Isaiah 61:3 – “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,
that He may be glorified.”
As a believer you have an unseen
enemy. You are engaged in a spiritual
conflict. The enemy will attack your
mind, your will, and your physical body.
This enemy comes against you to keep you from growing in your walk and
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In II
Corinthians 11:3 the Apostle Paul reveals that the enemy corrupts the minds of
individuals. He hates “Christ in
you.” When you invited the Lord into
your heart you became a new creation in Christ Jesus. The Bible teaches in Colossians 1:13, “He has
delivered us from the power
of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son
of His love.”
When you
became a believer the enemy lost a subject in his kingdom. You became his
enemy. Therefore, he will come against
you with every weapon at his disposal.
He has a number of weapons in his arsenal. He uses fear, worry, accusations and
oppression to hold people in bondage.
Perhaps one
of his best weapons is discouragement. I believe that Isaiah is referring to
this in Isaiah 61:3 as the “spirit of heaviness.” You learn in that passage that you overcome
this by putting on the “garment of praise.”
David Wilkerson writes, “The spirit of discouragement is Satan’s most
potent weapon against God’s elect. Most often, he uses it to try to convince us
we’ve brought God’s wrath upon ourselves by not measuring up to his holy
standards.”[i]
There are
three very important things you can do to overcome discouragements. They are as follows:
1.
You
bring your proclamation into
alignment with the Word of God.
· Revelation 12:11 - “And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did
not love their lives to the death.”
· Hebrews 10:22-23 – “Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with with pure water. Verse 23
– “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful.”
2.
You
bring your prayer-life into
alignment with the Word of God. To bring your prayer-life into alignment you learn
to pray the scriptures.
· 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - “Rejoice
always. Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
· 1 Timothy 1:18 – “This charge I
commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made
concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.”
3.
You
bring your praise into alignment
with the Word of God.
One of the most effective ways to
overcome the enemy is to learn how to give praise to God and use it as a weapon
against your enemy. Psalms 150:2 reads,
“Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!”
[i]
Wilkerson, David, When You Come to the
End of Yourself, World Challenge Pulpit Series, http://www.tscpulpitseries.org/english/1990s/ts981228.html,
October 7, 2015.
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