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Becoming a follower of Jesus, developing our relationship with Him and likeness to Him has many wonderful benefits. However, full disclosure requires a warning that there is also a struggle. Believers have an enemy. Our enemy is not identifiable by political party, lifestyle or orientation. In fact, Paul reminds us that “we wrestle not with flesh and blood.” In other words, our principal enemy is not in human form. Our enemy is the devil and his minions. He is currently the prince of the power of the air. He has a lot of experience with humans and has numerous tricks up his sleeve. He is a deceiver and the father of deception.

Are you aware of your inner narrative and the power it has over your daily perspective? Becoming aware of your inner life is the first step in a long and sometimes difficult journey of keeping that narrative on track. You are the only one who has the ability to write your inner narrative. Others have certainly affected it by the things they have said and done to you, but how you frame that for your future is up to you. If you think the events of your past, whether things you have done or things done to you, have determined your future course you are living in a deterministic mindset rather than a Kingdom mindset.

A witness is someone or something that provides evidence or testimony. In a criminal trial, an eyewitness helps to make a case for or against a particular person or people. As Christians, we can give evidence about what God has done in our lives, sometimes we refer to that as “witnessing.” While people can provide evidence through verbal testimony sometimes objects are given as evidence to prove a point. God has been faithful since the creation of man to provide a testimony, a witness or evidence of Himself through a variety of ways. For example, creation is proof of His eternal power and divine nature.

Have you ever eaten something that tasted wonderful but then gave you an upset stomach? Sometimes the upset stomach is the result of overeating, I did this once with pickles. I really like pickles but too many of them is not a good idea. Sometimes the sour tummy is the result of not knowing what you were really eating, I did this with some green salsa. That it was green should have been a clue. Bible authors compared the word of God to tasty food. One wrote that the word is “sweeter than honey” (Ps. 119:103). But, what is sweeter than honey in the mouth can become bitter in the stomach.

Terrorists. Shootings. Bombings. Events like that are in the news more often than we would like to hear about. And, while one of those events is more than we want to happen, the effect is profound. Words like “evil,” “mayhem,” and “unspeakable,” are often used in the descriptions of those terrible ordeals. What if there were 50 or 100 or 500 of those events in one day? There is day coming when it will be worse than that. We could take away all the guns, knives and baseball bats and it will still happen.