[mfblume]

Had an interesting thought today. It's no coincidence that the spirit of satan is a self-exalting spirit at the detriment of everyone else around, and our fleshliness in seeking self pleasure and indulgence is his bait, after knowing that the serpent was cursed to eat dust of the ground from which our flesh was made.

I had to deal with an adultery issue in our church, and the adulterers kept pointing to their needs and how they escape with the other due to pressures and they're the only friends they really have to talk about God. Whew! What a twisted reasoning. Get together for spiritual reasons and commit adultery.

Anyway, it made me stop and think. I told them to see what they're doing to their families who don't serve God because they see hypocrisy, and how they're feeding that rejection of God in these people. But, they said, they need someone to hold them now since I told them to separate and not so much as see each other alone - ever.

Satan feeds from the self part of us that seeks to please self. Self does have needs! We need others and we need care. But God supplies that, anyway, if we put others before ourselves. Denying self causes God to in turn bless us. So, it's God's way of ensuring we're not fodder for the devil with all our self-interest, and yet we still get what we need as individuals.

Seek first the kingdom, not ourselves, and God will ensure the needs for self will be met!

Deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus, and we shall lose this self-life, and yet be restored with life eternal which more than satisfies our needs!