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| Doing Whatever It Takes |
1 Peter 5:8-9, "...your adversary the devil...resist stedfast in the faith..."
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand" (Eph. 6:13).
I have a concrete water fountain in my backyard. One thing I've discovered is that it takes a lot of work to keep it clean.
Leaves fall in and turn the water green. Frogs try to take up residence. Bugs fly into the water, drown and then float around,
which is why frogs take up residence.
I've been fairly lackadaisical about keeping it clean before this year. I usually waited until it was horrible before I gathered up
the strainer and cleaning granules, and attacked the mess.
It would take so long that this year I made a new resolution to check the pool weekly and keep the debris strained out. It
would take less time and effort to keep the water sparkling clean. I was prepared to do whatever it took to keep it up to par,
no matter what it took...until the worms.
We've had a lot of rain in recent months. The fountain was getting too full of water. One morning I went out to check and
happened to glance in the bottom of the pond. It was full of WORMS. I was horrified and yelled to my husband.
He explained that because of the saturated ground, the worms were migrating to higher ground. The worms didn't realize
when they went over the rock side of the pond that there was nothing on the other side but a drop into water.
They all drowned. I'm talking hundreds of worms. It was not a pretty sight and it most certainly was not something I was
prepared to deal with. I was actually not ready to do whatever it took to keep the pond clean. NO WAY.
Well, a week went by as I hounded my husband and son to DO something about those worms. The answer was always the
same - when they got time. I finally realized that if I wanted the worms out of the fountain, I was going to have to gird up my
loins and do it myself. That's when I discovered that within me was the strength to do something I couldn't imagine doing.
Why? Because I wanted the pond cleaned out more strongly than I wanted to be grossed out by the worms. I made up my
mind I would deal with it. It wasn't as bad as it could have been and by "standing my ground" against a severe case of the
"don't wannas," the job was quickly done
As Christians, we must be prepared to do whatever it takes to walk in faith and resist the enemy. Too many times Satan
throws a fiery dart at us and, like my reaction to the worms, we aren't prepared to do whatever it takes to keep our faith-walk
strong.
We don't stand steadfast and firm, instead we faint and cry, "Why did this happen to me?" Satan flings a little fiery dart and
instead of taking out the fire extinguisher of the Word, we freak out and holler for help in the wrong direction. Just as I looked
for someone else to get the worms out of the pond, we often expect someone else to do our standing for us.
Stedfast - or steadfast = standing. Just a few meanings of the word steadfast are "unwavering, persistent, committed,
unswerving, dedicated." Powerful words the enemy hates.
James 4:7 states, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." If I just use the Strong's
Concordance dictionary, this sentence says: "Subordinate yourself (be under obedience) to God. Oppose or stand against
the devil and he will run away from and shun you; he will vanish."
I don't know about you, but I love knowing the devil will shun me and vanish!
What did I have to do to keep a clean fountain? Whatever it took, in this case clean the worms out. What do we have to do to
gain victory every time? WHATEVER IT TAKES.
You want financial prosperity? The "whatever it takes" will mean tithing and giving offerings. People usually don't tithe
because of fear - fear that they won't have enough or fear that God won't do what He promised. They want to believe God
for a financial miracle, but aren't willing to trust Him enough to tithe. They haven't "proven" Him in this area.
In Malachi 3:10. the word "prove" means "to test." God challenges us to put Him on trial in the area of tithing; but He can't
show Himself faithful to us until we do our part - let go of that ten percent (of your gross).
You may not be a faith giant at first - that first scoop of worms out of the pool was the hardest part. It got easier. Even if you
have to peel the money out of your hands at first, as you study and hear the Word in the area of tithing, you will grow
stronger and eventually look forward to and get excited about putting the tithe check into the offering plate.
Once you get sick and tired of living from lack to lack, you will gird up your loins and decide, "I'm tithing no matter what it
takes." Then a test comes to see if you really mean to do whatever it takes. The enemy will throw little fiery darts at you - a
washing machine will break down or a tire goes flat and you need a new one.
What are you going to do with the tithe money? Continue putting the Word in, stand firm and do what needs to be done -
tithe until you can physically see God's hand on your finances. Once He has proven Himself to you, you'll never have trouble
tithing again.
If you want to do whatever it takes to receive healing, you will have to decide to believe His Word over symptoms. As you are
standing on God's Word for healing, Satan may throw hundreds of little symptoms - a twinge here, a horrible pain there, or a
bad doctor's report.
Sometimes what you are feeling seems worse than before you prayed and believed God for a healing! If you will determine
within yourself that you will stand on God's Word no matter what, those symptoms will flee, like the enemy behind them.
Steadfast standing. It will bring results every time! You have His Word on it!
Copyright © 2003 Nan C Loyd
Anointed Word Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand" (Eph. 6:13).
I have a concrete water fountain in my backyard. One thing I've discovered is that it takes a lot of work to keep it clean.
Leaves fall in and turn the water green. Frogs try to take up residence. Bugs fly into the water, drown and then float around,
which is why frogs take up residence.
I've been fairly lackadaisical about keeping it clean before this year. I usually waited until it was horrible before I gathered up
the strainer and cleaning granules, and attacked the mess.
It would take so long that this year I made a new resolution to check the pool weekly and keep the debris strained out. It
would take less time and effort to keep the water sparkling clean. I was prepared to do whatever it took to keep it up to par,
no matter what it took...until the worms.
We've had a lot of rain in recent months. The fountain was getting too full of water. One morning I went out to check and
happened to glance in the bottom of the pond. It was full of WORMS. I was horrified and yelled to my husband.
He explained that because of the saturated ground, the worms were migrating to higher ground. The worms didn't realize
when they went over the rock side of the pond that there was nothing on the other side but a drop into water.
They all drowned. I'm talking hundreds of worms. It was not a pretty sight and it most certainly was not something I was
prepared to deal with. I was actually not ready to do whatever it took to keep the pond clean. NO WAY.
Well, a week went by as I hounded my husband and son to DO something about those worms. The answer was always the
same - when they got time. I finally realized that if I wanted the worms out of the fountain, I was going to have to gird up my
loins and do it myself. That's when I discovered that within me was the strength to do something I couldn't imagine doing.
Why? Because I wanted the pond cleaned out more strongly than I wanted to be grossed out by the worms. I made up my
mind I would deal with it. It wasn't as bad as it could have been and by "standing my ground" against a severe case of the
"don't wannas," the job was quickly done
As Christians, we must be prepared to do whatever it takes to walk in faith and resist the enemy. Too many times Satan
throws a fiery dart at us and, like my reaction to the worms, we aren't prepared to do whatever it takes to keep our faith-walk
strong.
We don't stand steadfast and firm, instead we faint and cry, "Why did this happen to me?" Satan flings a little fiery dart and
instead of taking out the fire extinguisher of the Word, we freak out and holler for help in the wrong direction. Just as I looked
for someone else to get the worms out of the pond, we often expect someone else to do our standing for us.
Stedfast - or steadfast = standing. Just a few meanings of the word steadfast are "unwavering, persistent, committed,
unswerving, dedicated." Powerful words the enemy hates.
James 4:7 states, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." If I just use the Strong's
Concordance dictionary, this sentence says: "Subordinate yourself (be under obedience) to God. Oppose or stand against
the devil and he will run away from and shun you; he will vanish."
I don't know about you, but I love knowing the devil will shun me and vanish!
What did I have to do to keep a clean fountain? Whatever it took, in this case clean the worms out. What do we have to do to
gain victory every time? WHATEVER IT TAKES.
You want financial prosperity? The "whatever it takes" will mean tithing and giving offerings. People usually don't tithe
because of fear - fear that they won't have enough or fear that God won't do what He promised. They want to believe God
for a financial miracle, but aren't willing to trust Him enough to tithe. They haven't "proven" Him in this area.
In Malachi 3:10. the word "prove" means "to test." God challenges us to put Him on trial in the area of tithing; but He can't
show Himself faithful to us until we do our part - let go of that ten percent (of your gross).
You may not be a faith giant at first - that first scoop of worms out of the pool was the hardest part. It got easier. Even if you
have to peel the money out of your hands at first, as you study and hear the Word in the area of tithing, you will grow
stronger and eventually look forward to and get excited about putting the tithe check into the offering plate.
Once you get sick and tired of living from lack to lack, you will gird up your loins and decide, "I'm tithing no matter what it
takes." Then a test comes to see if you really mean to do whatever it takes. The enemy will throw little fiery darts at you - a
washing machine will break down or a tire goes flat and you need a new one.
What are you going to do with the tithe money? Continue putting the Word in, stand firm and do what needs to be done -
tithe until you can physically see God's hand on your finances. Once He has proven Himself to you, you'll never have trouble
tithing again.
If you want to do whatever it takes to receive healing, you will have to decide to believe His Word over symptoms. As you are
standing on God's Word for healing, Satan may throw hundreds of little symptoms - a twinge here, a horrible pain there, or a
bad doctor's report.
Sometimes what you are feeling seems worse than before you prayed and believed God for a healing! If you will determine
within yourself that you will stand on God's Word no matter what, those symptoms will flee, like the enemy behind them.
Steadfast standing. It will bring results every time! You have His Word on it!
Copyright © 2003 Nan C Loyd
Anointed Word Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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