Melting the Wicked One
I hope that this hasn't been too strange for you, me pulling life lessons out of the Wizard of Oz. I can't help myself when I watch these types of things!
The Spiritual Battle We Face
The last character I want to look at is the Wicked Witch of the West. She can't stand Dorothy because Dorothy has got these special slippers that give her great power. The witch wants to take them for herself, and so the whole story is the witch trying to break up this little group and hurt them. But of course, the group prevails.
In our spiritual lives, we've also got one who doesn't like the power we have, doesn't like the gift we have, the precious gift that we have, which is Jesus in us. Never mind shoes on our feet. It's the Spirit in us that the devil hates. And so he comes after us, and we need to be aware, and we need to resist him by faith that he may flee from us.
Living Water Defeats the Enemy
There's a famous scene where Dorothy takes this pail of water and throws it to try and actually put out a fire, but it ends up splashing all over the Wicked Witch, and she melts and that's it. They have victory.
Maybe we could say that Jesus is the Living Water, and by spreading Him around, the devil loses his power. He melts into nothing when it is the living water Jesus who is being shared, sprayed, and spoken of and sung of.
How are you dealing with the spiritual warfare in your life at the moment, as the wicked one comes after you? Not just the Wicked Witch from the West, but the wicked one from below comes to try and trip you up, to try and take that precious gift of faith that is yours. Are you holding on to Jesus and speaking the words of Jesus and singing the praise of Jesus, so that like living water, He can melt away the devil's attacks?
Walking the Yellow Brick Road of Faith
The Wizard of Oz ends happily because the good guys win and the bad guys don't, and this can be our story as well if we keep walking that “yellow brick road” and keep Jesus at the front. Then no matter what the wicked one throws at us, we will find victory.
So walk on in faith, my friends – finding your way home, using your brain, your heart set on Christ and courage that comes from faith and friendship.
Thank you for listening to this different week. I pray that you have a wonderful weekend. God bless you all.
