Make Time for God - Avoid the Traps of the Enemy
/There is no freedom apart from Christ.
You can't please people. You can't do everything perfectly. You can't always make the right decisions. You cannot ever always plan for every circumstance. So if your joy or freedom comes from "once I..., then I'll be happy/have peace/rest",
then you labor in vain.
True Freedom
God invites us to come to Him in Christ;
His yoke is light
(
). The yoke of the world is heavy - you're always 'behind', there's always one more thing to do, and living in the moment is a concept, but none of us are truly present for most of the moments in our lives. God invites us to that, and to answer only to Him.
Quite simply, God:
Invites you to seek, know, build relationship with Him. It is here that God's love heals, restores and leads to overflow. Wherever you go, you can't help but let that love overflow.
Doesn't hammer you for your flaws. He reveals as much as you can bear to see in yourself, so you can bring them to Him. God already knew every sin you'd commit, before he made you. (Psalm 139 ESV).
Calls you to be present in the moment, so you're not overburdened; "today's troubles are enough for today" (Matthew 6:34 ESV)
Three (3) Traps of the Enemy
The enemy's goal is - quite literally - to
steal, kill and destroy
(
;
). Anything that takes you away from God, is simply a tool that disarms you (removes all the armor of God -
) so that the enemy can play with you. Trust me; apart from God, you're putty in his hands.
His three (3) main traps:
Sin: he lures you into sin, then taunts you with shame and guilt, then you hide from God.
Busy-ness: he gets you too busy to focus or make time for God; thus you're “unaware”, ineffective.
Offence: he gets others' sin to offend you, so you judge others, instead of praying for, blessing them.
The Truth
God sent Jesus to die for your sin. Avoiding God (the only protection from sin) when you sin, is an obvious mistake. God doesn't want you to come to Him only when you're perfect. In fact, He uses what is weak to do great things! Before Christ, God's grace allowed Him to use Moses who murdered the guy, David who power corrupted and Paul who was killing Christians! David was a "man after God's own heart" because he went back to God! If you sin every 3 seconds, get up and go back to God every 4 seconds!
God gave you enough time in the day to do what HE calls you to. If you're "too busy", some of what you're doing is not what God's called you to. Certainly, there are times in life that are busier than others, but to consistently live that way... examine yourself. Is it God or man that you serve? God's yoke truly is light.
Once it hits you that the wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23 ESV), and that all sin is sin i.e. your bad thought = breaking all 10 commandments (James 2:9-11 ESV), you see what Jesus paid for on the cross. Once we realize that it is Only because we walk in Christ - not because we're 'good' - that we haven't done the bad things 'those people' do. God said, "you will be forgiven in the measure that you forgive" (Matthew 7:1-2 ESV) to remind us of all of this; not to make us feel badly.
Forgiveness - Only Possible in Christ
NOTE: We cannot forgive apart from Christ.
On our own strength, we understand why forgiveness is hard. We pray and ask God to give us forgiving hearts. [Important:
Forgiveness is NOT Reconciliation
-
http://marshill.com/2010/09/27/10-things-forgiveness-is-not
. Please
don't put yourself in harm's way
in the name of forgiveness. Christ is wisdom incarnate - stay wise.]
Stay alert, stay in Christ, and stay free. Relationship with God sets, and keeps, you free.
