What If?

Chapter 1 - Introduction

NOTE: This is a first draft copy. This is one of eleven total chapters. The full edited book can be purchased at www.Johnstonebooks.com     

Also note, that there are glitches within the wattpad app, and when I copy a chapter of my book and paste it to wattpad, sometimes words or entire paragraphs dont transfer over.  

In this book, I'm going to talk to you about words and the power they have in the lives of believers. We will dive into the biblical principles surrounding this subject and look into how our thoughts can affect our lives.

I have read many books about the power of our words and the power of our thoughts. I noticed in almost all of them that they tend to use 100-200 pages to discuss the one primary topic and present it to you repeatedly in dozens of different ways.

While I enjoy that style of writing, I decided that I wanted to write this book differently. I tried to make it more diverse. I didn't want to focus on one primary topic and leave it at that. I wanted to give you many different subjects to think about.

This is why I decided to begin the next chapter with a little bit of background information about our spiritual adversary. Then, in the third chapter, I move on to a discussion about the enemy's intentions. I used the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters to discuss how the devil does what he does. It isn't until the seventh chapter that I begin to get into this book's core topic. After that, I use the eighth, ninth, and tenth chapters to teach about faith, as well as the power of our thoughts and words.

I want to make this book a tool for those who struggle with various types of difficulties and trials in their lives, which would be every one of us.

Humans are multi-faceted beings. Not only are we physical creatures, but we are spiritual creatures as well. It is so easy to get caught up in the physical aspect of our lives. In doing so, we tend to ignore the spiritual part of ourselves. It's easy to understand how this can happen and become so prevalent in the lives of believers. With the constant demands life places on us, it's no wonder that we can so easily forget to care for our spiritual selves.

What we will do here is take time out of our busy schedules to focus on our spiritual health. Doing so will provide us with the endurance we need to run the race that is before us.

Before we discuss the power of our words and thoughts in great depth and how Satan tries to use them against us, we will explore many other tactics that the enemy uses to harm us. I believe that if we are going to use some of the greatest tools God has given us, which are our thoughts and our words, we must first learn how Satan tries to use these same life-giving tools to accomplish his purpose.

We must first learn as much as we can about the enemy. We need to know who it is we are fighting. We need to know what his intentions are and what he hopes to accomplish. We also need to understand how the enemy fights. If we can learn how the enemy fights, we will be better prepared to defend ourselves.

Think back to World War II. On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese initiated their sneak attack against the United States. In this attack, there were 2,403 people killed and 1,178 wounded.

Can you imagine how this could have turned out if the United States had known in advance of the enemy's plan to attack? I can imagine the U.S. would have had all of its battleships and warplanes prepared and ready to defend against the enemy. There would have been a lot fewer casualties in our country had our nation been prepared. Simply knowing who their enemy was, knowing their strategies, and knowing their fighting tactics could have saved thousands of lives.

The United States didn't have the advantage of knowing in advance of the enemy's plan to attack. As believers, we don't have that same excuse when it comes to defending ourselves against our greatest adversary. We have everything we need at our fingertips. All we have to do is turn the pages in the most fabulous book ever written, the Bible.

Within the pages of the Bible lays the battle plan. There's step by step instructions on how to defeat the enemy. As long as we invest the time and are willing to go through a spiritual boot camp, I believe we can prepare ourselves to face every challenge that comes our way. After all, Jesus told us we would have troubles in this world (John 16:33). It should not come as a surprise to believers that we will indeed face many struggles. What is important to remember is that we will not face them alone.

Jesus also said in John 16:33 that we do not need to worry because He has faced all of the troubles of this world and has overcome them all.

I know what you're thinking. It's easy for Him to tell us not to worry. It's easy for Him to overcome all of His difficulties. After all, He is the Son of God. While it is true, He is the Son of God, it is also true that He was a human being, just like the rest of us. He experienced life just as we have experienced it. He felt the pain as the soldiers viciously hammered the nails into his wrists, no different than any other man would. When the soldiers ridiculed Him and placed a crown made of thorns on His head, the thorns punctured His skin, causing blood to drip down His face. He also felt the agony as the Roman soldiers violently whipped Him, leaving Him just a few lashes away from death.

Jesus experienced every human emotion that we have experienced. He endured troubles more significant than a lot of us have ever encountered. Because He has been through all of these things, He can speak from experience when He said, "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He did indeed overcome the world by rising from the grave on the third day.

Because of all He has done, we can rest assured knowing that we too can overcome the troubles of this world. We know this because the Bible tells us in 1 John 4:4 that He who is in me is greater than the one who is in the world. He has already conquered the world through His death and resurrection. Because we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, his spirit lives within us. With the Word of God living in us, there isn't anything we can't overcome!