Saturday, February 20, 2010

A Decade Under The Influence

There is a war going on for our minds, our souls, and our very existence. Most of us live our daily lives in the trenches without even the slightest cognitive notion of what is really happening. How could this be though? We know war, we see it every day on our TV sets, hear the pundits talk about it on the radio; but this battle is something different. Something that is so deep in our souls we are unaware of it. Those that are unaware of the struggle are so because they are ignorant of the battlefield. And that premise is exactly why this has been published; to inform, to enlighten, to spread.

One thing that I have found is that we are not so worried about what we understand; we are more worried about what we know. What I know is that I love my family, I enjoy playing music, and I wish I could understand. These thing I know for certain. But what is it that makes me love my family? This I do not understand. Sure we could come up with certain thought and ideas that could maybe bring me to some kind of conclusion, but even then, would it be a concrete solid understanding? Something we will never understand, but we will know. The problem today is the lack of knowing. This is how we have gotten ourselves into our personal warfare. We do not know, so we do not fight.

Influence is one of the most powerful tools to persuasion and dictation. We do what we believe to be best. But how do we determine what is best? We determine by what we know. If one tells us that we should go this route down the road, and we know that the person that told you is wise, we will probably take that route. We made this decision because we trust this fellow; our thoughts and actions were influenced by another. This is not a flawed sense of direction for life. Where it does get flawed however is when one gets influence from another that is corrupt. So what happens when all that we know is corrupt?

That point is the crucial point; what if the source of our influence is not what we think it to be? We may honestly think that the road we are taking is the best possible road to be on; but in all actuality it is the worse, and we are none the wiser. Our problem is not what we know; it is what we do not know. What we know is the flesh. All that is around us that we can feel, touch, and hear. But there is something far greater. A force that is never corrupt, never lies, and is always sustainable. God has created the flesh, and all that interacts with it, but sadly another force has snuck in and corrupted it. This force has influenced us for far too long; I speak from my own sinful past. But there is a way to break that bond. That way is to know the force, and glory of the Kingdom of God; the Kingdom that created before corruption. We live in the dark because we do not know the light. Once we are introduced to the light, everything starts to make a little more sense. I look back today at decisions I made in the past that I thought were the finest I could have made, and today I think what was I thinking? The flesh has that power to make an obvious lie a certain truth.

So today we strive to know the kingdom of God; to gain influence from its light and glory. We have to shed our relationship with the flesh, and all of its convenient, little truths. When we do this our lives will become clearer, our relationships stronger, and our understanding closer to concrete.

2 comments:

  1. There was a time that I recognized that my nature was so backwards, the "right" or "wise" decisions where usually just the opposite of what I really WANTED to do. Now, it's more about motives...if I can keep my motives right, I can keep myself steered correctly....mostly...
    This reminds me of Phil 3:10...about KNOWing Him...and the aspects of his Truth...
    Thanks~

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