y third book is titled the enemy within, in it I shared how I went to God to change my wife, and how He told me that the problem with my marriage was not Ola (that does not mean she is innocent) but me, that I was not following His instruction. God then took me on a two year journey where Galatians 2:20 became real to me and not only was our marriage transformed, my life changed as well.
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The day a child is born, by simply being a human born in the image of God, that child has an enemy that would contend for his/her soul desperately. The home he/she is born into could also potentially be problematic, this portion of the article is being written at the new Delhi airport and the news in India is about a two year old, whose mother gave her to an abused teenager, and someone who wanted this baby's life to end banged her head on the wall many times, she is clinging to life at an Indian hospital and the whole country is praying for her to survive.
As an adult with sinful nature and who interact with other people with sinful nature, crises and conflicts are a guarantee, throw in working eight hours with people you don't like and marriage (especially when getting to know each other in the first seven years) then life becomes complicated. When you start to take a stand for whatever you believe, doctrinally, politically etc. your enemy list increases exponentially because you pose a threat to others.
In life some face more obstacle than others (not counting the devil the enemy of our soul), from the home we are born into, the geographical location of our birth, our personality and the personality of others. I have seen my share of poverty in many parts of the world, I have also seen what my people call "money miss road" (just think spoilt kids with inheritance - nothing against inheritance, just indulgence and laziness). I have also seen the transforming power of a great God for both the financial rich and the financially poor to being spiritually and then materially rich.
The truth about life is that regardless of the curve you are thrown at birth, attempts of the enemy of your soul, you get to have a chance to be in-charge at some point with a God of grace, who in His infinite wisdom gave us a free will and then told us to willing submit our free will to the leading of the Holy Spirit, when we don't then we become the biggest obstacle in our own lives, we become the enemy within.
The devil is a created being (a spiritual being) who rebelled and was kicked out of heaven (with 1/3 of angels in tow) with his angelic powers intact, yet with all his powers, God sent His Son Jesus Christ (I love to call Jesus in Spanish - Jesu Cristo - Gloria adios) to conquer the world and make us citizens of a different kingdom and He gave us authority and power over any and every spiritual being in any and every sphere of existence.
This authority (and power) is not available to every human at birth, it is a choice of free will that every human have to make, accept Christ as Lord and Savior or not? acceptance gives authority and power over the enemy of your soul and lack of acceptance makes you the superstar in your life against an avowed and powerful spiritual being, who wants to kill, steal and destroy, and uses unfair tactics. Not accepting Christ is the first instance of us humans being the enemy of our own soul.
Acceptance of Christ is a war won, but the start of a road littered with battles meant to increase our faith, increase our perseverance and help us mature (James 1:2-4). Winning the battles of life with God on your side, is regardless of the home you were born into, the geography of your birth (Lagos, Kathmandu or New York) and other things we consider obstacles, the key to winning the battles lies in humbling ourselves to obey every word of God and choosing to live a life of holiness so we can dwell in His presence (not visit on Sundays).
The enemy of our soul, does not go away after we accept Christ, his job description simply changes to creating doubts about our new profession, Is there really a God?, Are His words really relevant in your generation? With all your intellect, you'll subject yourself to that primitive thinking called faith? For some, the enemy knows they are weeds among wheats, so he keeps them busy with church stuff, never coming to the place of spiritual rebirth, for others who are truly spiritually rebirthed the enemy throw curve balls here and there hoping to make him/her spiritually immature or stunt spiritual growth - with the (unrepentant) scandals in the body of Christ, he sure is doing a good job.
I recently changed my barbers (yeah still mourning the other guys) because it's close to our home and the boys can now drive there themselves without me (the other guys where in the hood), also it's a fertile ground for reaching out. It took two haircut before the guys figured they can discuss religion with me, at my last cut, the guy said to me, "I'm a Christian but I don't believe the whole bible", I've discovered this is the new trend, with the new "spirituality" thing going on in America, led by the high priestess Oprah.
As we read this article, some of us are going through divorce and we squarely blame the whole shenanigans on our spouse, if only she or if only he...? and we justify our own faults with religious activities. I know too many women, who pray and fast, yet emotionally abuse their husbands. I've written on this many times, how my dad did not do well by his wife (my mom) yet he goes around to prayer warriors who take money from him (money he won't leave at home), as an adult (my youth corp year) I finally shared with him how, not treating the wife of his youth well will bring the wrath of God (Malachi 2:13-16, 1 Peter 3:7).
In the black community in America, many have made an industry out of hatred and un-forgiveness, names like Sharpton, Jackson, Farakhan come to mind, these are people who target the white man, corporations etc. (anything with money) and they perpetuate hatred rather than teach forgiveness. We have the story of Joseph in the bible, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, yet he chose to forgive them because he saw the glass half full, "what you meant for bad God turned around for good".
Forgiving white folks for slavery and for Jim Crow days is not for them, it is to emancipate us black folks from mental slavery. Black on black murder is the highest in generations, yet we keep blaming the system, from the police to judiciary to republicans, it is time to stop blaming an enemy and start taking control of our lives with God. No white man or police can stop us from being a family unit (dad, mom and children), from taking our kids to church teaching them Christ and His principles and getting an education (not a drop out of high school). We are the enemy within.
In Nigeria, we are experts at analyzing our problems from colonization to the crazy demarcation of the country without regard for ethnic groupings, guess what, it's now over 50 years since we've been in charge of our destiny, it is not the British that institutionalize corruption, it is not the British that is not building or maintaining roads or making sure we have regular supply of electricity. I've watched the popular Marxists in Nigeria fight for rights including in the recent fuel subsidy, but remember what happened when Babangida or other military governments put many of them in power? We all know the names of men whose reputation were dragged in the mud?
The problem in Nigeria is us, all of us, that keep giving N20 to the policeman as bribe, it is the born-again policeman/woman who takes the N20 and pay tithes from it, it is pastors who accepts duty free shipments from the government and call it God's grace, it is chairman of local governments and councilors who raked about politicians until they got there and now they make money of off interest of people's salary, paying their people’s salary intermittently...need I go on, it is a government who allocates 72% of the country’s budget to administrative cost, not infrastructure development, yet they ask the people to sacrifice reducing subsidies? Our problem is us the people for not holding our leaders accountable, I've heard Christians are afraid their leader would curse them if they speak God’s truth to power, why go to a church where the leader curses? By the way, Nigeria's problem is not the devil either- I know he is often our fallback blame bag, it is us (we already have the authority and power over and to defeat the devil, except your bible is different from mine?).
For change to happen we have to look within, not at the other person (the other person need to take responsibility for their own actions, some would never do that), stop looking at your wife or your husband as the problem, for once look at yourself and the crap you are covering to look good for people who don't really care about you. Allow God to transform you, by the renewing of your mind with His words.
Dealing with the enemy within, starts with humility or realizing that you cannot navigate life on your own, and then accepting Christ as Savior and Lord of your life.I've discovered that the Savior part seem easy (it is a spiritually thing that takes an act of the will), but the Lordship is another thing (not only does it take a will, it requires physical, emotional and demonstrative efforts), and with the many variety of gospels out there, from the prosperity gospel to having it your way, to the examples of leaders we see on the news daily, Lordship will be a real struggle for anyone who look up to men.
Many times Jesus said, those who love me obey my commandments, the bible talk about how the obedience of the saints of old counted as righteousness. We cannot accept Christ as Savior, and reject Him as Lord, we cannot claim Christianity while accepting half the bible (rejecting the non-convenient part). To deal with the enemy within, Galatians 2:20 must be real to your life, you must live a life of the living-dead, death to your flesh but alive to the Christ in you, so it is no longer what you (flesh/emotion) want but what the Christ in you want.
I've discovered that when you start to live life this way, your perspective of life changes, you see the humanity of others differently - rather than fight your wife or husband you actually feel sorry for them allowing the enemy to have a free range in their lives. Rather than complain about the ills of your city or nation and blame politicians (perhaps rightfully so), you do something about it, you pray, you take personal action pertaining to holiness, and you join others people and active organizations that are doing things within the parameters of God's principles not failed human philosophy such as Marxism.
When you are dead to self, you get to dwell in the secret place of the most high, when life struggle comes, you view it as a test to increase your patience, develop your perseverance and to help you mature spiritually. Tests along the way is a good thing in the life of a true believer, so quit having pity parties and chasing after shadows that does not exist (actually your own shadow).
Quit looking at others (the devil, your spouse, your in-laws etc.), with all their shenanigans they have limited influence on you (except the one you give them), look within and make sure that you and God are on the same path, not God on your side but you on God's side (through humility, holiness and obedience).
