Text: I Samuel 18-19
Christians are being conned by the enemy and cheated out of help, wisdom, understanding, and even power. The best way to stop being conned is to understand the game and the tactics of the con artist.
Last week, we studied how Pharaoah refused to listen or yield to God's authority. He conditioned himself to yield only to himself. No one could correct him.
In our case, if we disqualify the authorities in our lives, we have fewer areas for God to use to correct us. The Bible admonishes children to obey their parents (Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:6) that we may live long on the earth. We become conditioned to respect authority.
The enemy wants to condition us to respond to our circumstances rather than hold to our beliefs. In this way he can bring destruction to our lives. I can condition myself to listen/yield to:
1)
My spirit or my flesh.
Our flesh wants to get mad. It wants to stay in bed instead of getting up for work. If we yield, we're conditioning ourselves to follow the dictates of our flesh instead of our spirit. A telltale sign we're headed for operating in the flesh: Phrases like, "I felt like it" or "I don't want to" will come out of our mouth.
2)
What I reason or what I receive.
If we have to reason out everything God says, we'll go the wrong way.
3)
What I see/hear or what I believe.
If we make decisions based on what we see or hear rather than on our beliefs, we'll end up operating in the flesh.
At first, Saul valued David's contributions to his kingdom (killing Goliath, defeating the Philistines). When the people began praising David's accomplishments, he became jealous and fearful. He acted out of his flesh instead of trusting God. It resulted in him losing his son, the throne, and the people.
To hear the entire message, please visit our
website, and click on the Sermon Player. You can listen online, download it to your MP3 player, or podcast FREE.
If you're visiting in the area or looking for a church home, we invite you to our Sunday Morning Worship Service at 10:00 A.M. We're located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Route 611), Warrington, PA 18976. The church telephone number is (215) 343-7686. We'd love to meet you!
