Trinity Angela Chanel | Living Offensively
Christian Published Author
Christian Devotionals
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״I believe God is offering a different path. A path where He can bring healing to our deep wounds. A path where He can bring freedom from strongholds. A path where He can tell us where the traps are and we can step right over them. He can provide wise strategies before we come face to face with difficult circumstances. He can teach us what spiritual weapons to use and when to use them, to not only fight battles, but win battles! And this is how we can live free to do all that God has created us for."
- Trinity Angela Chanel
Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV) “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
If someone were to come into your home and beat you with a baseball bat, would you be mad at the bat? Of course not, the bat didn’t stand on its own two feet and hit you. The person holding the bat is the one we blame. Can I tell you that the devil is the one holding the bat and people are the bat. The devil has a mouth…when we give it to him. He has hands and feet…when we give it to him. We need to recognize that we have an enemy and that enemy is not other people. If you struggle with insecurity, he will use people to make you feel even more insecure. If you struggle with unworthiness, he would use relationships to verify your feelings of unworthiness. He is constantly poking at our foundation trying to find cracks to break us. But if our foundation is truly built on the Word of God and we believe what God says in His Word, then we can stand and resist the enemy.
I had someone hurt me deeply. The first day, I was angry. I had terrible thoughts about them and wanted them to suffer the same pain I was suffering. By the end of that day, I made a choice. It was not an easy one, but I made a choice to forgive them. I had a different person hurt me with the same level of pain two years prior, and I held onto bitterness, resentment, pain, and anger. You know what happened? They moved on and lived their lives. While I was still in pain, crying my eyes to sleep, they were happy. This time around, I knew the answer was to let go of all the hurt and pain they caused and move forward. I chose to forgive them and pray for them. In this circumstance, God did expose the devil. The devil was hiding behind this person trying not just to hurt me, but to destroy me and the destiny God had placed on my life. I let go of anger and I prayed for them. The devil was no longer able to hide from me and no longer able to use this person against me. The attacks still came, but with every attack, I used it as an opportunity to pray for the person that hurt me. By the second day, I felt peace. By the third, I felt joy.
We live in a broken world, with flawed humans. People will disappoint you, people will hurt you, people will overstep boundaries, people will cause you pain. It is inevitable. But our war is not with people, our war is with the spiritual forces of evil. People will make mistakes, but that's why Jesus went to the cross for each and every one of us. We cannot force others to do what we want. We cannot convince them to think as we do. We cannot change their behavior or how they treat us. This may be news to you, but people are not our job. The only responsibility we have to people is to love them, extend grace, forgive, and pray. But even that, we are not capable of doing it on our own. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. (John 15:5). When it comes to people, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. The Holy Spirit knows way more than we do.
Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV) “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The devil will not only use people, but he will hide behind them. We can’t see him for who he is because he is using a person as a shield. God can help open our eyes to the spiritual war that is taking place in our our lives. He can expose the devil for what he really is, a liar and a deceiver. We can make the decision to forgive quickly and choose reconciliation with appropriate boundaries.
We can ask God for His wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit to help us know when to use natural weapons or spiritual weapons. You can pray for spiritual sight to see beyond the natural, discerning what is human behavior and what is the influence of the enemy. You can learn to set the appropriate boundaries with those who have hurt you. Continue treating them as a child of God and pray for them often. But do not give the devil an inch. We don’t need to protect ourselves against people, God will help us with that. We do need to learn to protect ourselves from the enemy’s attacks. But guess what? God can help us with that too! Don’t allow what the enemy used against you to force you to close yourself off to those around you. They need what you have and the devil knows it!