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December 15, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Peace in the Battle of Wanting<\/strong><\/span> Lee en espa\u00f1ol<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.\u201d Genesis 3:6 (CSB)<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve never understood the concept of \u201cwindow shopping.\u201d It doesn\u2019t seem fun to go to your favorite store, see things you love, and then walk away. When I see something I want, my natural impulse is to get it. I mean, this is human after all, right?<\/p>\n You may not be surprised to find out that a similar human pattern of \u201csee, desire, and take\u201d shows up in some crucial spots in the Bible, the first being the garden of Eden.<\/p>\n Genesis 3:6 says, \u201cThe woman saw<\/strong> that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable<\/strong> for obtaining wisdom. So she took<\/strong> some of its fruit and ate it\u201d<\/em> (emphases added).<\/p>\n Genesis 3 contains the first of three significant rebellions in Scripture (which continue in Genesis 6 and Genesis 11) that involve both humanity and the spiritual realm. This is spiritual warfare: The enemy wants to entice us into thinking, feeling, and doing things that are contrary to the ways of God. The enemy wants us to see, desire, and take, but God wants us to enjoy freedom and the goodness of His creation.<\/p>\n To enjoy that freedom, we must have boundaries. In Eden, God said Adam and Eve could eat from every tree except one \u2014 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which would bring death. Then the serpent suggested that God\u2019s command was about withholding something good. He said if they ate the fruit, they would truly be like God, which was absurd because they were already created in His image.<\/p>\n The hardest part of spiritual warfare is when the enemy presents things that sound true<\/em> but subtly invite us to trust ourselves instead of God.<\/p>\n It\u2019s OK to see things. It\u2019s OK to desire things. But what we do after the desire matters most. The serpent suggests we see, desire, and take. But God wants us to see, desire, and then submit that desire to His sovereignty. In this submission, we find victory because if God wants that thing for us, He\u2019ll give it to us in His perfect time.<\/p>\n The most significant spiritual warfare takes place in our human hearts. Whatever you and I have our eyes set on, whatever we desire today, we have a choice. We can attempt to take it in our own power, or we can learn to submit it to the Lord and trust Him with the outcome.<\/p>\n If you want to experience the victory of Christ in spiritual warfare, choose submission to the sovereignty of God, and enjoy the peace that comes with your wise choice!<\/p>\n Father, You know my every longing. When I\u2019m tempted to take matters into my own hands, remind me that Your timing is perfect and Your plans are good. Help me trust You with every desire and find peace in Your will. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n Sometimes the smallest act of obedience creates the greatest ripple. Your gift is one of those ripples. Through your generosity, women around the world are being reminded of God\u2019s goodness \u2014 through devotions read before work, podcasts listened to in hospital waiting rooms, and Bible studies shared with friends. And today, that ripple can spread even farther. Every dollar you give by December 31<\/strong> will be doubled up to $87,500.<\/em> through our year-end match. This is your chance to step into what God is already doing and be part of the story of hope He\u2019s writing in someone else\u2019s life. Give today, and help carry God\u2019s Word further than ever before.<\/strong><\/p>\n We live in a world at war. Do you know who you are fighting \u2026 and why? Dr. Joel\u2019s brand-new book, The Unseen Battle: Spiritual Warfare, the Three Rebellions, and Christ\u2019s Victory Over Dark Powers,<\/em> equips Christians to make sense of evil powers, spiritual warfare, what God is doing in the world today, and the part we play in it. This book releases on January 27, 2026. Preorder the book today here.<\/p>\n If you want to learn more about the Bible and how to study it and also get theological insights on culture and ethics through the lens of humility, you can join Dr. Joel\u2019s Substack for free!<\/p>\n Psalm 37:4, \u201cTake delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart\u2019s desires\u201d (CSB).<\/p>\n What desire are you tempted to take into your own hands instead of trusting God\u2019s timing to provide? Join us in the comments to continue this conversation.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2025 by Dr. Joel Muddamalle. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n Proverbs 31 Ministries December 15, 2025 Peace in the Battle of WantingDR. JOEL MUDDAMALLE Lee en espa\u00f1ol \u201cThe woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[744,86,2421,269,268,116,270,181,3379],"class_list":["post-12441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-devotionals","tag-battle","tag-daily","tag-december","tag-devotional","tag-encouragement","tag-peace","tag-proverbs","tag-today","tag-wanting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
DR. JOEL MUDDAMALLE <\/span><\/p>\nOUR FAVORITE THINGS<\/h4>\n
ENGAGE<\/h4>\n
FOR DEEPER STUDY<\/h4>\n
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www.Proverbs31.org<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"