Broken heart
I know the end of the story. Jesus defeats Satan. He essentially did on the cross, where my sins were buried. I am so thankful for that fact. I know I have said it before in my blog, but I am not necessarily the brightest when it comes to a lot of things. I have never been the smartest in class, or the quickest in a meeting, or the wittiest at the lunch table. It has taken me a while, but I am thankful for that part about me now. I'm glad that in all parts of my life, I am forced to rely on God. It is so obvious that it is Him in my life that has gotten me to this point. By no means do I sit here writing today with a judgmental attitude. I have done my fair share of sinning. And I know that most sin is sin. My gossiping or speaking before thinking is the same sin as the sin that I want to talk about today.
My heart is really breaking. I am frustrated with Satan. Honestly, I know for sure that God wins, and that He is infinitely more powerful than the enemy, but I hate seeing people in my life succumb to his lies. He is so evil, and sick. I wish more people would notice, but he is such a deceiver.
I see it in a multitude of ways.
1. Satan makes people think that living a life fully sold out for Christ is for radicals....
It is hard for me to eloquently describe what I mean by this. I have always been emotional, so the people that are close to me know that I am kind of a radical. When I decided to start following Jesus, people thought of it as another crazy bandwagon that I was hopping on. I was just following a trend. Even still, I am this "out there" believer with no substance to her faith. I have given up trying to prove who I am in Christ, because I know that He does a better job at showing who I am in Him anyway. But it saddens me to think that I might be that kind of believer who doesn't fully reveal who God is because of my personality.
Christ came for everyone. EVERYONE. And it is blatantly obvious to me looking on those close to me who don't have Him in their lives that they so badly need Him. He didn't come to make people become part of a religion. He came to free us from sin. He gave us the free gift of His body. And He wants to take up a relationship with us daily. He desires that we accept His gift, and take up a relationship with Him. Not follow religion, but seek after Him.
What does that look like?
A relationship with Christ means you look into His word. The bible has so much to offer anyone. It is literally the story of human history, and each story has a message that would help anyone in any situation. I don't know why people get so afraid to read it. There is so much beauty in the message of the cross. That God set the pavement for Jesus to come thousands of years before He came. The truth of God is in the writing. And anyone who has set out to argue it using archeology or "logic" has been only turned to the faith. It is a logical collection of books that wise men wrote. And it is so obviously threaded with the Holy Spirit.
It also means that you pray without ceasing. A quiet time in the morning: confessing your sins, requesting God's leadership in your choices. Prayer for friends, family, children, brothers, sisters. I pray about how to decorate my house, or spend money, or what to get at the grocery store. I pray for those in Haiti that I met or South Africa. I pray for ministries of my friends in the church. I know that I cannot go anywhere without the leadership of Christ, and if that sounds "radical" or "crazy" to you, then you don't know how real and tangible the Holy Spirit is. He is so here. He wants to take part in everything in your life. He is NOT a religion. He is a Father. He is a friend. I would not be anything in my life if it weren't for Him. And anytime I don't seek Him, I fail. Not in circumstances, or blessings, but in my character.
No one can walk with God alone. Satan is too tempting. I have heard so many people say that they love Jesus and have a walk with Him, but that they have been too hurt by the church to go. That is another lie from the devil. Going to meet with other believers is not a religious act. It is going to fellowship, receive prayer, and to worship God with others. Jesus said in Matthew that "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20. Going to church is a way to get to know Christ and to serve Him. Not to get some religious experience.
Also getting to know Him is to serve Him. When I work, I try my best to work for God. When I play with my kids, I try to do it as if I am blessing Him. Serving is what Jesus did, and I don't do it as well as I could, but putting our pride aside and offering ourselves as a blessing to others is one of the best ways to get to know who God is and to have a relationship with Him.
2. Satan makes the things of this world look so much better than what it is.
I was listening in on a conversation from young girls in their early 20's the other night about how much fun they had partying. I considered a couple of things. First, Jesus was no stranger to a good party. But he would party to fellowship and love his friends. It wasn't to look a certain way, or get super wasted, or find out how far He could push being under a certain type of influence. Second, how funny is it that the best part about a wild night is talking about it the day after?
3. Being a "good" person is good enough.
The bottom line is that none of us are good. That is why He came. God knew that there is nothing that we could possibly do to be righteous. That is why the supernatural came here miraculously and made Himself natural. That by dying as God, we don't have to die as humans. Saying that we are "good" and that we will get to Heaven because of that denies the fact that we are in need of a Savior. We are forever in debt to Him, but the debt was already paid for. It is such a crazy thought to me that people even want to call themselves "good." How hard is that? To be good? I have tried so hard to be good, but I can't do it. Honestly, every part of me wants to be good, and righteous and holy. But I fail. God came to rid that necessity from our lives. What freedom we have in not being "good." He slayed religion when He came and basically said that there is nothing we can do, choose, or be that would measure up. So stop being religious and "follow me".
There are a multitude of ways that Satan lies to us. The Bible says that he is like a lion ready to attack his prey. But following God breaks us from his rule in our lives.
I pray so badly that the people I know in my life who are struggling, whether internally or because of outside circumstances, would come to know what it means to follow God. And stop believing in the lies that Satan has told them.
My heart is really breaking. I am frustrated with Satan. Honestly, I know for sure that God wins, and that He is infinitely more powerful than the enemy, but I hate seeing people in my life succumb to his lies. He is so evil, and sick. I wish more people would notice, but he is such a deceiver.
I see it in a multitude of ways.
1. Satan makes people think that living a life fully sold out for Christ is for radicals....
It is hard for me to eloquently describe what I mean by this. I have always been emotional, so the people that are close to me know that I am kind of a radical. When I decided to start following Jesus, people thought of it as another crazy bandwagon that I was hopping on. I was just following a trend. Even still, I am this "out there" believer with no substance to her faith. I have given up trying to prove who I am in Christ, because I know that He does a better job at showing who I am in Him anyway. But it saddens me to think that I might be that kind of believer who doesn't fully reveal who God is because of my personality.
Christ came for everyone. EVERYONE. And it is blatantly obvious to me looking on those close to me who don't have Him in their lives that they so badly need Him. He didn't come to make people become part of a religion. He came to free us from sin. He gave us the free gift of His body. And He wants to take up a relationship with us daily. He desires that we accept His gift, and take up a relationship with Him. Not follow religion, but seek after Him.
What does that look like?
A relationship with Christ means you look into His word. The bible has so much to offer anyone. It is literally the story of human history, and each story has a message that would help anyone in any situation. I don't know why people get so afraid to read it. There is so much beauty in the message of the cross. That God set the pavement for Jesus to come thousands of years before He came. The truth of God is in the writing. And anyone who has set out to argue it using archeology or "logic" has been only turned to the faith. It is a logical collection of books that wise men wrote. And it is so obviously threaded with the Holy Spirit.
It also means that you pray without ceasing. A quiet time in the morning: confessing your sins, requesting God's leadership in your choices. Prayer for friends, family, children, brothers, sisters. I pray about how to decorate my house, or spend money, or what to get at the grocery store. I pray for those in Haiti that I met or South Africa. I pray for ministries of my friends in the church. I know that I cannot go anywhere without the leadership of Christ, and if that sounds "radical" or "crazy" to you, then you don't know how real and tangible the Holy Spirit is. He is so here. He wants to take part in everything in your life. He is NOT a religion. He is a Father. He is a friend. I would not be anything in my life if it weren't for Him. And anytime I don't seek Him, I fail. Not in circumstances, or blessings, but in my character.
No one can walk with God alone. Satan is too tempting. I have heard so many people say that they love Jesus and have a walk with Him, but that they have been too hurt by the church to go. That is another lie from the devil. Going to meet with other believers is not a religious act. It is going to fellowship, receive prayer, and to worship God with others. Jesus said in Matthew that "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20. Going to church is a way to get to know Christ and to serve Him. Not to get some religious experience.
Also getting to know Him is to serve Him. When I work, I try my best to work for God. When I play with my kids, I try to do it as if I am blessing Him. Serving is what Jesus did, and I don't do it as well as I could, but putting our pride aside and offering ourselves as a blessing to others is one of the best ways to get to know who God is and to have a relationship with Him.
2. Satan makes the things of this world look so much better than what it is.
I was listening in on a conversation from young girls in their early 20's the other night about how much fun they had partying. I considered a couple of things. First, Jesus was no stranger to a good party. But he would party to fellowship and love his friends. It wasn't to look a certain way, or get super wasted, or find out how far He could push being under a certain type of influence. Second, how funny is it that the best part about a wild night is talking about it the day after?
3. Being a "good" person is good enough.
The bottom line is that none of us are good. That is why He came. God knew that there is nothing that we could possibly do to be righteous. That is why the supernatural came here miraculously and made Himself natural. That by dying as God, we don't have to die as humans. Saying that we are "good" and that we will get to Heaven because of that denies the fact that we are in need of a Savior. We are forever in debt to Him, but the debt was already paid for. It is such a crazy thought to me that people even want to call themselves "good." How hard is that? To be good? I have tried so hard to be good, but I can't do it. Honestly, every part of me wants to be good, and righteous and holy. But I fail. God came to rid that necessity from our lives. What freedom we have in not being "good." He slayed religion when He came and basically said that there is nothing we can do, choose, or be that would measure up. So stop being religious and "follow me".
There are a multitude of ways that Satan lies to us. The Bible says that he is like a lion ready to attack his prey. But following God breaks us from his rule in our lives.
I pray so badly that the people I know in my life who are struggling, whether internally or because of outside circumstances, would come to know what it means to follow God. And stop believing in the lies that Satan has told them.
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