Living our Christian life in the midst of real life is what it is all about.  Our life is not lived in a laboratory absent of all life’s realities.  I love to see others growing in their victories especially against the devil.  Continuing the theme of the recent entries, below is a guest blog by Kelley.  It is great writing and oh so true.  Thanks Kelley for allowing me to reproduce it here on the church blog.

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Of all the epic battles that sport can create, it is pretty hard to beat a close grand slam tennis match. Andy Murray’s quarter final match in the French Open was amazing. He went two sets down before managing to come back and win and I must confess to nearly turning the tv off several times as I was sure he was going out – sorry Andy. It wasn’t pretty but he did it, and do you know how? Point by point.

It was incredible to watch. There was no let up as each player fought for every point and games went on forever. Paul laughed when I asked him why players don’t try and conserve energy by not contesting every game. Surely they could let the other player win the odd game and then strike when they are ready? ‘Because you don’t win that way’ he answered.

That got me thinking. Maybe that is why I am not good at winning spiritual battles. Being a busy mom, I have learned to pace myself and pick my battles. In raising children this is, of course, very important. If you tried ‘winning every point’ you would die trying. I have spent the best part of 20 years outnumbered by the opposition and so have had to learn to fight smart. I don’t win every battle. My personal low point was actually taking a whining child into a toy shop and buying them a present so I could have peace for the rest of my errands. There have been spankings I promised and forgot to deliver and meals with no vegetables. I have tried four hundred different ways to get my kids to keep their rooms clean and yet as I write this the upstairs looks like a crime scene. However, I would like to think that with God’s help we are winning the important battles of character and obedience – most of them anyway.

But I guess spiritual battles are different. I can see now that with the Devil you don’t give any games away. Every point matters. Every swing of the racket is a chance to break him. Of course, it is not done in our own strength. That would be suicide. We do it in the strength of Jesus and by His blood. We fight with the Word and with the word of our testimony. We fight our battles from every angle. Quiet times, worship, scripture memory – these are our weapons. Sometimes we win a battle by just keeping our joy in a situation or by pushing unbelief away. Other times in order to win we have to speak or obey something. Most of the time we just have to keep doing what we know is right to do and little by little, point by point, we fight for our victory.

So now, Beth Moore study in hand, I am going to serve an ace to the Devil.