Is it the devil or is it you?

Let me first start by saying that this is a very unpopular subject because it requires us to take a good look at ourselves. A majority of the time things go wrong in our lives, we tend to point the finger at everyone but ourselves. The truth is you'll never have to deal with a bigger problem than you yourself. James 4:1-2 [Amplified version] says:

1 WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [I John 3:15.]

Chances are if we would really take time to pray about our problems, God will tell us that most of our problems are due to the fact that we got out of line somewhere. Why is there so many divorces among Christians? Because we stop looking in the mirror and begin to point the finger at everyone but ourselves. We would be much happier in life if we kept our eyes on Jesus. Our daily prayer should not be: Lord remove this or remove that. We should pray, "Lord if you don't change the situation, change me". This will take away any disappointment one may have if God doesn't remove the situation. God is always trying to set us up for success, we just have to get in the word and stay there.

You may have heard other Christians say things such as: "the devil is a liar" or "the devil is just trying to stop me" or "the devil meant it for my bad but God meant it for my good". Those things would be absolutely true if we didn't create our own problems and try to get God to bail us out of them. You may also hear people say, "I've been talked about, mistreated, buked, scorned, and talked about sho as you born". But again a lot of those things are happening to us because we sowed that bad seed and forgot about it. If you're going to go through hard times, don't let it be because you brought it on yourself. Galatians 6:7 [KJV] says: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Is it the devil or is it you?

We must learn to spend quality time in God's presence so that we will know the difference between a storm of life and a self-inflicted storm. A storm of life is something that we can not control, a self-inflicted storm is something that we can help. Many times we try to keep up with what others have and we go out and create a burden that God never intended for us to carry. The Bible says: for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. God will never put more on us than we can bare, but God's blessings require spiritual maturity on our part. You're not going to give a 5 year old child the keys to a Mercedes Benz so why do we expect God to give us something that we aren't mature enough to handle.

God is ready and willing to bless each and every one of us but we must be willing to grow up in him. How do you grow in God? By feeding on his Word and doing it. If you've ever been around babies, you'll notice how quickly they grow. Why? Because we are feeding them the proper nurishment so that they can grow. Our nurishment is God's word.

Hebrews 5:12 [Amplified Bible] says:
12. For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God's Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. Spiritual babies are always fault-finding and complaining which is why they never get anywhere. Spiritually mature saints get more because they can handle more. Don't sow seeds of foolishness and expect to reap rewards of wisdom. Let us close the door on selfishness and self inflicted problems and begin to get in line with God's word. The sooner we acknowledge the true cause of our issues, the sooner we can get past them and move on to bigger and better things.

Remain blessed