One Saturday years ago, when our four children were still at home, we decided to clear the forest between the front yard and the creek that was on the edge of our property. With our Aussie, Katy, watching over the kids and my wife and I, we began to cut down the small trees, underbrush and the vines that grew around everything.
After we had worked for awhile, someone noticed that we had a visitor . A harmless, slender, green snake had appeared in one of the small trees and seemed to be watching us. The vibrations we were creating in the forest canopy had gotten his attention and he descended, hoping to find an injured bird or insect, an easy lunch for him.
Instead of finding a meal, he became our captive and we were sidetracked from our work, letting the kids examine him. After a period of time, we let him go. Then it was back to working and sweating in the Louisiana humidity and heat.
The Holy Spirit reminded me of this event recently. Just as that earthly snake came to check out the vibrations, the devil’s snakes always show up when we cause “life giving” vibrations in his kingdom of darkness and death.
The satanic messenger‘s goal is to divert our mind from being an obedient disciple of Christ and onto Self.
Self is the “old man” or “old self” that was crucified with Christ on the cross (Romans 6:6) and must be reckoned or considered dead if we are to be true disciples of Christ. Jesus said the following in Mark 8:34:
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Self is an endless vacuum that is never satisfied and is a constant slave to sin, seeking its own will and not the will of the Father. There is a list of Self fruit in Galatian 5: 19-21.
To get us focused on Self, the snake uses sickness, fatigue, hopelessness, busyness, sleepless nights, worries, fears, relationships, imaginations and a host of other things. Anything to distract us from dying daily (“take up his cross” ) and living in the power of the Lord’s Spirit. The Lord told us the following about this:
“And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and THE WORRY OF THE WORLD, and THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Matthew 13: 22 (emphasis added)
Recently, I realized I was spending too much time thinking about my Self. I therefore decided that every time I find myself in this state, I would repent and pray for the persecuted church in the earth. So far I have prayed for the church in Spain, Portugal, and Ecuador.
If you are focused on Self as you read this, I pray that the Lord will open your understanding to see how you got there and you will repent and return to fighting the good fight of the Faith. God bless you as you put the snake to flight and continue to march forward with your cross.
Let us remember:
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in your selves which was also in Christ Jesus….”
Be a witness
Carl
Psalm 119: 38 