We are living in a season we were not expecting, and it seems to be wearing everyone down. The bottom line is, we cannot do what we want, when we want to!
We were enjoying life for the most part, going about our lives without much thought of being prepared for a pandemic to hit our lives! As a child of God, we are told to be alert! The enemy roams the earth seeking for an open door!
As a born-again child of God, we have been given uniquely powerful tools to live in this world. Many of us tend to think of our spiritual life in the context of our church involvement: we are faithful in attendance, volunteer and give money to the church; We confessed our sins and signed for church membership and that’s it.
Our faith is about the basic choices we make every day. It is about the words we use and our relationships. It is about how we manage our resources and how we use our time and talents.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT) tells us, “But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.”
I find it staggering that Eve could be deceived! She lived in a beautiful garden, God met every need and walked with her and Adam in the garden. Sin was unknown. Paul was concerned we would be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Paul clearly tells us, it is our minds that can be corrupted! This should make us stop and think!
Our minds are linked with our emotions and influence our choices. The mind is both a battleground and the key to transformation. Our mind must be trained to think from heaven to earth. It does not come by chance; it takes work and intentionality.
Eve had a fatal attraction; she set her mind on one tree. She had been warned about the tree and knew the consequences, but her appetite won!
Do you understand the power of appetite? Appetite is a desire to satisfy any bodily need or craving, an appetite for food, power or pleasure. Addictions are overrunning our world. Addiction to food, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, porn and gambling to name a few. Addiction starts in our mind.
Eve was willing to risk death to eat from the forbidden tree. She wanted wisdom and all she had to do was ask God for it. Esau was also caught at a vulnerable moment, but if he had valued what was his he would not have chosen to satisfy his flesh over receiving a spiritual blessing later.
Eve could not remove the tree, but she had a choice to remove herself from the presence of the tree. David looked on Bathsheba and allowed lust to fill his heart. Solomon married foreign women and allowed their gods within his home. Yes, the power of appetite has taken over the lives of many as they submitted to it.
There are many examples for us in the Word of God for our learning. We must value the testimonies in the Word of God, they are to teach us how to live in this world (see Rom. 15:4).
Satan’s target is your mind because that is the only entrance he has access to. If we are not sincere in our faith and pure in our devotion to God, we are open to the enemy just like Eve was.
I believe this season of our life is giving us the opportunity to look deep within our hearts and repent where we have allowed a lax attitude in our priorities in life to turn more towards the world for the pleasures of this life.
You must understand the struggle that is going on and where that battle is fought; it is in your mind as Paul warned us. Public officials cannot resolve the problems facing us today because they are spiritual issues.
We must create an environment around us that supports us and where we can hear the voice of the Lord. That is our only safety net! He has promised to lead us beside still waters, to restore our soul and prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
Have you ever thought, what would Jesus say to us in the middle of this pandemic, riots and total chaos in the world system? “Why are you afraid? Are you reading the Word of God, wearing the helmet of salvation and using the sword of the Spirit? Are you decreeing My Word into the darkness? Did you think I would leave you and forsake you? Is My shed blood not enough?”
We must understand what happened in the Garden of Eden and what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane to build our garden of life in this earth!
The Holy Spirit is your helper and only by the grace of God can we build a wall of protection to guard our heart and mind as we walk the runway of life. You must always fight the good fight of faith and be alert. Remember, it is a “fixed” fight: we win!
The tools we have been given—prayer, repentance, thanksgiving and the authority of Jesus’ name on the lips of His children—can change the course of human history, but to be effective, they must be used!
Read and study Ephesians 6:10-18 to learn about your spiritual weapons. {eoa}
Joyce Tilney is a Bible teacher and author. In her new book, Eve, What Really Happened in the Garden?, she shares profound truth in a simplistic, understandable, yet powerful way, to help you grow in your spiritual walk and bring heaven to earth! Joyce also understands the power of addiction. In her book Why Diets Don’t Work, she shares how God broke her addiction to food and gave her a plan that worked from the inside out and took 90 pounds from her body! Available from Amazon in kindle/print. Visit joycetilney.com for more information.
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