Have you ever felt attacked by Satan, fighting the fight that appears to be never-ending and makes you feel exhausted? Read my “Who Is Satan?” and “What Is Spiritual Warfare?” blogs to understand more about the topic. I have good news: God has already won victory on your behalf! How do I know? God’s word declares His victory in your life, but you need to accept His victory in your battle in order to see it. That’s what today’s Biblical devotional will explain. I’ll share my personal perspective and breakthroughs from my own faith journey. To learn more about my walk with God, read “Getting To Know Anna Szabo.”

Introduction

In my life, I experienced tremendous adversity. As a child, I was molested by my mother who terrorized, tormented, tortured, and terrified me every day. Raised by adulterous alcoholics, all I saw growing up was screaming, fighting, violence, drinking, gossip, poverty, and despair. I attempted suicide twice, but God saved me and placed a vision for a better future into my heart. It was when I was 12.

I graduated from multiple universities.

In 2008, I emigrated from Russia to America.

From 24 to 34, I married and divorced three times. In my first marriage, I endured domestic violence. I was enslaved and beaten regularly. On April 9th of 2009, the Dunwoody Police Department officers rescued me and set me free. I went on to teach myself English in 18 months, got accepted to a professional MBA program at Georgia State University in 2011, graduated in 2013, and published a book about my journey called “Turn Your Dreams and Wants Into Achievable SMART Goals!” My second husband was a doctor and a liar. He got so caught up in his lies, that even he himself couldn’t figure anything out anymore.

On Christmas Eve 2013, he became extremely abusive and decided to put his hands on me. I left him the next morning forever and divorced him eight months later. My third husband was the worst of them all: a seminary graduate, he worked at a church and quoted Bible versed left and right. I actually wrote an article about him called “How To Know Jesus and Not Just The Bible.” He was an abusive narcissist who sucked my life out of me to feed his fragile ego. The narcissist destroyed my mental health with his cruel manipulation techniques. His clever and eloquent abuse distorted my reality, identity, and faith.

But God was never on vacation…

The vision for a better future, which God placed in my heart at 12, was always there, though sometimes silenced. It was still alive. The passion for a peaceful and simple life was dwelling on the inside. My dream of silence, serenity, and solitude never died.

I am 37 years old today.

It’s Christmas 2020 when I’m writing this.

I’m in my peaceful home, which is located on a beautiful river. You see it in the cover image on this blog: it’s me dancing on the floating dock where I eat every day while watching kayakers pass by and listening to the sounds of nature. Serenity, solitude, and silence are now my lifestyle. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life. God has delivered me from narcissistic abuse, domestic violence, drama, trauma, sexual addiction, alcoholism, confusion, devastation, depression, suicidal ideation, bad habits, illnesses, and spiritual attacks by Satan. God healed my body, mind, spirit, emotions, and heart. He restored my wellbeing and improved every aspect of my life in every way. He blessed me beyond what I had ever imagined. All I needed was to stay faithful, pray, surrender, and be courageous whenever faced with adversity and afflictions.

God is good.

I’ve been homeless. I went without. I had no money. I had nothing to eat. I was sick for weeks at a time multiple times a year every year. I was heartbroken three times with divorces. I know hopelessness very intimately from my two suicide attempts.

Still, I say: God is Good.

My life is serene. Every day, I wake up to peace, and I appreciate it. God provides for me. He blessed me with meaningful work. My steadfast faith and endless hope are the results of God’s deliverance. That’s why I say t you: claim God’s victory in your life! Every day. If you want to understand how God works out His already-declared victory in your battle, read my essay called “How Satan Came at Me Looking Saint.”

In moments of doubt, sorrow, darkness, confusion, and feeling trapped, stand on God’s 3573 promises to you, surrender all your feelings to Him, be fully human by allowing yourself some space and time for self-pity, and abide in Christ with your spirit, don’t let your own non-understanding stir you away from God. He has a plan. His plan is god. You are a part of God’s good plan. God loves you.

You Are Victorious

You may be fighting addictions, trying to stay sober, but Satan is tempting you all the time (1 Corinthians 10:13). Or maybe you even had a relapse. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He fights for you! You may be fighting unemployment, trying to find a source of income, but Satan keeps closing doors. You’re not alone in this battle. It may seem hopeless right now and you might feel desperate, but God is going to use your situation for His glory. He already won the victory on your behalf. You may be fighting for your marriage, but Satan is dividing your house against itself so that it won’t stand (Mark 3:25). Christ has overcome the world, and you are seated with Him in heavenly places right now (Ephesians 2:6). God won, and you are already victorious!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Your situation right now may not look glorious.

You may be genuinely suffering.

You might be scared.

You can feel exhausted.

But the worldly fight has no power over you.

When Satan gives you a miserable mess, God turns it into His glorious success. 

It’s true, even if you can’t see how God can give you beauty for your ashes. Just believe. God has already won a victory on your behalf! Don’t focus on who’s taking advantage of you right now. The bullies, the gossipers, the mockers, the cheaters, the liars, the deceivers, the fools, the thieves – none of them can cause you any harm.

I dealt with them all.

I’m speaking from the future, which I envisioned in my past. Here, those Satan’s aces are the thing of the past. They are long forgotten and powerless. Focus! Where focus goes, energy flows. Focus your eyes on God, His 3573 promises to you, His unconditional love for you, and your eternity with Him. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

What is unseen is God’s presence in your life. You can only witness it if you pay attention. If you spend time with God, if you are seeking Him, you will find Him right where you are. Read “How To Hear God’s Voice” to understand how to talk to God.

The fight is in your mind.

The battlefield is your entire life.

The Real Battlefield

While the fight you are in the middle of right now may seem to be worldly and involve money, marriage, career, health, dignity, injustice, and anything else that you can see in the earthly realm, the reality is that the battle isn’t earthly. The actual fight is with Satan, not with your husband, neighbor, employer, the Government, or anyone who offended or hurt you here on earth. The actual fight is described in detail by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Here it is below.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 12-17

The battle you’re fighting is called Spiritual Warfare. The only way to fight your Spiritual Warfare is to arm yourself with the Armor of God. Read “What Is An Armor of God?” to understand how you must protect yourself and see through God’s victory in your life, which Hee has already won on your behalf. The armor is for you to put on daily so that you can stand strong in the Lord and have peace.

Whatever your difficult life situation is right now, understand what’s really going on: you were created by God who designed you for His divine purpose and had prepared good works in advance for you to do, so He is equipping and preparing you to do the works, and He gives you life experience to prepare you. From where you stand, life may seem like a total mess. But from God’s eternal perspective on your journey, you may be right now a total success.

I put together some Spiritual Warfare Examples for you to wrap your head around all this and start shifting your thinking so that you can claim God’s victory in your life by renewing your mind with His word and my testimony. You can win with God.

Winning With God

Christ has won on your behalf already. Your salvation is yours. Jesus conquered the world and you are a victor, not just a mere conquerer. God is on your team. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says about your fight and its outcome.

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.

Deuteronomy 20:4

Here it is: your victory is already yours! You can walk confidently in your identity as a child of God and have peace about your future, knowing that you are already victorious. You’re not just a conqueror. You’re a victor! Stand with God and you will witness His victory in your life. Don’t allow your circumstances or evil people around you to sir you away from God. Draw closer to Him to stand strong!

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37

Christ loves you so much! He made you victorious. You can be at peace right now. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s no need to be anxious or angry. You can have the joy of the Lord and His peace that passes all understanding. Why?

Because God declared you victory already! 

Intimacy With Christ

God wants you to have faith, hope, joy, peace, and intimacy with Christ. When we have an intimate relationship with Jesus, it means we feel known by Him and we know Him personally. How can we develop such intimacy with our lord and savior? Relationships take time, intentionality, and effort. Do you spend uninterrupted quality time with Jesus to understand Him? 

READ: Who Is Jesus?

Do you intentionally make an effort to grow closer to Christ through Bible studies, prayers, worship, everyday conversations with Him, and by listening to and following the Holy Spirit? 

Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10

God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit searches the depths of the infinite love and wisdom of God. What does it mean? You can have God’s infinite wisdom if you listen to and follow the Holy Spirit because God reveals Himself to you through the Holy Spirit. What actions do you need to take? How do you get started? John 14:15-17 provides a detailed explanation below.

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever —  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 14:15-17

Where does the Holy Spirit come from?

From God, through Jesus who gave His spirit to you when He was crucified. How do you get access to the Holy Spirit? By believing in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and honoring His commands out of deep love for Him and out of gratitude for your expensive salvation and eternity in heaven with God. What does the Holy Spirit do? Gives you God’s truth and wisdom. Where does the Holy Spirit reside? In you! 

If you ask the Holy Spirit within you for truth and wisdom and you listen, you will get your divine guidance. If you follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and honor Christ’s commands, you will have intimacy with Jesus. You will know Him. And because hearing from the Spirit takes a quiet mind and intentionality, you will get in a habit of spending uninterrupted quality time with your Lord and Savior. Doing so will grow your intimacy with Jesus. It will strengthen your faith.

If you follow the truth and guidance of God you’re receiving from all that effort, you will have a good life, know Jesus intimately, and bear Fruit. What Fruit? Galatians 5:22-23 explains:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit of the Spirit comes from having an intimate relationship with Christ: knowing Him fully and being fully known by Him. It takes time, effort, courage, and dedication. Deepening my relationship with God and growing in my relationship with God has been the biggest blessing. It allowed me to heal, find myself, get grounded in truth, establish boundaries in life, develop good habits, avoid drama, heal my trauma, expand my home, grow this Christian ministry, and help tens of thousands of people worldwide. Here are some notes I received from the listeners of my Christian podcast for women on iTunes. When I read the reviews and letters my readers, listeners, and YouTube viewers send me, I see God’s plan, I see how He equipped and prepared me to do His good work, which He had prepared in advance for me to do, and I feel grateful, even for all my afflictions and adversity.

The Fruit of The Spirit

God wants us to be Christ-like. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all the character qualities and behaviors God wants us to show toward each other, just like Christ did when He was fully human here on earth. “Against such things, there is no law.” It means no judgment, no condemnation. It means justification and sanctification. Read “Judgement-Free Pass with God” to understand more about God’s love-based grace vs performance-based law. It all means eternity in heaven for you.

That’s God’s ultimate victory!

You may be fighting addiction and are tempted by Satan. Then, you hit the rock bottom, and there on the bottom, you find out that Jesus is your rock. You fall in love with Him and begin spending time with Him. You listen to the Holy Spirit. You start living a God-glorifying life and bear Fruit, show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You are then sanctified, and God is glorified. Victory is won on your behalf! That’s how my story unfolded in real life. Mine is a story for God’s glory, and so is yours.

This is the very reason why Jesus was sacrificed. He bled and died so we can be sanctified with Him and go to heaven. Read “I Am Justified and Sanctified” to see how it all works in actual practical lfe. That thing is that it all starts with knowing the truth. 

What’s the truth? God’s word.

How can we be guided by God’s truth and be sanctified? Through the Spirit of the truth, which is the Holy Spirit. Where is it? The Holy Spirit is in you if you are in Christ. What’s the result of following the guidance of God’s Spirit? Righteous living, aka the Fruit. 

It’s demonstrated in the model I created below. You can download the high-resolution printout and use the ITCEBO model in your everyday life to grow closer to God through your beliefs, actions, decision-making, and relationships. Here’s my model, Click on the image below to download and use the ITCEBO model.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

John 17:17-19

Jesus gave His precious life so we as His disciples can be sanctified with Him. The victory has already been declared! Why then do we need troubles and battles and fights in this world at all? Let’s talk about it very honestly. I’m going to share with you my spiritual breakthroughs, though they might actually come across as painful. Once we know, accept, and ponder God’s truth, it actually offers comfort.

Your Eartly Troubles

God wants you to have faith, hope, joy, peace, and intimacy with Christ. Remember? I mentioned it before. And I’m saying it again because it’s the purpose of our journeys to sanctification. God wants us to be Christ-like. But how can we possibly develop His virtues if we have everything we want and don’t have to work hard, develop our perspective, grow in faith, change our ways, and glorify God by the results of our transformation? I actually wrote a poem about the process of being transformed by God through troubles. 

I Trust You With The Troubles In This World
 
You said we will have troubles in this world.
I would have surely preferred to avoid all my  trials.
But you also promised to defeat every sword,
And, with no battles to fight, how could I ever feel the perfect love as your special child? 
 
You promised protection, you promised peace.
You asked to not lean on my own comprehension.
So, as I'm standing here, crying on my knees,
I trust you still and your perfect plan for my eternal salvation. 
 

 3/6/17 © Anna Szabo, JD, MBA 

Going through trials, we discover how much we are loved by God. Have you ever witnessed a little girl asked to fall backwards into her father’s arms? If she knows he loves her, she can trust him. The more experience she has with her father loving her, the more faith in his ability to catch her will she have. That’s how our faith grows in our Heavenly Father. We experience trouble. and He wants us to lean on Him. If we do, we grow in faith. The more faith we have, the more peace we enjoy, despite earthly troubles. So, having a life without troubles would actually rob us of our faith and hope in God. Imagine it for a moment.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

What? You’re telling me, Jesus, that I’ll have troubles in life and you’re saying this to me so that I’ll have peace? How’s that possible??? That’s where faith comes in and grows: it takes faith to have peace knowing that there is adversity ahead. And God wants you to have faith. God wants you to trust His plan. He said that He will give you beauty for ashes. He promises you to work all things together for good. God wants you to use your growing faith to trust that His plan is perfect and that you are included in His perfect plan, even if you don’t understand it right now. As I was personally wrestling with all these issues in my own life, I wrote a poem. It’s my actual conversation with God.

Your Plan Is Always Perfect

You said your plan is perfect.  
Can I believe it, God?  
Sometimes I feel in conflict,  
With scope of trials so broad.
    
But then I look around,  
I pay attention close,  
And see your grace abound  
In sorrow and in loss.    

I trust your every vow,  
Your Holy Word I trust.  
Sometimes I wonder how  
Your beauty comes from dust.    

Your plan for me to prosper,  
Have future and the hope  
Wholeheartedly I trust in  
And never will I stop.     


8/16/17 © Anna Szabo, JD, MBA 

Jesus Wants You

Jesus wants to be in a personal and close relationship with you. He wants you to be in Heaven with Him for eternity. And for that, you need to believe in Him and trust His love. Jesus wants you to experience the intimate, infinite, unconditional, eternal, perfect love of God. In fact, here’s what Jesus said, according to John 17:26, speaking about His desire to be with you for eternity and to love you:

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

John 17:26

Jesus wants God’s love to be in you through Him. He Himself wants to be in you through the Holy Spirit. You receive the Spirit of God when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and when you show your love for Him. How do you show that you truly love Jesus? You show your love for Christ by keeping His commands out of gratitude for your expensive salvation and freedom from sin. If you keep His commands by obeying the Holy Spit, the Spirit of God’s truth, and you bear Fruit. Against the Fruit of the Spirit, there’s no law, so you’ll be in Heaven with Jesus. And that is what God’s victory is in your life.

You are victorious.

Do you believe that you are victorious? 

No matter what your battle is about, fight the Spiritual Warfare with the Armor of God and remember God’s ultimate victory. Do you want to grow in your intimacy with Christ, increasing your faith, and trusting in Him? If you do, declare your victory by memorizing and practicing the Biblical affirmation I created for you.

“I Am Victorious” Affirmation

I am Victorious #52Devotionals

I am more than a conqueror or a mere winner.
Even in afflictions and adversity, I have peace inner.
I find victory and joy. I grow in faith and hope.
Through trials, my intimacy with Christ grows in scope. 

How will you approach your current battle differently knowing that victory has already been won on your behalf? Share with me in the comments below so that I can rejoice with you.