There are many things in this world that steel our identity. The places we go, the people we hang out with, our jobs, our city, town, street, what we watch, what we read, and where we go. It is so easy to get sucked in to the world around us. As God’s children we have an identity all our own.  We have a special identity. We are His children and therefore have an amazing identity found in Him. If we are not careful the world will creep in when we have our guard down.

Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

Galatians 5:24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Ever since the Garden in Eden, humans have had a sinful nature. We must put away the things of the flesh. It is easy to enjoy the things of the flesh. That is because they feed into things that feel good. Think about eating your favorite candy bar. The candy has absolutely no nutritional value. Once it goes past your mouth the only thing it will do is add pounds to your waistline. So what is the strong draw to your favorite candy bar? It is the sensation you get when you eat it. The taste, texture, and smell arouse your senses and give you a sense of joy as you are eating it. This self-gratification is short lived and we can easily find ourselves looking for another “candy bar” to satisfy our desires.  During these times the cravings can get so fierce that we can easily push out of our mind the fact that the candy bar is not good for us. We can easily forget that we should be looking for a healthier option.  We can easily push out of our mind the health consequences of eating that candy bar. We can easily consume bar after bar until we find ourselves over weight and in poor health. At this point we look at ourselves and wonder how we arrived at this place in our lives.

Self is the problem. In this scenario and so many more like it.  Anyone can easily insert another struggle in the place of “candy bar”. The phrases “dying to self” and “denying ones self” come to mind. These phrases almost seem foreign as I look at the world around me. The world I live in pushes me to satisfy myself not deny myself.  Everywhere I look something is tugging at me to indulge. The world around me teaches me that I deserve anything I want. The world teaches me that I am entitled to whatever I desire.

As I explore the Bible I see that God not only had a plan for my salvation, but a plan beautifully outlined on how I should live my life. If I am to follow this plan I will deny myself of certain things (candy bars) in order to become the creation He intends me to be, a beautiful reflection of His Son.The more I reflect His Son, the more glorified God is. The more I deny myself and my wants the more room I have for His purpose for my life.  If I deny myself eating three candy bars a day and choose to only eat a single candy bar a week as a treat, I am making room in my life for healthier options. The healthier the food I choose instead of the candy bars the more my body is able to perform God’s work. By denying myself and making choices to eat healthier, I open up my body as a stronger vessel to be used.

We have to be on guard. When we pick up a candy bar we don’t usually think about the long term effects it can have on our body. When we are consuming one bar at a time we are not thinking of how multiple bars eaten pile up to health concerns. This can translate over to many different areas in our lives. We expose ourselves to little bit by little bit until that little bit become a huge pile. We are left wondering how we arrived in the situation we are in. We have a hard time realizing that we had a very slow transition. So slow that we did not see it happening.

John 10:10  “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Genesis 4:7 “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

The enemy is sneaky. Sometimes we are oblivious to the fact that the enemy does not have to be super focused on each individual event in our lives to attack us. He has been around for centuries and is ever so crafty. He has had a long time to put things in place. Materialism in the world did not come from God, the promotion of self-gratifying things did not come from God. The enemy has spent his lifetime putting things in motion that affect the world as a whole. We can easily blindly walk into subjecting ourselves to his schemes.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Being sober-minded doesn’t mean to just not to be drunk. It means to pay attention. Pay attention to the world around you as you walk through your day. If you are reading the Word everyday you will become more and more aware of what God’s expectation is on how you live your life. Understanding is gained everyday on the choices you should make. Every day you see a little more of the fallen world you live in and how you can let the light of Jesus shine a little more brightly. You realize you need to be on guard because the world is not your friend.

Since the world is not our friend and the enemy is setting up traps for us to fall into and waiting for us to fall into one. Wouldn’t it would be great for God to give us some advice and encouragement? He does! God lays out our battle plan.

Ephesians 6:10-18 “10 finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

The first step in battle is realizing that there is a very real battle to be fought. The world is trying to take our focus off God every chance it gets. We must realize this and prepare ourselves for each day as a child of God. We must not miss the battleground and we must realize who we are in Christ. Our identity is at stake.