Atack, attack!

Written by Terry Dashner


Attack, attack!

Terry Dashner……..Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013

Introduction: General Ulysses S. Grant was badly beaten inrepparttar battle of Shiloh, Tennessee. General James McPherson, his aide, reportedrepparttar 151190 loss of half ofrepparttar 151191 Union artillery and almost one-third ofrepparttar 151192 troops duringrepparttar 151193 bloody conflict.

Retreat was Grant’s only option, or so it seemed. Against all odds Grant ordered, “Reformrepparttar 151194 lines and we will attack at dawn. We will take them by surprise.” By nine o’clockrepparttar 151195 next morningrepparttar 151196 South’s troops were being routed byrepparttar 151197 surprise attack fromrepparttar 151198 weary Union troops. It seems thatrepparttar 151199 confederates had felt so secure inrepparttar 151200 previous day’s victory that they failed to stay alert, thus giving up their blood-soaked and hallowed ground.

Someone once said that Christians are most vulnerable torepparttar 151201 enemy’s attack after a great victory. Why is this? Because there is a real tendency among victors to rest on their laurels after victory, instead of securing their lines in vigilance. Complacency kills.

The Essence of this document: There is a real danger inrepparttar 151202 body of Christ to become complacent after battles have been fought and won. And this should not be. May I ask you a question? Are you alert torepparttar 151203 enemy’s schemes against you? Or does complacency define your disposition?

This morning I want to share with you three reasons why complacency makesrepparttar 151204 child of God vulnerable torepparttar 151205 enemy’s attacks. Knowing why complacency happens can help us safe-guard ourselves against it. At all costsrepparttar 151206 Christian should remain vigilant throughout her spiritual journey.

Body of document:I There are several reasons for complacency after a spiritual victory. For one, complacency happens whenrepparttar 151207 one in charge fails to recognize her advantage. The one in charge must seerepparttar 151208 benefit in regrouping and attacking untilrepparttar 151209 enemy is utterly destroyed. Once you win a spiritual battle don’t fold-up shop and retire. Attack! Okay, so you’ve won a battle, pursuerepparttar 151210 enemy until you’ve wonrepparttar 151211 war. In spiritual warfare there are no retreats or awards banquets, only attack. Don’t wait forrepparttar 151212 enemy to hit you, press intorepparttar 151213 kingdom of darkness and fight withrepparttar 151214 Light!

In 1863 President Lincoln was downcast beyond words when General Lee retreated from Gettysburg. In deep despair he penned these words to General George G. Meade ofrepparttar 151215 Union Army: “…my dear general, I do not believe you appreciaterepparttar 151216 magnitude ofrepparttar 151217 misfortune involved in Lee’s escape. He was within your grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes have endedrepparttar 151218 war. As it is,repparttar 151219 war will be prolonged indefinitely.” The letter was never sent.

General George G. Meade failed, inrepparttar 151220 words of Lincoln, to “appreciaterepparttar 151221 magnitude ofrepparttar 151222 misfortune involved in Lee’s escape.” Because Meade let Lee crossrepparttar 151223 Potomac, between July 4 to July 15, 1863, Lee accomplishedrepparttar 151224 impossible and was able to fight again, prolongingrepparttar 151225 war. During this short time, Lee established field hospitals to care forrepparttar 151226 8500 sick and wounded evacuees he brought back with him, many of whom would heal and return to service. He salvaged most of his artillery, returning 6000 wagons and between 30,000 and 40,000 horses and mules. He also brought back 30,000 cattle and 25,000 sheep and thousands of hogs. Whereas this army had been onrepparttar 151227 verge of starvation two months before Gettysburg, he had succeeded in getting supplies enough forrepparttar 151228 war to go on many more months, despite manpower losses. Had Meade crushed Lee’s army inrepparttar 151229 Potomac (flood stage delayedrepparttar 151230 crossing),repparttar 151231 war would have ended earlier. As it turns out,repparttar 151232 war continued for another two years with thousands, upon thousands of war casualties.

Remember this point to safe-guard yourself against complacency: After your spar withrepparttar 151233 enemies of darkness, keep attacking untilrepparttar 151234 Lord directs you to a new campaign. Never retreat and never allow complacency to enter your relationship withrepparttar 151235 Lord. Pressrepparttar 151236 point. Follow through. Take it allrepparttar 151237 way!

II Secondly, complacency comes when we elect to build a port folio, instead of sounding a bugle’s charge. Many inrepparttar 151238 body of Christ are content to relive their past events of victory, instead of “forgetting those things which are behind” and pressing ahead. If you find your conversations about God inrepparttar 151239 past tense, you need to repent of complacency and get inrepparttar 151240 fight of faith.

May I share with you a secret to success for your spiritual progress? It is this: keep moving. Progress along. Don’t stop, and certainly don’t retreat.

Forward movement forrepparttar 151241 believer is permanent. The story is told aboutrepparttar 151242 great Reformer, Martin Luther. One day his son came home from school skipping and singing. “Why are you so happy?” Luther asked him. “Today we finishedrepparttar 151243 catechism,” answered his son. “My, but you are far ahead of me,” said Luther. “I’ve been studyingrepparttar 151244 catechism all my life, and I haven’t finished it yet.”

7 Hot Tips for Life Improvement

Written by Beth Scott


Have you ever imagined that life could be a lot better and more fullfiIling than yours is right now? Are you eager to learn a life improvement technique that will make it so?

If you are read on.

I am going to lay down 7 simple steps for your life improvement plan. Whether you implementrepparttar life improvement steps I give you is your decision alone.

Life Improvement Tip 1 This tip will seem quite obvious and simple to you, but you'll be amazed how few actually takerepparttar 151082 effort to do it.

Unless you're not a morning person this life improvement tip will drastically changerepparttar 151083 quality of your day towardsrepparttar 151084 positive.

Setting you in a good mood to facerepparttar 151085 days challenges and adversities.

Get Up Early! This may sound more like a way to ruin your day by putting you in an awful mood, but bear with me on this.

To be able to accomplish this and still avoid losing any any precious sleep. You can go to bed just a half hour earlier since to start with you only need to get up a half hour earlier than you usually do.

To aid this purpose you should definitely use an alarm clock with persistent beeping.

You may be wondering by now just what it is that you're supposed to do in this extra half hour when you would normally be dozing peacefully in bed.

For different peoplerepparttar 151086 answer can vary slightly. To start with you need to fully awaken yourself and get rid of early morning sluggishness.

To suit this purpose you can take a cold or slightly cool shower. Or you might try doing stretches combined with deep breathing.

You might skiprepparttar 151087 shower if just splashing cold water on your face is sufficient to wake you. Use whatever works for you.

After you're completely alert step outside of your house, apartment, etc... And if it's early enough and you have a clear view, watchrepparttar 151088 sunrise.

This simple but immensely satisfying act will lift your spirits. If you're unable to do this, take a brisk walk, jog or run depending upon what you prefer and what you're physically capable of.

When you've been out for 20 minutes you can head inside and commence with whatever morning ritual you normally have.

Life Improvement Tip 2 Now this is extremely important but deceitfully obvious. Eat Breakfast.

To start your day out onrepparttar 151089 right foot this is practically a necessity. You needrepparttar 151090 energy this will provide you with to accomplish your daily tasks.

If you are overly pressed for time you might try cereal and milk or a few granola bars, even a few pieces of fresh fruit would do.

Any of these are better alternatives than skipping breakfast.

This is also a good suggestion for those watching their weight, because if you skip breakfast you're more likely to binge later inrepparttar 151091 day.

Life Improvement Tip 3 When you go places, even if you find it a bit difficult at first, smile more at other people. Just curve your lips up a bit as you make eye contact with another human being.

It's really that simple. This will not only lift your spirits as you see a good many people smile back, but it will lift other people's as well. Evenrepparttar 151092 ones who are too shy to smile back.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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