How To Betray Yourself!

I have a problem...as a matter 0f fact we all have a problem. Because we have a sin nature, that granted is now under submission to whatever degree we understand how to live for God, we Christians still can mess up our lives!

There are so many choices out there today! Have you ever taken a child into Toys Are Us for their birthday and said OK, pick out something you want for your birthday for $25.00...good luck with that! It won't happen unless that child is THE MOST CONSIDERATE CHILD on planet earth or you are a steeled disciplinarian when your child sees THE TOY THEY MOST WANT! We, as adults have so many choices in so many ways to live our lives, but we all seem to have a fatal flaw-WE BETRAY OURSELVES BECAUSE WE WANT AND WE WANT IT NOW! The devil, the enemy of our soul, does a fine job of that all by himself, but there are two more arenas we fight the fight of faith in...the flesh and the world. That's right, we want someone to blame, like the comedian Flip Wilson used to say in his impersonation of Geraldine, "the devil made me do it." We can't always blame the devil when we have our own sin nature to deal with. When we get blindsided by some kind of terrible hurt or sudden success we can betray ourselves and put a limitless God in a box of our own making! That doesn't make God any less powerful, but it does make us shortsighting in seeing the "BIG PICTURE." The worst thing about that is that we create a series of troubles for ourselves and our walk with God that really drags us down. We need to learn to connect the dots that lead to our deceptions or wrong choices before we get there...but that is another blog. 

Because I mainly write to abused women, I want them to understand that wrong choices for marriage make a bed for sins they never even dreamed would become a part of their life as young single girls! The results, are disastrous and lead to a house divided, abuse, pain, confusion, and likewise for your children.

I had decided to do a series on A Guide To Connecting The Dots For Choices That Can Hurt You, but first I wanted to make sure we understand where and what the battle is, and who the real enemy is:

The Battleground:

The World: Sociological Opposition (1 John 2:15-17, James 4:4)

The Flesh: Physiological Opposition (Romans 7:15-25, Galatians 5:17)

The Devil: Supernatural Opposition (James 4:7-10, 1 Peter 5:8-9)
How do they attack Christians?

The World: is an organized system in opposition and rebellion against God. The world system is an enemy of God because it promotes its own philosophy of living over godly living. 1 John 2:16 characterizes the world as: the lust of the flesh (physical desires), the lust of the eye (beautiful externals) and the boastful pride of life (selfish ambition).

The Flesh: is represented as an old nature, the old man or the old self within each individual, including Christians that wants us to pleasure ourselves in ways that are contrary to scripture, which is an opposition and rebellion against God. Galatians 5: 19-21, Colossians 3:5-8, and Mark 7:21-23 provide a partial list of areas that the flesh can easily inflame in this battle.

The Devil: is a real enemy, according to Jesus and the Bible, who is in opposition and rebellion against God. His primary attack against Christians seems to be through debilitating accusations. These accusations are usually mental attacks, in the mind, and are carried out by demonic spirits who faithfully serve the devil. Revelation 12:10 mentions this type of opposition. It is possible that the flaming arrows targeted at Christians which are mentioned in Ephesians 6:16 could also represent demonic accusation or oppresion.

Our heavenly Father did not leave us defenseless. We can make right choices! We can win most of our battles. We will never be perfect on this earth in ourselves but we serve a perfect Lord who offers us battle gear for warfare on earth...the Armor of God in Ephesians Chapter 6.

Our Weapons:

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against ^[e]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ^16 [f]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We'll talk about how to connect those dots that lead us to the misery we are in and how to use our weapons in the next blog to get back in the battle. By the way...I speak as an expert at messing up our lives, but I also know the truths that lead us back on track! Ask yourself this question: What am I willing to do to get my life back on track with what my Christian walk should be like? It is a heavy question but the results of that are the beginning of wisdom if you choose wisely.

See you next blog, 
Ted