After an enjoyable weekend of camping at Collins Lake with my family—located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains—we stopped by my in-laws’ home. I remember my young daughter showing her grandpa something that was bothering her on her right arm. He took a close look and calmly explained that it was a tick that had buried itself deeply into her skin.
Gently reassuring her, he said
he could take care of it. She trusted
him as he lit a match, then blew it out.
Holding the warm match head near the tick, the heat caused it to slowly
retreat and back out of its stronghold.
If a tick is removed
improperly—if only the body is taken and the head is left behind—it can lead to
serious infection.
Such is the “tick” of our
soul.
The enemy seeks to dig in, to
secure a foothold in our lives—if we allow it.
But his efforts fail when the Holy Spirit is at work in our daily walk
with Jesus. Scripture tells us in
Epistle of James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Notice the order: submission
comes first, then resistance.
This resistance is not in our
own strength, but in the power of God’s Word.
As we stand on Scripture, rebuke the enemy, and surrender to God’s
authority, it is like a holy, Spirit-filled heat that drives the enemy away
from God’s children.
But if we try to fight in our
own strength, it’s like pulling off the tick’s body while leaving the head
behind—allowing something harmful to remain and fester. The result can be spiritual sickness that
affects every part of our lives.
Victory comes not from striving harder, but from surrendering deeper—and standing firm in the truth of God’s Word.
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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