{"id":10586,"date":"2013-03-26T00:01:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T04:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=10586"},"modified":"2013-03-25T18:22:19","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T22:22:19","slug":"a-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/03\/26\/a-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Girls with Swords: Chapter 1 – “A Target” (pgs 6-7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Eph6_13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I think of being a TARGET<\/span><\/strong> I start looking for a place to hide.\u00a0 That means something or someone is looking for me to do me harm or disrupt my peace.\u00a0 Time to duck and cover<\/em>,<\/span> put on the armor<\/em>,<\/span> bring up the defense shields<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 Being a target<\/span> can\u2019t possibly be a good thing. can it?\u00a0 What if I\u2019m targeted<\/span> for a promotion?\u00a0 Targeted<\/span> for an honors program or award?\u00a0 The targeted<\/span> recipient of favor from God<\/span><\/strong>?\u00a0 Either way, something has made me a target<\/span> to someone and they are coming after me.\u00a0 While I am hiding I think I\u2019ll try to figure out what made me a target<\/span> in the first place.<\/p>\n

The Bible doesn\u2019t tell us much about the exact struggle Satan had with God<\/span> while Satan was still one of God\u2019s<\/span> angels.\u00a0 It does tell us enough to know that Satan had a pride and rebelliousness about him that made him question God\u2019s<\/span> wisdom.\u00a0 God<\/span> then cast Satan and a third of God\u2019<\/span>s angels, who had decided to follow Satan, out of heaven to roam the earth.\u00a0\u00a0Satan took a third of God\u2019s<\/span> messengers with him when he fell.\u00a0 Satan is still looking to steal souls from God<\/span>.\u00a0 The Bible calls Satan a thief and tells us his purpose in John 10:10<\/strong>,<\/span><\/span> \u201cThe thief\u2019s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life<\/span><\/em>\u201d (NLT).<\/p>\n

We must have something of value if Satan wants to steal from us, kill us, and destroy us.\u00a0 What could that be?\u00a0 He has dominion over all the earth until Christ returns to claim\u2026His own\u2026to Himself\u2026and then all those SAVED in CHRIST will LIVE with God<\/span> FOREVER.\u00a0<\/strong> Hmmm\u2026. Something Satan can no longer do because of his bad attitude and unwillingness to work with others.\u00a0 (Isaiah 14:12-14)\u00a0 Satan\u2019s only \u201cjob\u201d is to separate humans from relationship with God<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the reasons I found for Satan to put a TARGET<\/span> on us:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We are a target<\/span> simply because we are human.<\/li>\n
  2. God<\/span> loves us and created us for a relationship with Him.<\/li>\n
  3. Satan cannot fix his problem himself and be returned to a relationship with God<\/span>.<\/li>\n
  4. If he can\u2019t have a relationship with God,<\/span> then neither can we.\u00a0 NAH! NOT! Whatever!<\/li>\n
  5. Satan knows that every soul close to God<\/span> is capable of great and wondrous things.<\/li>\n
  6. Satan knows how the story ends.<\/li>\n
  7. Satan is fighting to keep God\u2019s<\/span> precious creation distracted, distressed, and demoralized so that we don\u2019t experience the fullness of our place with Him in heaven.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I admit<\/strong><\/span> to being human AND to God<\/span> loving me and wanting a relationship with me.\u00a0 I acknowledge<\/strong><\/span> the fact that Satan has NO POWER to fix his relationship problem with God<\/span>, and he holds no authority over my life either. \u00a0Just because he messed up his opportunity to serve God doesn\u2019t mean I let him distract me from the perfect plan God<\/span> has for ME.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I know how the story ends, too, because I now have the power to choose <\/strong>to follow Jesus, to live for Him, and to bring other humans along the path with me.<\/p>\n

    The only point here that I haven\u2019t really addressed is that with God<\/span> I am capable of GREAT<\/strong> and WONDROUS<\/strong> things.\u00a0 Who?\u00a0 Me?\u00a0 Satan knows who I am.\u00a0 Do I?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 We, you and I, are daughters of the King of Kings<\/span>. \u00a0We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God<\/span>. \u00a0We are fitted for GLORY<\/em>. \u00a0We have supernatural potential to be whatever God<\/span> needs\u00a0us to be.\u00a0 All we have to be is willing and ready to serve <\/span>when He calls our name.\u00a0 To God<\/span>, we are a HERO<\/strong>!!!!!<\/span>\u00a0 No wonder Satan is throwing darts at us.\u00a0 No wonder when we are on a God-<\/span>journey the stresses in our life get stronger.\u00a0 No wonder when we are pursuing a life patterned by Jesus<\/span>, our kids go haywire, our car dies, the dog runs away, we lose our job, fail a class, the house is a mess, and we are out of groceries with no money to buy any.<\/p>\n

    In our book, Lisa Bevere says, \u201cI believe that the attacks on your life have much more to do with who you might be in the future than who you have been in the past<\/i>\u201d<\/b> (p. 7).\u00a0 This one statement made me realize that God<\/span> created me for a purpose in this time.\u00a0 I have a choice to fulfill that purpose and live a rich and satisfying life that God<\/span> wants to give me or I can let Satan steal, kill, and destroy me.\u00a0 I get to CHOOSE<\/span><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I choose<\/em> to be a Christian<\/strong>.\u00a0 A Christ-follower<\/em>.\u00a0 An Anointed One<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span> Beloved<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 A Royal <\/span><\/em>Daughter of the King<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 I choose to grow in my faith, strengthen my walk, and lead others to Jesus<\/span> so that they may have a rich and purpose-filled life as well.\u00a0 I choose to draw a weapon against the evil one and do everything in my power (given to me by the Holy Spirit) to prevent Satan from stealing one more soul from fellowship with God<\/span> the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.\u00a0 I choose<\/em> to be a HERO<\/strong>!<\/span><\/p>\n

    **********<\/p>\n

    Let’s Pray:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Heavenly Father,\u00a0 We thank You for choosing us for relationship and purpose.\u00a0 We thank You for Your love and protection from the fiery darts of the enemy.\u00a0 We know they are meant for a distraction from our true purpose, and that is to light the path to lead others to You.\u00a0 We thank You for the confirmation from the enemy when we are on the right path and are\u00a0a threat to his evil ways.\u00a0 Lead us to the purpose You have planned for us so that we can live a rich and satisfying life in Your will.\u00a0 We choose You.\u00a0 Use us how You will.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AMEN<\/p>\n

    Put on the WHOLE Armor,<\/p>\n

    Teresa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      When I think of being a TARGET I start looking for a place to hide.\u00a0 That means something or someone is looking for me to do me harm or disrupt my peace.\u00a0 Time to duck and cover, put on the armor, bring up the defense shields.\u00a0 Being a target can\u2019t possibly be a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[144,147,2083,2082,218,2087,365,370,379,394,425,1985,436,2081,554,559,2086,1986,620,723,879,1617,2085,2084,1135],"class_list":["post-10586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-bible","tag-bible-study","tag-choice","tag-choose","tag-christianity","tag-destroy","tag-faith","tag-family","tag-fellowship","tag-friendship","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-girls-with-swords","tag-god","tag-hero","tag-jesus","tag-john-1010","tag-kill","tag-lisa-bevere","tag-love","tag-online-bible-studies","tag-relationships","tag-satan","tag-steal","tag-target","tag-womens-bible-studies","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Eph6_13.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-2KK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10586"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10653,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10586\/revisions\/10653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}