July 19, 2022
In my last devotional I wrote about the mercy rule in amateur wrestling. I said that we should always seek mercy from God as we would never be able to overpower, outsmart, or overcome Him. I also stated that when we asked for mercy from Him instead of losing, He invites us to be on the winning side with Him.
An example on this subject is when Jacob wrestled with the Spirit of God and wound up with his hip being dislocated. God showed him mercy and blessed him and Jacob served God the rest of his life.
As I thought about this devotional the verse of scripture from Ephesians 6:12 kept coming to mind. It says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This type of wrestling is different from our wrestling with God that I described in the last devotional. We surrender to God and He shows us mercy, grace, and love.
We can NEVER surrender to the evil described here in this verse. Satan and his evil forces never show mercy. Their purpose according to John 10:10 is “to steal, kill, and destroy”. When we surrender to their evil plans and schemes, we wound up defeated and slaves to sin. The Bible reminds us that we must always stand firm and put on the full armor of God and never give into our spiritual enemies.
The good news is that as we wrestle against these principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness we have a supernatural power on our side. The Holy Spirit comes and lives in a Christian and HE fights for us. When we are attacked instead of asking our enemy for mercy, we can stand firm and even take authority in the Name of Jesus and command our enemy to flee from us. The scriptures remind us, “Greater is He (The Holy spirit) that lives within us than he (The devil and his workers) that is in the world.
The Word of God over and over says things like fear not, stand firm, take authority. It even says that we have the power to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. So why would we want to ask the devil for mercy when he is not going to show any? Instead ask God to strengthen you as you surrender to HIM ONLY and allow the Holy Spirit to fight for you and through you. If you are a Christian, you are on the winning side so STAND FRIM be an overcomer.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs