05.20.14

Give us this day our daily bread. - Luke 11:3 NKJV. 

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” - Luke 9:23 NKJV. 

I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. - 1 Corinthians 15:31 NKJV. 

Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my door. - Proverbs 8:34 NKJV. 

If you do a search on google for “‘daily battle’ depression” you will find 38,000 results. Here are the search results of other topics:

“‘daily battle’ porn” 105,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ alcohol” 173,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ meth” 47,700 results.

“‘daily battle’ heroin” 54,600 results.

“‘daily battle’ cocaine” 34,500 results.

“‘daily battle’ crack” 181,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ hydrocodone” 33,700 results.

“‘daily battle’ oxycontin” 8,010 results.

“‘daily battle’ inhalant abuse” 16,900 results.

“‘daily battle’ anger” 374,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ pain” 463,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ anxiety” 215,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ finances” 223,000 results.

“‘daily battle’ relationships” 404,000 results. 

One thing is for sure and that is that there are a lot of battles in this life being fought every day. It appears that many have discovered that just because you win the battle one day, it does not mean the war is over. Because tomorrow, there will be another battle with whatever your personal antagonist may be. 

Why do we fight these battles? Because we know that to give in to our opponent will result in our destruction. If you have an addiction there is never a point where your addiction will be content with your consumption. If you have an addiction to a substance whether alcohol or crack or something else there will always be a desire for more. There will be a desire to have a bigger, better high, or at least a high as good as it was the first time. Those addicted to porn will always want to view more. If you give in to those addictions they will destroy you. That is why the battle must be fought every day. 

Then there are the other battles many are fighting like depression, anxiety, anger, mental illness, finances, and relationships. If you give into depression what happens, nothing good that is for sure. Depression can be fought, and there are many fighting it and winning day by day. The same with anxiety, and anger. How do you fight mental illnesses like Schizophrenia? You can take your meds, seek the treatment that you need, and step by step go through each day. How do you fight a relational problem? You fight to hold on to your marriage. Nothing easy about that. You can let go, you can give in, or you can refuse to do that. You may not win, but you can try. Then there are struggles with finances, debt is overwhelming many, but there are strategies for overcoming it. Restraint in spending, increasing income where possible can be a daily battle. 

The fact is that God knows what you are going through. He knows every day people across this world are facing a battle to continue even to exist. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we know today it is possible to win the battle. At least we can try. As Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” It is a daily battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. That’s why the apostle Paul says “I die daily.” We must be dead to sin, dead to whatever your personal antagonist may be, and alive to Christ each day. That’s why Jesus says to take up your cross daily, meaning execute your fleshly, worldly desires every day. That’s why in the Lord’s Prayer we are told to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We must seek God’s help not once, but every day. As we are told in Proverbs, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my door.” If we want to win the daily battle, we need God’s help, and…He wants to help us.