December 3, 2007

Identify Your Pitfalls

If you have been on our website in the last couple of months you know that we have been doing a book blog on Stormie Omartian’s book, Lord, I Want To Be Whole. I have been stuck on chapter 6, Rejecting the Pitfalls for a long time. As I have been walking through them I have realized how important it is to identify the pitfalls that you are the most susceptible too. Every snare and trap of the enemy (pitfall) won’t affect you. Some of them you will be able to walk around without even blinking an eye.

If we are honest many of us have looked at others that have gotten caught up in those snares and traps and thought it was stupid. Let’s be honest we would also have to acknowledge that we have judged their weakness in those areas. We don’t all have the same strength in the same areas. The things that hem you up may seem stupid to them, which is why we all have to look at ourselves and not at each other. What are my pitfalls?

As I was walking through the pitfalls Stormie identified, I noticed that I have personally spent some time dealing with several of them. Thank God for deliverance.

What I would say to each of us is to identify — honestly identify — our pitfalls, the things that keep tripping us up. I say honestly because we can and often do make excuses for our wrongdoing and errors. We blame the devil, our pasts, situations and other people. It is time for taking responsibility for the things we do and the things we allow to happen in our lives. The bible clearly states in 1 Corinthians 10:13: 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. God has given us the ability to step around those temptations. He has given us a way out, if we want to take it. The key is wanting to avoid the pitfall and not walking into it and then trying to excuse it away. Many of us make a decision to walk into it with our eyes wide open.

Why did I decide to write this article? I am writing it because I got to the pitfall of lust in Stormie’s list of pitfalls and remembered the times that I had allowed my lust to take control of me and throw me off track. Bless God I have given Him control of my members, because if it were up to me, on my own, I have no control. But through Christ, I have the strength I need to overcome.

Does my mind still try to take me there, yes, but every time it does I seek the Lord. There have been occasions, when my body thought it had a mind of it’s own and it wanted to respond to something, I did not want it to respond too, (maybe it is just me, but it has attempted to respond to air) but God protected and directed me.

I don’t know what your pitfall is, but what I do know is that if you truly have a desire to get over it, to be delivered, God is more than able to do it. Does it mean that it will never try to come up again, no! The scripture says, there is no temptation that He has not already provided a way of escape, but you are going to first have to have a desire to escape. If you have not made a decision that you want to escape, to avoid or reject the pitfall you have no foundation for success in this area.

Here are some major truths I have learned:

1. Identify the pitfalls that keep messing with you. If you don’t know what they are you cannot war against them.
2. Decide not to be tripped up by those pitfalls again.
3. The enemy will continue to use the same pitfall or method against you as long as it works. You have to decide to take action against it. I determined my destiny is up to me. I have to say “no” to the pitfalls he is using against me and I can because greater is He that is in me that the enemy that is trying to come against me.

What are your pitfalls and will you continue to allow the enemy to hit you the same way over and over again? Whether your pitfall is lust, rejection, people, situations, family members or your past, you have the ability to identify it and defeat it. Force him to change his modus operandi as it relates to you. Stop making it so easy for him to take you off track.

Weekly Scripture:

1 Corinthians 10:13: 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure

We just worked out spiritually. If you have not worked out your physical temple get up and put your video in or go for a walk, but do something. Remember to work out at least 3 times per week (20-30 minutes per day) to experience a New Beginning physically. Work out to music, workout and pray. Just workout.

For further discussion contact angela@mynewtemple.org or write to us on the message board