Abundantly Pardoned

^{Dear sisters, I’m sure you’ll shudder when you hear this story. I was awakened in the wee hours of the morning and decided to sit in bed and read myself back asleep. I saw something move on the right side of my bedspread. Low and behold, it was one of the spiders from the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark!" This particular fellow was definitely far from his jungles, and he proved to me that my reflexes are quite good for my age. After a gasp followed by pounding the fellow with my journal, I had settled back to read again when I noticed a spider half the former’s size up on the ceiling over the bedroom curtains. I tried to smack this one with a "Family Christian" store catalog, but he fell behind the curtain. Needless to say, I slept with a small lamp on and with the bedspread pulled way up on the bed (after convincing myself that the second spider wouldn’t climb the legs of the bed and feast on my flesh. Oh, but how much this incident reminded me of Satan. He’s always lurking in the shadows, always trying to frighten us, always trying to attack us. We are constantly swatting him away by attempting to ignore him. Ladies, that will not work. We must put on the armor of God and pray for our Lord to go into battle with us. We must take the Word and pound Satan with it until he shrivels up into a little ball like that spider. The battle with Satan continues daily, and we must stay deep in prayer and deep in the Word at all times if we are to defeat him. Do not allow Satan to lurk in the shadows of your life. Turn on the light that is our Lord Jesus Christ. He will prevail! "’Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’" "’You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you…. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’" (2 Chronicles 20:15 and 17 NIV)}