Concentrate.

Concentrate.
Concentrate on God.
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, NIV).

The fact is that we do have an enemy doing everything he can to take us down from the moment we're born to the day we die.  I think there are points when he thinks he's won when he'll leave us to die, but I do not want to die spiritually.  I'm pretty sure I got to a point where he thought he had won me.  I thought that he might have, but I hoped he hadn't. That's when I started praying that 1 sentence prayer, "God, please return me to the joy of your salvation."  I'm here now, with full on joy... my closest friends are looking at me dumbfounded wondering why I'm so smiley all the time.  If you haven't seen me in more than 10 years then you didn't see how dark my life got and what it was like to be around me.  A few of my friends who see me on a regular basis may have not recognized where I was either.  I'm back to the joy of the Lord; not that I won't ever get sad because I'm sure I will and I'm sure I'll get angry, possibly even slightly depressed, regardless God is on the thrown of my heart and my ultimate goal is to keep Him exactly there. I do not want to be in the place of wishing I was dead. I know for me the reason I felt that way was because I pushed God away &  I was completely and utterly heart broken.  I fully realize that for some people that type of suicidal depression truly is bio-chemical and an anti-depressant is the best option,  I've been in that place before too & it is horrible.  Jesus is the answer and He will lead us to what we need to do to fix things IF we ask and IF we let Him through obedience to Him.

I'm recognizing more and more that we truly are in the midst of a spiritual battle. We obviously cannot SEE it with our eyes, but that doesn't mean its not happening.  Its interesting to start recognizing the little lies the enemy likes to whisper into our minds.  If you read C.S. Lewis' book "Screwtape Letters" you'll get a pretty clear idea of what its like & what the enemy's goals are toward us. God does warn us about the enemy through His Love letter to us, The Bible. He also tells us what we need to do in Ephesians 6:10-18 among other places through out scripture.

Ephesians 6:10-18, "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."

If you're interested in further explanation of this passage, a book I read a few years ago addresses this passage of scripture in everyday words, "Don't Give In... God Wants YOU to Win!" by Thelma Wells.  I'm going to read it again as its becoming more apparent to me that regardless of whether I choose to see the enemy's attacks on me or not, they are there.   I blinded myself to them before and very shortly after that I took a huge turn for the worse; I think I'll choose to see what God is showing me about how the enemy likes to whisper lies to us and how its so easy to believe.  I need a refresher course on spiritual battle and the armor of God.