Jesus’ words ‘It is written’ stopped the devil in his tracks each time he tried a new tactic. When we pray using God’s word it is like an ambush.

Joshua 8 is a great example of the power of an ambush. Joshua sent 30,000 mighty men of valor to lie in ambush behind the city of Ai. Verse 7 says, “Then you shall arise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.”

Verse 14 says that the king of Ai did not know that there was an ambush. Why? Ambush warfare is secret. Verse 20 says, “…they had no power to flee this way or that way…”

James 5:16 says, “…The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” What is righteousness? It is conforming and aligning our thoughts, purpose, and actions with God’s will and ways.

Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.” When I think of the word ‘work’ in this verse I picture a potter on his wheel.

First he has to add water to the hard clay to make it moldable. As he kneads the water in, the clay begins to soften. Even as his lump is on the wheel, he has to keep adding water. Then he puts pressure on his lump to center it. It must be centered before he can begin to form his vessel.

I am drawing this analogy. As we keep adding the water of God’s word to our prayers, we are centering more and more on His power instead of the circumstances. I love Jeremiah 1:12 Amplified says, “Then the Lord said to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.”

We know from Isaiah 55:11 that His word does not return to Him void, but that it accomplishes what He pleases. What pleases the Lord? Our faith! As we pray His word by faith, our ambush warfare is backed by His power. Ephesians 1:19-20 described His resurrection power that He continually works in us.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”

Are you resting or striving? In Isaiah 30 God was speaking through His prophet to a rebellious people. Verse 15 says, “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not.”

Verse 1 said that they took counsel but not from Him, and they devised plans but not of His Spirit. It is far too easy to rely on what we ‘think’ should be. Anything that we are doing in our own strength is futile activity.

Verse 28 says, “…to sift the nations with the sieve of futility…” Man’s ways are futile and evil is always done in the dark. Why? John 3:20 says, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

Well we certainly have seen this in our country’s fraudulent election! However, the True Light exposes anything that is hidden. Nothing is unnoticed by the Lord. He remains in control no matter what evil is taking place.

Verse 21 is to be our warrior stance. It says, “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Dark activity is full of striving. 1 John 2:9 says that the one who hates his brother is in darkness. The word ‘hates’ is to despise or esteem less. Verse 10 says, “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

When we walk in the light with the Lord and with those around us, we are fulfilling 1 Peter 2:22. It says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.”

A pure heart rests in the Lord. All striving with others has ceased. There is no hidden unforgiveness, backbiting, gossip, or negative thoughts because everything we say and do is out in the light. True rest is lack of striving through our thoughts and actions.

God’s word is our sword. Here is an excellent example of a victorious warrior’s stance. 2 Samuel 23:10 says, “He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought a great victory that day…”

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us NOT grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” History is being written. This is not a time to lose heart. We must maintain our stance with the word of the Lord STUCK in our heart.

How many times was David pursued by his enemies? His words in Psalm 27:13 are timeless. It says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” There are many verses about the Lord’s goodness. I want to remind you of Romans 2:4. It says, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

We need to be alert watchmen on the wall looking for God’s goodness in action right now in our nation and the world. He is at work. 2 Kings 18:17-37 was the account of when the Rabshakeh spoke threatening words to the watchmen. Verse 36 was their warrior stance. It says, “But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, Do not answer him.”

The devil is a liar and the father of lies. Our nation has been attacked with an ambush of lies. We must come in the opposite spirit and set up our own ambush through prayer and keeping His word stuck in our hearts. If something is stuck it doesn’t budge. It remains fixed and immovable. Let us collectively cry out to the Lord to shower His goodness upon the multitudes that will bring countless to repentance to life.

What was Jesus’ warfare strategy against the devil’s wiles? He used His word, saying, ‘It is written’ to defeat his ploy. We are to imitate the Lord in our warfare. His word is our warfare manual. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning…”

Every situation we face has a direction from the Lord. David understood this powerful strategy. 1 Samuel 30 is the narrative. When David and his men came back to Ziklag, they discovered that their city had been ransacked and burned. Their wives, children, and flocks were gone. What did David do? First he strengthened himself in the Lord (verse 6) then he inquired of the Lord. He asked the Lord what he should do and the Lord told him (verse 8).

There is another passage where David inquired of the Lord. Two exact situations arose in warfare, yet David sought the Lord for fresh orders in each one. 2 Samuel 5:18-25 are verses I visit frequently.

Strategic warfare requires revelational insight. It is the fruit of crying out to the Lord. If we move forward on our own, we will be walking into hidden land mines. I encourage you to read again how the Lord directed Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-22.

I just want to capture one of his words. Verse 12 says, “…we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

Verses 21-22 are a written account of probably the greatest war strategic ever recorded in history. When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes!

Our greatest resource for strategic warfare is our dependence on the Lord. Time after time in Scripture, there are accounts of how the Lord stepped in to make a way where there was no way. Let us continue to seek the Lord for clear direction in each situation we face.

As I read through Isaiah this time I am writing God’s weaponry down in my journal. Why? I am using them as I pray for my nation and the world. Did you know that He whistles for the fly and the bee to do His bidding? He has a broom of destruction, and His indignation is another of His weapons.

We know from 2 Corinthians 10:4 that our weapons are powerful. It says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Verse 5 says that they cast down every argument and high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

What do you know about the Lord that you incorporate into your prayer life? By the way, prayer is a life-skill. It is a praying heart that will stand firm in the face of the impossible.

There are hidden enemy strongholds that we cannot see. I envision an ant farm. Did you have one of those as a child? You could watch how the ants tunneled around. Proverbs 6:6 says to consider the ways of the ants.

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call out to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” The word ‘mighty’ means inaccessible. It is the mighty weapon of revelational insight for strategic warfare.

The Lord is All Knowing, All Present, and All Powerful. There is nothing hidden from Him. He sees what we cannot. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says that our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the things He has prepared for those who love Him.

Verse 10 in the Amplified says, “Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the (Holy) Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny).”

Here is a new song: The Cross

I will sing of Your mighty love. I will sing of Your grace. You are faithful and You are awesome in power. In mercy You redeemed me. In Your love You remained. The cross was Your death so I could live.

You took my place. You bore my sin. You came in humility and You died the same. O the wonder and the power as You laid Your life down for me. The cross was Your cruel punishment. Though You had no sin. It was my sin that nailed You. My sins were judged on the cross. You died for me to destroy the works of the enemy.

O I praise Your name and I rejoice in You. I bow in worship. I kiss Your feet of love. My heart melts within me enfolded in Your grace. Yes I will praise Your name. I will praise Your name forever.

I finished reading the gospels and went to Isaiah. O my. It feels like I’m reading about our present news. Isaiah 8:12 says, “Do not say, A conspiracy, concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” As I read this I thought back to the cross.

The cross speaks of Jesus’ victory over the enemy of our soul. The only way he can affect us is to make a gap. Isaiah 7:6 was the plot of Judah’s enemy. Listen to the words. “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them…”

Now listen to the word the Lord spoke to Ezekiel in 22:30. “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

Do not grow weary! We must continue to unite as one and stand in the gap for our nation. Let us be a high wall of intercession to fortify and strengthen our President, his cabinet and staff, and the legal folks looking into the fraudulent election. We must close this gap that the enemy is making for himself to rule over this nation through evil plotting!

Adversity means calamity or distress. I think of Psalm 18. David was in adversity. Saul and his army were hunting him like a pack of wolves ready to devour their prey. Verse 18 says, “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.”

Luke 4:18 Amplified says, “…oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity).” Proverbs 17:22 says, “…a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Psalm 37:8 says, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret–it only causes harm.” Fret means to eat or gnaw into; chafe, wear, corrode, or to rub. Could fretting be the root of bones wasting away, causing bone on bone conditions?

Sins done against us can mar us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I think back to a young woman walking in a park with her finance. She was gang raped in front of him. She broke off their engagement because she was so embarrassed. She told me this after I had spoken to a group of women. She was 65, and asked me to help her forgive the gang. All those years she chaffed.

You have your own story of being marred. The key to inner release is through heart forgiveness. It first requires processing to acceptance. Nothing can change what has happened in our past. However, we can change our attitude towards what happened. We view the one who sinned against us through the eyes of the cross. We are forgiven, and they are forgiven ALL sins. Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13 are commands: forgive as you have been forgiven. Isaiah 52:14 says, “…so His visage was marred more than any man.” The Lord’s marring bought us salvation.

To forgive from the heart requires a decision to NOT bring up their sin against you again. That time you were marred has passed. The only way you can keep it alive is through your thoughts. It is time to burn that record of wrongs and be freed from it. The power of forgiveness lies in our heart’s obedience to fully forgive JUST AS we are fully forgiven.

We reap the consequences of the sins that we sow. However, we don’t always reap in the same season that we sow. Are you still harvesting crops from some sins in your past?

I love Psalm 130:3-4 which says, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”

Why do we sin when our sin-debt was paid for in full? 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we who have died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.”

I encourage you to read Isaiah 53 often to keep Jesus’ death fresh in your memory bank. The word of God that is hidden in our heart’s reservoir will rise up as a testimony each time we are tempted to sin.

The temptation to sin is a deceptive ploy. In the face of that temptation we must remember that we are DEAD to sin. It no longer has power over us. We have been freed from satan’s rule. He only has sway over those who are disobedient. Ephesians 2:2 says, “…the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”

Let the consequences from past sins be like a mental memorial stone. Put a HUGE sign on it which says ‘That was then, this is now.’ Jesus’ death on the cross cancelled satan and his minions’ power over us! Jesus triumphed over them through the cross.

The only way a believer can sin is through willful disobedience.James wrote about the progression of a temptation. Then in verse 16 he said, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” The more of God’s truth that we experientially know and apply to our lives, will be the sentinel within that warns of a hidden temptation. Remember that when we sin against the Lord we are trampling on His grace.

Daily Thoughts: insights from my quiet time is now FREE for today, Thursday and Friday on Amazon.

As of right now (7:00AM) they do not have the cover up. Put books by J Marilyn Adams in the search, scroll down, and it is right after Cultivating Our Heart

This book is a compilation of 90 days of my Facebook posts (July-September). Many of you have requested to have them in print. Hopefully the paperback will be released today as well

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1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

James 1:2 in the J B Philiips says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resist them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!”

Anything that the Lord allows in our lives is purposeful. I think of Job. He did not know that God had given satan permission to touch his life. Yet we know God’s purpose from James 5:11. It says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord–that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

The Lord’s nature remains steadfast no matter what our adversity is. He has called us to endure, therefore He has equipped us. Ephesians 6:12-13 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We are living in the evil day now. Paul’s words are timeless truth. We must stand in God’s promises through His word. We are in worldwide adversity. Let us cry out to the Lord for His wisdom to navigate through this pandemic so He is glorified. Remember Colossians 2:15. It says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, TRIUMPHING over them in it.”