Do This Second! - Zephaniah 3:17

We are in this mini series called, “No Exemptions”. If you missed the first and second post, jump on back and give it a quick read. Today, I want to share what I do second. To set the stage, here is an excerpt from my journal in October (Can I warn you, It’s not pretty): Sunday, October 28, 2018 6:33 pm

I should not put these thoughts to words.  I should not put these words on my iPad. BUT,  I have no more space to stuff them and them are spilling out.  

I can’t breathe.  No, really….I am suffocating.  It’s been slowly coming this Fall, but today something snapped.  I don’t really know what the last straw was. Maybe it was coming around the corner at Costco and seeing the Precious’ One’s first husband lovingly helping his son?  Or, maybe it was the volatile poisonous verbal barrage I endured from a mentally ill loved one? It doesn’t matter, the pieces of tape that were so carefully holding all the pieces of my reality together, dissolved. They simply just dissolved! Instantly, I could feel the hot tears welling up as I stood in Costco at one end of the aisle, In that moment, all the dams I had constructed imploded and I could not stop the thoughts, grief, tears, or lies that Satan was carefully crafting and throwing at me.

Leaving my cart, my feet found the way through the rain-soaked parking lot and to my car. Dropping into the driver’s seat, my hand landed on the 3x5 spiral index cards sitting in the passenger seat. My brain was telling me to just shred them. However, my heart knew differently. Reaching deep into myself, through tear leaking eyes, I forced these words from my mouth, “Lord, I submit myself, this grief, these circumstances, and my thoughts to you. Satan, I am resisting you and the word in Zephaniah 3:17 says you MUST flee.” I then went on to many other verse, slowly reading them and allowing my heart and mind to find peace in them.

It is absolutely important that you confront all the lies that satan is hurling at you in your pain, grief, and disappointment with the truth from the Bible. Okay friends, “This Is War!” The key to not getting sucked down into the pit is this: scripture committed to memory. You need to commit to memory verses that you can fight with. No warrior buys all the gear to protect himself and then goes off to battle leaving it “safe” at home. No, they train with it on. They grow accustomed to how it feels and works. We all have been told over and over to “Use the scripture” to combat the lies of the enemy. We might even have 10 wonderful bibles at home that we read and study, but we keep getting sucked into the abyss. Why? We have not taken the time to learn important verses and practice using them. We are butt naked and exposed without the word and like the Emperor with no clothes, Satan takes full advantage of us like this.

If this seems daunting, I’m with you. Here is my little secret - I write them out on these 3x5 cards and carry them with me everywhere. Then I just make a goal of learning one a week. If you break it down into small bites (phrases) it is easier. When I am falling asleep, I repeat as much as I know of the weeks verse and then whatever other one’s I have tucked away.

YOU, my friends, are not alone in this battle. Will you join me in learning scripture so that it is ready to be used?

Until We Chat Again,
Crystal