Who opened the door...

If you are a Christian, you've hopefully heard a thing or two about your enemy, Satan. Maybe you've heard about how he lurks around waiting for an opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy. If you're not a Christian, maybe you've seen some little black bearded red guy with a pitch fork sitting on someone's shoulder, opposite an angel, telling the person why they should try all the tempting bad stuff instead of the boring holy stuff.
Well, either way, Christian or not, there is an enemy in your life story. But the enemy I want to talk about today is not Satan, or the devil. The enemy I want to talk about is you, and me. 
See, God created this world for us, we broke it and gave the keys over to Satan, then Jesus (God's Son) came down and set things right. He came down as a man, died on the cross, took the keys back from Satan, and rose again! Plus, bonus, he said that Satan is defeated.
Well, if he is defeated he can't be that threatening of an enemy, can he?
So why do I have so many days when I feel defeated and overwhelmed by the things of this life?
Because I haven't recognized that my biggest enemy isn't the one lurking around me but the one that resides within me. I am my own worst enemy, and you are yours. Satan is defeated. Or for a better visual, he's been locked out. But for some reason we keep opening the door and letting him back in with all those lies. 
The lies that tell us we are not good enough to complete the task God has requested of us. The lies that tell us we're not strong enough, bold enough, brave enough, educated enough, beautiful enough, loved enough, patient enough...I could go on and on. 
If we want to stop feeling defeated we've got to stop opening the door! We must be vigilant, alert, and ready. We don't get to this place by feeding our selfish ways, we get to this place by feeding our spirit. We must get into the Word, listen to the Word, and live out the Word.  

“...You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up." Matthew 24:43 MSG

God, help us to have a hunger for you like we have never experienced before. Help us to shut the door, deadbolt it, hinge lock it, and throw a dresser in front of it to keep out the lies that keep knocking. Help us dig into your word, digest it, and live it out. Let us stand firmly on this, "If God said it I believe it will happen and if He didn't...I'm not listening." Amen