In God's economy, people don't stand on opposing sides of the conflict scale. People stand on one side and Satan stands on the other. When we dump hurt into one another's lives, we aren't leveling the conflict scale. We are just weighing down the people side of the scale and elevating the Satan side of the scale. Satan loves it when we do his work for him by dumping on each other.

I'd much rather run to the mall and get a new shirt than run to God and get a new attitude. I'd much rather dig into a brownie than dig into my heart. I'd much rather point the finger at other people's issues than take a peek at my own.

It's tough being a sold-out soul for Christ stuck in a body that's so tempted to sin. That's why it's essential that I view my time with God each morning as a preparation and an invitation.

Experiencing life change is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice, choosing God's ways instead of your own.

The devil is viscous, but he's not victorious!

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). He's not just looking to distract you, or tempt you, or pull you slightly off course. He's looking to devour you.

When lies are swarming and attacking me like a bunch of bloodthirsty mosquitoes, the best thing I can do is open God's Word and immerse myself in His truth. Lies flee in the presence of truth.

An interesting fact about the Garden of Gethsemane is that it sits at the base of a known escape route from the city over the Mount of Olives toward the Judean desert. This is the route David took when running from his son Absalom. Jesus would have known this. But instead of running, He turned to His Father and said nine hell-shattering, demon-shaking, Devil-killing words: "Yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36).

Dare to set your toes firmly on the pathway of victory you are meant to be on. Whether we're on the path toward victory or defeat is determined by the very next choice we make. Not the choices from yesterday. Not the choices made five minutes ago. The next choice. Our very next choice. May it be that of an overcomer. An overcomer made to crave God alone.

Operating in the flow of God's power is so much better than working against the flow of God's power.

I can make the choice to leave the cookies in the bakery case and the chips on the grocery shelf, I could make the choice to walk away from that remark. That's what the apostle Paul was talking abut when he said, 'we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.' (2 Corinthians 10:5)

And the ties that truly bind me to Him and the truth of who I am in Him are given to me in those quiet moments where I say, "I'm Yours, God.