Sanctification, Sin, and Lies of the Enemy

I use to think that as I progressed in the Christian life, I would finally arrive someday at a place where I had mastered all things.  I felt as though I could attain my perfection by living under the law.  It has been several years now since the Lord completely re-shaped my mindset and understanding of what the Christian life truly looks like. 

Romans 3:20 says:
"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."

By trying to obey rules and regulations (established by myself and some of the so called "Christian Community") I was actually falling deeper and deeper into sin.  My righteousness was in all actuality idolatry of self.  I wanted to be perfect and have a certain spiritual life.  Instead, the Lord provided me with 2 agonizing years of begging and pleading for His nearness while I tried everything humanly possible to situate myself well before God.  Little did I know, I would NEVER be able to make myself right before the Lord.  One day, the Lord decided to speak and break down the veil that laid over my legalistic and breaking heart.  He revealed to me that HE is enough!  He paid the debt for all my sin and now I am called to live a NEW life fully led by the Spirit of God.  A life in which I no longer hold the reins, but where God has complete control.

In this walk, the enemy tries his best to scheme and throw me off track.  In fact, many times I have given into the lies of the enemy not realizing that he was the one speaking.  I have found myself (like in my last post) not relying on the Lord's provision and will.  I find myself seeking for goals and dreams that the Lord has given me, but in a way that brings discontentment for where I am now.  The Lord has placed mighty dreams in my heart that have shaped who I am and the way I think, but because I am not seeing the fulfillment of these dreams as of yet, I often believe the lie that I am not doing all the Lord has planned for me.  This brings shame and anguish into my heart.

After hearing Lee Lewis (one of my pastors at The Village Church) speak, I now have a mighty tool for holding steadfast against Satan's schemes.  Lee talked about how at a certain point in his life, he sat down at a Starbucks to prepare for a day of ministry and all of a sudden he heard a voice (not audible) saying "I wonder if you could make another woman love you like your wife does?"  Lee immediately knew this was an attack of the enemy and began to press into the Lord for strength and for Him to remove the voice.  Additionally, Lee contacted via text several friends in order for them to pray for him and know what was going on.  As Lee went about his day, the voice subsided.  However, around lunch time he heard the same voice with a different message saying, "how can you be a spiritual leader for people and yet you struggle with temptation like this morning?"  Again, Lee held steadfastly to the gospel believing that He was made right because of Christ and not because of any human act.  He also knew that the voice this morning was Satan's scheme and not something Lee was actually struggling with.  Instead of allowing the enemy an inch of ground, Lee stood strong knowing that he is a NEW man in Christ Jesus.  The Lord has and continues to sanctify Lee so that he is able to stand on the truth of the gospel and proclaim it over himself daily.

This story spoke to me in mighty ways.  I now know that I am able to stand firm against these voices that bring accusation and condemnation.  They are not voices to be listened to or entertained, but rather voices that are to be stood up against knowing the truth of the gospel.  May the gospel be the shaping tool for our lives, not a pursuit of perfection.