CHAPTER 5
Resisting Your
Father’s Challenger

Briana stood there in disbelief. It took Jessica to remind her that everybody was scattering, and it was time to go.

“Let’s go Briana,” Jessica said. “The show’s over.”

“This isn’t a show, Jess. Are we going to just stand by and let this happen? Doesn’t this bother you at all? What if that was us in a few months?”

“That could never be us. No matter what happens, I will always be here for you.”

Briana smiled and hugged her best friend. “I know you will. It just makes me sad to see them like this. And now, Taylor seems to be completely out of control. I can’t do nothing while one of our team members is about to get hurt.”

“What do you mean? I actually think Kaitlyn can take her, don’t you? She’s one of our strongest! Remember that time when we were working on the pyramid for the game against — “

“Jessica! This is no time to crack jokes. I think we really need to take this seriously.”

Kaitlyn James and Taylor Dawson were the talk of the day. Everyone was anticipating Friday night after the eighth grade boys’ football game. The two girls, once best friends, were set to fight. Kaitlyn had emerged from last spring’s cheer tryouts victoriously, making the squad. Taylor did not.

Briana had heard of competition splitting up friendships before. Yet, she’d believed nothing could divide Kaitlyn and Taylor. The two had been inseparable their entire lives. That is until summer cheer camp. Kaitlyn connected with new friends from across the country, and she grew closer to girls right from Live Oak Junior High. Girls like Briana.

One day at practice after school, Briana noticed that Kaitlyn had less pep in her step than she typically did.

“Are you feeling okay, Kaitlyn?”

“Sort of. It’s really cool that you’re asking. I actually miss having someone to talk to on days like today.”

“Well, you can talk to me if you want. I know I’m not Taylor, but — “

“No offense, Briana, but that’s what I mean. I miss Taylor. She won’t even talk to me now.”

“Seriously?” Briana asked. Kaitlyn nodded her head. “Why not?”

Kaitlyn explained that when they’d returned home from summer cheer camp, Taylor seemed critical about the stories Kaitlyn wanted to share. “It was like she had something bad to say about everything I tried to tell her,” she said.

“Did you try listening?” said Briana. “It was probably hard on her trying to figure out what she was going to do without cheerleading.”

“I really did, Briana. I asked her questions about what she had done while I was gone. I tried to make plans for us to spend time together. And I called her every single day, just like normal.” Yet, nothing she’d done seemed to be enough to keep their friendship alive. Soon, their once rock-solid relationship became nothing more than a faded memory.

Briana’s mind flashed back and forth between her conversation with Kaitlyn and the unfortunate incident occurring right before her eyes. Even knowing the girls’ history, she felt they were without reason to fight. She thought, why didn’t they fight to keep their friendship alive instead?

For weeks, she’d watched them casually greeting each other in the hallways when they passed each other. Silence followed that, and then Taylor’s visible absence from the football games and pep rallies. Now finally, something more had brought the former friends to the point of wanting to actually exchange blows — well, at least one of them. Briana was there when Taylor issued the challenge after the morning pep rally.

“You know,” Kaitlyn said, “you’re jealous, Taylor. You were never my true friend. Why couldn’t you just be happy for me when I made it, even though you didn’t?”

“Me? Jealous of you? I don’t think so! If I’m not mistaken, you’re the one going behind my back, sending notes to my real best friend about what a loser you think I am! You’re so afraid you can’t even say it to my face! What’s the deal?”

The growing crowd waited for Kaitlyn to answer the question. Did she lack the courage to confront Taylor directly? During the pause, Briana prayed that somehow the scene would end. She hated seeing Kaitlyn and Taylor at odds, knowing that only a few months earlier they were the coolest pair of friends at Live Oak. Well, besides her and Jess.

Despite Briana’s prayers, and spurred on by the antics of Austin Thomas, the argument kept heating up. Austin squeezed his way from the back of the crowd to the front, standing right next to Kaitlyn. He held his hand out like a talk show host, extending the microphone in front of Kaitlyn’s mouth. “Yeah, so what’s the deal?” Austin asked. “You too scared to tell it like it is to Taylor’s face?” The crowd laughed, and Kaitlyn ended her silence.

“Anything I have ever needed to tell Taylor, I always have.” Kaitlyn looked directly at her ex-bff. “And I always will. I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Taylor reached in the rhinestone studded back pocket of her jeans, pulling out a piece of folded notebook paper. She unfolded the paper, waving it in the air. Briana saw that cursive handwriting in neon pink ink filled the space between its light blue lines. Kaitlyn always signed everything in pink and used a heart shape to dot the I in her name.

Kaitlyn snatched the piece of paper from Taylor’s hand and started reading the letter. “I don’t know where you got this or who wrote it, but it wasn’t me. I don’t have time to waste writing notes about you, so go yell at someone else.” Throwing Taylor’s so-called evidence of Kaitlyn’s betrayal up in the air, she turned her back and walked away. “This is stupid. I am so done.”

Taylor yelled to make sure Kaitlyn would hear her. “How about after the game tonight? Will you have time then? Or will you still be too scared to own up to your words and face me then too? You are such a coward!”

Kaitlyn waved her hand, disregarding Taylor’s insult. “Whatever, Taylor. It’s like you’re punishing me for something that isn’t my fault,” Kaitlyn said. “Don’t you get it? I didn’t write some stupid letter about you, and I’m not the one who cut you from the squad!”

“You never did know when to close that mouth of yours,” said Taylor. “I know how to help you keep your mouth closed though. See you after the game.”

The cheers of the crowd gathered around the girls was deafening to Briana. While most of the other kids seemed excited about the prospect of Kaitlyn and Taylor fighting, Briana was determined to keep the girls from battling it out. She thought, should I report Taylor for bullying? Maybe I can talk to Taylor myself. Who really wrote that stupid note? What can I do to help?

Daughter, You Decide

What do you think Briana can do to help? What would you do if you were in her situation? Do you think this is a case of bullying?

Okay, that’s enough, Briana thought. She spoke up. “Taylor, maybe there’s a better way — “

“Briana, this is none of your business. It’s between me and Kaitlyn only.”

“Kaitlyn is my business … and so are you, remember? I know you’re hurting too, but this is not — “

“Oh, I’m just fine. But you’re about to be in a world of pain too, just like Kaitlyn, if you don’t back off, Briana. I’ll see you tonight,” she said, before taking a couple of steps away from Bree. Taylor paused and then faced her former friend. “Besides, why should you care … and what do you know anyway?”

Briana’s Box

Wow! What in the world just happened! Have you ever been sandwiched in the middle of a bad situation between two people? No fun, right? Briana’s goal was simply to be a good leader and friend by helping reconcile Taylor and Kaitlyn. Unfortunately, she encountered resistance as she became involved between the clashing of two warring Live Oak Lions!

By voting her cheer captain for the year, Briana’s cheer peers had honored her with the role of leadership. To them, she exemplified the qualities of a strong leader. One of the primary characteristics of a good leader is her ability to encourage the team. A strong leader is one who builds up and motivates each member toward success. Here’s why.

Briana has learned the power of one. After months of practicing cheer stunts and building pyramids, she has learned that if one of them is hurting, injured, or not doing well for any reason, the squad cannot build. On the other hand, if one of them is doing well and really excited about something, that joy spreads to the rest of the group! One person really can make a difference, for better or worse.

Did you know that you are a leader, just like Briana? When you become his daughter, Father God gives you a position of leadership. You may be leading your younger siblings in your family at home, the youth of the church, or a club at school. Whatever your leadership opportunity, Father God trusts you, by his grace and with love, to encourage and build up, not tear down, the people you lead.

Just as Briana learned, whether the family of God successfully builds and grows depends on the condition of each of the individual family members. When anyone of the family is hurting, ailing, or unable to do his or her part, the entire group suffers with that person. At the same time, when one of God’s children is doing well and is happy, we’re all happy! The attitude and condition of one person will ultimately affect the condition of the entire family.

Do you think Briana has a relationship to those people that she does not lead on the squad? You’re right! She sure does. To those people, like Taylor Dawson, Briana is still a friend. Because Taylor failed to make the team, Briana was no longer Taylor’s leader. Yet, she did attempt to help Taylor as a friend would, by trying to resolve her accusations against Kaitlyn without resorting to violence. Here’s why.

Briana understood that Taylor’s removal from the cheer squad hurt. More than that, Taylor also felt not being a part of the team would mean the loss of her best friend. That’s enough to put any girl in a really bad mood! Briana realized that when it feels like you’ve been kicked to the sidelines of life, you can take the disappointment, anger, and frustration that you feel out on other people. Sometimes, even the people you actually love the most.

Father God trusts you with the people you do not lead as well, Faithgirl. Briana befriended Taylor, even though she wasn’t a cheer family member. In the same way, God wants you to live friendly toward those people who are not a part of his family of faith. Like Briana did with Taylor, you can ask God to help you see beyond the way people are acting and try to understand how they feel. When you consider circumstances from someone else’s perspective, and then take the action God gives you to solve his or her problem, it’s called compassion. Compassion is a major attribute of Father God’s character.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

— 2 Corinthians 1:3

Initially, it might seem that your friendliness and compassion is unsuccessful. Do you remember how Taylor turned on Briana? It seemed like Taylor was uninterested in hearing what Briana had to say at all! Yet, Taylor paused to think about Briana’s words. In that brief moment of thought, she questioned why Briana cared and what Briana knew.

When you care about hurting people like Taylor Dawson, and you take time to show it, those people want to know your reason for even caring. Curiosity about you, why you care, and what you know is good. Do you want to know why? You are your Father’s daughter!

Being the much-loved daughter of Father God means caring about what he cares about. What Father God cares about most is hurting, broken people who are not following his Son, Jesus Christ, to him. They do not know him. When you become a compassionate friend to such people, and they start asking you questions, you have the chance to tell them that you care because Father God cares. The truth that you know is that the Father loves them too!

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

— 2 Corinthians 5:19–20

Daughter Deed

Bullying is serious business. Be sure to tell your parents, an adult counselor at school, or another grown-up you trust if you or someone you know is being bullied. Being a Faithgirl, you also understand that Father God makes the difference, even in a bad situation like bullying. Can you think of anyone you know who regularly bullies or picks fights with people? Have you ever thought about why she or he acts so mean? Spend a few minutes talking to Father God about that person. Ask him if he wants you to help him or her. Ask him how he wants you to do it. Then, will you do a daughter deed, and write that person a friendly letter? Include why you think they act that way. Tell them how much God loves them. Your letter is not for sharing with that person, it’s between you and God. Each day, continue to pray for your friend. As Father God gives you grace, your chance will come to tell him or her why you care and what you know!

As you continue thinking about Briana’s dilemma, you know that initially she was uninvolved in this whole mess! She was just passing through the last of the students lingering after the pep rally, happily mixing with the crowd, until Taylor and Kaitlyn’s public dispute attracted Briana attention. Eventually though, Briana’s loyalty to her relationship with Kaitlyn made it impossible for her to remain disengaged. Briana made a decision to defend the welfare and interests of the Live Oak Lion with whom she was connected — her fellow cheer mate, Kaitlyn. Here’s why.

Briana knew that she and the squad have to stick together at all costs. As much as she understood how Taylor was feeling, she refused to start acting like her and adopting her unkind ways. Briana and Kaitlyn were a part of the same cheer family, and Briana had to prove her loyalty to the squad and its mission of spreading Live Oak Junior High spirit among the students.

God has a mission too, Faithgirl, and you have a role to play in its fulfillment! That mission involves conflict. As God’s daughter, you are involved in a conflict that you didn’t ask to be a part of too. Until now, you’ve pretty much just happily followed your family and friends along, being the best Faithgirl you know how to be! As God’s daughter though, you’ll soon recognize that you’re just like Briana — right smack dab in the middle of a war zone asking yourself, Wow! What just happened?

What happened is that by the nature of your relationship with Father God and Jesus Christ, you inherited an enemy. Just as Briana engaged in the fight because she was Kaitlyn’s cheer sister, you are now engaged in a battle because you are Jesus Christ’s sister. Your big brother, Jesus Christ, also named the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, has an enemy, called Satan. Because he hates Jesus Christ, Satan goes after all Jesus’s siblings — including you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

— 1 Peter 5:8

Yes, Faithgirl, becoming a much-loved daughter of Father God also means becoming a well-equipped soldier in an intense spiritual fight. 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.

So, you say, but I’m not looking for a fight. Increase the peace! Not an option, girlfriend. The fight is looking for you because you belong to the Father. Just like Briana ultimately had to step up and prove her loyalty to the squad by standing up for Kaitlyn, you have to be loyal to the family of faith by standing up for Jesus Christ.

Are you ready to rumble? Well hold on; slow your roll, sister! Maybe you could use just a bit more information about the battle, don’t you think? As you read on, you will learn that the spiritual battle you are fighting with your Father God is:

• Invisible

• Interdependent

• Internal

• Intense

• Inevitable

Believing with Briana

The battle between God and the Enemy is invisible. Remember, the beauty of believing and having faith in Father God is that there is more to life than what your eyes can see. The things that you can see are actually fading away. It’s the things that you cannot see with your eyes that are real. This is true of the battle daughters of God face too. You are unable to see the forces of darkness and evil working against you, but you will certainly experience their negative effects in your life if you fail to resist them.

Guess you had better learn how to resist then, you think? Follow the example of your big brother. If there’s anybody who knows how to defeat Satan, it’s Jesus Christ. He’s the one the Enemy really hates anyway, not you. As much as you will struggle against the Enemy, it won’t be to the same degree as Jesus. He resisted to the point of pouring out blood! The wounding of Jesus Christ on the cross was a bloody sacrifice unlike any other. Yet, the cross wasn’t the only place Jesus dropped his blood.

One other place where Jesus bled gives you a clue on the importance of remembering that you’re fighting a hidden, invisible enemy who must be resisted in a hidden, unseen way. One dark night, Jesus went up to a mountain he visited often, called the Mount of Olives, where he enjoyed spending time talking with Father God.

In that special time and place of prayer to his Father, Jesus shared how much agony he was experiencing, knowing that his bloody death on the cross was the only way he could defeat Satan. He prayed that if there were another way, Father God would allow him to do it that way instead. But he also prayed that the Father do what he wanted to do, not what Jesus himself wanted.

Knowing that his Son wanted to please him and complete his plan, Father God responded by sending helping angels to give Jesus the strength to pray even harder. Jesus prayed so hard, in fact, that his sweat and blood mixed and poured from his face as he reached up with all of his heart for Father God.

There, on that high, hidden mountaintop with Father God and only a few disciples, Jesus Christ fought his adversary with heartfelt, agonizing prayer. That’s how you will fight this invisible war too — with perseverant, unseen prayer, in a secret place, with a handful of your sisters and brothers who are following Jesus Christ.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

— Ephesians 6:18

Your sisters and brothers in the body of Jesus Christ are a critical part of the battle, because the fight is an interdependent one. If you want to maintain the victory that your big brother, Jesus Christ, won for you with his blood, then you have to depend on other sisters and brothers who are fighting with you. Here’s why.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

— Ecclesiastes 4:12

It is much easier for the Enemy to defeat you if you try to stand alone. Yet, if you stay connected and fight with your siblings in the family of faith, you can defend each other. When Father God first created human beings, he determined it was important for us to have help. Remember this, Faithgirl, no matter what it looks like or how you feel, you’re never alone in the family of faith! But the Enemy of Father God sure will try to get you thinking you are alone and in this thing by yourself.

In fact, Satan launches a full-scale assault on the way you think, making the battle an internal one. The place where you have to fight the good fight is in your mind. That’s why Father God calls his enemy the Father of Lies — because he tries to fill your mind with wrong information. Your protection against the false words of the Enemy is knowing and believing the truth of what Father God is saying instead. Father God has spoken in the past, and he continues to speak to his sons and daughters today.

In the old days, God spoke to our ancestors through a special, limited group of people he chose to hear him and then tell the rest of his people what God said. They recorded their experiences with God in writing, and you have much to learn from reading what they wrote in the Bible.

These days, God speaks to you, and all of his children, through the life and words of his Son, Jesus Christ. God is willing to speak and share truth with anyone who is willing to follow Jesus Christ to him! You can study and focus on the words and teachings of Jesus Christ in the Bible too.

As you pray for him to do it, God’s Spirit will animate Jesus’s words in your heart. They will become more than just printed words on a page. There will instead be a spark within you. That light lets you know God has just spoken to you! The words Jesus has spoken are full of the Spirit and life. It’s that life and those words that help you overcome the Enemy.

Still, the fight to overcoming is a hard one! This battle is intense, filled with extraordinary challenges and obstacles. Father God uses the battles to make your faith as strong as it can be. Satan uses them to try to accomplish the vicious goal he has for the people God created. That wicked purpose is to steal, to kill, and to destroy the spiritual life with Father God that walking with Jesus Christ makes possible.

If you are not already following Jesus Christ, Satan’s first objective is to steal your spiritual potential. With God-limited and temporary influence in the natural world and circumstances around you, the Enemy tries to keep you distracted from the reality of the spiritual world, and your need for Jesus Christ and Father God. Yet, when your heart begins to think about God and his ways, you’re on your way to new life!

The Enemy knows that the best way to ensure you never follow Jesus to Father God is to prevent you from thinking about God in the first place. In the mind of such a person, it’s as if God doesn’t even exist! This lack of consideration of God is a spiritually dead path you want to avoid.

As a Faithgirl, you are not even trying to go there! Thankfully, you’re already following the way to life, Jesus Christ! Still, be aware, sister! The Enemy still has two other tactics waiting for you. Since his attempts to steal your spiritual potential were unsuccessful, now he works to kill your promise of reaching your full potential in God.

The Enemy slaughters God’s promises and your life with him when subtle, wrong beliefs gradually fill your mind. After much time passes, these little thoughts grow so strong that they hold you back from moving ahead with your big brother, Jesus Christ. In the end, it’s just as if a murderer has snuffed out the life of goodness that Father God promised you.

Sometimes attempted assassins are unsuccessful, though. Observant, alert people on the lookout for illegal activity often thwart their plans. You, Faithgirl, can be one of those people for Father God! When you are, there’s only one thing left for the Enemy to do. When he’s failed to steal from or execute you, Satan tries to destroy the abundant life that’s yours when Jesus Christ is your escort.

What he could not steal or kill, the Enemy will lastly attempt to ruin. Faithgirl, what you don’t know can hurt you. When you do not know what’s on God’s mind, the Enemy has a chance to sneak in and destroy the good work God is doing in your life. Father God knows everything about everything! If you learn what God knows, you can stop the Enemy from destroying your spiritual life!

Just as you do with any other person, you learn what God knows by asking him. As you invest your time in growing the relationship through prayer and quiet times alone with him, he sees that he can trust you. God wants to share information about his plans with his children.

“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it — the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ “

— Jeremiah 33:2–3

Know this, Faithgirl. Satan is cunning and covert, deliberately cloaking his activity in darkness, masking his evil as good. Yet, it’s not his plans that are at work; it is what Father God has put in motion. On your own, it’s impossible for you to know what God is planning and doing. But, you’re not on your own anymore, are you? You’re sticking with Jesus Christ, and he’s leading you all the way to the Father. Because of your relationship with your big brother, Jesus, you can know.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

— John 15:15

Knowing what’s on God’s mind allows you to flip the script on Satan and ruin the ideas and plans that he makes in opposition to Jesus Christ.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

— 2 Corinthians 10:3–5

If you’re starting to feel a little intimidated, rest assured that allegiance to Jesus Christ is the result of all this fighting. In the end, Jesus Christ and other sons and daughters (yes, including you!) win! Yet, you still have to endure the heated process of standing and fighting, Faithgirl. You cannot avoid this war. As Father God’s daughter, your participation in this struggle is inevitable. Here’s why.

Father God is a fair Father. As he rules the world, he desires to pour out justice on his creation, treating all people alike. When Adam, the first human being God created, decided to do things differently than the way God had directed him, Adam experienced separation from God. Remember, paying more attention to the cares of life than to God leads to spiritual death. Every human being inherited Adam’s tendency to live like God doesn’t exist, disobey God’s directions, and do things our own way instead of God’s. So, one man’s error made us all error-prone!

In the beginning when Father God made Adam, his nature was just like God’s — no errors, slip-ups, mistakes, or thoughts of himself whatsoever. But the Enemy caused Adam’s character to change.

A different man decided he wanted to correct Adam’s error and get him back to the original condition in which God made him. Do you have an idea about who that man might be? You got it! The man who wanted to fix Adam’s error was Jesus Christ. He loves us so much that he endured the punishment for Adam’s failure that God required in his love for fairness.

Father God looked at the situation with fairness in his heart and mind. If the actions of one man caused the problem in the first place, then one man’s actions could also solve the problem in the end. That is God’s justice. So, as a relative of Adam, you took on his nature. Bummer, right? Well, here’s the good news! In all his fairness, Father God promises that when you’re a daughter following Jesus Christ to him, you take on Jesus’ nature, and become newly made in the way Father God originally intended.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

— 2 Corinthians 5:17

And Jesus’ nature is something fierce, Faithgirl! The firstborn Son of God is a warrior. Father God has declared that his Son, Jesus Christ, is the King of Kings! All great kings know what it takes to fight and win war. Jesus Christ knows this far better than anyone else does.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

— Psalm 24:8

Praise Prompt

Psalm 18 describes how God helps his daughters fight! Read it in its entirety if you can, and pay close attention to the verses below. As you read it, think about learning how to win your struggles and challenges in life just like Jesus Christ did. Thank Father God that he teaches you how to fight like a Faithgirl and win!

Psalm 18:29–49

With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them —

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

Are you still feeling up to the fight? Good! Father God has given you everything you need to keep from losing. Come on now, Faithgirl! You know your daddy would never send you out to fight unless he knew your foe’s defeat was a sure thing! Briana’s tidbits show you the three principles you need to know to prevent the Enemy from stealing, killing, and destroying you. You’re going to need:

• Faith

• Hope

• Love

You Ready? Okay! F-I-G-H-T! Fight, let’s fight!

Briana’s Tidbit #1: Faith

Do you remember what the Enemy’s first strategy is? Right, to steal the potential for spiritual life by keeping your mind distracted from the existence of God. Remember, the world that we perceive with our five senses is like a shadow. It’s not the real thing, but it suggests the real thing. Satan tries to keep your mind on the shadow that you see in this world, so you won’t pursue the reality in God. Yet, Satan is so not in control! In his love for you, Father God gives you faith to squash the Enemy’s efforts to divert your attention from spiritual life with God.

Faith is an enormous gift from God. When you receive faith from God, he’s investing your heart with the holding capacity to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is his Son. But, faith that comes from God includes more than room in your heart to acknowledge that Jesus is God’s Son. Faith from God also bends your heart toward confidence in everything else that is true because Jesus is Father God’s Son. When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and you are entirely reliant on Jesus for your welfare and the quality of life you experience, you are walking in the faith of God. This faith is what causes you to rise above the natural world around you and emerge as a spiritual person.

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

— 1 John 5:4–5

Would you like to know why the belief that Jesus is the Son of God is powerful enough to overcome evil? Because by identifying Jesus as a Son, Father God made clear that Jesus was a reflection of himself. Throughout his life, Jesus referred to himself using various designations. Other people identified him by an assortment of names too. Yet, when God introduced Jesus Christ to humanity, he wanted to show that to see and experience Jesus was to see and experience a representation of himself. So, he said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

Hopefully, your heart is feeling that spark, illuminating for you why it is so important to understand what it means to be God’s beautiful daughter. The Father called Jesus “Son” because Jesus represented God to the world. Father God calls you “daughter” because as you follow Jesus Christ, you become a mirror image of him too.

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

— Ephesians 1:4–6

Above everything else, the Enemy wants to wipe out the conditions of daughterhood and sonship. After Father God announced that Jesus was his Son, Satan immediately challenged Jesus’ sonship. He continues to dispute the relationships of daughters and sons to Father God today. Yet, when you receive God’s faith, and believe and rely on the fact that Jesus is God’s Son, you defeat the Enemy’s plot to rob you. Instead, you receive an entire package of good benefits from the Father who loves Jesus and you!

Over time, Father God by his Spirit gently guides you through lifelong discovery and exploration of the riches you will inherit as his daughter and fellow beneficiary with Jesus. With faith from God, you have a deep treasure chest of everything you will ever need to conquer every obstacle the Enemy sets before you because you follow his Son. And Father God gave the Son all his own power and the permission to overthrow Satan once and for all!

So, by all means, receive the faith, girl!

Briana’s Tidbit #2: Hope

Overcoming the thief means Father God turned your mind toward him and gave you the faith to prevent Satan from stealing your potential for a rich spiritual life. That is fantastic! The Enemy’s no quitter, though. He may back off for a while, but he will return when he thinks he has a better chance of taking you down.

When he returns, he does it vigorously. This time, he’ll be aiming to extinguish the spiritual life that you do have. He does it by targeting your mind with wrong beliefs about your future with God. Initially, these faulty expectations ignite your imagination, infusing you with excitement and anticipation about what is ahead. Eventually though, they burn your heart to a crisp, leaving you disappointed and wondering why a father who loves you would do something like that to you.

Dear sister, the Father who loves you is innocent of creating such disappointment. It is the Father of Lies who derails daughters from the destined future God has in mind. Rather than allowing the Enemy’s false expectations to misdirect you, God gives you what you need to smother every faulty flame launched at your mind. Hope is what halts the Enemy’s hurling of erroneous expectations.

Hope is confident expectation about what is going to happen in your future. With hope, you sincerely believe that something you’re waiting for is going to occur in your life, although you have yet to see it. Think of it like this. Has one of your parents ever promised you something? When it did not happen immediately, what did you do? You kept asking them “When?” Right! After you kept begging (and they told you to stop whining, right?), you finally experienced exactly what they promised. That is hope.

Father God makes promises to you too. Remember, when Father God invited you to come and receive his gift of faith, it was an enormous package filled with promises. One of those promises is a hope, one single accomplishment you can eagerly anticipate is going occur in the future.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

— Ephesians 4:4–6

That one hope that God gives to daughters and sons along with faith is this: because Jesus Christ lives in you, you can expect that in the future when Father God displays his firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, to the entire world as the outstanding, excellent, and supreme ruler who God honors above all, God will honor you too. Sounds like an appointment worth keeping, right?

Then stay on track, Faithgirl, and avoid the disappointing false expectations of the Enemy. Embrace the one true hope that comes from Father God.

Briana’s Tidbit #3: Love

When you’ve smoldered the attempts of the Enemy to snuff out your spiritual life, it’s because you held on to the hope that comes from Father God. Way to protect your mind from false expectations! The Enemy still has one trick up his sleeve, though. Some tricksters just don’t know when to stop!

Satan will stop at nothing to see you ruined. With this final tactic, his goal is to tear down the spiritual life that God has built in you. Hatred is what Satan feels for the Father and for Jesus, the Son. If the world around you seems to mistreat you because you are walking with Jesus, it is the Enemy reminding you that he hates your Father and brother. But, your brother said to keep this in mind about hatred:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

— John 15:18–19 (NKJV)

Jesus’s words also tell you how to respond to and overcome the Enemy’s painful reminders of his hatred for God. Do you want to know how a true daughter of the heavenly Father responds to hatred and persecution? She loves her enemies, she prays for those her mistreat her, and she does good even to people who hate her.

Love is graphic.

Love is patient. You wait until that person understands how much God loves you.

Love is kind. You are good to others because Father God is good to you.

It does not envy. You are grateful for how God has blessed you.

It does not boast. You accomplish nothing without God’s help.

It is not proud. You rely on God for the strength that you need.

It does not dishonor others. You cherish all people God created.

It is not self-seeking. You give what God gave you to others.

It is not easily angered. You are peaceful because God’s in control.

It keeps no record of wrongs. You forgive because you need God to forgive you.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. You are happy because God makes hearts free.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. You will fight to the finish for the faith!

Faithgirl, love never fails.

Beginning with Briana

In the past, maybe you’ve failed to see your journey of faith as a fight. Is Briana’s experience with Kaitlyn and Taylor’s scuffle making you think about God differently? Hopefully, you understand that there will be times of uncomfortable struggle in your life, yet God only uses those times to bring you closer to him.

If you want to fight like a Faithgirl right now, the first step is to enlist for combat. Remember, it’s faith, hope, and love that defeat evil schemes to steal, kill, and destroy. Start by asking Father God to fill your heart with faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, and watch out! You’re on your way to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Daughter, Declare Your Prayer

Father, thank you for helping me trust in your Son, Jesus Christ! I want to fight with all the might you give me for the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When the battle gets tough and the Enemy attacks my mind, make my thoughts turn to your faith, hope, and love. Love never fails!