Hey USA! Christmas is around the corner! I actually broke out the christmas music this morning. I was inspired by Taylor's "Elf-Yourself" video of our family. Tay, your hips don't lie.. your hips don't liee. So, I'm sorry that I haven't emailed some of you back. An overwhelming amount of my friends are struggling with different symptoms but the same sickness, so I thought I'd talk about it in my blog because it's something that I was dealing with too and I'm certain I will again because our walk with God has high mountains and low valleys. But for real guys... Who cut in front of you? You were fighting such a good fight? Why are you putting out the Spirit's fire(1 Thessalonians 5:19)?
Sometimes things can sound really enticing at the time but then it turns out to be an illusion and your stuck with the consequences. My freshman year of college a few friends and I went to a diner called John's Plain and Fancy almost every saturday night of spring semester (we'd always request the fancy side but get stuck with the plain side). We'd all have the munchies and like clockwork, 3 am would roll around, we'd hop in the car, arrive at the diner, order chicken caesar salad and listen to the juke box on the table.
This one particular night I was really craving something sweet. I remember they had a showcase of glazed doughnuts, cakes and pies that all looked like they could be on the cover of a food magazine. My eye caught the chocolate eclair and instantly I knew I needed one. The funny thing is.. I normally hate eclairs? But it was 3 am, I wasn't sober yet and it was calling my name. I remember the excitement of the waitress bringing it over to the table and my mouth watering as I impatiently waited for everyone else's food to arrive. I knew it was going to be the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. Once the caesar salads came I closed my eyes, sunk my teeth into the glaze, and braced myself for perfection. To my horror, I chomped down on something fuzzy, opened my eyes and realized the inside of the eclair was completely covered in mold.
Oswald Chambers says it best "Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief and pain stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions." I didn't suffer any injury, grief or pain from eating the eclair that night, but there are many instances where circumstances lure us in and we DO suffer the consequences. I've had to take classes over from my first year of school because illusions of gratifying the pleasures of my flesh outweighed studying for exams or writing papers. I've had to endure deep hurt and pain when a boyfriend decided his happiness and his "needs" were more important than commitment to our relationship. Last year I remember looking in the mirror and being disgusted by what I saw, it took a lot of crying out to the Lord for me to overcome the disillusionment of what I thought my body looked like and how eating less would make me feel better. Can anyone relate? These illusions do not satisfy, they never will satisfy.
The world says freedom comes when we can say "yes" to a situation.. when the truth is that true freedom comes when we can say "no". Saying "I can't stop cheating", "I can't stop drinking", "I can't stop lusting", "I can't stop lying" means that you are a slave to those things. How free are you?
The day of Jesus' crucifixion Pilate asked Him what truth was. It is a pretty philosophical question that both philosphers and laymen alike try to answer. What is truth? I see it all over facebook too and I have no idea what it means, maybe I'm outdated, but I see people posting status' that say "Truth is.....". We are all searching for it. In our heart of hearts none of us want to believe a lie. So here it is, the same day Pilate asked that very question, Jesus was nailed to a cross, was punished for our iniquities and took the shackles off every person that would believe in Him. Truth is.. you don't have to be a slave anymore. You are liberated by Christ-but you chose to be imprisoned by yourself. If you are a believer, you have the power to overcome temptation. If you aren't, may God have mercy on you because you are straight up powerless and have no chance to resist it. You may be able to say "no" temporarily, but only through Christ can you have permanent freedom.
You have an enemy and whether you choose to believe it or not, he is out to seek and destroy your life. Wake up America! Wake up friends! It's a daily battle and some of you are getting out of bed without preparing yourself for war. Paul says we need to take up the full armor of God. Put on the breastplate of righteousness-that piece of armor protects your heart. Take up the shield of faith-if you have no faith, fiery arrows will pierce your soul, the shield also protects us from depression and loneliness and all types of hopelessness. Put in place the helmet of salvation-this will cover your mind from questioning God's love for you. And finally, take up the sword of the spirit, which is the bible. The sword is the only piece of equipment that kills- you can kill the enemies lies by simply carving off the sugar-coating of disillusionment.
You need to put this on IN FAITH every morning. I can't stress that enough. We walk around and we cannot see armor, but God can and the enemy can. When you forget a piece of equipment at home you are subjecting yourself to the temptations of satan because he can see your vulnerabilities and what you forgot to put on that day. Stand firm in faith. And after you have done this.. keep standing.
I read about a magician once.. maybe it was Houdini? Anyways, he was doing a trick in a prison and he had to get out of the cell without a key. He tried and tried for hours to pick the lock and finally agitated and frustrated at his defeat he gave up. When the prison guards came to get him out, they simply opened the door... the whole time it was unlocked! Why are some of you sitting in an open prison cell? Get up and walk and know your faith has healed you.
You can't be free on your own, and if you wish to spend the rest of your life held down by the standards of the world-the pressures of the world-the chains of the world, go ahead, but you are only deceiving yourselves. True renewal of your thoughts and your ways only comes from genuine repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Are you free to say no?
