I am thrilled having my sweet friend, Alicia Ruggieri, who spent her precious time designing the cover page of my first book.
She is a seasoned fictional writer with over four books published and counting.
It is such an honor to have her here today.
Remember to enter the giveaway through your comments below.
Alicia Writes....
It
struck me recently how much of my sin starts in how I think.
In
what I think. The sin starts there
and works as a hammer on molten metal, shaping me to its will:
“As
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
With
the suddenness of torchlight flooding a dark cave, I realized that, if my sin
begins there (or at least comes to life there), then there it must be killed.
And
yours, too, friend:
Your
sin must be slain in your mind.
The
way we must kill it, turns out so simple yet so mighty:
The sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
There
is no other weapon competent for this battle, for we don’t fight against
flesh-and-blood (2 Corinthians 10:3).
Without using the
spiritual weapon God gives us, we are powerless against our adversary.
Yet,
with the Sword of the Spirit, we are told:
“For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4
In
a time of prayer and Scripture-reading, I realized a couple of things that I
needed to do to wield this weapon – the Sword of the Spirit – in its most
effective way – to pull down strongholds in my thinking:
1. Write down – or at least recognize – the thoughts that come
to mind, provoking you to sin. Sometimes these fleeting thoughts sound incredibly silly
when written down!
But do it anyway –
You must look your enemy
over before you select your blade.
2. Find Scripture verses that combat those specific thoughts
and write them below those sin-provoking thoughts.
3. Keep that record – in a journal, a notebook, in a sheet
of paper inside your Bible, etc. – and refer back to it whenever you need to.
4. Ask God to renew your mind and review what He says in contrast to
what the enemy of our souls says about whatever you are struggling with.
Our best bet is to memorize them
To hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we can pull it out
when we need it this way the “Sword” is always sharp and ready.
5. Pray using the Word you have received
I
pray that this encourages you, friends, to press harder in this spiritual
battle we are privileged to be a part of!
For the GiveAway...(Its Over)
I am so glad that my sweet friend offered a chance for one lucky reader to win an electronic copy of her new book "All Our Empty Spaces".
To enter simply leave a comment below and share how today's devotion touches your heart.
I am sorry for the delay in announcing the winner.
Alicia did the random selection.
Congrats to the Winner *Hazel Moon*
I would sincerely appreciate it friends if you could visit Alicia HERE and leave an encouraging word too!
*Now it's time snag your own copy of Alicia's Books
through the
affiliate links below..(no worries prices are the same).
About The Author:
Alicia G. Ruggieri writes
Christ-centered fiction that speaks of redemption.
She received her B.A. in
Communications and History from Rhode Island College and lives with her husband
and their emotionally-disturbed pug in New England.
If you enjoyed this devotional, you will love the free eBooks too!
Download yours here.
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Labels: Devotions, My Awesome Guest
