December 2025 Reflections From Dave’s Corner Of The World

One thing I have found over the years of teaching God’s Word, is that I need to define words or principles, because satan likes to distort things.  Success is found in God’s Spirit and Truth, and our failures arise from deviating from God’s ways.  God designed and created our universe and He advises us on how to walk and live it.  Let’s face it:  we live in a fallen world, through no fault of our Creator, but of our own doing.  God is gracious here, continually seeking us out in an effort to bring us to repentance of our sin, restoring us to a beautiful relationship with the Creator and Lover of our souls.  He also invests in us, helping us choose right when everything else points and pushes us to choose wrong.

  We have been studying Spiritual warfare in our Bible study and, as with everything else, the evil one seeks to distort the truth and love of God’s Word.  Spiritual warfare is not a battle between myself and my fellow man, it is a battle between myself and the evil one.  Ephesians 6:11-12 says, “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”   My relationship with my neighbor or enemy is the result of my spiritual warfare, it, itself, is not my warfare. 

 Am I living a truthful and right-with-God life?  Do I believe in God and seek to live His Word?  Do I reject the evil one, avoiding getting drawn away from my Savior?  If I am fighting the evil one’s schemes and lies, and am pursuing the Lord, I will be strong in the Lord and be blessed in the strength of His might.  If I am winning this spiritual warfare against the spiritual forces of wickedness, then I will have the clear conscience and confidence to share the Gospel, not doubting my faith and standing in His truth.  We win this warfare by saying no to the schemes and temptations.  Not that we get it perfect, but we do need to be fighting the fight.

Regardless of what comes my way, the question is whether I will walk in God’s Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), or be drawn away from the desire of my Lord and submit to the desire of the evil one (Ephesians 6:11).  My victory comes in keeping my heart with God, loving my neighbor and helping him through his struggles.  If my words and actions are of the Lord, I will be at peace, hopefully with my neighbor, but surely with the Lord and also within my own soul. 

This is the hope our guests have to overcome addictions to drugs and alcohol.  This is the hope our guests have to overcome bitterness, self-destruction, and the pain they have carried for years.  They’ve been hurt, the Lord wants to heal them.  As they break down the thought patterns for the decisions they have made over the years, and learn to reject the lies and deceptions of the evil one, they embrace the forgiveness, truth and love found in Jesus Christ:  God loves them and would never hurt them!  God has given man the freedom to make choices and, sadly, man makes very bad choices.  And while man may have let them down, God never will. 

Romans 12:21 says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”  We overcome satan in spiritual warfare, not by bitterness and rebellion, but through forgiveness and love, just as Jesus has done for us.  For those who have been seriously hurt by a loved one, using drugs or alcohol to numb the pain, or turning bitter will only magnify the pain they have experienced.  Self-destruction will not satisfy the desire of revenge; it only “validates” the perpetrator’s lies.  I can tell you, almost without fail, that the perpetrator has been hurt by a loved one, also, and is acting out in pain.  The answer is to break the cycle, drawing into God and letting Him show you how much He loves you.  When we fully draw into His love, we gain a strength and power our enemy cannot break.  As we enter into a love relationship with God, He is so sacrificial and pure, satan’s lies are laid bare, along with our resistance.  We can love others because of how He has loved us!

Show them who God is!  Show them what true love is!  As you do, you will show that, in Christ, they and you are worthy of love.  This does not mean your trust in them is automatically restored, but rather that you can love them even when there is a lack of trust.  It means you understand spiritual warfare, that you can stand against the evil one- the influence behind their hostility- and that, in Christ, you choose love and life.  It means you can love those who don’t know how to love you.  This is the true sign that you have overcome your hurt and bitterness: when you forgive and love the ones who don’t love you.  When your love is filled and satisfied in your Creator, the one true Lover of your soul, and you can be filled and satisfied enough to show your enemy your God.  So, if you have been hurt, break from the bondage of bitterness and self-destruction and, with discernment and care, give your enemy what they have not been able to give you.

1Corinthians 13:13,  “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  They will wonder at how you have overcome their evil with good, which will bring them into the presence of God.  Spiritual warfare is a different kind of warfare- satan has no weapon that can overcome God’s genuine love.  Weapons of man can win wars, but not hearts.  As with Stephen in Acts 7, and with our Lord Jesus, you cannot hurt or kill a person who is filled with love and has already died to self.  We will not get this perfect, but we must fight the spiritual warfare:  it’s the difference between surrendering to the evil one or surrendering to God.  Surrendering to God leaves nothing for the evil one.  One results in defeat and the other in great gain.  The fight is real and hard, but the difference in outcome is truly death or life.  Choose life, here and now and for eternity!

Amen?  Amen!  Dave.