Last night, or rather, in the wee hours of this morning, I had lots of time to think. I drove my mom to the airport so she could catch her flight and on the near empty highway, I found myself reflecting on an exprerience that I had earlier that day. I encountered a person from a church that I used to attend in the past. The conversation was polite, but even as I was talking with them I felt my guard go up. Then the condescending tone creeped into their voice and the enemy of my soul began to play upon all my insecurities. It was a well arranged script to instill oppression upon my being. The good thing was that I was aware of what was going on and I was in constant prayer throughout (and after) the encounter.
You see, in the past, I would let an encounter like that completely get to me, wallowing in self-pity and playing victim to the devil. I would strengthen his army by allowing his lies to get to me. However, by resisting him, he must flee. James 4:7
Being self-aware it so very important in our walk with God. I am not talking about a new-agey kind of self-awareness, but rather an awareness that means to be cognitive of how you are responding to the environment around you - mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. This is not something that usually comes naturally, but it is something that you can learn and apply to every situation that you encounter. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.~1 Peter 5:8
Next time you start to get your defenses up, put yourself in check. Pray. Breathe. And remember that we are at war. The enemy of your soul wants you to be distracted from the Love and Truth of Jesus Christ, to the point of destroying you any way he can. But, you - if you believe Jesus is who He says He is and have asked Him into your Life, to forgive you and be your Lord and Saviour - you are more than conquerors. Romans 8
You are equipped: Go here to find out how.
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They Did Not Realize
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ~John 21:4
3 comments:
This is so true Misti. Even if we narrow it down to the secular view of the world, there are so many things our bodies are telling us constantly throughout the day.
A physical ailment may also be an effect of some spiritual attack. Lots of people live with physical ailments, thinking the cure is impossible; when in reality the cure is available.
I also think we tend to get lazy about this. We don't like to enter into the battle; to put in the effort required of us.
I also wanted to point out that: In order to fix a problem, you must have an awareness of it and have categorized it as a problem.
For example, let's say you have a leaky water pipe in your house. In order for it to no longer be leaking, you must 1) Become aware of it by seeing it leaking or seeing the effects of the leak. 2) You must recognize it as a problem. If you don't care if it's leaking or not, it won't be fixed.
I'd also add that in order for you to see it as something that needs to be fixed, you must 1) See that its existence is damaging your house. 2) You must value your house.
If you don't understand that a leaky pipe can damage your house, you won't have a good reason to fix it. Also, if you don't value your house, why fix the pipe? Does reducing the value of something that has no value mean anything?
Dear Mark,
Thank you for your comments! You make some very valuable points and present a great example! As I was reading this, the thought occurred to me that sometimes it can be difficult for some to love themselves enough to even let Ultimate Love lavish His Love upon us! It is kinda odd to think that God loves us just as we are and He loves us completely - yet, we cannot love ourselves.
~mp:)
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