You'll never see your life the same way when you know who your real enemy is - Day 23: Thirty Day Meditations to Abundant Life!
We are under the impression that the world, Satan and other evil doers out there are our enemies. I'm not saying they our friends here, I'm just saying what if the reason they are so powerful was because of a traitor in our midst?
Here's a thought; when Adam and Eve were in the garden why didn't God warn them about Satan? I can just imagine the angels going...
"Sir Lord! Look out! That wily devil is going to try to deceive Eve to eat the forbidden fruit! All hell will break loose if we don't do something. You gotta warn them, Sir!"
"Relax Gabriel. I already told them all they need to know. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil [i.e. religion or trying to do be on God's good side by works] is their certain doom. If they stick to that... they'll be fine. Lucifier won't be able to do a thing."
"But Sir God... I think they're too gullible and too weak."
"Don't worry Gabe. I will do a great work.. and when it is done, all will know when I say 'It is finished!'"
And just like that, the story unfolded. Adam wasn't warned because God thought that Adam already knew enough. Don't eat from that tree, He said. There's nothing else you need to know. So Eve one day is walking around and up comes this Snake who starts talking to Eve. And Eve is completely ok with the fact that an animal is talking to her! CS Lewis pointed this weird fact out too... maybe Narnia is founded on actual history!
You know how that saga started. Satan spoke, Eve ate, and then Adam did too. And then... did God hide from them? No. They hid from Him. He was still out there looking to be with them. And here is where the lie of generations that we have been raised on started... this lie is the lie of lies.
"What have you done?" asks God to Adam.
Adam blames Eve (reminding God that she was actually placed there by Him; i.e. He's blaming God!), Eve blames the serpent and the serpent... just kinda went, "Who me???" And you know what, if the serpent said that, it was probably the right thing to say. "I'm just being fallen me" and the devil was being who he was, a liar, cunning and deceptive.
Did you get what the lie was in all Adam and Eve were saying? It's a lie being swallowed by almost the entire world and has been gulped down since this incident with the tree and the serpent. That lie is the idea that we are not in control of what we do, say or think (for my more academic readers, that's the whole essence of Freudian psychology, in my opinion at least).
It was entirely in Adam's and Eve's hands... rather in their hearts. So here's the real bomb - you are your own worst enemy. I'm looking at myself and I now know... there is nothing in this universe, out there that is, outside of me, that prevents me from being happy. Nothing prevents me from being immersed in God's love does it? Then why do we find ourselves like the waves of the sea, reacting to everything around us. Because we've believed the lie that what is out there, is somehow powerful over us. That the world and the weather and the bills and debts and selfish people and Satan are all conspiring to bring us down and that they can do so because we are really helpless and not in control.
They can only do all those things if we let them. Neither Satan nor any other enemy out there can do ANYTHING to you unless you let him. He can never rob you of your soul, your happiness, your love nor your life. Sure, he may attack the things on the outside and send his agents to try to succeed in derailing you from God's path of blessings. But his ultimate target is destroy your identity in Christ, the perception of how powerful and in control you really are over your greatest enemy, yourself.
For the longest time I tried to speak in the name of Jesus to the mountains that were blocking my path to happiness... but I was speaking to the wrong mountain... it was the mountain of my own self that I should have rebuked. Herein lies the real meaning of dying to yourself that Jesus spoke so freely about.
Dying to yourself doesn't mean you deny your desire to happiness, it means you embrace that desire but reject self-condemnation, self-defeat and that self-imprisonment that our soul is all too quick to cast you into. Yes, denying yourself means you may deny some of your wants, maybe a lot of your wants... but taking that cross daily doesn't mean you deny your desire to happiness. It means you truly embrace the cost to make that happiness a reality as you embrace what Jesus so unreservedly did for you.
The bottom line friends is this; the problem isn't out there. It's right here, in your heart and in your mind. You are your greatest enemy. And thanks be to the Lord, the old you has died, you now are a new man and woman, a new creation, a strong son and daughter of His delight. The Spirit in you is the key to killing every sinful desire arising in your hearts. The Spirit in you is nothing but life waiting to explode into the world.
Check out the previous day's post: Why hard times come before the blessing of His promises - Day 22: Thirty Day Meditations to Abundant Life!
And sign up below to stay tuned for more posts and watch out for my Free eBook soon - And These Signs Shall Follow You! Coming later this week!
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| Photo by Angelina Litvin (modified by DR) |
"Sir Lord! Look out! That wily devil is going to try to deceive Eve to eat the forbidden fruit! All hell will break loose if we don't do something. You gotta warn them, Sir!"
"Relax Gabriel. I already told them all they need to know. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil [i.e. religion or trying to do be on God's good side by works] is their certain doom. If they stick to that... they'll be fine. Lucifier won't be able to do a thing."
"But Sir God... I think they're too gullible and too weak."
"Don't worry Gabe. I will do a great work.. and when it is done, all will know when I say 'It is finished!'"
And just like that, the story unfolded. Adam wasn't warned because God thought that Adam already knew enough. Don't eat from that tree, He said. There's nothing else you need to know. So Eve one day is walking around and up comes this Snake who starts talking to Eve. And Eve is completely ok with the fact that an animal is talking to her! CS Lewis pointed this weird fact out too... maybe Narnia is founded on actual history!
You know how that saga started. Satan spoke, Eve ate, and then Adam did too. And then... did God hide from them? No. They hid from Him. He was still out there looking to be with them. And here is where the lie of generations that we have been raised on started... this lie is the lie of lies.
"What have you done?" asks God to Adam.
Adam blames Eve (reminding God that she was actually placed there by Him; i.e. He's blaming God!), Eve blames the serpent and the serpent... just kinda went, "Who me???" And you know what, if the serpent said that, it was probably the right thing to say. "I'm just being fallen me" and the devil was being who he was, a liar, cunning and deceptive.
Did you get what the lie was in all Adam and Eve were saying? It's a lie being swallowed by almost the entire world and has been gulped down since this incident with the tree and the serpent. That lie is the idea that we are not in control of what we do, say or think (for my more academic readers, that's the whole essence of Freudian psychology, in my opinion at least).
It was entirely in Adam's and Eve's hands... rather in their hearts. So here's the real bomb - you are your own worst enemy. I'm looking at myself and I now know... there is nothing in this universe, out there that is, outside of me, that prevents me from being happy. Nothing prevents me from being immersed in God's love does it? Then why do we find ourselves like the waves of the sea, reacting to everything around us. Because we've believed the lie that what is out there, is somehow powerful over us. That the world and the weather and the bills and debts and selfish people and Satan are all conspiring to bring us down and that they can do so because we are really helpless and not in control.
They can only do all those things if we let them. Neither Satan nor any other enemy out there can do ANYTHING to you unless you let him. He can never rob you of your soul, your happiness, your love nor your life. Sure, he may attack the things on the outside and send his agents to try to succeed in derailing you from God's path of blessings. But his ultimate target is destroy your identity in Christ, the perception of how powerful and in control you really are over your greatest enemy, yourself.
For the longest time I tried to speak in the name of Jesus to the mountains that were blocking my path to happiness... but I was speaking to the wrong mountain... it was the mountain of my own self that I should have rebuked. Herein lies the real meaning of dying to yourself that Jesus spoke so freely about.
Dying to yourself doesn't mean you deny your desire to happiness, it means you embrace that desire but reject self-condemnation, self-defeat and that self-imprisonment that our soul is all too quick to cast you into. Yes, denying yourself means you may deny some of your wants, maybe a lot of your wants... but taking that cross daily doesn't mean you deny your desire to happiness. It means you truly embrace the cost to make that happiness a reality as you embrace what Jesus so unreservedly did for you.
The bottom line friends is this; the problem isn't out there. It's right here, in your heart and in your mind. You are your greatest enemy. And thanks be to the Lord, the old you has died, you now are a new man and woman, a new creation, a strong son and daughter of His delight. The Spirit in you is the key to killing every sinful desire arising in your hearts. The Spirit in you is nothing but life waiting to explode into the world.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Rom 8:15
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Tim 1:7
Check out the previous day's post: Why hard times come before the blessing of His promises - Day 22: Thirty Day Meditations to Abundant Life!
And sign up below to stay tuned for more posts and watch out for my Free eBook soon - And These Signs Shall Follow You! Coming later this week!
David Roiel
The Green Leaf Blog-Discover your inheritance!
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