Within you is the battle of what the old you wants to still do, and what the new you in Christ is being prompted to do. The old you went there, did that, and wore this, and you simply never thought twice about it. Now, with the Spirit of God living within you, you see things differently, don’t you? That little voice within is changing you. You no longer want to do those things you used to do. You don’t want to dress like that, talk like that or act like that.

Recognize this growth you are experiencing! This is the holy work of a loving God within you. He didn’t hate you the way you were, but he sure loved you too much to see you sacrificing the fullness of everything he had for you. As you’re growing and changing, you are seeing a bigger and more beautiful life right in front of you and God says it’s yours for the taking!

Galatians 5: 16-17, “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

I still feel the pull of my old sinful nature sometimes. I bet you do too. We’ve been warned the battle continues.

While in Bali, my eyes were opened to how we dress. The Balinese women are stunning in their conservative clothing. Then there’s us … often showing cleavage and cheeks. I literally felt a call to being more conservative. A call to be less about the show on the outside and more about the love on the inside. Really, is it my body that makes me beautiful or the light in my eyes?

What makes you beautiful? Did God tell you that or has the enemy tricked you?

The enemy constantly schemes to trick God’s girls into selling out to the cravings of our sinful nature. We crave to be seen. We crave to fit in. We crave to be liked. We crave to be wanted. We crave to be special. We dismiss it as “normal” and “harmless” but it’s a slippery slope we play on when we cave to those cravings. Suddenly we’re finding our worth in things that can be taken, or our value in things that only the world offers. It’s all gotten twisted and we’re left seeking, chasing and craving.

Hear God now as he says, “My girl, come back to the beauty and simplicity of what I have for you. You don’t need all of this.”

James 4:8 says, “Come close to God and he will come close to you.” And here, in the sweet closeness with our Creator, our desires change.

Lord, change my desires to align with the eternal plans you have for me. Untwist all the enemy has twisted in me. Release me from the ties of this world. Forgive me for my sinful nature and heal me of my brokenness.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been studying Old Testament scripture, specifically in the book of 1 & 2 Samuel. There you find the life story of David. He began as the little shepherd boy who defeated a giant, and he grew up to be a mighty and powerful king. But with all that royal power as king, came the power to royally screw up. Have you ever noticed the more you have, the more you can really mess up.

King David had been wildly successful in every battle he faced. God had blessed him with continual victory, but then all that victory left David unchecked. 2 Samuel 11:1-5, “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittitie.’ Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message saying, ‘I’m pregnant.'”

This was a royal screw up, and it all started with David not being where he was supposed to be. Notice it says this was the time when kings go out to war, but David stayed behind in Jerusalem. He dismissed himself from being where he was supposed to be, so he subjected himself to a sight he should have never seen. Bathsheba. She was not only beautiful, but she was unusually beautiful, and David couldn’t resist her. And when he found out she was married, he used his power to get what he wanted anyway.

This is a picture of the cravings of our sinful nature. We want what we want … and when the desires of our flesh are allowed to take control, our life spins out of control. Now, here’s the king who has gotten a married woman pregnant. The lawful punishment of an adulterer was death by stoning, and the king’s job was to uphold the law. But, the King had himself broken the law with his abused power.

What do you do when you’ve really messed up? What you do next determines if you climb out of that pit, or the hole is dug deeper. King David dug his hole of sin even deeper.

2 Samuel 11: 14-17, after David learns that Bathsheba is pregnant, he devises a scheme to cover up his sin and get rid of her husband, Uriah. “David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, ‘Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.’ So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.”

What started as David not going where he was supposed to go, led to him seeing someone he was never supposed to see. Once he saw her, he wanted her. Once he had her, there was a sin to cover up. Now, an innocent man is killed because of the sinful cravings of David.

Verse 27, “The Lord was displeased with what David had done.”

Let me tell you something, deception NEVER pleases God. My deception is despised by God, and so is yours. Those secret little sins, those twisted little desires … they’re digging holes, my sister, and the holes are getting deeper. Deep holes where you get stuck.

Maybe no one else knows about it, but God does. God sees where you’ve been tricked by the schemes of the enemy that looked so little in the beginning. It was just a little flirting. Just one button left undone. Just a few drinks. Just a tiny cheat. Just a little lie. But it never stays there. It grows. And as it grows, you have to work to cover it up.

Doing one wrong leads to doing more wrong things to cover it up. And my sister, this will only get worse until you take accountability and start doing the right thing.

You can’t go back and undo what has been done, but you can decide right here today that you won’t do it again. You can seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance to change your desires to be in alignment with God’s best for you. You can. It won’t be easy, but you can.

That’s what God is asking of you and I today. He’s asking his girls to get back in alignment with his very best for them. Living out of alignment, chasing these sinful desires of our flesh has us losing fiercely. We’re losing who we really are. We’re losing what we’re here to do.

Father, forgive us. We have been tricked and we didn’t know what we were doing. Bring us back now. Back to the fullness of your best for us. Back to who you created us to be. Back to our worth and value found in you. Give us the courage to take responsibility for our deceptions that are unpleasing to you, and give us the strength to do what is right. Change our desires as your Spirit guides us in the pursuits that are pleasing to you.

1 John 1: 8-9, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Forgiveness awaits us when we confess. Then strength fills us to change. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”

The evil one will continually scheme to trick you into his evil, twisted ways and they will never seem so awful in the beginning, BUT GOD will strengthen you to overcome the intended evil so you don’t fall into his trap again. Then, God will bring you back to Him.

2 Samuel 14:14, “God devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.” Oh what a good God he is, always bringing us back!

What needs to stop now?

What needs to change now?

Is there anything you need to give to God and then ask him to help you get out of the hole you have dug?

He is faithful! Now is the time!

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