Overcoming the Enemies in Your Life

By Thomas Denegre

We know how David overcame Goliath (1 Samuel 17). In a similar way, one woman, through Christ, overcame a South American tribe’s culture of death into life.

In the jungles of Ecuador, 33-year-old Elisabeth Elliot watched in horror as a dead man floated down the river with eighteen spears embedded in him.  The dreaded Auca tribe, known for their savagery and killings, had infiltrated her host’s village.  Filled with mixed feelings, Elisabeth made contact with the tribe she planned to evangelize with the Gospel.  Two years earlier, her husband Jim Elliot and four other missionaries were speared to death by the same tribe when they tried to evangelize to them.  Just as David was going to confront Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Elizabeth was going to confront her own foe.  Yet, her mission was not to destroy her enemy but to save them.

In the end, Elisabeth befriended the tribe and by modeling the virtues of Jesus she won many of them over to Christ.  Taken back by her character of humility, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, courage, and openness, 20% of the tribe received Jesus as their Lord. 

When she arrived in 1959 six out of ten Auca men died before the age of forty-five from homicide.  The Auca’s were a savage people and killing was an accepted form of behavior.  Within a few years the homicide rate dropped to 10% and the tribe’s population increased from 600 to 2,000 people.  The tribe changed their name from Auca to Waorani, meaning they are “the true people.” Clearly, the acceptance of Christ in these people’s hearts changed the culture of the tribe from death into life.  As Jesus once said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have to come to bring life, and bring it abundantly.” (John 10:10).

So, how do we overcome our great enemies in life?  More importantly, how do we love our enemies when they want to kill us?  As Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” Elisabeth Elliot, who wrote the book, “End of the Spear,” gives us the lessons to conquer our enemies.  Here are just few things I learned that you can apply to your life today, that can make a difference.

The prophet Hosea once said, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Or, as one of Murphy’s Law states, “if all else fails read the instructions.” As God plainly instructs us, we are called to plant and grow His Word in our heart and mind to prosper in all things.

Based on my own experience with prison ministry and mentoring immature Christians, the lesson is simple.  In John 15, Jesus is the source of life, truth, and the way while we receive and apply this source of love and life to others. Jesus said, “If you live in life-union with me (Jesus) and if my words live powerfully within you—then you can ask whatever you desire, and it will be done.  When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!” (John 15:7-8 TPT)

By being in life union with Jesus and knowing his Words, I’m given the power, authority and strength to love, forgive, and care for others.  Not only does it change my life, but it changes those around me.  Today, the wardens of Ohio prisons are demanding more prison ministries to its inmates because it changes lives and changes the culture of a prison.  Just like the Auca tribe, the blessings of God are bestowed to those who hear, believe, and do his word.

To have the courage to face your enemy requires a large faith, confidence, and trust in the Lord. Elisabeth was soaked in the word and it gave her the strength and compassion to encounter her enemy.  It was not her facing the enemy, but Christ inside her that did.

Three things matter most in our faith journey. One is knowing the word of God. Two, is visualizing it working, and three being obedient to His Word.  As St. Paul said in Romans, “So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).  Equally important is visualizing the hope of God in your heart. “For the heart is the wellspring of Life.” (Proverbs 4:20)

You have to conceive the Word, then you believe what it says, and then you’ll receive its promises. God calls us to meditate on the word to conceive its blessings as it is written in Psalm 1.  For it says,

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And, in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season,

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Yes, God prospers us when we own the Word of God in our heart and mind! I learned that by meditating on the Word in my heart God has prospered me with a rich life with Jesus in the Kingdom of God, and a blessed life with my wife, family and friends. Through humility I opened my heart to his love and his teachings.  By seeing how Jesus works in the Word, I can manifest these blessings from my mind’s eye into reality.  It is the same way Elisabeth was able to convert the tribe from a culture of death to Life, and the same way you can do it too.

Finally, you will always encounter doubts when facing difficult circumstances.  The way out is simple; never trust your own reasoning based on earthly teachings, never trust the reasoning of an unbeliever, and never trust the reasoning of a Christian who does not know or honors the Word of God.  Rather, through the Holy Spirit, always trust in the Word of God and the counsel of like-minded Christians. Just as Elisabeth trusted God in the jungles of Ecuador, you too can trust God to change your life and those around you.

How Authentic Love Rebuilds Broken Lives

By Thomas Denegre

Unloved, abandoned, and rejected is a cruel way for any human being to start their life.

A mother and her young son moved to Los Angeles for a new beginning.  Losing one job after another, the mother and child moved to smaller apartments until they found themselves living on the streets. Early one morning the little boy woke up from their makeshift tent in the alley and watched the children across the street get onto their school bus. He told his mother, that he too wanted to attend school with the kids.  His mother told him, that if he left, she would not be here upon his return.  Nonetheless, the little boy got onto the school bus and found out that he could not attend the school.  When he returned to the alley his mother was gone.  For weeks he looked for his mother and never found her. He was seven years old. 

Worse stories occur in the streets of Los Angeles, and counter intuitively, teenagers who are traumatized, physically brutalized, and heartbroken find a bitter refuge with the gangs. It is through Fr. Greg Boyle and his ministry called HomeBoy Industries that tells the stories of how thousands of former gang members find hope and restoration through God’s authentic and practical love. 

In this week’s readings of Deuteronomy Chapter 28, Moses explained the blessings when we obey God’s commands and the curses when we disobey them; ignorance is no excuse as God’s commands work in the same way as the law of gravity. Much of the world’s evil is a result of people not acknowledging nor obeying his Word. (Hosea 4:6). Yet, it is not God’s desire for us to live in desolation. God’s mercy is unbelievable. Who else would say, “I love you more than my life,” and die on the cross for us while we were still ungodly wicked sinners?  Since the foundations of the world, it has been God’s desire to reunite us and he does it brilliantly.

Mario is example of God’s transformative love at HomeBoy Industries.  Covered head to toe in tattoos, he has a menacing appearance.  On his eyelids are two tattoos that say, “The End,” to indicate that there is no doubt to his finality when he’s lying in his coffin. Yet, if you went to the HomeBoy café and ask for the kindest and gentlest soul they point to Mario. 

One day Mario was telling his experience of HomeBoy to an audience and described how the actual love of Jesus worked.  As St. Francis once said, “go out and preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.”  The command is simple, people don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. Broken people from the streets don’t want to hear religious things, until they know true love and care has found them. 

A person in the audience once asked Mario what wisdom he would impart on his children.  Mario thoughtfully reflected, “I don’t want them to be like me.”  The person in the audience responded, “How could you say that?  You are a kind, caring, and a gentle soul.  You are an excellent model for your children.”  It took a while for Mario to understand his true identity in Christ and how he was transformed by the Holy Spirit. He went from being cursed to being blessed. 

Jesus has instructed us the way to act in his true love and it was not religious; it was authentic from the heart, not the intellect.  In the Book of John, Jesus stated, “If you live in life-union with me and if my words live powerfully within you—then you can ask whatever you desire, and it will be done. When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!” (John 15:7-8 TPT) Jesus makes it clear that he is our source of life, love, and riches.  By opening our hearts to his love and his word, then God’s love will naturally pour through us onto others.  This is the way of preaching the Gospel without words. It’s the way Mario became transformed.

Since broken people feel invisible, they want to be seen. Authentic love can start anywhere anytime with a waitress, store clerk, nurse, patient, student, gang member, or anyone else the Holy Spirit directs you too. It first starts by knowing their name.  There’s nothing more precious than hearing one’s name; especially the one your mom affectionately called you.   “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1) 

Because you are in life-union with Jesus and his words live in your heart, then the Holy Spirit will direct your steps to bring the healing waters of Jesus to the brokenhearted. 

Through heart-to-heart love, the brokenhearted will know Jesus sees them just as they are.  Stripped of their destructive worldly labels and false identifications, the broken people become whole beings knowing they are loved unconditionally from our Lord and from the people they work with. Despite all their shortcomings and mistakes, they know Jesus will love them 100%; all the time. By knowing they can trust Jesus, they have the security to step outside of their walls to bless others.  As they open their hearts to the Lord, he will pour His love into them.  They will come to know their worth and value.  (Psalm 139:16-18) By being blessed with love, peace, wholeness, and sweetness from God, they become fully integrated people. As they live in the perfect love of God, no fear or anxiety threatens their lives. In this way, they are able to bless others with the same love, so they become blessed themselves.  By this love, you can understand why Mario is the gentlest kindest soul. You also come to understand that it was always God’s intention to bring the Kingdom of God to everyone so they may live a blessed life.