- Jun 26, 2015
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Guys, I have been posting here on CF for over nine years. Do you know the substance of my very first post? It was revealing satan's greatest weapon that he uses against Christians.
Here is how it goes. Satan, the accuser of the brethren, does what he does best. He accuses. He tells the child of God, after planting a temptation in his path, how pitiful and crummy and hopeless he is, and that he WILL fall and give into the temptation again.... as usual.
'You mean, that's it?? That is his greatest weapon? Give me a break. What is so great about that?"
Hold on a second. He has one more 'twist' to add.... his 'coup de gras'. He does not.speak into our thoughts "You are an unworthy so and so." Oh, no. Not the master deceiver. He whispers:
"I am an unworthy so and so. What is the point of trying to resist? I always fall anyway." and he whispers it..... are you ready .....in OUR voice.
Like a master fisherman, he casts out the delicious bait, a jaded conscience left over from our time under the law.....and with a big hook embedded in it. And what do we do? We swallow it, hook line and sinker. And to make sure the after taste is good so we will come back for more, he makes us feel more humble for biting into the poisoned apple.
Look. WE might not yet know it. But he knows that sin's power has been broken over us. He knows that the old us died when Christ died. He knows we are new creatures, down deep in our core. Bit he also knows that ever since the death of Paul, he has successfully weaseled his way into mainstream Christianity and for 1900 plus years, he has for the most part clouded our vision, and blinded us to who we are in Christ.... new creatures endued with the power to totally overcome the world, the flesh and the devil.
So instead of believing as Paul did, that we are crucified with Christ, that the old us really is DEAD, not slowly being mortified by our well meaning but futile efforts, we continue seeing ourselves as just crummy sinners.... bad, bad sinners. Oh, maybe saved sinners but our core is still a cesspool of crumminess, right? Or so we believe.
We do not believe that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. We do not believe that it is no more us who live but Christ who lives in us. We literally believe the opposite. Oh, we memorize these amazing scriptures.We even quote them. We just don't believe them to be true for us, right here, right now.
Do we get it? Finally REALLY get it? We are believing his lies, the one who, when he lies, is speaking his native language. And we are not believing our God, the God of whom we are told it is IMPOSSIBLE for Him to lie. See why they call satan the master deceiver?
So despite the fact we possess shields of faith that have been guaranteed to shoot down satan's accusations and arrows, despite the promise that our Heavenly Father has given us that He will not allow us to be tempted above hat which we are able to bear, despite God's assurance that sin shall not have dominion over us, we have walked around our entire Christian lives..... with shields down. And defeat has followed like clockwork.
The Word tells us that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, right? Ever wonder why for the most part God seems so very far away? Bingo.
Listen carefully. All of these promises are not automatic. Let's be sure and understand that. God has ordained that the vehicle that makes them spring into action in our lives is our unshakeable trust in Him and His words to us. Yup. Faith. OUR faith. Not faith that it will be true in some distant future time. That is not faith. That is hope. Bo, real faoth must be NOW faith. Faith is always NOW faith. Believe that you receive it (now) and you shall have it. Amen? And when we do that, the real progressive part of our sanctification really begins. Like REALLY! And why? The hands of the potter have just been given permission to begin to work. And may I encourage you. Seeing yourself begin to be changed into His likeness.....here and now..... will cause amazement and joy and undying gratitude to well up insode you that is almost beyond comprehension.
Look, I get it. We resist believing that we are new, that we are, right now dead to sin, because we do not think we can ever really stop. We know ourselves to well. To make that statement, the pressure that would be hesped on us to "perform" would be immense, right?
Listen. You are right. Yes, we can't stop sinning. But that is not our job in this arrangement! That is God's job. We believe. He works. That is His task as the master potter. But His hands can only begin changing us when we are centered on His wheel, fully trusting that what He has promised HE is able to perform, and yes, WILL perform!
It all starts with our reckoning. (See Romans 6) We must agree with God that sin's power over us is broken, the the old selfish sin-loving us is gone, dead and buried forever. Oh, we may slip again, but it changes NOTHING! All it showed is that our faith wavered momentarily. So, IF we sin ( not when.....IF), we confess it, thank God foe His merciful provision of forgiveness, and IMMEDIATELY we again hoist our shields of faith that we are new creatures. Talk about cleansing guilty consciences! Talk about spitting out the hook satan has succeeded in planting in our minds and hearts ever since the day we were given new nstures! And you wanna see satan get thoroughly fristrated and peeved? That is the way to do it! LOL. You have just become a major threat to the kingdom of darkness. You have just learned your first lesson in how to walk as an overcomer in this life.
Shields up, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It is time we started believing our God. What He is about to reveal to us, IN us, is going to blow our ever loving minds. We, the real body of Christ, are about to awake and light our lamps. And how we do that?
With our testimony.
"...and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony."
Buckle your seatbelts, dear friends. Things are about to change. WE are about to change. Praise our God forevermore!
Blessings,
Gideon
Here is how it goes. Satan, the accuser of the brethren, does what he does best. He accuses. He tells the child of God, after planting a temptation in his path, how pitiful and crummy and hopeless he is, and that he WILL fall and give into the temptation again.... as usual.
'You mean, that's it?? That is his greatest weapon? Give me a break. What is so great about that?"
Hold on a second. He has one more 'twist' to add.... his 'coup de gras'. He does not.speak into our thoughts "You are an unworthy so and so." Oh, no. Not the master deceiver. He whispers:
"I am an unworthy so and so. What is the point of trying to resist? I always fall anyway." and he whispers it..... are you ready .....in OUR voice.
Like a master fisherman, he casts out the delicious bait, a jaded conscience left over from our time under the law.....and with a big hook embedded in it. And what do we do? We swallow it, hook line and sinker. And to make sure the after taste is good so we will come back for more, he makes us feel more humble for biting into the poisoned apple.
Look. WE might not yet know it. But he knows that sin's power has been broken over us. He knows that the old us died when Christ died. He knows we are new creatures, down deep in our core. Bit he also knows that ever since the death of Paul, he has successfully weaseled his way into mainstream Christianity and for 1900 plus years, he has for the most part clouded our vision, and blinded us to who we are in Christ.... new creatures endued with the power to totally overcome the world, the flesh and the devil.
So instead of believing as Paul did, that we are crucified with Christ, that the old us really is DEAD, not slowly being mortified by our well meaning but futile efforts, we continue seeing ourselves as just crummy sinners.... bad, bad sinners. Oh, maybe saved sinners but our core is still a cesspool of crumminess, right? Or so we believe.
We do not believe that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. We do not believe that it is no more us who live but Christ who lives in us. We literally believe the opposite. Oh, we memorize these amazing scriptures.We even quote them. We just don't believe them to be true for us, right here, right now.
Do we get it? Finally REALLY get it? We are believing his lies, the one who, when he lies, is speaking his native language. And we are not believing our God, the God of whom we are told it is IMPOSSIBLE for Him to lie. See why they call satan the master deceiver?
So despite the fact we possess shields of faith that have been guaranteed to shoot down satan's accusations and arrows, despite the promise that our Heavenly Father has given us that He will not allow us to be tempted above hat which we are able to bear, despite God's assurance that sin shall not have dominion over us, we have walked around our entire Christian lives..... with shields down. And defeat has followed like clockwork.
The Word tells us that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, right? Ever wonder why for the most part God seems so very far away? Bingo.
Listen carefully. All of these promises are not automatic. Let's be sure and understand that. God has ordained that the vehicle that makes them spring into action in our lives is our unshakeable trust in Him and His words to us. Yup. Faith. OUR faith. Not faith that it will be true in some distant future time. That is not faith. That is hope. Bo, real faoth must be NOW faith. Faith is always NOW faith. Believe that you receive it (now) and you shall have it. Amen? And when we do that, the real progressive part of our sanctification really begins. Like REALLY! And why? The hands of the potter have just been given permission to begin to work. And may I encourage you. Seeing yourself begin to be changed into His likeness.....here and now..... will cause amazement and joy and undying gratitude to well up insode you that is almost beyond comprehension.
Look, I get it. We resist believing that we are new, that we are, right now dead to sin, because we do not think we can ever really stop. We know ourselves to well. To make that statement, the pressure that would be hesped on us to "perform" would be immense, right?
Listen. You are right. Yes, we can't stop sinning. But that is not our job in this arrangement! That is God's job. We believe. He works. That is His task as the master potter. But His hands can only begin changing us when we are centered on His wheel, fully trusting that what He has promised HE is able to perform, and yes, WILL perform!
It all starts with our reckoning. (See Romans 6) We must agree with God that sin's power over us is broken, the the old selfish sin-loving us is gone, dead and buried forever. Oh, we may slip again, but it changes NOTHING! All it showed is that our faith wavered momentarily. So, IF we sin ( not when.....IF), we confess it, thank God foe His merciful provision of forgiveness, and IMMEDIATELY we again hoist our shields of faith that we are new creatures. Talk about cleansing guilty consciences! Talk about spitting out the hook satan has succeeded in planting in our minds and hearts ever since the day we were given new nstures! And you wanna see satan get thoroughly fristrated and peeved? That is the way to do it! LOL. You have just become a major threat to the kingdom of darkness. You have just learned your first lesson in how to walk as an overcomer in this life.
Shields up, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It is time we started believing our God. What He is about to reveal to us, IN us, is going to blow our ever loving minds. We, the real body of Christ, are about to awake and light our lamps. And how we do that?
With our testimony.
"...and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony."
Buckle your seatbelts, dear friends. Things are about to change. WE are about to change. Praise our God forevermore!
Blessings,
Gideon
