The link to my book - Destroy and Deliver (Autobiography)

Monday 23 May 2016

We are at war part 1

Part 1 of 2

There is a common word that describes who we are as people, “me”! Regardless on our geographical location and cultural upbringing all of mankind is dominated by the flesh and their desires. So much of any given day is all about what can “I” get out of it. Everything about our days from the minute we wake up to the time we shut our eyes is driven by the intent to nourish our bodies; we wash, eat, brush our teeth, take supplements to nurture our energy levels, and the list goes on, which can get rather tedious; nevertheless we are creatures of habit and do what needs to be done. But above all we have the need to please, not others but ourselves. This is a part of our natural makeups and this is rather unappealing when we see ourselves for who we are. To allow someone to have something at our expense is extremely foreign to our natures. However, the Lord Jesus broke the shackles of this vicious cycle. The Christian now has the ability to arm themselves with the mind of Christ as it is freely available to the believer, and there is a storeroom of grace freely available for the humble from which we are able to draw from.  

A man coverts his neighbours goods, it begins with a thought, but when that idea is allowed to germinate it has the potential of death. In other words if it is fed and it then becomes an intention this is where sin is most destructive. Not only does the man injury his own soul but it has an effect on those around him and sometimes it can have a very serious blowout. In fact this is what sent Jesus to the cross, the breach of mankind’s sin against God.

A man robs a bank with a loaded gun, he panics shooting a bystander who was minding her own business, who that morning had just pack three lunchboxes for her darlings which she did habitually and always with a smile on her face imagining her youngest daughters smile when she saw her surprized that was tucked inside her sandwich wrapper. A lively connection shared only by mother and daughter. Would tomorrow share a similar grin, for she now lay on her back with blood gashing from her side where the bullet had pierced the lower side of her left lung? The bystanders witnessed her fighting for life with a distinctive gargling sound that no one could miss as blood began to fill her lungs and then once the fight subsided with a single kick she was gone. There would be no surprize nor a smile on Rachel's face tomorrow and all because a man had a covetous thought that grew into an intention.

Sin affects all and it cannot be ignored. Only the blind and the fool cannot see the gravity of a thought that spirals out of control into an intention and when it is fully grown it brings forth death, not only in this life but the one to come. Did you know that we are unable to differentiate between thoughts and intentions in ourselves because we are so engulf with “self”. Our sinful nature has taken care of that; “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) - It is only the Spirit of God that has this ability to arrest a thought so without His direction in our lives we will never be able to bring our thoughts captive. Paul later goes on to say; “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20)

The struggle we have is to accept our realities and then to seek out God’s forgiveness and get on with “His Production”. Without owning our sin and finding repentance because of it we will only ever be swallowed up by it; amazingly once that realisation has kicked into gear our minds will be filled with faith which then kicks into another gear, helping us realise the power of the Spirit of God and this is not observed from a distance but we see Him as One who sticks closer than a brother. The goodness of God who can fathom it!    
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Why is there so much devastation in our world today, for that exact reason; peoples thoughts are driven to intentions which has raped so many parts of the world. Poverty is on the up and there are people starving. Examine the timeline by traveling back in history and it will be obvious that someone somewhere decided to act on a thought which would leave a wave of destruction in its path. But before we begin to excuse ourselves we need to understand that we were amongst that number, sinful individuals who gave no thought to God and His purposes; self preservation dominating by a life of covetousness prior to salvation. We are not exempt for our sinful actions, we all far short of the glory of God. Even though individuals like Job, Noah and Daniel put the world to shame with their righteous conduct, God has concluded all under sin; so before we start playing “the I am good card” we must understand this truth;as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."” (Romans 3:10-12) 

With this understood and now numbered amongst the Children of God we now have His Spirit who guides us throughout the day, but we still face a day filled with unwelcomed thoughts, considerations that often repulses us, I know that I have many of those thoughts on a daily basis but its what we do with each and every individual thought that is important. We have one of two options; resist the temptation or act upon the thought, driving it into an intention that cannot be stopped when fully grown which will bring forth death if repentance is not actualised. It is part of sins power and its curse.   

In the Garden of Gethsemane the man Jesus resisted unto the point of sweating droplets of blood, striving against sin as it waged war on his soul; whatever thoughts travelled through his mind, I can of a certainty say none of them where driven to intent, praise God for that.      

Here is how I have come to understand the psyche of the way we are captivated by our own sinful natures and how it is impossible for God to be privy to that deception for He is righteousness personified. It is who He is. And yet whilst we were still sinners (in a state of hopelessness) Christ died for the ungodly, wow! I hope the gravity of this merciful act is understood by all. It is needful for us to understand the depths of what God was willing to do in silencing Satan and freeing the sinner. “Jesus in my place”, what mercy on display!

Signing off

Tyrone 

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