All Through Jesus' Rule (song)

 C.S. Lewis said in his classic "The Screwtape Letters" book that there are two errors people fall into about the devils. One is to disbelieve in them and the other is to believe in them with an unhealthy interest and obsession. The devil and his demons are equally pleased with both errors. Thus, it's important to maintain the right balance in our view of the spiritual battle that we are all in as followers of Christ. As Ephesians 6:12 tells us, we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spirits, forces and powers in the heavenly realms! We don't have to be scared of them though and we don't have to let them push us around. Jesus empowers us to resist the devil and his demons. Through the power of Jesus' Name, we can even command demons to obey in Christ's Name. We need to be aware of the battle going on around us and be brave and bold in standing strong with the full armour of God on us. We only need faith the size of a mustard seed in Jesus to tell a mountain to jump into the sea- and it will be done! Stand strong in faith in Jesus. Do your devo in 1 John 4:4 and you'll find that the One who is in us is greater than the one in the world. He has won the victory!

"All Through Jesus' Rule" (parody of "Through Being Cool" by Devo; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 7/15/2020)
(1 John 4:4, Revelation 20:10, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, Mark 16:14-20, Matthew 12:22-32, Matthew 12:43-45, Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 11:14-26, Luke 10:17-20, Romans 16:20, Ephesians 6:10-20, 2 Timothy 1:7)

We're through being cool
We're through playing cool
Eliminate the lily-livered bits
You wanna barge ahead?
We're gonna need Jesus!
Christ will show those evil spirits He's God
When one leaves from a fallen house
Returns, brings in seven more too
Want these parasites to be cast out?
Matt. 12- it declares- Look through 29
Luke too- 11 find
Plan strong man to bind first- by Jesus!
Time to clean some house!
Indeed plunder the house!
Waste then is laid to a divided house!

Even if you lack big faith
Only factor's in Whom it's found
Faith of mustard seed-sized grain
Throws mountains all around

Even if you lack big faith
Mighty plants form from seeds now
Faith of mustard seed-sized grain
Throws mountains all around

Corinthians, 2
Look to 12:10, dude
Depend of Grace- Power perfected in weakness
Lord, the demons obey!
We can tread on snakes!
Rejoice that Christ picked our souls to be saved

6 Ephesians- as Paul found,
The fight's unseen- in Heavenly realms
Like Alien, chests that burst out
They're there in the air

We're through being fooled
We're through being tools
2 (Two) Timothy 1:7 verse it says
We're not fear-imbued
Accrued Spirit's tools
Power, love, self-driving through Jesus
Trust Him!
Stand firm! Jesus rules!
We're fueled by Him too!

Daily Struggle

       Do you ever have that experience of going from a spiritual high to almost immediately after a spiritual low? I mean, just after reading The Bible and spending some time in prayer and really being wowed and excited by the passage I read, I find myself slipping into totally the opposite direction with flipping through Youtube video clips from shows that can generally be clean but also slip into foul territory at times unfortunately.... 
        That's one of the worst problems with having literally millions of video choices at hand, between the Internet in general and all the many channels on cable, etc. There is always a responsibility to be careful of what we take in and one I continually have to keep guarding myself on. I do generally try to be cognizant of this and steer clear of things I know are not wholesome at all, but I also know there are times I've allowed myself to watch things that I've immediately regretted and never desired to see anything afterward. And I have gone to Jesus in repentance and asked His forgiveness and I know He's faithful to do it- but I hate to keep running into this scenario so many times in life....
         The spiritual answer behind this is defined for us in The Bible, of course. It's just like Paul talked about in Romans 7:15-25- I know the good I want to do, but it's the bad I don't want to do that I wind up doing. I still need The Holy Spirit to keep working in me and guiding me to the right thing. As Ephesians 6:12 makes clear, the struggle is real. ("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.")- That's exactly why we need the armor of God strapped on each day for spiritual warfare. (Ephesians 6:13-18 go on to tell us more about this- the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes prepared with the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith to extinguish those fiery darts of the enemy, the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit [i.e. the Word of God] and we need to be praying at all times in the Spirit.
       What else can we do in the fight? Certainly pray without ceasing and ask for God's help in standing firm- and resist the devil, as James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:8-9 teach. And when we do fall, remember God's promise in 1 John 1:9 to be faithful and just and forgive us and cleanse us of all our sins when we confess them to Him. "I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)