The Strong Man

Back when I was in High School, I knew a guy who was a bit nerdy. He was a nice kid though, real friendly and kind, with a silly sense of humor. Two years after we all graduated, I ran into him at a party. He was rather serious, and wary...not much fun at all.

I asked him questions to catch up. Since high school, he had become proficient in some form of karate. Now, he said, he gets into fights all the time. As he spoke, he was scanning the crowd as if might get into one at any minute.

Before talking with him, and seeing the change in him, I too had thought about pursuing that kind of training. Yet, after talking with him, I was no longer interested.

He didn't look like it made his life any better at all. It didn't.

We strive to be better, to be self-sufficient. To grow and attain the highest levels we can. We want to ascend.

Isaiah 14:12-15

12. How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

13. You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

14. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

15. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

Though this passage, in context, is referring to the king of Babylon, the passage, as quite a few scriptures do, extends beyond the direct target, adding much revelation to a larger situation.

Yes, this happens a lot in The Book.

This passage, is widely accepted to be referring to the Devil. To this, I agree.

The term "morning star" is where we get the word lucifer. Lucifer is a Latin word. Hêlêl is the original Hebrew word.

St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin around 383 and 404 AD. Somewhere along the way, the idea that the word lucifer was the devil's name stuck, even though it never was. It would make more sense that his name might be Hêlêl, but it is not either.

No, we don't know his name from any biblical text. Still, the passage does definately seem to be referring to that arrogant one.

Ascending is what he wants, and he passed that idea onto men. Now we are stuck. Stuck with a drive to always be better.

"Are you saying we shouldn't be better?"

No, but the manner in which we try to grow is in itself an error, or Sin.

Sin, IS struggling to become like God. It is the opposite of faith. This is what the knowledge of good and evil gave us. Fun, isn't it?

Faith, is trusting in God, rather than trusting in ourselves, and anything else.

A strong faith, as shown in both the Old and New Testaments, is accepting that God is in control and submitting to His rule.

Jesus is Lord... or is He?

Faith is believing that His way is best. That He knows what He is doing...in ALL things. Sin, is doing it another way. Trusting in ourselves and others.

For us to become better, to become more as we should, is to descend in out hearts, and grow in trust of God through the work of Jesus Christ.

James 4:10

10. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

I see people struggling with sin. Some of it minor and some of it major. We all struggle with it because we are not gods. We are not perfect. Only God is, and we will never become God.

Like that high school friend, the more we try to control ourselves, the worse we end up.

This is true.

You will not defeat some terrible sin by struggling to control what you can't. This is the main concept of a successful 12 step program. You must rely on God!

Even for the "small" sins.

Yes, still we will fight, but we need to fight in the right way. Say you want to stop eating doughnuts. It's killing you. Your disipline is failing badly. Ah, but if you seek God, and trust Him, when He acts, that is when circumstances will change. You see, He can change you. You can't do much at all without Him.

If you look at youself and others you will see this truth. The more we try to control, the worse we get.

Proverbs 16:18

18. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

From adultery to lies, I have seen folks sit stunned at their own depravity. I myself have been stunned by my own thoughts and actions. The more we try to defeat our demons, the stronger they seem to get.

It is frustrating, but the idea that "I would never do that!", is what leads us to the downfall. It is pride. The thought that we are more...that we are like God.

Do not be suprised by your wickedness, or the wickedness of others. I'm not a __________ (put any number of evil acts here), but if God set up the right circumstances, we'll, I could be...easily.

Be careful then how you judge, both others and yourself.

Romans 7:18-25

18. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

19. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.

20. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

22. For in my inner being I delight in God's law;

23. but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25. Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

So, because we are not God, and never will be, we will struggle and fail. Yet, because of what Jesus did, we can be thankful in the midst of our corruption that we have acceptance. The more we submit to God and seek Him, the more we trust Him, and that faith will supernaturally change our behavior.

Faith drives action. Faith is the key to overcome what we do.

Trust Jesus and live. Through Him we can live better, stronger.

Isaiah 40:31

31. but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

To become truly strong, we need to be truly dependant on the One who is strength.