GOD IS FOR YOU

Romans 8:31 clearly tells us that God is for us. We also know that Satan is against us. The question we must ask is: Are we going to agree with God or with the devil? You know the answer. Stop opposing yourself and mentally beating yourself up just because Satan is against you! Sad to say, sometimes we discover people are also against us. Satan does not always work alone in the spiritual realm; he also works through people in the natural realm. He attacks our confidence through the things people say or do not say. He can cause us to feel unworthy or rejected because of another person's words or actions. How important are people's opinions of us? Are we thinking for ourselves, or are we always agreeing with everyone else's opinion? If people's opinions, judgments, and attitudes toward us are sometimes inspired by the devil, then we must resist what people think and say instead of agreeing with it. If we know God is for us, then it should not matter how we feel or what other people think of us. As the Bible says in Romans 8:31, who can be against us if God is for us? If He is on our side, then what can others do to us? Hebrews 13:6 makes a similar point: "So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?" Most of us, to some extent, need to be delivered from the fear of people and from caring too much about what others think. People who always need the approval of others desperately want every-one to look at them from head to toe and say, "Perfect." When they do any kind of a job, they want everybody to look at it and say, "Perfect." In everything they do - the way they look, the things they say, every action they take - they want people to say "Perfect." If we try to be perfect, we will be disappointed. It will not work because you and I are imperfect human beings. Even if we could manifest perfection, some people would still not be satisfied simply because they are unhappy individuals who will not ever be content with anything until they change their own attitudes. We need to be confident that God accepts us - with our imperfections. Even though He continues to work in us to make us more Christlike, we do not have to struggle to win His approval or the approval of others. If God is for us - and He is - we do not need to fear anyone who is against us! [The Everyday Life Bible, Faith Words, New York, Oct. 2006, Notes and Commentary by Joyce Meyer].