To Be
      Reckoned
         With!
 

Did you know you are someone to be reckoned with?  You aren’t some wimpy weak woeful person.  Because of Christ in you, as a believer, you have strength and power, you’re influential in your words and actions, you have resources and abilities, you can accomplish for Christ.  When you rely on that kind of force, you can have victory.  See how you are a force to be reckoned with.
I.    Win the Power Encounter.
II.   Shake It Off.
III.  Push Back the Confines. 
IV.  Be a Bulldog. 
V.   Show Your Anointing.

       I was
    counting
    the ants!

    When adversity tries to take over, you have to stand up and show you are a force to be reckoned with.  When you stand strong in the Spirit, that’s when the forces coming against you must respond.  But if you appear to be weak and believe whatever has happened can take over, then they respond to that also.  They come on in a stronger way.  The adversities will try to take over.

    I was thinking of one of the times when John and I were facing this happening to us.  Sure, we can laugh about it now, but when you’re there and you’re feeling the pain of it, it isn’t so funny.  You don’t feel as if you are a powerful person to be reckoned with.  You almost feel at the mercy of what’s happening.  But if we understand our power, we will be able to stand against what has been sent.  It cannot take over.

    This happened to us when we were just trying to fulfill our normal responsibilities every day.  Then it seemed everything fell apart.  John called me from his job and said his computer had crashed.  Which you know is one of the worst things that can happen to a computer.  All the information on it can be gone when it crashes.  That means all the documents, the files, everything has to be re-created if it can’t be restored.  That was the beginning.

    Then a short time after that, the computer at our ministry office also crashed—the one we use to send out our radio broadcasts to the networks.  If we couldn’t find a way to restore it, not just the current broadcast but some of our past messages that we had recorded would be gone.  It also meant we couldn’t update our website or send out the Word of Power devotion that we send out each week in the e-mail.

    I’m not finished.  On top of that, our copier in the office stopped running.  We also had just purchased a new printer and, yes, it wasn’t working!  All those equipment failures, I’m sorry, but that is not natural.  We were being hit in a spiritual way by the enemy.

    Then he sent one more thing to try to torment us and unnerve us.  The next morning, I was sitting in my home study putting together a message.  As I was focusing on this, I happened to turn to the side where my door opens into the hallway.  What I saw was straight out of a sci-fi movie.  Over 100 ants were marching across the carpet towards my desk.  I’m not making this up.  They were ants!

    They had made their anthills in our yard and then somehow infiltrated the house.  I was so perturbed I got up and started counting the ants.  That’s when you know you’re about to lose it!  Counting ants!  I’m happy John didn’t see me doing that.  He would’ve called 911 to pick me up.  And I wouldn’t have blamed him.

    Now the Bible says ants are not strong as people are, but it also says they sure know how to get what they want.  (Ref. Proverbs 30.)  At that point I felt those ants were stronger than I was.  They were marching in as if they owned the place.  I wasn’t someone to be reckoned with.  Some stupid ants felt stronger than I felt at that moment.

    So what could we do?  How would we make it past all of these problems coming at one time?  We had to show these problems they could not take over.  We could not allow them to have the effect the devil wanted.  He doesn’t have the power!  God has the power in our life.  So we went to Him and believed for the help we must have.  In spite of all that had been sent to stop God’s purposes for us, we knew God could do so much greater.  We were someone to be reckoned with in the Spirit.

    The end of the story is that at John’s job, they were able to recover the files that were on his computer.  We also recovered all of our radio broadcasts on the computer that crashed.  That weekend we got the website up on time and sent out the Word of Power e-mail.  We fixed the equipment that had gone down.  Best of all, we got rid of the ants in our house.  Ha ha, devil, remember we are someone you have to reckon with, because we have God Almighty working for us.

    So no matter how surprised you may be by an event or the conditions that come up, pull yourself up then say out loud, “I’m someone to be reckoned with.”  You’re announcing to those challenges that they will not overtake you.  They may seem to have the upper hand right now, but the hand of God is working for you.

    God can stop it from taking over.  Satan cannot attach those conditions to you and stay there.  You’re going to see God turn this for good.

Spiritual Powerline to say out loud:
“I'M SOMEONE TO BE RECKONED WITH!”

Here is a powerful prayer to say out loud:

     Father, I know I have Your power working for me.  Therefore, I am able to stand against what has been sent.  It cannot take over.  All of this is going to turn out well.  Your Spirit is in me, therefore I will see this have a good outcome.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

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