Life Plan Devotion #94 [God's Armor--Helmet of Salvation, Part XII]

Once you know what God's Word has to say about sickness and disease (attending to the Helmet of Salvation/Deliverance given to you), you have its power to back you up, whenever Satan comes at you with his third most common fear, the fear of sickness and disease.
Jesus Christ is "the exact representation of [God's] being" (Hebrews 1:3), and "...The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works of the devil" (I John 3:8). The very first work of the devil was to bring sin, sickness, disease, and death into the Garden, with Adam and Eve's permission.
During Jesus' early ministry, we are told, in Matthew 8:16, that "When evening came, they brought to [Jesus] many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word and restored to health all who were sick." He was fulfilling His Father's will.
Jesus is our example. He speaks to each believer, when He says, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these" (John 14:12). Remember that, when the enemy comes at you with the fear of sickness and disease.
Just as Jesus drove out spirits "with a word," that is what you must do. When the enemy comes at you with the fear of sickness and disease, whispering thoughts of, "You're going to get cancer and die" (or something similar), lift up your Sword of the Spirit and speak aloud to him, with all the power of God's Word backing you. Personalize II Corinthians 10:5, and say firmly to the enemy, "I demolish [all your] arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God!" and then say, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Psalm 103:2-3 [NIV]
"Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases."

What this has to do with weight loss: I know that many in the weight-loss community have suffered or are suffering from co-morbidities and illness (whether weight-related or not). If you are a believer, I beg you to pay attention to Psalm 103:2-3, and know that God offers you "benefits." He offers forgiveness of sins and healing of diseases. Not just some of them...all of them. In faith, make a "demand" on those benefits, knowing that God will be most pleased to forgive and heal you. How do I know? "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19). No, whatever God says, He does, and He fulfills every promise, if you will believe and receive.

Prayer for Today:
"Heavenly Father, whenever I'm presented with fear of sickness and disease, I'm going to recognize where it's coming from--from the enemy, and I'm going to open my mouth and rebuke him and the fear, the sickness, the disease. I'm going to use Your Word to do that, Lord, because it has the power to demolish Satan's schemes and bring healing to me. I thank You for that, and I pray that I will always believe and receive. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Go forth today, speaking God's powerful Word, knowing that the enemy's scheme to put fear of sickness and disease on you will be thwarted.

Life Plan Devotion #82 [God's Armor--Shield of Faith, Part X]

We have looked at 3 of the 4 practical ways to guarantee that you can extinguish every flaming weapon of Satan: 1) Think faith, 2) Speak faith, and 3) Pray faith. Today, let's look at the fourth way to "hold up the shield of faith, to stop the fiery arrows of the devil" (Ephesians 6:16).
To extinguish every dart, you must live faith. Living faith is powerful, so powerful that the Word says we can look back on the life of the one who lived faith to see that "By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight" (Hebrews 11:33-34).
If you want to live a life that pleases God, live faith (Hebrews 11:6). If you want to be healed, live faith (Matthew 9:29). If you want every promise of God's Word manifested in your life, live faith (Hebrews 10:23). If you want to be an overcomer in this world, live faith (I John 5:4).
Living faith means that your life is impacted by faith, for "faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless" (James 2:17). Good deeds won't get you to heaven, but they should be a natural, outward manifestation of the inward work of faith.
If you want to "fight the good fight of faith" (I Timothy 6:12), heed the words of Paul in I Timothy 1:19, "Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked." Know that you are not alone. The very God of the universe is with you and has promised that, as His servant, "No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you" (Joshua 1:5). Lift up your Shield of Faith--think it, talk it, pray it, and walk it, and you will defeat every dart of doubt, discouragement, and depression (and anything else the enemy tries to throw at you)!

II Timothy 2:3-5
"Endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules" (NIV).

What this has to do with weight loss: The weight-loss journey is a part of your life. As such, there will be hardships connected with it. Endure them. Your challenge will be not to get so entangled in those hardships that you lose focus and go from being "a good soldier of Christ Jesus" to merely a civilian, leaving out of your journey the wonderful weapon of faith. If you want to win the weight-loss marathon, run by the rules of faith. If you don't know what to do, keep your eyes upon the Lord (II Chronicles 20:12), and know that if you truly believe in Jesus, He has promised that you "will do the same works [He did], and even greater works" (John 14:12). Live like you believe it!

Prayer for Today:
"Heavenly Father, sometimes I forget what a powerful weapon faith is, and when I do, I fail to think it, talk it, pray it, and walk it. That leaves me open to the darts, arrows, and missiles of the enemy. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy. Help me to take advantage of the life of faith, so that I can see Your every promise manifested in my life and so I can experience the 'victory that overcomes the world.' In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Go forth today, living faith and overcoming every dart of the enemy (doubt, discouragement, depression, and more).