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Loose That Man And Let Him Go!!....
Posted : 21 Sep, 2011 09:47 PM
Loose That Man And Let Him Go!!
THE ENEMY WITHIN
If you want to be free, you must be willing to challenge all definitions of your masculinity. You have to be willing to confront issues that other men run from. Freedom only comes when you challenge yourself, when you open up and say things to yourself that you might not have admitted to your wife, to your friends, or to your parents. It is time to confront old issues.
These issues are enemies of your soul.
I am not overly concerned about witches, demons, sorcery, or astrology. As bad as crime is, I am not too worried about muggers, thieves, rapists, or con artists. I don't want to be their victim, but they are not my greatest dread. Nor do I suffer anxiety thinking about a figure dressed in red with a pitchfork and a pointed tail who peers in the window making evil suggestions to me. If there is anything that I constantly fight against and wrestle with, it is the enemy in me. That is the one I am most concerned about -- the enemy "in-a-me"!
If anything takes you back, it will be the enemy within.
The book of Romans paints a frightening picture of men who fail to confront the enemy within:"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.... And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. Romans 1:21, 28
These men once knew the Lord, but they decided not to glorify Him as God. His judgment was to turn them over to themselves! Some of us may have to enter a witch's house, or confront a warlock or sorcerer head on, or walk through a high-crime red light district, but the greatest danger -- the greatest judgment --that could ever confront any of us is for God to turn us over to ourselves. If God ever adopts the advertising slogan that says, "Have it your way," you and I will self-destruct!
Left to our own devices, we may be surprised to discover how corrupt we really are. You and I conceal many things in us that we don't talk about. There are hidden things in us that we belittle other people for. Oh yes, we're careful to make sure no one knows what is lurking in the dark corners of our heart, but they are there. Under difficult circumstances, those secret weaknesses can erupt with terrible results.
You might be surprised at what you would do if you were pressed. If your hidden anger raged high enough, what would you do with that knife in the kitchen drawer? Under certain stresses, you would be shocked to learn who would rob a convenience store. Pastor, deacon, faithful husband, and provider, you keep your secret passions well hidden, but you would be dismayed to discover who you would sleep with if pressured with the wrong circumstances. How many moral and emotional land mines are buried in the depths of your soul?
If I have made you uncomfortable, I apologize, but as my brother once told me, "When you get in a fight, you may as well throw the first punch."
You would be disturbed by what is lurking in the shadows of your being. In fact, you would be shocked to know what your best friends and family members have done, but haven't told anyone.
Men can be incredibly hypocritical. We often strongly condemn others for the very things we are most guilty of ourselves.
The greatest and most lethal weapon the enemy can ever challenge you with is you.
I thank God He didn't turn me over to myself.
Thank You for contending with me, Lord. Thank You for arguing with me, convicting me, wrestling with me, warring with me, talking to me, and challenging me. I could never find a way out of my pain if You weren't there to point the way home.
God challenges us in unique and special ways to help us know who we are, despite our handicaps. Most of us are suffering from manipulation. When we have no goals, it is easy for others to impose on us their ideas of who we are and are not, and of what we should and should not be doing. Manipulation is a result of purposelessness. Anytime we don't know and understand our purpose, or who we were created to be, we become vulnerable to manipulation.
Anybody can assign his agenda to you if you don't know who you are. Unless you confront your own frailties and map your own vulnerabilities, you will never be prepared for attacks in those areas. When you are not prepared, you will find yourself saying, "But I never thought I would do that! I never believed I could get that angry and hostile! I never ever thought I would have an affair! How could I be that weak?"
Thousands of men once believed they could never cheat on their income tax or their wives, but they did. When you do not assess the potential of sin within, you will not pray against these things. It will inevitably leave you vulnerable to the attack of the enemy.
A SEAT IS RESERVED FOR YOU
Our salvation lies in the fact that God has put His hand on us. He has made such a costly and personal investment in each of us that He is not easily discouraged from what He said about us! He set a chair in the midst of the angels in eternity. Then He told them:
"I am going to bring that man to sit in this seat, and he shall be Mine when I make up My jewels. I'm going to bring him right here."
The angels protested, "But Holy One, the man was dropped. He isn't whole."
"That doesn't matter. I am going to bring him right here."
"But he's a liar!"
"That's all right. I'm telling you, this is his seat. I have inscribed his name on it."
"Oh, but he's a molester!"
"That's ugly, but that's all right. I'm going to bring him right here."
"But Ancient One, I heard he was a pervert."
"Even so, when it is all said and done, and I have completed My teaching, preaching, and ministering through My servants, that man is going to sit right here!"
You may be sitting in a seat that ten years ago nobody ever believed you would be sitting in right now. They underestimated the power of God to change you.
God "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). Why? He knows He has the power to make them become what He says they will be. He is not afraid to call you and me holy and blameless, even while we are still confused, in trouble, and in turmoil! We may be guilty of inflicting domestic violence or mental abuse, but God says, "When I get through with him, he's going to be a deacon in the church. Give him that seat!" I want to thank God for reserving that seat for me. I want to thank Him for making a reservation in my name.
God is holding a seat for you. You don't have to be jealous of anybody. God has a special, one-of-a-kind seat reserved for you, and "ain't nobody going to sit in it but you!" God has a reserved seat for you, even though your enemies never thought you would be there. Some of your friends thought you wouldn't be there, either. Sometimes, even you thought you wouldn't make it to that spot at His right hand -- and you wouldn't have, except for His holy arms. Praise God, He pulled you out, even when you didn't want to come! Sometimes you were kicking and screaming, but He pulled you out anyway. Hallelujah!
God has to get you ready. You need to get ready before you can sit in that seat He has reserved for you. When you were driving down the highway drunk, God had His angels watching over you. When you were slapping your wife around and boasting that you weren't ever going to church, God protected you from yourself. He knew you were crazy. He knew He had to deal with your mind. He knew exactly how He was going to pull that bitterness out of you and bring you to your knees.
You are a miracle.
If God had dealt with you according to your sins, you would be dead. But God is merciful. He was determined to maneuver you to a place where He could minister to you. When you really belong to God, He will go to extreme measures to get you away from people --the cliques and clubs, spas and pubs, society or any kind of entanglement that would hinder you from hearing His voice. But when you are really listening, when you are called of God, He will orchestrate things in your life so He can have you to Himself -- completely.
Excerpts from the book" Loose That Man And Let Him Go!" by Bishop TD Jakes
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