not about me

I am going through something I have never experienced in my entire life. the devil & his army of demons have been personally attacking me this past week. their primary goal is to sway me from becoming what God has for my life. beyond that the attacks have nothing to do with me at all. I am just the means to attack God Himself. by attacking me the devil is actually attacking the Father.

I have been using Galatians 2:20 quite frequently during the attacks. recently Romans 12:1 - 3 have made an impact; "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

- living sacrifices don't get to pick & choose what happens to them.
- in order to become holy & acceptable I must become a living sacrifice.
- it truly is my reasonable service as Jesus Christ paid for all my sins.
- Christians should only conform to Christ.
- to renew one's mind the Word of God must be implemented.
- God's will is that every child of His do His good, acceptable & perfect will.
- by doing His will, He is going to prove me to see if it still is the forefront of my life.
- upon choosing to become a living sacrifice, I have been shown who I really am in God's eyes.
- the only way I can survive the attacks is to place all my trust, as a living sacrifice, in Jesus.

God is always good and God is always right.

found

II Peter 1:5-7
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to you faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”

these are the attributes every Christian should posses or be “found”. sadly they are not. God has given every child of His the Holy Spirit in which we are thus enabled to obtain these virtues. it can only be through His power. our human flesh is not only unabled to achieve alone but also cannot as the devil knows our weaknesses and is can easily stop us. Christ's blood covers not just our sins but gives each of us the strength to be accepted to the Father.

cross reference verses: Romans 5:3-5 and Galatians 5:22 & 23.

where's the bondage?

have you ever had a verse of scripture simply jump off the page, slap you silly, then meekly return to the passage? well I have and let me tell you, it isn't pretty. actually I've had several do that and if you haven't had this same experience then I question your salvation. mine was Galatians 4:9. it reads, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" now Paul the Apostle is asking the church at Galatia why they what to return to slavery under the law. in chapter 5:1 he tells of how we are not under the law because of Christ's payment on the cross. he even goes a step further as to refer to the law as "bondage."
now why it jumped off.

God, in His grace has saved me. in His mercy He took me back even when I left Him, despite the abominations I committed. last night I had a relapse with this sin (alone). I submitted to my feelings and emotions instead of submitting to the Holy Spirit. today we; ie: God, the Holy Spirit and I; had a chat. God slapped me around with that verse and serveral others in my Bible reading. the Holy Spirit then launched into a much needed tongue lashing. not fun on my end. I realize I need to stand on the promises God had given in Romans 6, 7 & 8. especially the verse stated above.

my sin was bondage. bondage to self, pride, the flesh and my lusts. God has loosed those bonds once and for all. now I need to claim, in His power, the liberty with which He has provided. now one topic I did bring up in this chat is the spring and summer months. very much a feast for the eyes and the flesh! I've been told to not worry about the future but to rest on God and let Him give me the strength to walk through the pending trial. it is scary. not in putting your trust in God but to see how He will work. we are so much a visual-based society that even faith gets tested more by us than externally.

now I am by no means perfect, just forgiven as a sinner saved by His grace. I agree with Paul as he states my bondage needs to be only to the Saviour who died for my sins than to this fleshly abode in which my soul dwells. even so come Lord.