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Easily Distracted
hillsbororiver:
As I was rereading through LOF Part 7 this morning a certain portion of it jumped right out at me;
THE DEVIL MAKES MAN MINDFUL OF PHYSICAL THINGS
The devil has always been mindful of physical, literal, material things. That’s what Satan "dines" on—
"…DUST [of man] shall you eat all the days of your life" (Gen. 3:14).
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour [Greek: ‘swallow up’]" (I Pet. 5:8).
Yes, the Adversary eats "dust" and we, mankind, ARE "dust" of the ground. Satan does not feast on spiritual food—it would choke him! Satan dines on the carnal [flesh/meat] mind of men. While Jesus was physically starving for forty days, He was feasting on spiritual food from heaven! Satan thought he could trick Jesus into satisfying His need for physical FOOD before He was finished dining on spiritual food with His Father!
"Then was Jesus led up of THE SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered" […and so was STARVING, The Four Gospels By C.H. Rieu].
And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made BREAD" (Matt. 4:1-3).
Satan should have realized that one doesn’t tempt a Spiritual Giant with a loaf of physical bread.
http://bible-truths.com/lake7.html
I know that most of us can relate to being too easily distracted and taken off course (or stumbling off of the path) in our personal journeys with our Lord. Sometimes they are powerful temptations from our old ways that seem to come out of nowhere, things we had thought (or is it hoped) we had left behind but here we are staring at our old man face to face.
Other times it is just something relatively minor, irritating drivers on the road, a stupid comment from family, friend or coworker (or another brother or sister in the Lord), a lack of acknowledgement when we feel we deserve credit or accolades for something we believe we have done very well or even over and above what was expected.
All of these things (and more) can lead to a carnal downward spiral that leaves us frustrated, ashamed and quite honestly sick of our natural selves, the amazing thing is this is exactly how God is working in us, taking us to the point that our natural tendencies begin to irritate and eventually disgust us to the point we hate even entertaining those thoughts and/or temptations.
Lord I pray, bring that day here soon!
In the mean time Satan is using every trick in his bag and attacking us from places we sometimes least expect it and at other times presenting a panoramic mental power point presentation glorifying the old carnal fleshly desires. Once we begin recognizing the pattern(s) of how even a small stumble can start the whole downward spiral and we seek spiritual nourishment and strength through His Word and Spirit we are following the example of our Lord in how He was able to overcome the devil and then we will see more and more victories as we make our way on this incredible journey.
His Peace to you,
Joe
Kat:
Thanks Joe, good reminder and very uplifting :)
mercy, peace and love
Kat
Dante:
I totally Agree with you.
BUT,...I have to say that I think that Satan's strongest foothold IS the VERY WORD OF GOD, in our minds!
The reason being, that if you do not even KNOW the truth, you cannot even Fall back on the truth to help you up again.
I say this because, it has only been a year since I was brought to the knowledge of the truth about HELL.
And since then, when I do fail, I have this WEIRD (Weird to my adult life) PEACE, in knowing that all is well with things. And that God is in control.
Back to "falling back on the truth".
Before, when I used to fail, I had NO or LITTLE peace. Since (At least for me) I could never be REALLY sure about my Salvation.
BUT,.....NOW that I KNOW GOD will Save ALL.
I have a peace that I cannot even describe.
Yet,...I do agree with you totally, since my FEAR is not all gone, all the time.
I have to learn to be still. And worry about nothing.
I find it more and more important to study the word of God, in IT'S correct environment.
And I find it more and more important to PRAY!!
It is truly like it says in the Word of God, that it is FOOD, that we desperately NEED.
When I let the time laps in between study,...I get all agitated and concerned inside.
I feel a release inside when I study the word of God, IN TRUTH!! The Real way,....the way it is meant to be read and learned, having PEACE and knowing that ALL THE WORLD WILL BE SAVED!!!
It strengthens me!!! :D
Sorry to babble! lol.
Dante
Rene:
Hi Joe,
It is so true that we are constantly being distracted from spiritual matters. This world bombards us with enticements that continue to cater to the satisfying of the flesh, and this assault on our senses is getting worse as time goes on.
We are in a spiritual war. Our adversary has plenty of admonition, but our God gives us the spiritual power to overcome. As Dante mentioned, staying prayerful is very important. I ask the Lord constantly to give me the strength to endure, as well as, the heart to be obedient.
Rene'
hillsbororiver:
Thank you Kat & Dante for your responses!
I agree with you Dante in regard to the difference of knowing His Word and living His Word in a humble state of prayer, sometimes we perceive prayer to be a rather formal ritual, getting on our knees, hands clasped, head bowed. While there is nothing wrong with praying in such a manner it does take a certain environment to pull it off. ;)
It isn't something (assume the position) one does in the office, driving your car, waiting in line at the grocery store or just about any place in public (unless of course one is seeking attention). The thing is that we really can pray (converse with God) while we are in all the places above, communicate with Him as we would if He were physically sitting right next to us as we know He is in Spirit all around and even within us.
Yes, there are certain times when an isolated place is best for us having a One on one conversation with Him but during the course of our day to day lives this is not always available or even possible, but we can always converse with Him as we would our most beloved and trusted friend, Counselor and Guide. This journey is all about seeking (and doing) His will and He is never far from us.
We have a real battle on our hands because this carnality within is a real beast;
JUST WHAT IS CARNALITY
What then is it to be carnal or carnally minded? It’s not good, I can tell you that. It’s a monster—IT’S A BEAST:
"for to be carnally minded is DEATH…"
And just why is that?
"Because the carnal mind is enmity [DEEP-SEATED HATRED] against God: for it is NOT SUBJECT to the [spiritual] law of God, neither indeed CAN BE [Gk: ‘is ABLE’]. So then they that are in the flesh [carnal-minded] CANNOT please God" (Rom. 8:6-8).
Have YOU ever seen yourself as the man of sin?
Do you believe that YOU were once the son of perdition?
Have YOU ever been carnally-minded in your walk with God?
Have YOU ever left your first love?
Have YOU ever put your hand to the plough and looked back?
Has the spiritual house YOU built upon the sand fallen yet?
Have you fallen from grace since first believing?
No? You say, "NO—NEVER"! Then the chances are great that "ye are YET carnal."
WHEN WILL I SEE THE BEAST WITHIN?
Paul wasn’t telling the unbelieving world that "ye are yet carnal." Nor was Jesus telling the world that they had "left the first love." No, Paul and Jesus are both telling THE CHURCH that they are "yet carnal and have left their first love"! In other words, AFTER coming into a church, AFTER they have accepted Christ, AFTER they have pursued their walk with God, AFTER they have built a spiritual house upon the sand, AFTER they have become indoctrinated with the commandments of men and the traditions of men, can one fall away and be in a position to actually spiritually SEE THE BEAST WITHIN! SEE the man of sin and the son of perdition. See your carnal-minded, God hating, SINS. You and I and all who have be enlightened by God’s word and our own failures in life, can surely see that we are all spiritually, WILD BEASTS.
If you insist that: "Ray! I don’t see myself as a spiritual BEAST, or a man of SIN, or the son of PERDITION [destruction]." Well, all I can to say is to parrot Paul: "YE ARE YET CARNAL."
http://bible-truths.com/lake14.html
His Peace and Wisdom to you,
Joe
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