Day 17: Drawing Closer to God (Battle of the Mind)

The book of Romans is one of my favorite books of the bible. It has a wealth of information about who we are as believers and where we came from. I see this a lot in my counseling of clients, the idea of our mind doing battle. Our sinful nature is a power within us that we have to battle to over come. It is the wrong in us that does everything it can to get the right in us to follow along and do the wrong. Because we as human beings have the power to choose, when presented with the wrong path as the snake did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, we, with the sinful nature within us have no means on our own to over come the sinful nature so we will choose the wrong path as Eve did. But our loving God, gave us a warrior who does the battle for us. I think of God looking down on his only son on the cross dying not because he was a criminal and did anything wrong like the other two beside him on their crosses but because he was doing the ultimate battle right than and there with sin. He died on that cross taking all our sins with us and went to Hell. He won the battle the day he rose from the dead and walked out of Hell. As a believer in Jesus, we are connected to him like a tea bag that needs water to produce any tea.  When we accept Jesus into our hearts his living water is poured into us. We now have the means to do battle with sin in our own minds. We just have to pick up the sword to do the battle each day. With Jesus, we are like a cup or glass of tea and the power of the Holy Spirit can heat up the tea to bring us comfort and peace and it can ice up our tea to give us inspiration and conviction. The sinful nature is still there within us but we have the connection to Jesus and the Holy Spirit within us to do the battle and help us choose the way of the righteous.
Romans 7:23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

What Is Your Power Source?

It is amazing the power we have within us called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like a generator. Most of us don’t have a generator but it is a power supply that people get as a back-up to the current power supply they already have. Generators are used in place of the normal power supply that you use. However, they do not automatically go on unless, of course, in my lack of complete knowledge on generators there are some that you can program to come on when your regular power source goes off. In any case, YOU have to make the choice to turn on the generator. Spiritually speaking, our regular power source is our own attempts to be God. This power source is based on a lie that Satan planted in Eve way back in the Garden of Eden and has been planted within all of us. Read Genesis 3: 1-6 to discover those first lies that Satan planted within us. He makes us question God and lies to us making us believe that we can be like God.  How many of us have heard this kind of self-talk and/or talk spoken by others: “I can do it on my own”, “I can do it by myself”, “I don’t need help”, “I’ve got this”, “I know what I am doing”. You may have your own statement you can add to this list. These are all lies we tell ourselves which are supposed to give us the power we need but when our power source is based on a lie the consequences will reflect this. Suppose I am a teacher and one of my students is having problems dealing with anger. As teachers, we often rely on the techniques we have learned on the job or in our education regarding teaching but as followers of Christ, we have to be cautious of what we are teaching. Teaching based on a lie will not ultimately help teach this student about how to handle his anger in ways pleasing to God. As a teacher, we, too, are to utilize the alternate power source given to us by God when we chose to believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s power is within us but it is a power that we need to call upon. It is the power that we need to learn to use in all circumstances throughout our lives because it is the power based on the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth told to us in John 14:16. So our choice each day and every moment in that day is to make the choice to turn on the generator, go to the Holy Spirit.  As it says in Zechariah 4:6 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord Almighty. So, if we use the power of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth, you will be led to the truth. What are the truths that will overcome those self-powered statements above: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”, “I cannot do it on my own but the Lord is always with me to lead me and give me wisdom”, “The Lord is my helper. Your power works best in my weakness”, “I don’t have this but when I put you before me, you will lead me”. Look within the Word of God for more truth that will overcome the lies that Satan puts in us. Share these truths with others that we may all become more aware of the power source we should be relying on, the Spirit of Truth.

**Journaling inspired by Jesus Calling by Sarah Young-October 4 and the Spirit of Truth.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 268

If you break down the meaning of arrogance, it comes down to selfishness. All of us have an unhealthy dose of arrogance within us at times. It happens when we get too busy to spend some time with the Lord. Selfishness started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve wanting to know what the forbidden tree of knowledge could give them. They were not thankful for what God had already given them. This is where thinking too much of ourselves begins to take us away from God; when we are not gracious and thankful to God for all he gives us. But thankfulness is more than just a quick “thank you, God!” True gratitude is shown by our actions. God created us in his likeness because he wanted to be in fellowship with us. He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve and he wants to have some alone time with us, too.

Isaiah 2:17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear.