SELF
There are many basic rules to dealing with enemies in this world, but we rarely find those who are the most dangerous to us declaring their intentions to use before making a move against us. We find the best of the con artists of today try to make you thing they are first of all your friend, and real want to help you in on a great deal they have discovered. Cesar said to" keep your friends close but your enemies even closer" but what do we do when we begin to realize that the real enemy in our spiritual battles is self?
The great struggle with our own motivations and tendencies toward sin against the God that we claim to love and want in our lives becomes what drags so many down. In my own life the one thing that destroyed every attempt I made as a young person to serve God came from my own latent tendencies to sin. It was never a conscious thing for me , but I began to realize that more often than not my temptation toward self destruction in my witness for Christ was at the very center of each failure I had. The hardest battles I have ever fought were those against self because they were the most deeply rooted in hidden sin that I had not even realized I had to deal with.
This week we will deal with the hidden enemy we have right inside of us when it comes to obedience to God. As I looked at Acts 8:14-25, and Acts 9:1-19 this week I found elements of dealing with self all the way through that I would like to share with you.
The first part deals with Simon the sorcerer who's mind was so set in the world around him that he could not grasp that the power of God Spirit could not be purchased with any price. Today we are in a world where everything has a price tag on it...including our loyalty. If we can come up with an answer that allows us to do our own thing rather than have to submit to God we will very often at least try it for a time. It is for that reason that God knows that He cannot trust our word on anything...it must be tested and proved to be truth. I can't really blame Him can you? When I stop to think of all of the times that I have promised something to God in exchange for this or that, and then went back on that promise I can certainly see why He would have reason not to trust my word. In order for us to be able to deal with the problem of self we need to have a different perspective of who we are to God, and also who we are to ourselves.
For a great many of we have never really looked at ourselves much...instead we have continued to ignore what goes on within us that has continued to cause us to resist God. You have no doubt heard the term " Being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good", but there is another side to that coin..."Being so earthly minded that you are not able to be any Heavenly good". We are going to talk this week about some of this {SELF THING} in hope that we can understand why we need to change before we can really experience Christ. I hope that you will join me; may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
The great struggle with our own motivations and tendencies toward sin against the God that we claim to love and want in our lives becomes what drags so many down. In my own life the one thing that destroyed every attempt I made as a young person to serve God came from my own latent tendencies to sin. It was never a conscious thing for me , but I began to realize that more often than not my temptation toward self destruction in my witness for Christ was at the very center of each failure I had. The hardest battles I have ever fought were those against self because they were the most deeply rooted in hidden sin that I had not even realized I had to deal with.
This week we will deal with the hidden enemy we have right inside of us when it comes to obedience to God. As I looked at Acts 8:14-25, and Acts 9:1-19 this week I found elements of dealing with self all the way through that I would like to share with you.
The first part deals with Simon the sorcerer who's mind was so set in the world around him that he could not grasp that the power of God Spirit could not be purchased with any price. Today we are in a world where everything has a price tag on it...including our loyalty. If we can come up with an answer that allows us to do our own thing rather than have to submit to God we will very often at least try it for a time. It is for that reason that God knows that He cannot trust our word on anything...it must be tested and proved to be truth. I can't really blame Him can you? When I stop to think of all of the times that I have promised something to God in exchange for this or that, and then went back on that promise I can certainly see why He would have reason not to trust my word. In order for us to be able to deal with the problem of self we need to have a different perspective of who we are to God, and also who we are to ourselves.
For a great many of we have never really looked at ourselves much...instead we have continued to ignore what goes on within us that has continued to cause us to resist God. You have no doubt heard the term " Being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good", but there is another side to that coin..."Being so earthly minded that you are not able to be any Heavenly good". We are going to talk this week about some of this {SELF THING} in hope that we can understand why we need to change before we can really experience Christ. I hope that you will join me; may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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