Celebrating a New Release + a Giveaway – Sustaining Life’s Victories

Today is the release day of our new compilation, Sustaining Life’s Victories. How can we refuse temptation and not go back to old ways? Thirty-one authors share forty Bible-based strategies in this book. Here is an excerpt that takes five minutes or less to read, and below you’ll find details for our giveaway. Victory is possible because God makes it possible.

A Power That Resists

by Katy Kauffman

It attacked my baby tree. It wasn’t enough that this woodpecker had attacked the new metal vent caps on the roof. Now he was going for my precious baby tree. I call it a baby, because this fifteen-foot tree is special to me. For thirteen years, he didn’t grow much, and then a few years ago, poof! His branches went a bit wild, finally growing, and I didn’t have the heart to trim them.

I watched as the woodpecker attempted to drill a hole in this tree. But then, he looked at the tree and flew away. I realized it was the life of the tree that made the woodpecker retreat. Instead of finding rotten wood to carve a home out of, he found life.

Our spiritual enemy Satan tries incessantly to find a weak spot in our lives. In our thinking, our desires, our relationships, and our fortitude. He wants to drill a hole in our joy and peace. While he can never inhabit a believer’s heart, he and his forces will do everything they can to harass a child of God. The beautiful but pesky woodpecker taught me something about spiritual victory—it’s the life in a soul that makes the enemy retreat. It’s Jesus’ life within us that enables us to be overcomers. He gives us a power to resist the attacks of the enemy.

Free at Last

In Mark Chapter 9, we see the power of Jesus to free us from Satan’s influence. A desperate father brought his son to Jesus’ disciples, but they could not cast out the demon who possessed the boy. The father then met Jesus and didn’t yet understand what His power was capable of.

The father pleaded, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us” (Mark 9:22 ESV*). Jesus gave him hope—“All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). Faith in Jesus gives hope when what we long for seems impossible. And Jesus even helps us to trust Him. The father replied, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NKJV).

Jesus’ next words are some of the most liberating ever spoken—“Come out of him and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25). This boy experienced total freedom from this demon. Free at last. Free forever.

What has Jesus freed you from? Some tactic Satan used against you? Was it negative thoughts? A harassing spirit trying to stop you in your tracks? Wrong influences? Jesus has the power to free us and keep us free from the enemy’s negative influences. We have a part to play in staying free.

A Choice to Make

In Nehemiah Chapter 4, the Jews had a choice to make. To either cave in to the enemy’s threats and stop rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, or to continue the work. They chose to fortify their broken city. They had once been in captivity in a foreign land, a discipline for their continued arrogance and rebellion against God. But then God brought them home. It was time to rebuild their homeland and time to rebuild their relationship with God.

The people “had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6). Do we?

Are we willing to work hard to build a wall of protection against the devices and influence of the enemy? The stones of this spiritual wall are made out of truth, and the mortar is love. With each Bible verse we take to heart, we build a wall that will guard us against spiritual attacks. With each decision we make to love God and to love people, we fortify our determination to live for God, not self and not the world.

Walking in sustained victory in the Christian life means that we walk in sustained fellowship with Jesus. His life flows through us and strengthens our commitment to truth and love, to God and His ways. The next time you feel tempted or threatened by our spiritual enemy, cling to Jesus and flourish in His truth and love. Draw near to God, leaving Satan with the sole option of retreat.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
(James 4:7)

We’ve Come Too Far

Even after great spiritual victories, I’ve grown weary. With each section of “wall” built, the enemy tries a new way to tear my life down.

But I’m no longer a hollow tree. I have Jesus and His life within me. There’s just not enough room for Satan’s tactics to work in my life—something I need to remind myself of from time to time.

We’ve come too far to act like a hollow tree that a sinister woodpecker can nest in. As we stay close to Jesus, His power beats strongly within us. He becomes the very center of our hearts, a mighty power that resists any and all ploys of the enemy.

So don’t revert, dear friend. We’ve come too far to revert to old, damaging influences. We can flourish in the power of Jesus and His love that keeps us tethered to what is good. The progress we’ve made is worth protecting.

Questions: (for personal reflection or group discussion)

1. Have you ever been desperate like the father in Mark Chapter 9? If you could summarize in one word the desperate need that you felt, what was it?
2. Did you see God provide what you needed? If so, what was your part in the process, and what was His? If the need is ongoing, how have you seen God help along the way?
3. What Bible verse or promise from God has given renewed strength and life to your soul?
4. If you are facing a particular temptation right now, how would Jesus’ power, love, or truth help you to refuse it?
5. What would it look like for Jesus’ life to flourish within us—that who He is and His power and purposes give us what we need? What could we do? Who could we become?

*All Scripture verses are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
**This excerpt is from Sustaining Life’s Victories (Buford, Georgia: Lighthouse Bible Studies, 2024), 79-82.

About Our Book

Sustaining Life’s Victories: 40 Bible-Based Strategies for Overcoming Temptation is a collection of proven strategies, helpful reminders, and welcome resources to help you overcome temptation, no matter how cunning, camouflaged, or powerful it is.

The messages in this book remind us of the formidable defenses that God has given us—defenses that never lose their effectiveness or have to be replaced.

Use these Scriptures, stories, and strategies to build for yourself a series of fortifications to defeat temptation and sustain your victories.

This book can be used for personal study or group discussion. A short leader guide is provided. Available from Lighthouse Bible Studies and Amazon.

Our Contributors

We are grateful for all of the authors who contributed to this book.

Book Giveaway

Comment on this post by Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 9 pm ET to enter our giveaway. Everyone who comments will have their name put in a hat, and we’ll draw a winner at random. We will email the winner that night, and put their first name and the initial of their last name on our Facebook page. US addresses only please.

Leave a comment by answering this:

What difference does it make in our lives if we let Jesus’ life flourish within us? What could we do, and who could we become?