I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. [Romans 7:21-23 (NLT)]
The Christian life is a battle against Satan. [Zac Poonen]
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 139 but, as I read it this morning, I got annoyed with David. Near the end of this beautiful psalm praising God for His omniscience, omnipresence, and intensely personal involvement in his life, David mentions hating his enemies (something he and other psalmists frequently did in Psalms). David certainly had his share of enemies. Along with the Philistines, Moabites, Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, his enemies included Goliath, King Saul, Absalom (the son who tried to overthrow the kingdom), Ahithophel (the counselor who defected to Absalom), and Adonijah (who tried to wrest the crown from Solomon). Looking at Israel’s history, I understand why David and the other psalmists mentioned enemies so frequently, but I’m not running for my life, fighting a rebellion, or fending off Assyrians and Babylonians, so why do I care about their enemies?
Perhaps I’m naïve but, when I asked my husband the names of our enemies, we couldn’t think of anyone who qualified! We’ve had competitors, rivals, opponents, and some very annoying and exasperating people in our lives, but we’ve never thought of them as enemies. So, what do these Psalms mentioning enemies mean to us today?
Looking again at David’s history, however, I see a greater enemy than Saul or the Philistines: David himself. Although courageous, he could be deceitful. He lied to Ahimelech, pretended to be insane to King Achish, and, after taking refuge with the Philistines, double-crossed them. Short-tempered, he nearly killed everyone in Nabal’s household because of the man’s rudeness. Prone to despair, there were many times he felt God abandoned him. Lustful and impulsive, despite seven wives (and numerous concubines), David took another man’s wife and killed her husband to cover his crime. He was an inattentive father who ignored Absalom and failed to punish Amnon for raping Tamar. A reckless man of pride and ambition, David failed to follow God’s directions concerning the Ark and the census. While loyal to his friends, he could be ruthless to his enemies. Nathan’s words in 2 Samuel tell us that many of David’s trials were the result of his own sins. “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you.” [12:11] Considered a man after God’s heart, we like to think of David as the ideal man but, like any man or woman, he had his dark side.
David had flesh and blood enemies but, when he listened to Satan rather than God, he became his own worst enemy! Today’s verse tells us the Apostle Paul fought with this same enemy. Satan, of course, didn’t stop with David and Paul; he’s always out and about hunting for prey. Rather than spears, missiles, drones, or ransomware, his weapons are things like pride, deceit, fear, anger, hate, doubt, lust, insecurity, self-pity, unforgiveness, recklessness, impatience, jealousy, arrogance, materialism, and lack of faith.
Like David and Paul, I don’t have to look far to see my real enemy and, like them, I want him destroyed! No matter where we are in our walk with Jesus, sin remains in us. The good news, however, is that we are not defenseless. Christ’s followers don’t have to live like unbelievers! By faith, we have the Spirit of God and no longer need be controlled by our sinful nature. We have the power to declare war on our enemy and “put to death” the behavior and attitudes we know to be wrong! Rather than serving our own worldly desires, we choose to serve God by minding His Holy Spirit. We do this because of our love for Christ and our gratitude for all He’s done and will do for us in the future. With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can defeat our enemy!
We must have a spirit of power towards the enemy, a spirit of love towards men, and a spirit of self-control towards ourselves. [Watchman Nee]
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. [Romans 8:12-14 (NLT)]
Copyright ©2026 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
Since her church attendance is limited to Christmas and Easter, with an occasional funeral or wedding thrown in, a neighbor describes herself as being a “Birth and Resurrectionist.” People like her are often categorized as “nominal” or “non-practicing” Christians. Granted, church attendance is not the litmus test for Christianity. Nevertheless, lack of church attendance indicates a lack of commitment and a token or non-practicing faith. While such people identify as “Christians,” their Christianity is a more a matter of culture, habit, or tradition than one of faith, creed, and rebirth.
When my eldest grand took advanced calculus, I could neither understand what she was doing nor the purpose in doing it (other than gaining entrance into a good university). The following year, she took something called discrete math. Since I was thinking “discreet,” I couldn’t understand how numbers could be cautious or prudent. Even when she explained “discrete” means “individually separate and distinct” and discrete math is the basis for much of computer science, statistics, and programming, I remained in the dark. Fortunately, I wasn’t the one taking SATs and making application to colleges, so I didn’t need to make sense of her difficult curriculum.
Following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the apostles obediently and courageously returned to Jerusalem. They got down to business and selected a replacement for Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ. With the addition of Matthias, there again were twelve apostles and about 120 believers/disciples and the entire group devoted themselves to prayer. Picture this diverse group of people. How did they keep the faith? Did they wonder what exactly they were waiting for and when it would happen? Where was this baptism with the Holy Spirit Jesus promised them? When would Jesus to return? Did they grow impatient or begin to doubt what they’d seen with their eyes?
In contrast to works, which are produced by us, the Fruit of the Spirit is produced by the Holy Spirit. Rather than a basket with a variety of fruit, this is one indivisible fruit characterized by nine virtues: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We could call this the “Christlikeness fruit” because these characteristics describe Jesus and should describe us.
Back in the days before coronary artery bypass surgery and angioplasty, my father had heart disease and often suffered from the burning chest pain of angina. When that occurred, he would stop briefly, place a nitroglycerin tablet under his tongue, and his pain would ease. Medical nitroglycerin acts as a vasodilator by dilating or expanding the blood vessels so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood through those vessels.
Devotions of the Heart 