Stop Blaming Your Old Man!

I've written about this idea before. I know some of my readers get this, while others I believe, for one reason or another, struggle coming to this conclusion.

This is the idea. You are not wrestling with your old-man. You are not fighting your flesh. You don't have to overcome the old man - the flesh...over and over.

You have an old nature. God did not fix or restore your old nature, He killed it.

When you believed in Jesus and "became" a Christian, God did not repair you. He killed you.

We read this at least 47 times throughout Romans 5-7: You are dead!

Go and read it, now....

WAIT, check that. Before you read the rest of this - you need to read Paul's whole thought. Start at Romans 4:18 and read all the way through chapter 8. It starts with, "even though there was no hope"...and ends saying, I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord....(read it here).

Yeah, now that's a good read....

So, you've read it....now hear this.

You are dead.

God did not fix your old man. He killed him.

He’s not trying to restore your old man. He killed him and made you a new man.

He tore down your old house and He built you a knew one.

Well, we had problems with our electricity in our old house and the roof leaked.

You don’t have that house anymore! God plowed it over and built a new one!

He said “ALL things have become new”.

Some say, “Well, I’m wrestling against my flesh” No no. Now, get this people. You are wrestling against somebody who wants to make you think it’s you so you have no antidote! The enemy wants you to believe that you are battling your flesh so that you believe you are in an uphill battle against something for which you have no cure. It's a lie. He is called the Father of Lies for a reason....

Does anyone remember....we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places....(Eph 6:12)

Here's the deal. The one who is wrestling with you has no power over you, unless you give it to him.

The battleground is in the mind.
The battle is not the mind, the battle is not thoughts, but the battle is manifest in thoughts.

Do you see the difference?

The battle is not your thoughts. However, the way you perceive the battle, the way that you know you’re in a battle, is that you’re having bad thoughts.

The thoughts are not the battle. The thoughts are the weapons that are used against you.

The battle is the spirit realm in conflict with the spirit in you. Why? Because The Christ is trying to emerge within you. There is a baby being born. Christ in you – the hope of Glory. Paul said, I’m going to work until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19).


Be Prepared
1 Peter 1:13 says to prepare your mind for action...

There are times when you have to keep your armor on all the time.

In Nehemiah 4 they even slept with their swords and the spears, they kept their armor on at all times. Ready - poised at any moment to defend against an attack.

There are evil days when you can’t entertain any thoughts, there are times when you can’t watch TV, there are times when you can’t be in certain places, there are times when you can’t do what you normally would do. Because it’s just screaming in your ear that you’re going to die, you’re going to fall, you’re going to crash your car, this or that is going to happen…you’re going to do something crazy, and you just have to stay focused you have to gird your mind for action and keep your helmet on, even in times when you can normally rest you have to keep your focus.

No, I’m not listening to you, you’re a lying spirit and I am going to push through this thing and get my inheritance.


Taking Territory
Spiritual conflict most often occurs when we advance into new territory that is inhabited by evil.

One of my biggest frustrations with the Church (and I love the Church) is, I am shocked at how unspiritual the people who are supposed to understand the spiritual world are. I am shocked by how much Christians who are born into the spirit, who are born by the spirit, don’t even understand that there is a battle in the spirit! They relegate everything to their flesh or to their mind so much that they try to council themselves out of something that they need to kill and destroy. You don't need to overcome it, you need to kill it! You were born to destroy.


This is your mission – To destroy the works of the devil.
You might be asking ‘How do I know when I get close to one?’ He starts yelling ‘I’m going to kill you…I’m going to kill you’. You need to know and respond, “I’m going to kill you, that’s what I was born to do. I was born to destroy the works of the devil. If you come into my house, I’m going to destroy you!"


He's Got You Figured Out....or so he thinks....
This is the perfect scheme – the enemy gives you the thought. If you’re not spiritually minded you might not even know it’s not your thought

You start to think the though...and then you think to yourself.... “Oh how can I think this?”....(you know his game)

Then, the enemy comes at you with “Oh, Look at you, you’re evil. You go to church. You call yourself a Christian, you call yourself a leader, and this and that…and you’re thinking about women, you’re sexualizing men, you’re thinking impure thought, you’re thinking about killing someone, your thinking about getting high or drunk…and you call yourself a Christian."

He’s called the accuser of the brethren. There is a reason he's called that. It's not because the brethren have done something wrong, it's because through his accusations he is trying to make you think of yourself as inadequate. How?? He LIES to you. Satan is the father of lies for a reason. How do you know if the enemy is lying? When his lips are moving. Nothing he says is truth. Ever. Everything he ever says is a lie. So, if he's talking to you, it's a lie. Period.

What happens next? He destroys your confidence, which takes away your ability to use the weapons that you have that are vastly more powerful than his. He knows that if you raise the sword then he’s dead. So, what does he do? He convinces you that you don’t have the strength do it. Do you see that? He derails what the Truth is. He tries to unravel what we know already. When we run into problems, we know that they help us develop endurance. Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Rom. 5:3-5) THAT is the truth. He tried to undermine that by getting you to believe that these problems are here to bring you down. Don't believe it.

Entering In.
Most often the battle starts when you enter into territory that is yours – your promised land – but you have never inhabited it.

You say, I think I have this talent. I think I would like to pray for the sick, to preach, take up art, I think I’d like to work here, I really have a passion for whatever it may be. Then suddenly you realize that evil spirits have been keeping you out of that territory forever and when you make a seemingly casual decision to enter that territory you enter into a conflict. And you wonder what’s going on!? Well, it’s your territory that is inhabited by someone that you are supposed to kick out.

The battle almost always happens when you decide to take territory that was always yours but you never inhabited it.

Do I need to go into all the accounts of Israel getting into battle just before they enter into their Promised Land of inheritance?

Dis-place the enemy
It’s been taught for years that darkness is the absence of light.

That isn't entirely correct. In science, they have found that light is actually light waves. When they shoot a beam of light from earth to the moon, it doesn’t travel in a straight line. They’ve found out that darkness is actually a substance and it resists the light. That is why light waves.

In the natural darkness is not the absence of light.

In the spiritual darkness is not the absence of light – it is the presence of evil.

Darkness is a substance. When you move in the darkness you will find out that it doesn’t go away just because you turn the light on. It wants to resist you. That’s why it’s not called a cake-walk. That’s why it’s called a struggle. (Ephesians 6:12) Jesus says, countless times, in teh gospels that we need to be in the light, walk in the light, so we don't stumble in the darkness. He wasn't just talking in the natural....He meant so much more than just to follow Him while He was walking on the earth at that time. He knew what the enemy's goals are - and He knew what we need to do to realize and overcome.

All that the enemy is trying to do is scare you into stopping your pursuit of your promised land.


The reality is - he is more scared of you that you should be of him. The enemy has been defeated. Colossians 2:15 reminds us (and the enemy) that he was defeated and disarmed. The enemy was shamed publicly by Christ's victory over them on the cross.

Ephesians 4:8 (Psalm 68:18) says that when He [Jesus] ascended , He led captive a host of captives...the very gates of hell are held captive....and their scared out of their little fiery demon britches.

So, come on Church.....stop whining and know who you are!

You are a New Creation, the old man has been put to death and the New has come! Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ in baptism, we also joined Him in his death? Our old man died and was buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also have new lives!


Now, stop blaming your old man! The old man is dead! Get up, realize who you are, and re-claim your promised land!

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