Prepare-for-War

emphasize enough the absolute necessity of spending time reading the Bible and praying on a DAILY basis, first thing in the morning. This is a real "key" to finding the Lord. David and Isaiah wrote about this principle.

"0 God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land." Psalms 63:1 "With my soul have I desired thee In the night~ yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early ... " Isaiah 26:9

One of the hardest things for us to do is to get ourselves out of bed early in the morning. How our sinful flesh cries out for another hour's sleep! How painful a struggle it is to disci pline ourselves to get out of that nice warm bed! But when you really stop to think about it, one hour's sleep isn't going to make you feel any different. When I am especially tired or ill, I ask the Lord to help me wake up, He is always faithful to do so. But if I don't respond to His first call, I end up over-sleeping, and my whole day goes wrong. This verse shows us that we seek God by an act of our will. We deliberately "set our affection" on heavenly things. Many people complain that they do not desire such a rela tionship with the Lord, or that they do not really want to read the Bible. Of course you don't! Never forget, your flesh, or natural self, is hostile to everything to do with God. Also, you may be sure there will always be a demon posted near you to flash thoughts into your mind building up a resistance in you to stop you from reading the Bible. Many times I find it necessary to directly rebuke the demons before I can start reading my Bible. We must disci~ pline ourselves to do the things which God commands us to do whether we desire to do those things or not. Reading the Bible and seeking God is a command, it is not option "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on the things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:1 ,2

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