Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul...

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." ~Ephesians 6:12

"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edgeds sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the Lord." ~Psalm 149: 6-9

"But this is what the Lord says: "Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind willknow that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." ~ Isaiah 49:25-26

The Lord has been showing me recently his protection over Jon, Levi, and myself. That he is our defender. He is the one who goes before us in war against our enemies. When battles come, it is not the people we are to battle with, but it is the evil one who comes against us. We do not battle with earthly weapons, we battle with praise. We battle with truth. We battle with righteousness, we battle with peace. We use the armor of the Lord and the weapons HE has given us.

Jon and I have been up against battles in our lives, but I've never felt so much dissapointment as we have faced this past year in regards to our living situations. We fully expected to be in a home by this Christmas. One we own. But, the Lord has made it clear that where we are is good. It is strange though, to see homes we put offers on back on the market. Obviously, those houses were just not for us.

I've had several dreams about a certain house. In each dream we've owned the home, or signed on it, or something to do with owning this house. This last dream, the Lord gave me a scripture to go with the dream. That is Isaiah 49. He has said he will be the one to fight for us, to contend with those who come against us. This past summer, the Lord gave us the same word.

"Thank you, Lord for what you will do on our behalf. I thank you that you love and fight for us. Keep our hearts seeking you and your purposes and keep us sharp for whatever battle lies ahead. Keep praise on our lips and in our hearts, and bring us closer to your heart."