Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Awake My Soul

It is Yes To God Tuesday and time to post on Chapter 5, entitled Tune In: Awake My Soul.

Struggles have occurred all day as I ponder my thoughts.

The roaring lion.

He is here today. He is trying to drag thoughts back into my closet, the ones that I am trying to carry to the dumpster! Sentences from inside my head that are not from God. And I wonder, what has happened? Why am I downcast? Have I, like Jennifer says on page 65, become sleepy and apathetic toward some of my poor choices and negative attitudes?

Or might I have too many distractions? Tasks, yes? It is a busy week for me at work. Pleasures? Oh, yes. I have had much fun the past few days! Fear of failure? Oh, this is a big one for me. It can sometimes paralyze me. The list of distractions continues. It is good to hear Jennifer remind us that not all distractions are sinful, but when we allow them to keep us from our treasures, they become stumbling blocks.

My treasures. I want to keep my treasures front row, center! And I can do this by talking to my soul! Good news!

AWAKE MY SOUL!

The roaring lion visits.

This chapter reminds me to remain alert! Even though the lion roars, if I have become sleepy, or complacent, or distracted, I might not be aware that he has approached.

AWAKE MY SOUL.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.
1 Peter 5: 8-9a

My weapon against the lion is the word of God!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Eph. 6:10-18

Timely is my decision this month to memorize more of God's word. His words will battle and WIN the roaring lion's words that threaten my soul. The one that I selected for the first part of February is making more sense today!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8


AWAKE MY SOUL!

For more on Self Talk Soul Talk, visit Lelia at Write from the Heart.

5 comments:

Tina said...

armor up with me my friend, If we are faithful to resist him long enough he will flee!

also, I really needed that last verse :)

Anonymous said...

Oh Liz, my friend.
I know. That lion has been doing a lot of roaring in a lot of places this week... today...
And my scripture verses have been very timely as well. I am so thankful that I started this memory stuff with Beth Moore. It is incredible how much I use those verses during these weeks.
Keep it up. Keep waking yourself up! As a good friend of mine keeps reminding me, Don't give up, Don't give in. Keep going. You can do it!

God is at work my friend! Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!
Love you,
Heather

Laura said...

This chapter really made me think about how I treat my treasures :). And that issue of distraction...it just keeps coming up. Think He is trying to say something?

I love how God is using your scripture memorization to reinforce this study, Liz! You go, girl. PUt on that armor!

The Dementia Nurse said...

Oh yeah, the lion prowls tonight - I got such a boost from your focus on memorizing the Word to keep that smelly lion at bay! I am having great fun traveling this study with you:)

Carol said...

Great post my friend. Your post reminded me of my dh, and how he shares that he has to keep up his guard against the enemy all the time.

I love that last verse. One of the ones I'm working on memorizing.

:) Carol