Sitting in the screening room, the director intensely watches the dailies. On the screen appears a close up of two men, dirty and exhausted. The shot widens shrouding the men in the dark night. A stately old home stands beyond the forest where they hide. Lights illuminate the soldiers within. One by one the lights are extinguished as the soldiers turn in for the night.
Once darkness envelopes the house, the two men emerge from their hiding places. Pulling the knives from their sheeves, they slowly creep towards the house.
A scratching noise breaks the silence when one man carefully jimmies the door. With sinister expressions, they cautiously push it open, and slip inside. Moving into the strategy room, each man lights a candle to aid their search.
HOW DOES THIS MOVIE SCENE END?
If you were the director, which of the two scene options below would you select?
SCENE OPTION #1
Quickly the men shift papers and open drawers searching for the documents they need. A hand signal conveys one man’s success. Quietly they tear up papers, empty drawers and upturn files to cover up their theft. Once the destruction is complete, they swiftly flee back into the night.
SCENE OPTION #2
Unknowingly, the men trip several alarms. Prepared for the intruders, the soldiers storm the strategy room. Immediately, the men brandish their knives, but the soldiers’ swords swiftly knock them from their hands. Overpowering the men, the soldiers bind their arms and remove them from the house to the prison beyond.
WHICH SCENE DID YOU CHOOSE?
SCENE #1-
THE BAD GUYS WON!
Did you recognize them as evil men? If not, don’t worry. Sometimes we don’t immediately recognize evil in our lives either.
Like the evil men in scene #1, evil creeps close wreaking havoc, creating chaos and destruction. Before we know it, we are left with depression, stress, guilt, rejection and fear.
SCENE #2 –
THE GOOD GUYS WON!
We can win too! Are we aware of potentially upsetting circumstances or jealous, vindictive acquaintances? How about negative job situations, overwhelming debt or health issues? When we are prepared, we can thwart evil’s plans and have more peace, joy, hope and faith in our lives.
HERE COMES EVIL!
NEVER FEAR! GOD IS HERE!
Our loving God prepares us with tools to foil evil’s plans. Like the soldiers in the movie were prepared and used tools to overpower evil, we can too.
HOW?
LISTEN TO GOD’S ALARM!
Do we know the next scene in the movie of our lives? God does.
When we remain in a relationship with God, His Holy Spirit acts as an alarm system for each scene in our lives.
Like the soldier’s alarm signaled them, the Holy Spirit will signal us with an uneasy feeling, a whisper in our minds or a tug on our heart. He helps us identify truth from lies and guides us in the right direction. Listening and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit is one way God protects us.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13
TAKE AUTHORITY!
The soldiers didn’t let the evil men wreak havoc; they took authority over them. Boldly overpowering them, they bound and removed them.
The Lord is more powerful than any evil. When the Lord lives in our hearts, through Him, we are more powerful too.
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
USE GOD’S WEAPONS!
SWORDS!
The evil men had little knives. But the soldiers had mighty swords. God gave us swords too; the powerful Word of God, Hebrews 4:12. We can use it to pray and speak against evil.
Therefore, take up the whole armor of God…….And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:13a, 17
THANKFULNESS!
That’s a weapon? YES!
Thankfulness defends the first point of attack; our minds. How we think and react to a situation determines who wins the battle, evil or good. How can evil win when we are thankful for everything?
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Ok. I know that is easier said than done. This is where faith comes in. Believing in faith that God will use everything for good, even evil, helps us to be thankful.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
We can’t control every scene like a director, but we can control ourselves. When the unexpected occurs, the director yells “cut” stopping the action. In difficult situations, we can “cut” by taking a breath and praying before reacting.
WHAT IF EVIL ALREADY WON?
When evil sneaks in, the situation replays in our minds. We hope for a different ending. Unfortunately, unlike the director, we don’t have the edit option.
But by using God’s weapons, we can still have a personal victory. Like a camera’s lens is adjusted to improve the view, we can adjust how we view the scene in our mind.
WE ARE THE ACTOR IN THE MOVIE OF OUR LIFE.
We write our own script, direct our own actions and choose our dialogue.
How will your character act in the next scene?
REFLECTION
How can you prepare yourself for any difficult upcoming scenes?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, as I write 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and say it aloud, I choose to have an attitude of thankfulness. Please make me attune to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Help me to wield Your sword as I put Your words in my heart. In Jesus name, amen.
IN FAITH CHOOSE TO USE GOD’S WEAPONS
https://www.amazon.com/Growing-faith-one-day-time/dp
May your day be filled with love and laughter!
For information on making Jesus Christ your Savior, email me or visit, http://www.peacewithgod.net/
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Actor Photos, Jackie Pitts
