TODAY IS…

the day to get God in your corner.

“O Lord, oppose those who oppose me. Fight those who fight against me.”  Psalm 35:1 NLT

Many of us often feel as if it is us against the world.

Somehow we allow ourselves to become self-sufficient and begin to rely on ourselves instead of on God, and it usually doesn’t take us long to figure out that we simply cannot fight our battles alone.

If this is the case with any of us it is time to get God back in our corner.

We must reach out to Him and ask Him to,“Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.” (Psalm 35:2 NLT).

How do we allow ourselves to slip from relying fully on God to self-sufficiency that usually ends in a distress call to God? Since God’s work is silent and unseen, we allow ourselves to forget that we had asked God to help us and when He answers our prayer, it then is just a short step to taking credit for something we didn’t do. Before too long, we forget to ask God for His advice or His help and we wind up calling out to Him in a panic when it suddenly becomes crystal clear that we cannot get through life without getting God in our corner.

We must keep God in our corner by drawing close to Him. We must do everything we can to make sure our loyalty and reliance is on God and not ourselves or anything of this world.

“Come near to God and He will come near to you.” (James 4:8a NIV).

Drawing near to God – getting Him in our corner – means getting Him involved in our lives. We cannot possibly ask Him to help us and get close to us without getting Him involved in our plans.

“Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:16 NLT).

Our strength to fight off evil comes from God, and He wants to give it to us. To receive that strength from Him we must humble ourselves before Him. James said, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10 NIV).

If it is God who is lifting you up, nothing can knock you down. If it is our own self-sufficiency that holds us up, we can expect to be attacked by temptation, difficulties, problems, and challenges.

Without God in our corner, our ability to withstand any attack for long is doubtful.

But with God in our corner, victory is assured, for, ” If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31b NIV

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson