Beating our Demons

By: Carl Kimbro, Fellowship Bible Church CR brother, 1/17/2018
Demons! We all have them and they come in many forms: addiction, depression, control, self-esteem issues, and so many more. They are always there lurking in the background waiting to steal our joy and ruin our relationship with God. One minute things are great. The next we are running for cover afraid that once again we have let God down. We wonder, "How could God or anyone else love me after what I've done ...when even I don’t love me."
I have good news! God does love you! Nothing you do can ever separate you from God’s love.
Isaiah 43:2 (ESV) says “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fires you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
God’s provision to His people should bring comfort to us. When we pass through the waters of tribulation He is there. When Satan sends demons like a river in the form of hurts, habits, and hang-ups to overwhelm us, he won’t let the waters of the river close over us. When we feel consumed by our afflictions as if by fire, He is there to extinguish the flames. He is the one who overcomes, and He can help us overcome our demons when they attack.
Do you remember those times when you felt unconditional love? Did you feel safe? Did you feel like nothing bad could happen to you? If that kind of love is a refuge and a comfort to us, how much more comforting is God’s love for us?
Deuteronomy 33:27a (NIV) tells us “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”  God is eternal. If He is eternal, He is all powerful. If He is all-powerful, He is our protector. The picture in this verse is one of God HOLDING us in His arms, safe and secure, loved and wanted. You are His child and He holds you in a special place close to His heart. When you take refuge in His love, there is no demon – not addiction, not depression, not anything that Satan throws at us can hurt us. God defeats your demons.
It seems incomprehensible that the God of the universe chose to sacrifice His only Son for us. We didn’t earn it and we don’t deserve it! Yet, God reached down to us in our sin and lifted us up in His eternal arms. In His arms there is safety, there is peace, and there is freedom from the demons that haunt us. We don’t have to live in pain and fear any longer. We have a God who can defeat our demons! Turn to Him and find refuge in His arms.
Let us be reminded of Romans 8:31-39 as we go throughout our week:
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns?No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Click HERE to listen to Our God by Chris Tomlin

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