I know I am rotten through and through, so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try to not do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. I seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will set me free from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans 7:18-25

Wow. Do you ever feel like Paul? I read this in my time with God and it struck me right in the heart. I struggle so much with exactly what paul was struggling with. I want so badly to make the right decisions, to take up the cross on a daily basis and follow Jesus but I fail every. single. day. This is something I know I am not the only one who struggles with so since it was on my heart and what God was revealing to me, I felt I should probably bring it to light so that the enemy has no more power in it.

I feel like I am in a constant battle with trying to do what is right but being distracted by the enemy’s games and end up doing what is wrong. Do you ever feel that way?  Some days it feels defeating, it feels like: how can we win this fight if we constantly succumb to our sinful desires?  That’s not the case (thank you Jesus) but some days I know, it feels that way. So what do we do and how can we overcome being defeated by it and rising on top of it and gaining control.

Pray.
I will literally say this every time I’m talking about anything.  If you take anything from anything I have ever written, please take this.  It’s the only thing you need to take away from my writing.  Ask God to show you where the ‘decision point’ is before you give into your instinctual and sinful ways.  There is a moment before it happens and we are so used to it that is has become unconscious to us now, but it’s there.  It’s the secret to turning the tables on satan and gaining control of the situation. If you don’t see that moment ask God to reveal it to you clearly, and that he is with you in strength and confidence to make the right choice in it.

Accept it.
Don’t be proud or ignorant to think you are the only human on this earth that doesn’t struggle with this.  We are ALL sinful creatures, we all fail, we all mess up and if your feeling pretty good about yourself right now, I would advise you to watch out because you are on Satan’s hit list.

Acknowledge it.
Theres a point after you have accepted the fact that you are a sinner at heart, that you now need to acknowledge it and bring light to it.  Satan can’t work in the light; that’s his weakness.  As we become more transparent about our sin’s, satan looses his power. We need to acknowledge this reality so that we can get a handle on our problems, and start moving forward to taking the power away from satan and giving it to God.  The God who help us, who we can leave it with at the cross, who will forgive us every time, and who will walk us through overcoming it….and who then will turn around and use it for good!

Focus Your Mind and Heart.
Look at where you are spending time?  I know when I’m spending time watching reality TV and sleeping in (hahaha I have a 1 and 3 year old when I say sleeping in, I mean 7:15 am) I am not focusing my energy and attention on God and his word.  Literally break apart every moment of your day and life and see where you are focusing.  If you want to win against our sinful nature, you need to immerse yourself with God and his words.  You cannot combat evil if you don’t have the tools to fight. It is like coming to a gun fight with a pool-noodle sword. God’s word is not metaphorically, but LITERALLY your weapon and protective gear.  It will protect your heart and your mind, and it will be your weapon to fight back.  You can’t have this without an inmate relationship that comes BEFORE anything else in your life.

So if you’re hitting the snooze button or choosing tv time over bible reading (guilty as charged, hence this post) then you need to take a long hard look at your life and decide how you want to live it.  Do you want to continuously be falling into the traps of the enemy  OR be victorious with a God who loves and adores you? The answer seems pretty clear, yet we somehow all get caught up in the first option far too often.  How are you doing this week? Do you feel like you are prepared for the battle, or are you feeling discouraged by the sinful desires we unfortunately have in our hearts like I have been?  Doesn’t matter, we have a God who loves us. We have a God who forgives us with open arms. He knows our hearts and who we are, don’t be scared or think it’s too intimidating; God is not a confrontational God. Run to him, lay your troubles down and repent those sin’s my friend!!