Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The Battle


good and evil


     Since there isn't much to watch on television right now, we've been watching 'The Guardian' series on Netflix.  We are on the second season right now and the theme song lyrics by The Wallflowers caught my attention.

     'There is trouble in my mind; there is dark, there is dark and there is light.  There is no order, there is chaos, there is crime, there is no home to the empire in my mind.'

      Do you ever feel that battle between good and evil in your mind?  The Bible addresses this in Romans 7;15-25  ''I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.''
     We are all born guilty by design and therein lies our struggle.  Our sinful nature creates the chaos in our lives and robs us of the peace we seek.  Yes, even when we are trying to do good, we can fail.  'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.'  We can find order to the confusion of life in our minds by turning to the Scriptures for answers.
     'Sometimes we may think of God and Satan in the same way. We see them as opposing but equal forces with the same unlimited power. However, God is God and Satan is not. God is stronger than any force of darkness. He does what He pleases (Ps. 135:6), while Satan’s power is limited to what God allows.'  [odb.org]
     1 John 4;4  ''You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.''
    The saving Light is promised to all who believe in the last verse ...'Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.''