Hebrews 4:12-13…  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³ And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.  (NKJV)

Today will be the third day that I am writing for someone who I believe God has placed into my life to try and help…  For those of you who have heard before, what I am about to write, I am sorry…  But this is a new reader, whose problem of being attacked by Satan is a very real problem for all of us…

I spent the first 2 days (2/22 & 2/23/13) writing about the need for the Christian to be protected externally from Satan’s attacks… This can be accomplished by putting on piece by piece, the 6 piece set of God’s spiritual armor, which the Apostle Paul writes about in… Ephesians 6:10-20…   Here is the link for this description of God’s protective armor…    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph6:10-20&version=NKJV   

The key scripture about God’s armor is… Ephesians 6:11… Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (NKJV)  

The second part of what has absolutely helped me to be able to resist the temptations and evil thoughts Satan will use, to confuse and stop a Christian’s growth in their spiritual walk with the Lord…was finally accomplished by totally submitting my life to God…  Sounds simple, doesn’t it ??  Well it took me 7 years from the time God graced me with salvation, to realize that I had somehow stopped allowing the Holy Spirit to be in total control of my life, without realizing it… 

I was putting on the “whole armor of God” daily; and though Satan was constantly trying to tempt me to sin…I praise the Lord for the truth about His whole set of spiritual armor being able (for the most part) to fend off Satan’s attacks…  But my own flesh became an ever increasing internal problem…

By slowly taking back control from the Holy Spirit, I had reached a point in my life where I had lost the fullness of joy (John 15:9-11), and the supernatural peace, which surpasses our mortal understanding (Philippians 4:6-7), that I once had, when I was Spirit filled (Ephesians 5:18-20), and walking in sweet fellowship with the Lord…

The Apostle James gives us the second piece of God’s duo, that will help the Christian to be on their way to walking in the Spirit most of the time (Galatians 5:16)…

James 4:7-8… Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (NKJV)

The Holy Spirit won’t insist on being in control of the Christian’s life…  And I must say, I believe my own flesh was (and still is) harder for me to keep under control, than Satan himself…  As a matter of fact…it is impossible for me to keep my own flesh under control, in my own strength... Just as it was impossible to keep Satan’s temptations to sin under control, until I put on ALL of God’s spiritual armor, in its entirety…  Without God’s grace…God’s complete set of spiritual armor firmly in place…and the full power of the Holy Spirit…I am absolutely nothing…

It was only by humbling myself into total submission to God…begging for Him to give me back the joy and the supernatural peace that I once had…that by God’s grace, the full power of the Holy Spirit took back control of my carnal flesh and my life… 

I attribute humbling myself before the Lord to a 6,000 word posted preaching by the REV. C.H. Spurgeon titled…”Grieving the Holy Spirit” that I read…and I would urge every Christian to spend time reading…  It can be found at this link…

http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/sermons/0278.htm

Do I sin ??  Absolutely !!  For one thing, I believe the tongue is absolutely impossible to be kept under control… James 3:8-10… 

This is a day by day, sometimes minute by minute struggle that all Christians will have, to remain walking in sweet fellowship with the Lord…  Sins must be quickly confessed and turned from…1 John 1:9)…  But the truth that Jesus’ half brother James writes about in this scripture above…at least for me…seems to lessen the number and severity of the sins that I still commit…as the weeks and the months of constant dedication to following Christ roll on…  “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”… 

Friends, these aren’t just words out of some book… These are words of truth from God’s Word…as my personal process of sanctification (being conformed to the image of Christ…Romans 8:29) is still occurring… The word sanctification is defined as being set apart…  God has chosen His children out of this world…  Christians are still living here; but they become citizens of heaven…Philippians 3:20…

Jesus tells us this about sanctification, in…

John 17:16-19… They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.  (NKJV)

Friends, God’s inerrant Word, the Bible…“is living and powerful”…  It is where we all need to concentrate our efforts, in order to receive the truth that God will use to set us free from Satan, and his bonds of sin and shame… John 8:32… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (NKJV)

God’s Word is called “the sword of the Spirit”, by the Apostle Paul in…Ephesians 6:17b…  And as the only offensive piece of God’s 6 piece set of spiritual armor…God’s Word is where we learn about all the other 5 pieces of God’s armor, to defend God’s children from Satan’s attacks… But faith is the most important piece of God’s spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:16)…  Without faith we cannot please God…Hebrews 11:6…  And this same scripture verse tells us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him…

Heavenly Father, I pray Your Word, would cut right to the soul of those who need the saving grace You promise to those who seek Your Son Jesus Christ to become their personal Lord and Savior…  I pray Lord, that my personal testimony of lost joy and peace…and then the restoration of both by the power of the Holy Spirit…will have others diligently opening Your Word, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14) as their defense from Satan; and to receive the blessings You promise to Your obedient children…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of us, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ, bruce

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P.S. Here is a link to 10 days of writing about the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in my life…  May God be glorified by His power exhibited through my personal testimony…

  https://godsmanforever.com/2012/08/14/gods-group-thoughts-for-8142012-filled-to-overflowing/