2 Corinthians 10:3-6
³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;⁶ And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Mark 3:27
²⁷ No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

I’m struggling right now. I’m lacking motivation for praying and reading. My spirit man knows I should be starting my day out in prayer and Bible study…. not to check off some religious check list, but because I need God and need his Word to get through life. In prayer, I keep my attitude in check by praising the Lord for all he’s done for me and reminding myself of his love and commitment to me….and I’m reaffirming my commitment to Jesus… I bring all my burdens and problems to him…. I pray for others and set the stage for my day. I repent of my sins and openly forgive others before God. I submit myself to Jesus and the cross. Then, by spending time in God’s Word, I learn of the nature of Jesus and remind myself of his promises to me. Jesus is the Word, so when I spend time learning the Word, I’m spending time planting Jesus into my heart. I’m reaffirming the truth, so I’m not easily deceived….and I’m growing my relationship with Jesus. I’m growing in his Love.

So why has prayer and Bible study become so hard these days? One reason this battle is upon me is to teach me to discipline my flesh and to practice walking in Faith and not feelings. This is a lesson I’m learning now… that feelings are to the flesh like faith is to the spirit….in that we use the faith we have in the promises of God to confirm our salvation and walk with God…. but our flesh uses feelings to confirm our relationship, which is a problem because our flesh is deceitful and will confirm anything that stirs our emotions leading us into deception. So this is where I am, pondering and growing in that lesson….and here I am struggling to motivate my prayers and bible study.

The Strong Hold

A strong hold is something that binds you so you can’t move. A really strong person can be in a strong hold, look at Samson in the bible…. he was bound even though he was strong. He was taken because the enemy learned where his strength came from and found a way to short circut it so he could bind Samson. Samson was messing with the wrong women, he was drawn in by her beauty. Judges 16

James 1:14-15
¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Delilah was able to lead Samson to captivity because he opened the door to it. He lusted after her and gave her access to his vulnerable parts. He lusted after her, pursued her and sinned… next thing you know, he’s blinded and in chains.

When we have an area of “truth weakness” in our lives or and area where we haven’t submitted to God, that’s an open door for the enemy to come in and start taking us captive. This battle happens in our heads…. it’s a mind game.

Genesis 3:1-7

_¹ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

The serpent was subtile meaning he was crafty. He knew how to lie to her in a way that she would believe his lie and DEPART from the truth she knew already. His mission was to rob ADAM of his life and future with God….. he didn’t go after Adam directly, he went after Eve, deceived her and she deceived Adam. Satan as the Serpent starts out by questioning what God said. A lot of deception starts this way….by questioning God.

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Eve quotes God…like what we do, we quote the scripture.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Satan tells her that what she believes isn’t the truth. Even though Eve has never been lied to before, she had no reason to stop believing what God said was true. He’s shaking her faith and causing her to question.

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Satan is accusing God of holding out on Adam and Eve…. he tells her that he doesn’t want them to know this “truth” and by knowing this “truth” they will be like gods who know the mystery of Good and Evil. He’s selling the knowledge of evil like it was something desirable. He doesn’t tell her that she will learn about this by doing something evil (disobeying God) and he doesn’t tell her that she will die spiritually as a result of her actions. Now that Satan has lied to her, and she paid attention to his words, considering what he said, she checks out the fruit which looks pretty and because she thinks it can give her and Adam wisdom they don’t have, she decides it is good to eat. When she eats the fruit and is still alive in the flesh, she begins walking in the flesh…. and doesn’t notice that she has died spiritually. Her flesh, because it didn’t drop dead, confirms her new belief that the fruit is ok to eat… the serpent in her opinion was telling her the truth, which was in direct contrast to what God said. She feeds it to Adam who eats it. The commandment to not eat from this tree was given to Adam and as the leader he should have obeyed God. As a side note, I’ve noticed that there are many sins that happen in the Bible when men stop following God by leading the family and start allowing their wife or woman to lead.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

The point when Adam ate the fruit and sinned their eyes were open… they now actually do have knowledge of good and now evil…but they are now slowly dying. Satan had stolen their walk with God from them….. with just a lie. All he has is head games. He lies to rob us of the promises of God. His lie here was that they would not die… he was speaking of the flesh and even then, he was lying because they started to die the second they ate the fruit. He also misrepresented the knowledge of evil as a desireable thing that would make gods out of them.

Our walks are by faith… we believe God and his promises, and God fulfills his promises to us. We have to believe to obtain…. so this is where we are attacked. If Satan can get us to stop believing or to start believing a lie, then he can rob us the same way he robbed Adam and Eve.

To be continued.