Day 15

I'm writing this post much earlier than usual. The day is only half way over, however for the past three and half hours I have been in deep study and thought about this topic and there is no doubt in my mind it is what I was and am supposed to address today in my own life and possibly in yours as well.

My earthly father brought this to my attention through an email yesterday and since then it has been on my mind and in my prayers with my Heavenly Father. I must apologize for any mentions in my blog regarding this topic, because I am most definitely guilty of not doing my homework and falling victim to "new age revelation."

The topic at hand is: Giving Satan Too Much Credit.

This topic easily ties in with yesterday's lesson about freedom. We have freedom in Christ and the enemy has been defeated.

Not sure where to begin because this could go many ways and I have written 6 pages of notes, so I pray that my words be His words and my message be as clear to you as it has been shown to me.

When I read my Dad's email, I had a witness that he was writing the truth, however, the Word is the basis for testing all truths, so it doesn't matter what he says or anyone else for that matter, the ultimate question is how does it match up with what God says? Many of us believe what we hear much to often. We have to be sure to put it to the ultimate test in order to truly apply it to our daily lives. Here is a perfect example:

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11

Paul was a great apostle, and it was evident he was divinely appointed by God and full of much wisdom and truth. However, even with Paul the Bereans put him to the ultimate test. It doesn't matter who it is: Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Joel Osteen, etc., they are human and could be wrong, that is why God supplied us with His word, so we could know His precepts and discern between true and false.

So, that is what I did. I put my dads words and personal revelation to the ultimate test. What I came up with is that he is right and I am wrong, and not just me but many of the teachers who have influenced me to believe and think the way I did. That is another reason why we not only have to be careful what we believe but also what we teach.

For years now I have viewed the supernatural powers of good and evil kind of like on the cartoons. On one side I have the angelic presence trying to tell me to do good, while on the other side I have the demonic force tempting me and encouraging me to sin. Anytime I did sin, I blamed it on the Devil, because surely he was right there telling me to do it, and because of him I did. I have countless memories of sitting in church or watching it on television and the speaker confessing these evil forces at work in the world and in our lives, without knowing or explaining how they operate. Many Christians are so engulfed in the topic of spiritual warfare, that they are quick to blame any evil thing on the enemy. By doing so, they completely detract human responsibility and make the Father of Pride even more proud by giving him too much credit. The blame game is in our nature. It is much easier to blame someone else rather than take responsibility for our own actions. We cannot dictate our problems at the feet of the enemy and not examine our own part in it.

Now I will say there is definitely proof of existence of satanic and demonic activity and temptation throughout the Bible, i.e.: The fall of man, Jesus being tempted in the Garden, demonically possessed individuals, Jesus and the apostles casting out demons, etc. However, we are sinners by birth and a lot of our sin comes from our own flesh and our own decisions without any outside influence.

Jeremiah 17:9 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

All things means all things, that includes the enemy. Our own hearts are more capable of being deceitful than the enemy we attempt to blame all our problems on. Let's look at a couple more verses:

Romans 1:24: "Therefore God also gave them up to cleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,.."

Romans 1:28: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased (another version uses the word reprobate) mind, to do those things which are not fitting;"

Romans 1:29: "Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness;..."

There are plenty of other relevant verses that I came across during my study. Notice how the enemy isn't mentioned once. It is a description of self (flesh). Lusts of our own hearts and minds, we don't need the enemy to do these things for us, we do it on our own. Paul spends ample amount of time trying to help us get rid of our self (flesh) and be lead by the Holy Spirit that dwells within us (or should anyway!):

Galatians 5:17-21: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Peter also writes:

1 Peter 2:11: "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul"

Let's take the story of Job into consideration: God gave Satan permission to tempt Job. What does that tell us? Satan only has the power to do what God allows him to do. Yes, Satan has been called the Prince of this world, however, God is the King. Christ defeated Satan with his death, resurrection and burial. Satan is limited in the things he can and can't do.

Therefore, the conclusion I came up with is that we are our own worst enemies. Satan does tempt but not all sin we commit comes from him. If we stay involved in evil practices we do open the door up to Satan. People say and act as if they have no control over the things going on in their lives-probably because they're looking in the wrong place (as I mentioned in a previous post). If you keep looking for the enemy's work in your life, when it is not his work, but your own, you will never find the answers you are looking for. Let's not give the Father of Pride a reason to be more proud, he doesn't deserve any credit, let alone way too much!