The nobody was found threshing grain in a winepress, hiding for fear of what the enemy would do to him.  His first words in return were complaints, questioning the goodness, the presence of God in his life.  His first act was to buy favor from God that God had already, freely, given, that the angel burned up with the touch of his staff, I might add.  His first act of “heroism” was to desecrate the gods, the idols, of people of his town.  Maybe even the gods that he had been worshipping up to this point.

I have been called a man of valor.  So have you.  Persons of valor, should we choose to be gender neutral.  But what do we do in reality?  We hide from our enemy.  We work out formulas, gimmicks, tried and true methods of praying down strongholds and breaking off chains, developing support groups, fasting and attempting to coerce the God of the universe to move on our behalf.  But we have been called, already it is declared over our lives, to be mighty, to have valor.

Tony Stark is confronted with his greatest challenge.  But first he asks to give him a suit of armor, um, just like the one hanging there in front of him.  Captain America is embattled and stops to send a message back to the scientists to give him strength.

No, no, no, no….

I feel so inadequate to put this into words.

You are mighty.  You are brave.  Act on it.  Praying for strength to face a temptation that you really want to cave into is messed up.  Asking God to protect you from satan’s schemes and the evils of this world is backwards thinking.  You have your armor.  You have the strength.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well inside of you.  Rise up in courage, fearless in your faith.  And though you fall, get up again, and again, and again.

My body can be hurt, killed, destroyed beyond recognition.  But my soul can never be defeated, will never be subdued.

What is strange to me is that there are those who will not, WILL NOT yield to God, living their lives in service to satan.  They are conquered by their enemy, the one who hates beyond reason or intellect, the one who would torture, would destroy every particle of their lives.  Their souls, their spirit defeated with no one to defend them.  But God would ask us to yield to Him, in essence turning the field of battle over to the unconquerable King, who then asks us to join His forces as we route our foe.

We yield and He sets us free.

Amazing!  Too wonderful to believe!  Too much for my heart and mind to understand!

Jesus, work on me till I get it!