God has expressed desires about the way we think so that when the enemy comes our minds/thoughts are focused and fixed on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Here in Philippians 4:8 Paul is outlining a mindset…
The mind of Christ – that will empower us to live the fullest and most abundant life possible.
The other option is a mind that is set on self that destroys, produces generational dysfunction & disaster, misery.
- God’s desire for us is that we would live the life He has planned.
- A life where everything we do prospers.
- A life that is full of purpose and abundance.
We are prepackaged for this life. However, He doesn’t force us to love Him most, walk in His ways, and live for His pleasure….. What that means is that just because He desires this miraculous and abundant life for us doesn’t mean that He will force it upon us.
He wants us!
He wants us to CHOOSE HIM!
He wants us to delight ourself in Him and love Him above all else.
Selfishness is the enemy’s weapon, and he is a master of deception. So much so that he convinces many to believe the lie and it costs them their life, their peace, and their hearts desires…….
It was heartbreaking. I remember as a child seeing so much pain & disappointment in the marriages around me. I really had no idea what a “God-centered marriage” looked like. I’d never seen one. What I remember was the characteristic that was the defining common denominator present in ALL of the brokenness, destruction,
dysfunction & devastation.…
Selfishness.
Selfishness is such a cruel and delusional thief.
I can still hear the cries of his children…. he was a senior pastor in the church we were attending. I stood outside in the hall overhearing the conversation as he was explaining himself…..
“God, wants me to be happy, and my wife no longer makes me happy.”
Those were words that would tear out the heart of any loving wife & children. This man had decided his secretary made him happy and God would be ok with him leaving his wife for her because she no longer made him happy.
There was a young married, beautiful momma of two little children, who decided she could no longer be happy in the life she had built with her husband. She had reasoned in her thoughts that her happiness was of the utmost importance and her children would be happy if she were happy. Her #1 complaint with her husband was that he had not gone to the grocery store with her. I remember asking her about how her decision to divorce her husband/the father of her children was going to affect them. She was clearly deceived as she said they would be happier people if she were a happier mother. She went on to say that they’d get over it.
Most of us are clear on God’s heart and His feelings and design for marriage. What we are NOT clear on is how we totally underestimate the power of one’s thoughts & feelings.
There is NO = ZERO reasoning with the enemy!
He will whoop you every time! Once you give him a foothold he will take one thought and plant an all entangled crop of disaster and lies that will lead you to believe and feel like you know what’s best & right even when it is not God’s heart.
The selfish individual doesn’t just wake up one day and decide
that they are were no longer going to be in agreement with
God and his desires for their lives.
They arrived there one thought at a time. That process produced feelings took them beyond their ability to choose differently.
- The deeply rooted selfishness manifested itself as a false belief.
- The false belief leads them to believe they could go against the Word and Heart of God because “they felt it was okay” & they “believed it would all work out”
- The lost their ability to see the consequences for their selfishness because they are so fixated on their wants and desires
- Their minds were so focused on their own desires that God Himself seemed lost & they found themselves disconnected
Why talk about marriage? Marriage is a sacred covenant that represents a biblical parallel to our relationship with Jesus. A marriage between two Christians is intended to be a relationship where God is the highest focus and loving God first is lived out in how they love each other. Is it easy? NO! Is it possible? Absolutely! If not God is a liar and His Word is not true!
Why would the enemy not focus on the destruction of marriages????
The dysfunction and generational curses have paid off very well for him…. sadly, even in Christian marriages. So the answer to that is…. why wouldn’t he target Christian marriages!
So what is it that we can do to stop the enemy from:
Influencing us?
Raising up selfishness?
Stealing the things we love most?
Today we started with Philippians, and we need to end up right back there…. We need to feed His Word in our minds, hearts, and lives. The apostle Paul invites them to join him as he was learning and practicing what he knew to be the simple gospel transforming truth. He writes, in verse 9…
“Keep putting into practice all you learned
and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
The kind of peace that your heart, your mind, and your life longs for is in the Prince of Peace Himself!! Jesus is that Prince. He is NOT a feeling that brings rest and confidence. HE IS A PERSON who calls all of the power of heaven & earth to order. You were designed to host His presence and carry His peace. It is impossible to stop the enemy, let selfishness rule or live the life you love without Him!!!
When He is your Source and your Influencer your life will be evidence of
His goodness and provision!!!
He wants to share this abundant life with you! Just for the record…. dream your best dream, make your finest plans….. nothing you can dream up comes close to His goodness and provision He has prepared for you!!! YOU CANNOT even begin to imagine.
God’s desire is that you would know Him intimately!
Trust Him completely!
Rest in His faithfulness!
Experience His peace!
Walk in His confidence!
Live in His presence!
Prosper in all you do!
I pray that you will live for His pleasure & find yourself blessed beyond measure!
Be Blessed!
Marla Kae
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
