December 31, 2025Saddle Up!

The opposing sides have taken a stand … they are lined up and ready to engage … battle is on …

Christ bore our death sentence on the cross, paying the penalty we owed.

Then He rose from the dead, defeating death and overcoming the enemy.

But before He returns, and finally seals the deal, we will still be living on a fallen. dying planet, living in enemy territory. But Christ has equipped us and has shown us the way …

Before Christ died on the cross, He walked among us and demonstrated how to live and overcome the sin in our lives. When we forgive people who wrong us, when we put others before ourselves, when we put aside our own pride and self interests, that is spiritual warfare. We’re not really capable of doing those things, but we have His Holy Spirit who strengthens us, convicts us when we make bad turns, affirms us when we’re on track.

He empowers us to crucify our own sinful nature and mature in the ways of the Spirit. And He gets all the credit and the glory, because without Him, you can’t do anything! You can’t even fight the battle, you just stand your ground in Him and He will fight through you.

And, make no mistake, there will be a fight … the enemy doesn’t just sit back and do nothing while his territory gets taken away.

Don’t be afraid of him. He certainly can do some damage, but he will not defeat you. Christ through the Holy Spirit in you will carry you through. The weaker we are, the stronger He is. Stand firm in Him. When He wins the battle, He gets all the credit, because we know it wasn’t us.

The best part is when others around us see the amazing things happening in your life, and they want to know how you got through those terrible circumstances. Tell them and ask the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to see the Truth and expose the enemy.

We don’t know when Christ will return. We’re not supposed to know. We’re told to simply be watchful and be prepared.

When He comes, the invisible the will be made visible. We will all see, and the world will be astounded.

There’s a passage in Isaish 14 that says that when our enemy is finally exposed, we will file past him and exclaim, Is THAT who has been given us all this trouble this whole time?!

Enjoy the good times and weather the bad. Good or bad, this worldly life is temporary and the good and the bad will pass.

It’s New Year’s Eve. Tomorrow we’ll wake up to a fresh new year, and we want to be ready to roll … so I’ll close with some inspiring lyrics from a favorite Steven Curtis Chapman song, “The Great Adventure”.

Words on a page are kind of flat ... so Google it and sing along! It’s a perfect song for pony-riding creatives ...