Have you ever gone fishing? The very first time I went fishing, it was with my husband and we were in south Georgia. I wasn’t prepared for the heat nor the mosquitoes. We went to the local creek. We didn’t have a real fishing rod. We had a makeshift rod which was just fine with me. We used worms as bait, on a hook and threw the line into the water. I didn’t catch any fish at all. I pulled up some trash, and the likes. Others caught some minnows. My sister-in-law caught a turtle, then released it.
That’s how life is, we strive and plan for one thing and we get something not planned for. We strive for peace and tranquility but we rail-in discord and strife.
Life is like that creek, you never know what’s in it until you cast your rod into it. You never know what life will throw your way until it confronts you. Everyday is like an adventure. Everyday is like being in the jungle, you don’t know if you are the predator or the prey. You don’t know if you are the hunter or the hunted.
If you are a child of God, there is a predator and there is a prey. Satan is the predator and we are the prey. Everyday we are confronted by the temptations of this world and the sin in our hearts. Then there is Satan’s who is working overtime to see our destruction and our downfall. He makes sure that our life is difficult and he rejoices in our difficulties and he adds to them. He is cunning and he is crafty. He is evil and he presents all manner of evil to us. He never grows tired or weary in his hatred for Christ’s children. He is very good at his job and he gets employer of the year, every year.
When Jesus died upon the cross, He died for the redemption of our sins. He died for every sin that we have committed and will commit. He died for our past sins, our current sins, and our future sins. For all of our sins. God tells us that our sins have been thrown into the Sea of Forgot-fullness. Where He won’t remember our sins once He has forgiven them. There is a sign posted “No Fishing”. So why do we allow Satan to talk us into throwing our fishing rod into a “no fishing zone?” Satan plants doubts and lies in our hearts. He fights against our faith and persecutes us through our faith, by trying to cripple our faith.
Habitual pattern of negative thoughts and a mindset of unforgiveness keeps popping up in our minds. It’s the stuff that is stored up in our memory. It’s a way of thinking or feeling that somehow develops in our life, of its own. It might be a rut of depression, a habit or bad temper. Resentment, worthlessness, a stockpile of bad thoughts: “ I am guilty. Nobody could really love me. I’m good for nothing. I’m ugly. Nobody would like me if they knew me. Nobody cares about me. I am a sinner. How could God use somebody like me.” God says that we are all sinners saved by grace.
Whatever sins that are committed, we are forgiven. Those negative thoughts keeps our minds in bondage to Satan. Jesus died so that we could be free. Those things have been drowned in the Sea of Forgetfulness". Only Satan is the one that allows you to keep fishing in a “no fishing zone”. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
So when God speaks, we should listen. What God promises, we should believe. When God commands, we should obey. When God tests, we should trust. We are worthy of God’s grace. We are worthy of God’s deliverance. We are worthy of God’s salvation. We are worthy of God’s mercy.
Christ has liberated us. We have deliverance and the predator has been conquered through Jesus. In the end, when we are transformed, no one will prey upon another.
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