoughts and concerns, and find our peace has disappeared. When that happens, we need to quickly respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and ask Him to turn us back to the Lord and strengthen us with resolve to go God’s way. I’m sure we have all experienced those times we suddenly realize something is wrong and we have been taken in by the voice of the enemy. We need to do a quick turnabout and obey the Spirit and as we follow His directions our joy will return.
The choice is ours, for the Lord has given us free will and does not force us but rather invites us to enjoy His joy-filled presence. He will help us stand against the temptations from our enemy that wants to rob us. Let us choose God’s love and His kingdom and experience all that He has waiting for us to receive!
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