Are You Chasing Anything?

There is...

so much on my mind today.

I barely know where to start.

I guess that's what happens when you go 2 weeks without blogging...as I've said many times...to blog is to attend a therapeutic class of some sort. Getting it all out feels good!

Demons.

We're all a little afraid to even read that word, huh?

But demons are a part of everyday life. One I absolutely hate and wish weren't there, but a part of it, all the same. Let's take a peek at what the dictionary defines the term "demons" as...

Yea, yea, we all know the first meaning, "an evil spirit". What about this one..."a source or agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin"??? Ever heard the term "chasing my demons"

or "fighting my demons"? A day or two out of my life, I've felt as if I was "fighting my demons". In saying that, I speak specifically of fighting the source of harm and distress in my life. Not in my present stage of life, mind you. But far back in my past. My former stage of life. The one where I chose to disobey God. The one where I chose to take on sin that I would never be able to pay for.

That source can be presented to me in various ways. The one I've struggled with recently, are a couple of dreams.

Dreams of what happened THEN, coming back to happen NOW.

Interestingly enough, the past is the past, as far as God is concerned. In fact, He forgives us of all sin, as far as the East is from the West. That's infinity, folks. So we should never have to think about our previous bad choices again, right?

Wrong.

Ever heard of consequences? Those can be tough to deal with. Especially when the devil uses them against us. Those consequences become our demons. And the devil presents them to us in a haunting way. Ah! But I do have hope!!!

It's all in our minds!!!

Does that sound hopeful? Seriously. The battle is in our minds. When God says that He forgives you as far as the East is from the West...He means it. He will NEVER bring up old sin to remind us of why we fight certain demons.

Guess who does that?

The devil.

So how do we battle the thoughts that run through our mind? It's simply, actually. We saturate our minds with His truth. We study His Word. We ask Him to recondition our minds to look forward and not back. We recognize that when our "demons" start chipping away at His truth, that those demons come from the master of demonics himself...Satan. We recognize the fact that the devil is trying to mess with us yet again. Only then, can we put the devil in his place. We can remind the devil that he has absolutely NO authority in our lives. That the WAR has already been won. And that...

he loses.

PRAISE GOD!!!

We can then choose to believe the devil, who roams the Earth in defeat, or believe our God, Who created the universe AND us, and Who has all the answers to life. That same God Who has already defeated the enemy.

Your choice is to fight your demons...or

let God fight them.

He's already won. Those demons have already been conquered. They have failed. And now...

It's up to you to trust God or wallow in the pain & failure that consequences may bring.

Wouldn't you rather focus on how gracious He is in our failures?

Demons...Schmemons...

Truth & Hope OR Lies & Sin?

I was reading a profile off of a popular "connect to your friends" community this morning. It was one I have known about, but until this morning, haven't had time to read. It's actually someone I know...or used to know...a family member. It's shocking, actually, to realize that someone in the same family as you...within the same gene-pool, can have views so opposite from yours. This is actually true in most families, I suppose. But the defining factor is whether or not those views are violently opposite. If you disagree on certain moral issues, that's one thing. If you disagree and mock the other's views of those issues, that's a whole separate ballpark. I'm one who can disagree with someone and state my point, believing in my mind that they are wrong. I'll even argue my point, if the situation calls for that. BUT...unless the topic is open for conversation, I generally won't bring it up. And if the other person can't see the error of their thinking (snicker, snicker), I don't look to humiliate them or mock them. So here's the deal...Why is it when people disagree with your views on Christianity, their argument is based on misconceived ideas that are not scriptually based? Why do they feel the need to not just disagree, but attack your faith? Oh, I could generally say that it's a lack of maturity or that the person is insecure in their lifestyle. But really, that lifestyle lends itself to a warped view of thinking. And that warped thinking only comes from one place. 1Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." When we sin, no matter if it's a "little white lie" or a life of choosing sinful behaviour, we have chosen to let the devil snap his teeth at us, and even pull off some of our flesh. The devil wants to literally eat us up! He desperately wants us to give in to whatever sin we find ourselves facing in life, thus we place ourselves in a position to be devoured. Part of giving in to that sin, while rolling our eyes at Christianity is desiring to make Christianity a fanatical form of wierdness or nothingness, so as to attempt to take away the truth and hope of another and place them on the same miserable level as the ones who truly have no hope. Thus, it's not just a difference of opinion or beliefs, but an all out attack on any form of truth. God grieves over those who have been manipulated by the enemy...those who won't accept His truth. Those who seek to defile His truth and mock it.

Here's some truth for you...the devil can't stomach the fact that his time is nearly up, so disagreeing simply isn't enough.

He wants an all-out war.

And guess what?

He's going to get one.