Herod

I heard a preacher once say that you will never run out of material if you speak from your weaknesses. One of the things I struggle with the most is discouragement. I've figured out how to defeat it but sometimes I'm not always quick to respond in the appropriate way. You can defeat discouragement through several approaches but two ways that have helped me the most is through encouraging others or praising God. When I encourage others randomly or when I praise God and start thinking of all the blessings He's given me, it's hard to stay in a state of discouragement. I'm soon reminded of how much He loves me.

Discouragement is one of the devil's greatest tools. If he can get you frustrated, upset, or feeling sorry for yourself, he can distract you from what God wants to do in and through you. There is nothing more satisfying for Satan than when we are not making an impact for the Kingdom of God.

Do you remember who was king and what he wanted to do after the birth of Jesus? Herod kept hearing from people that the 'King' was born. It infuriated him because he was king. Status and power was everything to him. In fact, Herod sent out a creed to kill all babies under two years of age in the hope of having Jesus killed. That's odd. At that point, no one really knew who Jesus was going to be. He had yet to do anything great or miraculous. But Satan knew... Again, our war is not a war of flesh and blood. It's a spiritual war (Ephesians 6). Always has been, always will be. Just like Herod wanted to kill Jesus at His birth, before He did anything great; so the devil wants to kill you and your dreams before you make any kind of impact for Christ. Before you even get started in your walk with God the devil is flooding your mind with lies that you will never make a difference. Lies that God can't do anything through you. Be encouraged. Don't defeat yourself. Don't listen to the lies. God wants to use you. God wants to build His Kingdom through you. Keep trusting, keep believing. Don't let the discouragement of the devil keep you from doing what God wants you to do today! You have victory in Christ!