If you've ever been standing and believing God for quite some time, and your shield of faith is full of darts, your helmet of salvation is leaning to one side, your belt of truth is sliding off, your breastplate of righteousness is barely hanging on, and your Gospel shoes are worn slick - Keep Standing!

Have you ever felt that you are the only one who has ever been through what you're going through? Sometimes it certainly seems that way. But you are not the only one who has ever come under this attack, so don't give up. It's time for you to put on the whole armor of God, take an aggressive stand against your adversary and get back everything Satan has stolen from you.

1 Peter 5:8a (NAS) says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."

Notice, the Bible says Satan is as a roaring lion; it didn't say he is a lion. The only thing about Satan that resembles a lion is the fact that he roars (or he has a big mouth) and he stalks his prey. He is seeking whom he may devour. He'll try to devour you just before you go to bed, when you wake up, and through out the day. So the Bible says that we must be on guard at all times.

I have learned in my own life experiences that we tend to be most vulnerable right after we've won a victory. If you've been standing, and you've had fiery darts coming your way for quite some time, and that old shield of faith gets heavy with all those darts in it, that helmet of salvation starts leaning to one side, and your gospel shoes keep losing ground; you just want out of this!

Then your prayer begins to sound something like this: "God, I don't care if I overcome anymore, just let me survive, and if I ever get out of this, I promise I'll never use my faith again." But, having done all to stand, you stood! Shaky, but you stood. When you finally win a battle, you have a tendency to want to take a spiritual vacation. So, that's when Satan will attack. Just because you win a battle does not mean you've won the war. It's not over yet.

What Do I Do Next?
Ephesians 6:10 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm, Stand firm!"

Anything less than a firm stand is compromise. Anything less than standing firm is to doubt God's ability to deliver you.

Have you ever felt like the devil quit throwing fiery darts years ago, now it's missiles? I remember one time, when I was in a situation where I had stood and stood and stood. l didn't feel like I could stand anymore. I felt like my helmet was falling off. I felt like I had so many darts in my shield of faith that there was no room for another dart. I mean, my breastplate was just barely on and I'm standing there asking God, "What do I do next?"

And He said, "Rejoice! You've got the devil right where you want him. When you're under the greatest pressure to quit, that's always an indication that the enemy has fired his best shot and if this one doesn't get you, he's finished!" And He said, "Son, you may not feel as strong as you did when you first started this endeavor, but there's one thing you can say to the devil right now. Even though you may be shaky, even though you feel like your armor is falling off, take a look, you are still standing!"

So, if you're under the greatest pressure you've ever been under today, that's a good indication that you've got the devil right where you want him and I want to suggest to you what God suggested to me: Rejoice! Give the Lord a shout!

Did you know that the greatest battle is in your mind? You can be sitting in your living room and the devil convince you in your mind that there's no way you can win. This is impossible. There is no way that this amount of money can come to you in that short amount of time. There is no way that you can ever be healed, you're too far gone. He will continue to bombard your mind until you just accept defeat without putting up a fight.

Well, the Bible says that we are to be sober-minded. We are to have our minds renewed to the Word of God. And, thank God, when the devil comes and he bombard your mind with negative thoughts then you can come right back like rapid fire out of a machine gun, quoting the Word of God and put the enemy in his place.

Don't let pressure, negative reports, two bad phone calls, and three bills in the mail allow you to give up. No way! Don't give the devil the satisfaction of winning without you even putting up a fight.

"Yes, but you don't know what I'm going through!" That's not the issue. The real issue here is: do you know your covenant? Don't even give the devil the pleasure of seeing you depressed. Don't even give him the pleasure of hearing you confess negative things. Just get up in the morning, dance a little jig before God, worship Him, and when the devil says, "Hey, stupid, don't you know you've got a battle going on here?" Just shout, "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get! But when the dust settles, God and I will still be standing!"

You are entitled to be greatly distressed, but you are not entitled to remain greatly distressed. I know what it means to sit down and weep and not have another tear left to shed, but I'm not entitled to stay that way.

You're going to have to become your own best cheerleader. How did David encourage himself? He reminded himself of his covenant with Almighty God. Suddenly, the strength God began to enter him and instead of giving up, the Bible says that he got up, changed his attitude about the situation and said, "Shall I pursue this troop?" And God said, "Not only pursue them, but overtake them, and recover all!"

That's God's plan for you and I today. It is not the will of God that you lose. It's not God's will that Satan take everything you've got. It is the will of God that you get up today, encourage yourself, and say to the devil, "My marching orders from the throne of God are Pursue, Overtake, and Recover All!" It's time for a showdown! Get ready to make an aggressive attack against the adversary and get back everything he has stolen from you!