"The Wink! Eves' Rip Off - Part 3 - Winners" by Debra Courtney

So you say, "Well, what’s next?  Is there anything you can do to overcome this warfare?"  No, there is nothing you can do.  That is the first thing I had to understand!  It is all about God getting the glory by letting Him take care of the battles of my life.  One time, God’s spirit spoke to me, "Well, okay."  A couple of times, God’s spirit spoke to me and said, “Be still.  Shut up, Debra, and know that I am God.  Just watch what I am going to do!"  I did shut up, and I was still.  He proved to me that He could handle it and did not need my help other than being obedient and believing in Him.  I watched God, with my eyes wide open, move on my behalf and fight my battle(s).  

Wow, what an awesome God I serve.  He solved the issue so vexing me that I could not have come anywhere close to slamming the door on those certain issues as good as God did.  I mean He completely moved them out of my way.  Some of them God has completely moved out of my life.  I gave him the glory and praise for his faithfulness to me.   Now, you may not be able to understand what I am going to say next, but here goes:  Your enemies are a natural and necessary part of your life and my life.  

Just here me out on this.  Jesus told his disciples to expect and anticipate enemies (Matt. 10:16-18, 22, 24, and 25).  Our enemies will do a number of positive things for us if we have the discernment to see them.  Here are a few that I have come to know.  

• God will fight for me against my enemies (Deut. 20:4).  
• My enemy will not be allowed by God to win (Ps. 118:6).  
• I cannot defeat my enemies in my own strength (2 Cor. 3:5, 6). 
• My enemy provides God an opportunity to reveal His commitment to me (2 Cor. 12:9, 10).  
• Wisdom in conquering my enemy will be imparted to me during my place of prayer (Ps. 27:5, 6).  
• The warfare is always seasonal (Eccl. 3:1, 3, 8).   
• The word of God is my greatest weapon (Eph. 6:17).  
• I must enter every battle for the purpose to bring glory to God (1 Sam. 17:46). 
• I expect to win every battle (1 Sam 17:46).  
• My enemy cannot fight against my God (2 Cor. 20:15, 17).

Now let me tell you about the victories that have come to me because of my enemies.  

• The size of my reward depends on the size of my enemy (1 Sam. 17:4-7, 25).
• My enemy reveals to me the wonderful future God has planned for me because the struggle is proof to me that I have not been conquered by my enemy. 
• Good people have found me because of my enemy.  

Adversity has exposed hidden greatness of others in to my life and also exposed determination in me that I didn’t know that I had and other dormant gifts.  Endurance, wow, what a word.  For me when I endure a battle... no, let me back up now... When I receive the VICTORY for the endurance that God and I went through and He receives the glory, how sweet it is.  We receive a level of knowing and understanding skill every time we do warfare with the enemy.  Our test, victory; test, victory; test, victory each time we learn cause and effect through each one of these tests we come away doing it His way every time.  

There is no other way than His way.  I don’t want to fight any warfare other than His way.  God gets the glory, and we get the victory, not being haughty, but being confident in My God and all the benefits he has for me.  The two words that Jesus said more than any other words are “FEAR NOT”.  I have to remind myself that the battle has already been won!  Why worry?  I don’t have to do anything.  It may look bigger than me, meaner than me, but my Goliath will fall.   Why? It is because God says so, and God never lies.  

Click here to view Yolanda Adams' video of "Victory"

Yolanda Adams - Victory - Christian Music Video - Gospel from musicacristianatv on GodTube.

"The Wink! Eves' Rip Off - Part 1" by Debra Courtney

“What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?” Psalm 8:4 AMP

I am amazed at the extent and tenacity of how badly the enemy wants to violate and destroy especially the female gender.  He has been planning and plotting our destruction sense the day we were born.  He has watched our every move, mood, and conversation with wanton eyes and straining ears.  

He has great passion and unlimited perseverance to each detail of mine and your life, so that he knows what buttons to push, buttons of anger, desire, betrayal, lies, contempt, and deception.  Satan lusts after us.  He uses others to fulfill his plans to deceive us and trap us to exploit us. 

Desire can be a tool used in the form of manipulation.  The power of suggestion is a very powerful manipulative force.  Suggestion has so many faces, such as desire, jealousy, and envy. 

I grew up seeing a woman trying to complete her husband.  A lot of us think that we need men to complete us; they cannot and never will.  Only God can complete us. 

God saw that Adam was incomplete.  He needed a help mate.  Woman was created to complete man’s purpose, not to complete his person.  Adam was already created as far as a man could be created.  When God finished forming the dust of the earth to form Adam, the creation of Adam was complete.  God was done with Adam.   

However, there is a special enmity, a special conflict between the woman and the enemy.  There is a special warfare.  The enemy is especially attracted to woman.  Every soul birthed comes through us.  We birth the very thing that is to bring Glory to God, and the enemy wants it with every fiber of his being.  He knows that we were designed to bring forth humanity that is God's special creation of all creation.  

If we understand how very, very important this is to God, then we especially need to be on guard against the enemies seeking whom he may desire.  Yes, it is man who plants the seed, but it is the woman who is designed to bring forth the seed, the baby, the human soul to praise and glorify God.  As we grow older through adolescence and teen years, the enemy cleverly watches us, being so “nosey” in everything we do and say. 

Discern your words.  They are a powerful force that calls forth your future!  Whether you know it or not, you are calling things that are not as though they were.  

Our eternal enemy patiently stalks us.  He is very patient.  We have to learn how to outlast the enemy.  How we do that is to be more patient than he is.  At the right time, he can subtly sabotage us to meet his vision instead of God's vision.  If we allow him to do that, we have a great problem. 

Jesus talked about the cares of this world in Matthew 13:22 says, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit."

Be a good fruit bearer!  Watch out for the wink!

The Power of Christ in Me - By Debra Courtney

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

THE POWER OF CHRIST IN ME

By Debra Courtney

Many of us begin our lives with the goal of wanting to achieve success.  If we haven't entered our career/calling as a result of being Christ inside minded, we will eventually face a chasm of deep frustration and emptiness.  Success may flatter us temporarily, but does not provide a lasting sense of purpose and fulfillment in us.  Our lives with wrong motives, i.e., money, prestige, and even pressure from parents or peers, are like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  If that happens over an extended period, a person crashes.

That being said, my significance should come from fulfilling the God-given purpose for which I was uniquely designed.  Asking Him to confirm this in my own life brings “the power of Christ in me”.  Christ has called me to stand for a cause bigger than myself.  I will have opposition to His call; sometimes it even comes from those in my own family, but if God has called me to it, then I can be sure He will make a way.  He has already opened the way before me; however, I must walk in faith, joined with Him to take the land. "...Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9).

So often defeat is what is required before our victory can be won.  Jesus said that unless the seed dies and goes into the ground it cannot bring forth fruit (see John. 12:24).  The vision may yet happen, but however, there is a better success rate if I live a life of “the power of Christ in me”.

The disciples thought they suffered their greatest defeat when Jesus died on the cross; however, this defeat became the greatest victory on earth.  Christ's death gave liberty. Forgiveness came to all men.  The disciples came forth with new strength.  Resurrection and new life came as a result of a "defeat" but later on gave them the boldness they needed because they had “the power of Christ in them”.

Imagine living with the uncertainty of this situation.  One day we work at getting our "house" in order, only to have to pick up the stakes and move.  Our ability to plan is totally gone.  I have experienced this many a time myself in my own life, but even greater is the temptation to move when the cloud did not move because you felt it was time to move.  We think that perhaps the grass is no longer green, perhaps the water was not easily accessible, perhaps the bugs were a problem.  I need “the power of Christ in me” to be my cloud up in the sky.

Nothing has changed.  It is still the same today.  We are not to move unless the Holy Spirit instructs us to do so.  We are not to make that business deal on the basis of whether or not it makes sense but on the leading of the Holy Spirit's "cloud" in our life.  It is a difficult process to move only when we are directed and to remain if we are not.  The pressure is always upon us to move, to plan, to act, but if we act, we may move into a place where the presence of God may not be.  When I have “the power of Christ in me”, I as His child will learn to move when God says move; it is a sign of complete surrender and dependence on the Holy Spirit to direct my steps which brings me “the power of Christ in me” that strengthens me to do all things according to His good pleasure.  

Debra’s life goal is to inspire and motivate women through coaching to become all they have been created and designed to be by using the guiding principles of their Creator’s word in gaining wisdom and understanding their designed-given personality identities and create their independence!  Your Words creates an environment to enhance your living experiences in ways this world cannot.  Your Words creates an environment to enhance your journey in ways this world cannot.   

“I want women today to be transformed out of your lack of fulfillment, frustration, and pain through the benefits of coaching, to stand and run with the promises that have already been promised to you by your Creator, to be challenged and stirred up to go places that you have never dreamed of, to be motivated in wisdom where you can live a life above and beyond in the exploration and discovery found in the 'who' of how you were created.  Coaching is ideal for taking you through this process and for closing the gap between your 'Here & Now' to 'There'."  

Click here to enjoy "Help Me Find It" by Sidewalk Prophets