Let us stop crying of personal torments if we are happy to babysit evil. We complain and grumble every day because we don’t have this or that! We simply want things in our lives and when we don’t get them we cry foul!
We are so blinded by our carnal ways that we even quote phrases of other people’s misfortunes. I have heard people quote or play a whole series of the book of Job to excuse themselves and get sympathy from their personal torments while they continue leading a life of unrestrained indulgence in all forms of lust! The bible is clear about this in Proverbs 3:7 (NIV) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
We are also asked to live in gratefulness towards our Creator Who has done a lot for us. One mark of ungratefulness is not being able to forgive others! The bible below quotes a person who was not grateful for what had been done for him but was instead blinded by unforgiveness.
Matthew 18:33-34(KJB) Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors…
Matthew 18:35(NIV) “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
If you read the above scriptures you will easily jump to the reason behind the behavior in the above story as a case of unforgiveness or of being unmerciful. I have even come across bible headings of ‘unmerciful servant’ for this very story. The hidden issue is clear from the scripture as ungratefulness! We are not born merciful by nature but we can at least reflect on what has been done to us. This should stop us from grumbling, holding others by the neck or continuously blaming people for the spiritual woes within us!
I have seen this state of ungratefulness torture people’s lives rendering them useless to the ways of righteousness!
Pain and torment is nothing more than a prompt to tell us that we are not living right and we should examine our ways. This is normally the last thing we want to do because of our personal pride or what the world calls ego. This is not a virtue but a weakness from a lowlife!
I have taken a bit of time to count some of the things that make us go off the mark. These things are normally very simple but they slip into our lives unnoticed. The key phrases are in bold writing!
We fail to cultivate our personal relationship with God at the expense of human opinions!
We instead become deeply religious and do everything we can to please other humans. We have no excuse because whatever is human is clear. It is always a system of control. People run around pretending to have been called to serve God, whilst their aim is personal fame and money. When we unsuspectingly join them we loose our peace, reaping pain and frustration in the process!
Idolatry become part of our lifestyle. We start valuing other things more than our personal relationship with God! Wealth, Assets, Icons, Friends, Family and Self! Mathew 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me…”. We also learn from 1 John 2:15 (NIV)…If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
Idols never made anybody happy!
We hide a habitual sin because we sometimes enjoy it.
It doesn’t matter the reason behind the sin. It could be a flesh issue or a spirit living in us, what matters is that we are honest and want to be free. We have the power of the will to do it. We have no other choice of getting rid of that guilt, shame, pain and sorrow within us but to seek to know God. A good indicator that you don’t know Him personally and that you are an empty, noisy gong or a clanging cymbal that is holding on a religion, is the fact that you can’t stop thinking of the opportunity to enjoy the pleasure of sin!
1 John 3:6 (NIV) No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Paul told the Romans that sin which controls their body lives inside them!
I don’t care what anybody tells you, if you can’t stop sinning then you don’t have a personal relationship with God and therefore, you are at the mercy of demons living in you!
How can anyone deny that?
Romans 7:16-17 (NIV) And if I do what I do not want to do… it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Every religious demagogue, some on the pulpit, will try to interpret it in any other way other than a demon living in a person! Why? They are already demonized themselves! These demons hide in these very people who deny demonization and occasionally cause a scandal to tarnish the name of God!
If your issue is demons, we all know what you need to do with demons. If you want to stop sinning, cast them out. How? Seek deliverance!
Material success becomes a measure of our spiritual success.
There is a spirit behind the gospel of prosperity.
When this spirit enters a church, a community or a fellowship, it turns it into a club of material gain. The Holy Spirit leaves and the work of God among the believers cease. Real deliverance from sins stop leading to all sorts of evils and sorrows.
If you are a genuine believer, always test the spirit that’s operating in a group before Joining. 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…
Remember that you don’t have to be a believer to succeed in the material world. All humans are made in the image of God and we are born with various shares of creativity. It doesn’t matter if our parents were worshipping a cow, a goat or a mountain you can gain all the wealth you want to have through your creativity or corruption!
The sweetness of the gospel comes from the redemption of our sinful nature irrespective of how rich we are materially. In most cases when our nature is redeemed and we get back our intended peace, material prosperity follows because we now have a chance to exercise our creativity. If anyone should use this as a measure of spiritual growth, then they are operating under a spirit of deception!
We get tormented by the very evil we are fighting when we stop depending on the Holy Spirit to squash evil.
When we try to fight evil by the way of the flesh we end up in all sorts of troubles, just like the foolish Galatians did!
Galatians 3:1,3 (NIV) You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? … Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
If you are a born again Christian, stop sinning by depending on the flesh. If you don’t, the Holy Spirit will depart from you and your final state will be worse than before.
We learn a good lesson from the story of king Soul and David in 1 Samuel 16:13-15 about the infilling and losing the Holy Spirit!
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.
You may not realize that you are operating under an evil spirit because of your lack of humility and repentance that comes from not being grateful of what God has done in your life.
Simply because you once got Spirit filled does not mean that you are still on the right path. Our lives call for daily repentance and commitment to the ways of God.
If there is even a speck of insincerity in your heart then expect a number of spiritual issues.
Its frightening to read in Mathew 12:43-45 what happens when demons leave you at some point but come back because of your wickedness.
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its arrival, it finds the house vacant, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation”..
God looks for those who will worship Him in Spirit and truth.
In conclusion, stop any worship of God by lip-service! Seek God honestly in the privacy of your room. Repent (making a u-turn) in your ways. Force your mind (this is the act of resisting the devil) to accept your decision. Give yourself plenty of time in your quiet time with God. Make this new relationship with your creator a daily habit. Worship God in your new found resolution.
Don’t be foolish. Do this without expecting to be rewarded, praised or recognized by anyone.
Psalm 85:8 (NIV) I will listen to what God the LORD says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants– but let them not turn to folly.
A personal peace and a quiet joy that is independent of your immediate harsh environment, is an indication that all is well with you spiritually.
I recommend that you read more on this by reading a related topic on depression!
May God richly bless you.
May you start enjoying the unconditional love of God.
May the peace of God engulf you for ever!
[Article Author: Joseph GM]
Live In Victory 