How To Grow Through What You Go Through

Life is always going to find ways to test our resolve. It’s reminiscent of Murphy’s Law, which essentially states that “what can go wrong, will go wrong.”

When things go wrong in life, they always seem to go wrong all at once. Very rarely are we forced to deal with just one problem, it’s usually a cascade of problems that all hit at the same time.

There is nothing we can do to change this, it just how life works. And while it seems cruel, there’s always a way to grow through what you go through to become victorious.

There are several ways that we can make the most of our struggles and come out stronger than before.

When we Realize there is always a reason for our pain, even though you might not know what it is, there is always growth to be found in a struggle.

Here are some actionable tips for unlocking the growth and using adversity to fuel a better you.

“You need dirt on you to develop. Because dirt ain’t just dirt. Dirt is fertilizer. Dirt is nutrients. Dirt give you the strength for your seed to push through…show me something that has grown into something beautiful that didn’t have any dirt on it.” -Steve Harvey

If we want to grow into the best version of ourselves, we will have to deal with life throwing some dirt on you. That dirt may come in many forms -getting laid off from work, going through a divorce, enduring a catastrophic failure, suffering a loss of a loved one…

Whatever dirt is being thrown on you right now, understand that it’s there for a reason. It’s not meant to break you, it’s there so you can learn, grow, and evolve into a better you.

#1 Accept Responsibility

The first step in changing your circumstances is taking total accountability for them,

I don’t know what your struggling with right now, but your probably doing something to make it worse.

Getting laid off from a job may not be your fault, but sitting on the couch and procrastinating isn’t going to help.

It may not be your fault that you lost a loved one, but drowning yourself in self-pity all day isn’t going to make things any better.

You may not be responsible for the behavior of a toxic person in your life, but you are sure responsible for continuing to give them second and third chances,

The bottom line is that at the source of any pain, there’s always something that you can do to make it better or worse.

You have a choice which direction you go. But before you even move forward you need to admit that your current pain is a reflection of the choices you’ve made. You need to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I’m not where I want to be because of me not because of anyone else.

If you really want to grow through what your going through, start by admitting your part of your problem.

#2 Shift Your Mindset Around Stress

One of the most common mistakes that people make when enduring difficult times is they allow struggle to warp their perspective.

Research has shown that viewing stress As a helpful part of life led to better health, improved wellbeing and more productivity at work. But those who view stress in a negative light are less happy, less healthy, and not as productive as those who view stress as a motivator. Stress can be linked to meaning and fulfillment in life. If your going through a period of discomfort in your life don’t see it was something you need to run away from. It’s always better to face it head-on. And see it as a pathway to a meaningful life. How you view stress can either be a bless or a curse.

#3 Reflect On What You’re Avoiding Every Day

One of the best ways to grow through what you go through is by taking stock of the situations you are avoiding on a daily basis.

If you really think about your problems, you’ll realize that 90% of them can be solved.

For example if you’re unhappy with you social life, you’re probably avoiding attending gatherings that you get invited to, getting into interactions with people you don’t know, or not spending time in unfamiliar environments.

If your unhappy with the way you’re career is headed, try attending seminars or workshops to level up your knowledge. Meet with people that are too performers and learn from them. Or try completing those high priority items on your to do list.

At the core of our beings, we have a smart intuition that knows exactly what we need ti do to improve our situations. We just have to listen to it.

Any action that deviates from your identity creates internal resistance, which leads to a tug-of-war between who you are and who you want to be. While these moments come in different forms for everyone. For some it’s when the alarm clock goes off, for others it’s the moment right after you feel the urge that you should have done something. Mine is definitely the right-after moment. I tend to hesitate before making a choice and then think “On crap” I should have done that.

Whatever it is you’re avoiding on a daily basis, understand that if you keep running from these situations, you will never grow through what you go through,

The fact is we never get through life only doing what we feel like doing. If you want to get through the hard times, you must do what you don’t feel like doing, to succeed in life.

So, take a few minutes each day and ask yourself “What am I running from on a daily basis?” What is it that you tend to avoid, whether it’s out of stress, fear, uncertainty, or discomfort? Once you know this you will know what your focus needs to be on tomorrow and every day after that. Know that you’ll have to dive head-first into those painful, uncomfortable situations.

#4 Prioritize Small Wins And Build On Them

Starting by climbing out of the hole you’re in leads to incremental progress in the areas of your life causing you pain. You may be in a mental rut right now, you gonna need to lower the bar for the time being for what you think progress means.

Know that small progress isn’t small, it’s monumental. Because when you make progress, even in tiny ways, you experience natural motivation that pulls you toward the next levels of growth. Small wins are the foundation of many of the positive inhabited currently that are in your life.

If you’re trying to be more sociable, try talking to starters each day. As many of you know, I was not allowed to talk much when I was growing up. Because of this I was a social outcast. I started by just saying hello to people I saw in public. A small thing that led to a major improvement in my life. By practicing that small stuff it leads to huge stuff.

Small habits start with tiny seeds, little bursts of momentum that gently nudge you into your ideal self,

Commit to a target (no matter how small) and work in realistically achieve them, and then gradually raise that bar every day.

For example, let’s say that you really want to become more charismatic, but you’re struggling with social anxiety:

  • Your first goal should be simply go somewhere where you have to encounter people.
  • The second goal is to raise the bar and make eye contact and smile at 3 people.
  • The next day start saying hello to 5 people a day for the next week.
  • Once you start feeling comfortable with that take thing a step further and begin to give people compliments.

The idea is whatever you want to overcome, take small steps and then build on them each day until you feel comfortable enough to move on to bigger things. And before you know it you will be able to work on bigger and bigger goals.

Grow through what you go through, by not aiming for big things all at once, but by aiming for small things that stack up for big things as you build. Eventually, those small wins will compound and create an entirely different person. A better person.

#5 Turn Your Fears Into A Source of Growth

One of the most common ways that we get stuck in life is by listening to fear.

Fear is a tricky thing to deal with. It’s an incredibly powerful and primal emotion that’s designed to protect you from danger. It also tells you exactly what you need to do in order to fix your current situation.

“What you are afraid to do is a clear indicator of the next thing you need to do.” – Tony Robbins

So what things are you afraid of right now? When you feel anxiety and fear bubbling up in you in your day-to-day life?

If you take a moment to reflect on this, you’ll probably identify some met moments throughout the day where your fear is preventing you from taking action.

I had this terrible fear that if I spoke to people, I would be attacked with down-grading words, and I would be judged as an awful human being. I know most people would see this as ridiculous. But, to me, it was something I experienced in my childhood. If my own family would do this to me, what would stop anyone else from doing it. Fear is a powerful thing, no matter how ridiculous it seems to anyone else.

Once you’ve identified those moments your next move is to start attacking those fears on a daily basis. But, done try to eradicate all your fears at once. Just start with the fear that’s holding you back the most, and apply the small wins principles above.

Gentle stretch your comfort zone by doing something that makes you slightly afraid, which will prove that what you’re avoiding isn’t that scary. Then stretch yourself a bit further the next day, and then keep repeating that cycle until you are comfortable with that fear.

As long as you step into fear every day even if it’s a baby step, eventually, you will see your growth in what you’re going through.

#6 Change Your Environment

Another one of the best ways to grow through what you go through is to alter your environment in ways that set you us for success. Environment shapes our behifar more than we realize. Sometimes we engage in certain behaviors because our environment prompts them, not because we actually want to.

If you’re trying to live a more interesting life, but the people you hang around never want to do anything fun, you might have to change the people you hang out with from time to time.

If you want to stop procrastinating, but you always have your TV on or your phone in front of you, then it’s going to be difficult to focus on things that need to get done.

The bottom line is your environment should make it easy for hot to get out of a rut, not harder.

Look at your life and think about how you can tilt the odd in your favor. Think about these small 1% alterations you can make that will facilitate forward progress.

Getting Rid Of The Goliath’s In Your Life

In this life, we will face many giants. Maybe you are facing some giants in your life and you don’t even know how you could ever win against it because it’s so much bigger that you. And you don’t feel strong enough to battle it on your own. Once you understand that you are under an attack, you will see clearly that Satan is here to steal, kill, and destroy you. He attacks everything you hold near and dear. He knows how to bring fear to our lives .

Satan believes that if he attacks your family, your finances, your relationships, you job, and your health, everything that means the most to you that he can defeat you and you will doubt God. This is when we have to become a David and slay every Goliath in our life.

David could not have slayed Goliath if he didn’t have faith in God, and himself. Goliath is a symbol of our difficulties and heartaches and the attacks Satan throws at us. In Samuel 17:24 it says, “Whenever the Israelites saw Goliath, they all fled from hI’m in great fear.” That is what we do when we are facing troubles, and the Goliath’s in our own life’s. It’s easier to hid from our giants in life than face them, as that’s e exactly what Satan wants us to do. We see the giant that is so big and strong that we feel like we can never defeat it, so we run in fear.

But, if we look at what David did, when he faced Goliath, we see that he quickly ran toward the battle. (Samuel 17:48). That is what we have to do when we face our giants, we have to run towards them and go into battle with confidence. What David have with him when he faced Goliath? “You come with me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.’

In Samuel 17:45, David faced the giant with No Fear, he went into his bag and pulled out a simple sling and a stone and he slayed the giant. And when he did, the Philistines saw that Goliath was dead and turned and ran.

We can learn from David, first he ran toward the giant, he did not run away, he did not hide, he did not send someone else, he did not give up or look at the circumstances that surrounded him. David knew that God was going with him into battle and would give him all he needed to win this battle. David should not have won against such a giant as Goliath. He should have died that day, but he faced the giant without fear, he went in the name of the Lord and won. He went in faith, and took with him what God gave him and he was victorious.

That is how we must face our giant in our lives. We must prepare ourselves for the battle with God by our side, in prayer, the Word of God in our heart, and faith and trust that God will slay the giant. God will equip you for battle and he will remove all fear if you trust and believe that He is with you and will go before you.

The account of David and Goliath is powerful if we will put these simple truths into practice in our own life’s. Slay fear, slay worry, slay doubt, and every force that is coming against you in the name of Jesus. David did not put his trust in Saul’s armor but he put his trust in God and the weapons God gave him. We cannot trust in our own resources and be tempted to rely on ourselves or others to fight our battles.

We must put on the whole armor of God and go into battle and know that God has equipped us for battle and with God’s help we can overcome every giant in our lives and receive victory with faith and trust, God is bigger than all our circumstances, difficulties, illnesses, and setbacks.

Whatever giants you are facing today, settle in your heart right now that you will slay every Goliath they we are facing and be victorious in Jesus name,

“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may destroy.” -1 Peter 5:8.

Their comes a time when we have to decide to not let the devil win. Make that time be today.

Nothing Is Hidden That Will Not Be Revealed

Hide and seek is a great children’s game, but it is a dangerous and deadly spiritual game.

“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident; nor anything secret that will not be known and come out into the open.” -Luke 8:17 Amp.

If you area follower of Christ don’t hide your loyalty and commitment to Him. When you have guests in your house, you don’t hide the lamp so they can’t find their way around your house in the dark. If your friends are lost in spiritual darkness why would you hide God’s light from the . Do you want them to stumble around in spiritual darkness?

One thing I’ve learned in life is that God sees and hears everything, and He’s not their to snoop, spy, or try and catch you doing something wrong. He’s there to strengthen, encourage, and bless . Wherever Ge goes He brings light. Hidden things are exposed. So if we let His light penetrate deep inside of us in our hidden places He will drive out the darkness (John 3:18-21).

My entire life I felt as though I had to hidden things from others, and evidently myself. All the family secrets, all the things I’ve seen and be through, from doctors, from friends, and some from people who I called family.

If you try to keep things hidden away in the dark corners of your spirit, little by little you will lose what light you have. (Matthew 6:23). Even if you drive the light from most your heart, sooner or later, everything in your heart will be revealed. (Matthew 10:26-33).

For years I kept things hidden in my heart, all the darkness, until all I knew was darkness. I felt I was this horrible, weak, pathetic person. I deserved to suffer. Until one day, it was as if I woke up from a coma. I decided I couldn’t live that way anymore. I realized I was killing myself and those who were closest to me.

I went through all the right motions, and said all the right things. I went to church every week, took care of my husband and children, but I was dead inside. It wasn’t until I complete stranger prayed over me, that I realized that there was only One who could help me find the truth by shining a light in all the dark places. And that I was shutting Him out along with everyone else around me.

He was there to help me make sense of all the chaos, I silently fought to shove down deeper and deeper into my soul. He was the spirit of truth -He was God. He was the One who lit up all the dark places and exposed the truth and errors in my life.

It wasn’t until I knew this deep down in my soul, that I began to heal. I had a long painful road ahead of me. But, I was finally able to let some of the darkness out, and slowly but surely it became easier as time went by. I shed a billion tears. I shed all the pain, I had felt over the years.

But, all the pain and and tears were well worth it to finally start living again. To finally become a whole person that I was meant to be. I finally after 13 years began to talk to my sister again. That I thought just deserted me, and ran for the hills. Each of us not knowing what happened to each other.

There were so many secrets which should have come to light long ago. Yet, we were both to busy hiding in the darkness. That God seen it all along.

Take Your Thoughts Captive

Taking your thoughts captive simply means gaining control over what you think about yourself and life. The Bible says, to think only about those things which are true, noble, right, pure lovely, admirable, and excellent or praiseworthy.

What you put in your mind have an affect on what you think. Remember the scary movie you watched as a kid, then had nightmares? I didn’t take long to realize that the way to avoid the nightmares stop watching that kind of movie. God has provided a way to overcome, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors and gain, the self control and seek. It’s a matter of taking charge over your life -His way.

Here are some ways to take your thoughts captive:

1. Accept responsibility for your thoughts.

You have your ability to exercise control over your thoughts. God warned Cain to focus your mind on the right things, but Cain close to think about the wrong thing -anger and jealousy- which led to his murderous actions. With God’s help we can regain control of our thoughts -to think enabling thoughts instead of disabling ones.

2. Your mind – not just your behavior – must change.

God calls us to change info behavior that does not honor Him. Instead of focusing on your outward behavior, work on discipline in your mind, from which you are behaviors stem. Allow God transform you by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

3. Think through your problems rather then just react to them.

When you experience difficult challenges, you can react to them and think yourself into despair every time. Where are you can look forward to the next opportunity and ask yourself what you learn from this failure. Is your first thought “ I’ll never do anything right?” You don’t have to get trapped in disabling thoughts. You are capable of getting out. Are you a shame, despair, hopelessness, and anger – by taking control of your thoughts.

4. Take your disabling thoughts captive through confession.

Paul urges us to “take after every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (Romans 12:21). Confront your disabling thoughts. Turned them over to God, and become who He see you can be. It will take work to take your thoughts captive each time they pop into your mind. But it is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

5. Choose to focus your thoughts on the right things.

We are to sleep about those things are true, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable” (Philippians 4:8). When we think about both things, god promises to give us peace. What a contrast that issue the thought of millions of people today. Don’t look to a movie, a TV show, or how to wonder what you accomplish this for you. It takes personal discipline and commitment.

6. it is possible.

It is not easy to retrain your thoughts and respond to new positive ways. God empowers you to focus your mind on the right things, it will become easier. You can develop a new frame of reference based on what is right and true.

It is possible to live a life aware of your thoughts and take them captive. God empowers us through the Holy Spirit to gain power over your mind and thoughts.

I began to do this by standing on God’s promises. Every time a thought came into my mind that was demeaning, and untrue. I would think immediately of a promise that God gave us in the Bible. It is not easy but if you want to change your thoughts it is well worth the work you have to put into it.

Practice Makes Perfect!

Satan Loves Chaos

Satan loves chaos. Ever since his fall from heaven he seeks to divide the world. His first action was to divide the angels, which which was followed up by tempting Eve in the garden to put a wedge between Adam and her. And between all human after that.

Division in Satan’s playground shouldn’t be surprising. The definition of the word “devil,” comes from the Greek word diabolos, which translates as “to divide,” “to separate.”

Whenever you see division occur in the world, especially division that pits one group in society against another, it can be affirmed that Satan is in some way behind it. He wants us to destroy ourselves and hatred against people is one of fastest ways to destroy ourselves at each others demise.

You can look at what’s happening today in the world, and see it. So far Satan’s plan is working incredibly well. We will eventually destroy ourselves.

The solution is simple. We need to strive for unity in truth, coming together to fight against injustices with clarity. If we stay united together and get America back to what our Founding Fathers wanted it too be. We will be able to thwart the plans of Satan.

Sadly, no one will budge on “their truth,” and we eventually destroy ourselves with evil.

Right now God is slowly removing His cover of protection, until we wake up or the cover is completely removed. Then all hell will literally loose.

Once Jesus returns and His children are taken, the light will be taken away and there will be only darkness.

Jesus’s second coming is referenced many times in Scripture, with over 1500 passages in the Old Testament and 1 out of every 25 verses in the New Testament mentions Messiah’s return.

Treasure In Heaven

Greed and generosity are opposing spiritual forces. Selfishness and greed have the effect of shriveling our souls by wasting our potential for love. Generosity becomes the source of God’s richest blessing and joy.

There’s a story of the days in the “Wild West about an armed bank robber involving a large amount of money. The bank hired a bounty hunter to track down the thief, the search for him led into Mexico the bounty hunter could not speak Spanish and needed to hire a interpreter. The bounty hunter promised the interpreter a handsome reward if they recovered the money.

The robber was eventually apprehended at gunpoint. The bounty hunter asked through the interpreter, where the money was. The thief replied. That he had mo idea what he was talking about. But the bounty hunter had solid proof he had caught the right man. The bounty hunter to,d the interpreter to tell the robber if he didn’t tell him where the money was it would “blow his head off.

Believing him the robber told the interpreter exactly where it was hidden. “What did he say? the bounty hunter asked. After a moment of hesitation, the interpreter answered, señor, he say’s he’s ready to die like a man.

The isa fictitious story of course, but the sin of greed is every bit as deadly. Banks, corporations, the wealthy and those in power often choose selfish gain over the good of others, income inequality has skyrocketed in the past seven decades, with an unsustainable level of social injustice. The simple answer of how this could happen it greed, which is the cause of untold suffering and oppression in the entire world.

Greed is defined as “the selfish desire for more of something than is needed, to the detriment of others.” When people selfishly acquire amass amount of money, luxuries than what they need, it always come at the expense of others.

In Luke 12:13-21, it tells of a man in the crowd, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you? He said to them, “Beware, keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of things which he possesses.”

Jesus saw an opportunity to teach, so He told a parable of a rich man who chose to hoard his good crop so he could live in selfish comfort, rather than caring about helping his neighbors. But that very night his life was required of him to God (The man’s death). And by his greediness it was suddenly exposed for the sin in was. By failing to share his blessings, he had missed the spiritual value of generosity.

I love the idea that in the next life we will see all the same good our giving has done, the fruits of generosity whether person to person or charitable giving and blessing it has been done to others.

Greed and generosity is opposed to each other.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate one and live the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us not to hoard our treasures here on earth, but to invest it in heaven, “For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also,” Matthew 6:29-21. It’s important to realize that all earthy treasure is temporary, but whatever we share with others for the sake of love will remain. It will be a blessing not only to others, but also to ourselves.

We need ti recognize the sin of greed for the evil it is, and instead choose to live the rich blessing of generosity.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10:39.

If you look closely at the world today, you will be able to see greed all around.

God Has A Doorway

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you gave keep my word and have not denied my name.” Revelation 3:8

Sometime was can become so disappointed because a door has been closed in our lives. We can be e pest something to come, but it only passes us by. I get so discouraged when these things happen, sometimes it’s difficult to trust that God knows better than I do.

I have been saving money to go and see my son. I was so excited that I almost had enough. And then my vehicle decides to take a dump. Yes, I was so discouraged I sat down and cried “Are you Kidd me right now.” I had to use the money I was saving for a down-payment on a vehicle.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks their getting ahead and then the doors shuts. “Well, that didn’t happen the way it was supposed to. Ok, so why did the door shut, “Was a just having more bad luck? Did God shut the door because He has something bigger planned? I prefer to stand on the latter – something bigger is planned for me.

I always think “when will things work out for me,” During those low moments in life. Being discouraged, disheartened, and stuck in a rut, it is sometimes tough to see beyond the door that just closed.

Waiting for God to move in our lives is difficult, especially when our desires have not been met. It is so tempting to just give up after the first, second or even third shut door. But in reality we know we have to persevere until the correct door is made known to us.

Hebrews 10:35 says, a closed door doesn’t mean that it’s over. On the contrary, it means that God is getting us ready for something bigger, better, and greater than before.

“Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. In a very little while, he who comes will come, and not wait.” -Hebrews 10:35-37

You have come to far to back down and quit trying. Don’t let closed doors bother you. Keep moving forward. Remember where you are right now in only temporary, it is not where you are going to remain.

God use’s everything you have gone through for good, and to move you closer to Him. God used Goliath to strengthen David. And He will use your closed doors ti strengthen you.

No matter what your you are facing, don’t give up. Try again, and reach higher, think bigger, Pray bolder.

Trust God, even if you can’t understand what’s happening in your life. Continue to seek Him, and He will shed a light that can lead you show you to the open door. God is here for all of us. If we wound give Him a chance.

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Temptation And Testing

The world increasingly ignores, laughs at, or even mocks the idea of sin, and true believers Today tint take it seriously either. They might want to be delivered from their sins at some point – But not yet.

Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish playwright said “I can resist everything except temptation.”

I have been asked many times, “why people in the world are suffering, why is there so much pain?“ While some of it is because we live in a “fallen world.” Much of it is because of sin. God takes sin seriously – far more serious than we do. We either obey God or disobey Him, there is no other option, and He holds us accountable for our choices.

We make our own choices, and then our choices make us. Those choices put us on one of two roads through life, the easy way that leads us to destruction or the path hard way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Temptation and testing are intimately bound up with these decisions.

The Nature of Temptation and Testing

Temptation to sin has been universal throughout history, no one had ever been exempt from it or from the consequences of yielding to it. In God’s Word temptation is an enticement to act in disobedience to His Will. It’s sources are the world, the flesh, and Satan. A test is a situation that God sends or allows in our lives with the intention of revealing our loyalties, motivations, character, and commitment to Him and helping to purify, strengthen, and mature us. If this test is successfully passed, the test will glorify God. Tests and temptations occur throughout our lives and are an important part of the process of maturing spiritually.

Major Examples of Temptation and Testing

Testing and temptation first appear in the Bible in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. This ancient account contains valuable insights for us today. Here we see that God lovingly places the first parents in a beautiful garden, which abounded with everything they needed to flourish as humans. He only set one restriction; “You may eat of every tree in the garden, but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17

God designed this test to give Adam and Eve the opportunity to demonstrate their gratitude, love, and trust in Him by obeying one simple command. However tests hold the possibility of failure, and failure is always to goal of the devil, who rages against God and His people with an implacable hatred. He will tempt those who are being tested to disobey God. What God means for good, the devil will try to expliot for evil. What happen in the Garden demonstrates this fact and also gives us good lessons for resisting his schemes.

The serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field they to Lord God had made. – Genesis 3:1

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.” then the serpent said “You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of it’s fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband ate from it also. -Genius 3:1-6

When God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil “You shall surly die.” By die meant you shall spiritually die.

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who resist temptation know how strong it is… A man who givens in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, on one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it and Christ because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is the only man who knows to the full what temptation means – the only complete realist,

C.S. Lewis

When the devil tempts us, he doesn’t appear in hoofs and horns. He appears in an appealing guise. The devil has the power to assume a pleasing shape. The serpent in the Garden is described as crafty, and was more than likely beautiful like a emerald viper, not a hissing cobra or rattlesnake. The tempter seemingly innocent initial approach is deceptive ploy to ensnare Eve. He quickly moved to directly contradict God’s Word about the consequences of eating the fruit, “You will not surely die.” In this deft move, he undermined Eve’s trust to God’s goodness by contending that God was withholding something from her. “to be like God.” By introducing unbelief, followed by an appeal to pride, he cleverly placed a powerful temptation before Eve. She could have passed the test by simply obeying God’s command, for the tempt of could not have forced her to eat the fruit. Instead, she considered the apparent benefits of eating – it was good for food, a delight to make one wise. She freely chose to disobey God, and ate of the fruit. And gave it to Adam who ate too.

That one tragic choice brought disastrous consequences upon them, their family, and every person that ever lived. It alienated them from God brought Eve painful childbearing and Adam pointless work, murder to their family all in a manner of suffering, that led to eventual physical death. It also plunged the world into a catastrophic rebellion against God that has produced untold pain, suffering, and misery to this present day,

And what can we learn from this account? First the obvious one is the devil’s subtlety in lying and deception. With has major tactic throughput the Bible. Another is his malevolent war against God and His Word. And the devil’s hatred towards human beings in very clear, along with his cunning schemes to deceive, seduce, and tempt us in order to thwart God’s kingdom, purposes, alienate us from God, and bring suffering and judgment upon us. The devil uses our vulnerability to temptation and our need to be alert to sinful attractions to linger in our minds and looking only for the appealing features of sin and not the night and painful price we will have to pay is another important lesson we learn.

Another implicit lesson is our great need to quickly turn to God when we are tempted and to reject evil thoughts and not allow them to linger in our minds. We can also see here the root problems of unbelief and pride, such powerful avenues of temptation, and the tragic consequences of failing a test God has set before us,

The seduction of Adam and Eve also illustrates that the devil seeks every opportunity for strategic impact against God. And we can see it very clear.

Resisting The Devil

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7

When the devil tries to assault your mind, telling you that your God-given rights will never come to pass, how do you resist the assaults. Do you stand firm against the lies and command his to leave. Or do you allow the devil to keep mentally assaulting your mind with these lying allegations?

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The word resist comes from the Greek word anthistemi, which a compound of the words anti and anti and istemi. This word anti means against which is to oppose something, while the word intimi means to stand. The two words together means to stand against or to stand in opposition. The word demonstrates the attitude of one who is fiercely opposed to something and determines that he will do everything in his power to resist, to stand against it, and defy its operation.

In James we can clearly see that we must be aggressively determined to stand against the work of the devil. We cannot just close our eyes and hope the enemy will go away that won’t work. We have to dig in and brace ourselves for a fight, we must put our full force forward to drive the devil out of our lives. Our stand against the devil must be firm. Our stand must be unyielding and steadfast if we want to successfully resist his bombardment of lies against our minds and emotions.

As I am writing this, a keep thinking of the movie ‘War Room.’ Where Elizabeth stands firm against the devil to save her marriage.

The word “devil” is a translation from Diabolos which is more of a job description than his name. If you understand the word ‘devil,’ then you also can know exactly how the devil works. dia actually means to pierce something from one side all the way through to the other side. And the word ballo means to throw, as when a person throws a ball or a rock. These two words together means to repetitiously throne something, striking it again and again until the object being struck has finally been completely penetrated.

This word Diabolos is a vivid job description for the devil. It tells us exactly how the devil operates. He always comes to assault the mind not once but many times. He strikes us again and again to wear down our resistance. Then as soon as we let down of mental resistance the devil gives one last final punch that he finally succeeds in penetrating our minds. Once the devil has gained access into our minds, he begins to add lie upon lie, if we listen to those lies and believe them, the devil will successfully build a stronghold in our lives. And the devil can begin to control and manipulate our every thought.

So, instead of letting the devil fill your head with a whole bunch of lies. Start to resist him. Tell him to shut-up, and stop dropping all of the lies in your head. Tell him that he’s not welcome there.

We All Need A Safe Place

Have you noticed that people are at the brim of anger lately? One of the reasons for this is that we’ve bottled u too many emotions, we are so good at stuffing things away. We bite our tongues, choke back tears, and try to suppress every outward show of emotion because we want to be strong,

The problem is that all those pent-up emotions don’t just go away. Instead, they just keep accumulating, but, at some point, the bottle will be full. There usually comes a day when, without much provocation, our bottle overflows and often that leads to a angry outburst.

So, why do we hold everything in? I think it’s because we think we will seem weak if we cry or admit that were struggling. Maybe it’s because we are afraid people will think we’re dramatic. Or is it because we don’t know what we can trust? We think we should be able to handle things on our own. Or maybe we’re afraid we will be judged. I think it’s all f these.

So, we may just shrivel up and wither under the bombardment of other people’s opinions. After all the thoughts we have or what others think of us something inside of us dies. We put up a wall around us, that repels everything “bad” that comes our way.

You can get to the point that you don’t share anything because you know what you’ll get back will ‘feel’ like an attack. But when you’ve been abused so often everything feels like a threat.

So, what’s a safe place?

Is it a fortress where you can hide away and no one comes near? Perhaps that place behind the wall where everything is fine. We have to keep up appearances.

Or is it a physical place where you know you won’t be interrupted? Somewhere we can hide away and ‘be yourself somewhere you can let your guard down.

How would you define a safe place?

Mine definitely is, walking somewhere where I can hear the trees rustling in the wind and pouring my heart out to God.

Maybe we need to understand what James 1:19-20 is telling us,

You must understand this, my beloved; let everyone we quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness..

We meet so many people want to fix, advise, save or set you straight these days. Maybe if they would read James they would see that we need something that slowed and unhurried in our conversation.

To be a safe person is to offer a safe place to slow down. Maybe you’ve felt it, you walk into a place or see a person and instantly know you can be yourself, and let your guard down. And maybe even put that weight you’ve been carrying down if even for a little while.

And maybe become secure enough to leave or burdens at the door and not pick them back up when we leave.

Anything outside of this may come from and generates a place of stress, or anger, where frustrations leak out into the space and stifles love.

A began building my wall to keep everything away at a very young age. The only time I lowered my wall was when I was under the influence of any substance. At which point I just really didn’t care what I said or did or what people thought of me. When I sobered up, that wall was in place again. It was a very lonely place to be, Yes I kept everything and everyone away from me. Everything I perceived ad bad, as well as the good.

It took me years of healing to be able to take that wall down piece by piece. I began trusting and loving again. And letting people into my life, that I kept stuffed away deep inside me.