Happy Monday, everyone! I’m really, really excited for this because it’s my very first post of…

Mondays with Madi!

As I mentioned in my last post, every Monday will be a special post usually part of a series. This first series that I’ll be doing over the next ten weeks is called 10 Ways to Kick the Devil’s Butt in Your Everyday Life!

Welcome to the the first way to kick the devil’s butt!

But first of all… what does it even mean to kick the devil’s butt, anyway?

Jesus died and rose again for our sins – he defeated the devil once and for all. So why do so many Christians walk around depressed, defeated and debilitated?

It’s because they don’t understand the authority that Jesus had given them. Jesus has all authority and power in Heaven in earth, and before leaving the earth, He delegated His authority to us. (Matthew 28:18-20). We are called to do the works of Jesus. (John 14:12-13). All authority that was given to Him belongs to us and through Him we may exercise it! Our job is to enforce Jesus’ victory – and victory over the devil belongs to us because we are part of the body of Christ.

The devil is defeated. We’re meant to kick his butt and never let him forget it! We’ve been called to do the works of Jesus and to exercise our authority over the devil. We can only enforce the devil’s defeat when we’ve got a foundation on God’s Word and act on it. That’s why it’s important to read the Bible daily. (Joshua 1:8)

If you are a saved, born again Believer, God called you to the ministry the moment you accepted His Son as your Lord and Savior. Being in the ministry does not just mean traveling and preaching like I do sometimes. As Christians, we are all called to the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19) – we reconcile others to Jesus. Traveling and preaching is one of the many ways we can do that, but what is really going to reach the world is people reaching people in their realm of influence in their everyday lives.

But what are some practical ways we can do that? How do we kick the devil’s butt and never let him forget that he is defeated? How are we supposed to do this in our everyday lives?

Never fear. The Bible is very clear on how we can do just that! I’ve studied and found so many epic ways we can kick the devil’s butt in our everyday life. We were born for this.

Ready?

#1 – Choose Joy

The devil doesn’t want you to be happy – believe me, I know all about that! But the Bible makes it very clear to us that we can have joy despite what the circumstances may look like. Nehemiah 8:10 says,

“… Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Our joy doesn’t come from what things look like around us. If it did, we’d be happy as can be one moment, and devastatingly sad the next. Our joy isn’t from the things others do; we can’t control that. Our joy is from the Lord! And God doesn’t change with the circumstances of life. He’s consistent, faithful, and never ending. He should be the prime source of our joy. GOD. IS. AWESOME.

In Hebrews 1:9 it says that Jesus was anointed with an oil of gladness above all His fellows. He was happier than any of the disciples with Him. But why?

Hebrews 12:2 says,

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

So for the joy that was set before Jesus, He endured the cross. Even when He knew He was going to hang on the wooden cross of Calvary for our sins, He chose joy. Joy is something you have to decide you’re going to have. It’s not based on the circumstances around you. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God had to choose joy, so do we. But when circumstances look low, how do we choose joy?

First of all, we decide that we’re not going to let the devil ruin our day. We’re meant to kick his butt, after all… not the other way around!

We must be very careful not to let grumbling negativity come out of our mouths, because death and life are in the power of the tongue according to Proverbs 18:21, Deuteronomy 30:19 and Mark 11:23. We can either complain about our circumstances or proclaim the Word of God over it.

Second, we just start praising and worshipping God!

Luke 24:53 says,

“And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

When we’re praising and worshipping God, we are filled with the joy of the Lord and a sense of gratitude and thankfulness! Much better than grumbling, griping, complaining and whining. ?

Unfortunately, nobody is more qualified to teach this than me. When I first moved to Florida, I hated it here. I refused to be happy and all I wanted to do was go to Texas, where I used to live. I let negative words come out of mouth and was constantly speaking that over my life. My arthritis that I had already been healed from came back and my health suffered, and I grew more and more miserable even to nearly a year after we moved. I didn’t know that the negative words coming out of my mouth were actually a weapon the devil was using to defeat myself to try to keep me from moving forward in the things of God.

It wasn’t until I started worshipping the Lord on my own and turning to Him for my joy and strength despite what the circumstances around me looked like that I began to have joy again! 😀

Now I won’t lie to you; I still prefer Texas. XD But every day, every moment, I am faced with a choice to draw my joy and strength from the Lord, or let what’s going on around me define how I feel. And man, knowing I was meant to kick the devil’s butt and enforce his defeat feels a lot better than letting him see me cry in misery. I’m never gonna give him that satisfaction! I’m happier than I’ve ever been right now because I’m in the will of God and following His plan for my life.

Joy despite the circumstances is not an exclusive thing. We all have the ability to choose joy despite the circumstances. Joy is not based on the circumstances around us. Our joy comes from the Lord, and He doesn’t change with the circumstances of life! We have to choose the joy of the Lord despite the circumstances. We do that by deciding not to let the devil ruin our day and kick our butt, not speaking negativity but instead proclaiming the Word of God over our situation, and praising and worshipping God.

And that, my friends, is how we choose joy despite the circumstances around us. You know how much that seriously aggravates the devil? XD And that’s just one of the ways we can kick his butt.

JOYFUL DEVIL BUTT-KICKERS FOR THE WIN.

Give me some feedback on Mondays with Madi!
Much love and I am praying for you guys. ♥