The Story of a Fallen Eagle

Dear friends:

As God's people are filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and are soaring as eagles in a victorious and fruitful Christian life, we must always beware of the enemy's attempts to "clip our wings," so to speak, and destroy our effectiveness. In Ephesians 6:11, God warns us, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

The story is told of a man out hiking in the country. While walking, he happened to see a magnificent golden eagle flying upward into the sky. He watched it with delight and admiration as it soared higher and higher. But suddenly, something went wrong! The eagle seemed incapable of going any higher. As a matter of fact, it began to fall, and before too long lay at his feet as a lifeless mass.

What possibly could have happened? No human hand had harmed it. No sportsman's shot had reached it. Filled with bewilderment, the man went over and examined the bird, only to discover an astounding sight. Still curled up in the talons of that great bird was a little weasel, no doubt the prey of the bird that had been carried off up into the sky. As the weasel had been drawn in close to the big bird's body for flight, it had managed to worm itself partly out of that great grip and had bit into the breast of its enemy and proceeded to suck out the lifeblood of that great eagle. (From Parables, Etc., April 1986.)

Unless we are on guard and walk in trust and obedience, the enemy can work like that weasel, weaken or destroy our witness and rob our joy and victory. The Lord tells us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:12-13). He then describes the armor in which we must be dressed at all times.

As eagles, God wants us to soar. But He also wants us to "stand."

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

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Dr. Bill Bright is founder and chairman of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 25,000 full-time staff and 553,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into more than 730 languages and viewed or listened to by some 5 billion people in 236 countries. Dr. Bright is also the author of more than fifty books.

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