“Be careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but wise, making the most of EVERY opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 4:23
If you had to look into your heart today.. your life, your friends, your desires, your priorities- given two options, where would you fall? The choices are 1- full of God 2- full of world
I can tell you where I fell, where I thought I fell, and where I fall now.
The choice of Jesus is the choice of peace; He is also the choice of war. Wait, what? Jesus is war?
Yes. Every single day we’re engaged in a battle and the source of conflict is generally almost always found in our own selfish hearts. Our priorities and our desires build up our very own war. We create it for ourselves. Satan will use this to, quite literally, eat away at our spiritual ammo, taking piece by baby piece until he has rendered you completely helpless.
“A friendship with the world means an enemy with God” James 4:4
The world, the devil, will use every attempt to pull you from the safety of Jesus’s arms; he will distract you with the prettiest deceit, creeping into every ounce of shadow, of every lie, or secret, or dark you’ve managed to conceal. There is one tool to fight this battle, and since you’ve allowed it to create itself- it is most certainly not just you. More light, more grace.
Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you -James 4:8
Y’all, if you cannot feel his presences all things- good and bad, I promise you, your heart is not completely aligned with His. I’ve been there, I know. I have had all of my spiritual ammo taken, desperate for answers- prayer after every selfish, empty prayer unanswered. Feeling like I knew God, that my heart was good, that I was just unheard. I was not unheard, and shamefully I tell you, I was so caught up in myself that I did not even realize it.
We are not perfect. We will be tempted. We are going to make mistakes. We will not always choose right. We will stumble. We will fail. The key here is not to fall. ACKNOWLEDGE you are not stronger than the world; you are not stronger than the devil and the evil he brings; you alone are not stronger than Christ. He is the winner of all things. The dark, the shadows, the world. Nothing has overcome him.
Sometimes we trip ourselves up in even the worst of circumstances. Ashamed of how we’ve acted, ashamed of what we have done. That, y’all, is a step forward to aligning our hearts with that of God. CONVICTION. Knowing your mistakes, accepting your consequences. There is beauty in shame because there is beauty in Him. Stumble, but don’t fall. The consequences of our actions are much more easily endured through the grace of our Lord, Christ Jesus than from whatever dark, merciless pit  the world (Satan) has manipulated you into jumping off in to.
To be successful in this war, this every single day- war.. you have to, HAVE TO trust in Him. Little faith leads to little success- with conflict, with sin, and certainly with heart. You’ll choose wrong over and over, but with Him, even wrong is made right. I was not living for Jesus. I didn’t know him. I thought I did; I would have argued with you about it, but it wasn’t until I did know him, that I realized I didn’t. You can know OF Jesus without knowing Him. I pray you know the difference. I didn’t.