Monday, February 25, 2002
Israeli intelligence had indicated that the ship was carrying dangerous weapons, and Israel assumed they were to be their ultimate target. Well, a daring mission executed with assault helicopters and naval commandos surprised the ship's crew and led to the ship's seizure in the middle of the Red Sea. What they found was shocking - 50 tons of missiles, rockets, machine guns, along with other weapons and munitions. You can't help but ask, "What if they hadn't intercepted the weapons that might have been used against them?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Intercepting The Weapons".
Those weapons could have done terrible damage - but they won't. They were kept out of the hands of those who would use them to do that damage. That's actually the best way to win any battle - just don't let your enemy get the weapons to attack you with! It is a powerful way to keep your enemy - your spiritual enemy, the devil, from doing serious damage. Don't let him have his weapons.
Satan is anxious to make you afraid, to make you discouraged or depressed. He wants to make you a slave to lust or addiction. He wants to make you negative, critical, defeated, deceitful. He needs weapons to get you to do or think things that you know are wrong - that you know come between you and God. But you can intercept some of the weapons he'd like to use - if you'll carefully obey God's simple directive in our word for today from the Word of God.
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else (OK, God wants this to be top priority!), guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Be careful what you allow into your heart because everything originates there. The picture that comes to mind is a reservoir from which the water supply for many people comes. That is one place where you don't want any poison getting in. Authorities put up high fences and arrange elaborate security to make sure no one can put anything harmful in the area's water supply. Guard the source. Be very careful about what gets into the source - and for you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, the reservoir is your heart.
You actually give your enemy weapons to destroy you with when you allow poison into your heart - when you watch things, listen to things, read about things, laugh at things, flirt with things that feed the old you. TV, music, movies, books, websites, certain friends, certain conversations, humor. Too many times - usually in unguarded, casual moments, we allow Satan to smuggle in weapons he can use later to get us to think or act sinfully - input that gets you thinking lustfully about the opposite sex - that fuels your fears, that makes you more negative, more cynical, more critical - things that make you more lonely, more depressed, more discouraged.
Maybe one reason parts of the old you are still so strong is because you've been feeding the old you too much. What you feed will grow. Our mission is to starve our sinful side, not feed it more! It's already got all the fuel it needs for the rest of our life! But you help insure this promise from Isaiah 54:17 will happen to you - "No weapons forged against you will prevail!"
Just don't let Satan get the weapons that he wants to use against you - images, thoughts, songs, friends that make it harder for you to win spiritually - and more likely to lose. When you walk away from the conversations, the shows, the songs, the people, the places that feed your dark side, you pre-empt temptations now that would otherwise bombard you later. And that's the easiest way to win the battle - to never let your enemy get his weapons. "Guard your heart!"