[Faith-talk] FW: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] The invitation by Joyce Meyer

[fswilliams049 at aol.com]

 Thanks for sharing this devotion.
Felicia

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2012 11:59 PM
To: <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Faith-talk] FW: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] The invitation by Joyce Meyer

> Another one on forgiveness.
>
>
> Original Message:
> From: "Donna" <godsgirl54 at att.net>
> To: <URCTCPrayerGroup2 at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] The invitation by Joyce Meyer
> Date:
> Wed, 4 Jan 2012 20:29:01 -0500
>
> The Invitation
> by Joyce Meyer - posted January 04, 2012
>
>
> What I have forgiven . . . has been for your sakes . . . to keep Satan
> from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles
> and intentions.
> -2 Corinthians 2:10-11
>
> Suppose we receive a package from an overnight carrier. After we open it,
> we stare at a beautiful, oversized envelope, with our name written on it 
> in
> exquisite calligraphy. Inside, the invitation starts with these words:
>
> You are invited to enjoy a life filled with misery, worry, and confusion.
>
> Which one of us would say yes to such an outrageous invitation? Don't we
> seek the kind of life that keeps us free from such pain and distractions?
> Yet many of us choose such a life. Not that we blatantly make that choice,
> but we sometimes surrender-even temporarily-to Satan's invitation. His
> attack is ongoing and relentless-the devil is persistent! Our enemy
> bombards our minds with every weapon at his disposal every day of our
> lives.
>
> We are engaged in warfare-a warfare that rages and never stops. We can
> put on the whole armor of God, halt the evil one's advances, and stand 
> fast
> on the Word of God, but we won't put a complete end to the war. As long as
> we are alive, our minds remain Satan's battlefield.
>
> Most of our problems are rooted in thinking patterns that produce the
> problems we experience. This is where Satan triumphs-he offers wrong
> thinking to all of us. This isn't a new trick devised for our generation;
> he began his deceptive ways in the Garden of Eden. The serpent asked the
> woman, "Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every
> tree of the garden?" (Genesis 3:1a). That was the first attack on the 
> human
> mind. Eve could have rebuked the tempter; instead, she told him God would
> let them eat from the trees, but not from one particular tree. They
> couldn't even touch that tree, because if they did, they would die.
>
> "But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God
> knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will
> be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and
> calamity" (vs. 4-5).
>
> This was the first attack, and it resulted in Satan's first victory. What
> we often miss about temptation and the battle our enemy levels against us
> is that it comes to us deceptively. Suppose he had said to the woman, "Eat
> of the fruit. You'll bring misery, anger, hatred, bloodshed, poverty, and
> injustice into the world."
>
> Eve would have recoiled and run away. He tricked her because he lied and
> told her what would appeal to her.
> Satan promised, "You will be like God. You'll know good and evil." What a
> marvelous appeal to the woman. He wasn't tempting Eve to do something
> bad-or at least he phrased it in such a way that what she heard sounded
> good.
>
> That's always the appeal of sin or satanic enticement. The temptation is
> not to do evil or to cause harm or bring injustice. The lure is that we
> will gain something.
>
> Satan's temptation worked on Eve. "And when the woman saw that the tree
> was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look
> at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its
> fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate" (3:6).
>
> Eve lost the first battle for the mind, and we have continued to fight
> for it since that time. But because we have the power of the Holy Spirit 
> in
> our lives, we can win-and we can keep on winning.
>
> Victorious God, help me resist the onslaughts of Satan, who attacks my
> mind and makes evil seem good. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.
> Amen.
>
>
>
>
>
> This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Ps
> 118:24
>



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