Examine the Craftiness of your Opponent
I know this heading might turn-off some people at the glance of it, but “examining the craftiness of your opponent” is not just referring to the main enemy in the religious setting but your enemy in different areas of our life that stalls your progress in one way or the other. Though I would make reference to the main enemy here and there with biblical scripture, I would oblige you to meditate to have understanding and apply than brush off immediately. This examining could be noticed in the work environment, business, religious setting and many other places including things around us, but I would make mention of few.
It is evident that news moves like wild fire and consumes whatever is in its area. What you do to such news or information matters to your progress. There are different things people do when fire is burning a forest; they step out, watch it, quench it, or run away. Whatever actions you take when the fire comes your way, you reap the benefit of it. Just as it is said “Do not be deceived for God is not mocked, what a man sows, so shall he reap”.
Now, the question is what is the fire? The fire is the news told anywhere you go and it can be good or bad depending on the future outcome. We have to call a spade a spade, Lions cannot give birth to kids neither can Goat give birth to cubs. No matter how time changes and no matter how most animals behave, those things still remain the same. These analogy can be seen in humans, as biology says, we all are animals and not plants but a higher cadre of animals. That means we have the power to do and undo, if we say we want progress we can make it happen, but if we say we want stagnation is also possible. All we have to do is know where to spread the fire and how to do so, but before the fire is spread, one has to learn about fire. How fire is used, the damage it can cause, its advantage and disadvantages and the solution to solving its outburst.
Now we have talked about fire let us talk about one of its likes: the news. There is news that can go both in the positive or negative direction, however it goes and whichever medium it spreads through it moves like wild fire. If you observe the times and season you will come to realize that news come and go, and the people that stay stagnant are those that are carried away by the flow of bad news. Watch and see the trend, if the newspapers that were used to inform, enlighten and inspire people become a place where porn is displayed, lies and gossip are like current affairs, you would have to change the fire place and move somewhere else. If the same happens with the television, move elsewhere or else you will be burnt.
One thing to note is being aware and not just airing a solution. At the beginning stage, if the fire is burning and you are standing looking, it would consume you alive, if you don’t know how to change the bad to good but see it the same way then you are blind.
Let me bring it to practical terms, have you realized that people have tried many ways to get out of their stagnation, but they do one of these; they do nothing about it, entertain their ear with what they want to hear, or focus their direction in the wrong direction of news then they are at a fix. You have to be on your toes as to which fire is for you and the one that is not for you. Let me point out a few examples.
There are some church leaders who go through a hardening of heart during their process of succeeding on the pulpit and because of lack of funds facing the growth (spiritual & physical) of their ministry they vow never to be poor again. Some tell their congregant to save immensely; which is done to the detriment of their family members, give to the church to the point that the givers are clueless of what they are doing and look for ways to make wealth quick. The more they do the more they are blind to the bible and can’t see the perfection of the bible. They say we are to be rich, make money quick before we become poor quoting bible verses such as “Jesus became poor for us to be rich”, but was that what happened? How was Jesus poor? A poor person from my understanding doesn’t have food neither does he know how to acquire it. Rather he/she just goes around begging for food and the day the money stops coming they might curse God and die. If we search the scripture well Jesus knew where he could find money, he fed five thousands without begging, if you look at that chapter closes Paul was telling the brethren when you have abundance give to your brethren in need, so that the ones in need could do the same when they are in abundance, you can see it in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 with emphasis on verses 13 & 14.
The truth is that it is not all pastors that have this issue, is only those that have allowed the spirit of mammon to rule them and you who give anyhow at the detriment of family members have joined the queue, because you are blind to the word of God. My own solution to that problem is that I will rather train soldiers for Christ that will become rich at the appointed time than train rich men that can’t stand the test of time. Those mammon lovers would say get rich quickly, acquire land everywhere to solve all the problems, meanwhile Jesus said “the son of man has no home or house to stay”, in another place he said “make friends with the rich, so they can accommodate you in times of trouble”, but He didn’t say stay in their house forever.
Moving to the Governmental sector, this is a key and crucial one that many of us default without knowing it, because we don’t know how politics is played, but we enter into high Government positions and get burnt trying to figure out how you a righteous person could become corrupt. If you are pushed to such position, either by election or appointment, you either reject it or seat at the feet of someone who has wisdom. Success is not dashed to you, it comes with preparedness.
When you enter into position the first thing you do is to dance to the gallery (Understand the system) without being corrupt. This would help you with two things
1. Mastering the game; knowing how things operate and function before you kick start. You can’t just bring your ideas into the system when you don’t know how things operate, no matter how good your ideas are, first find out what works, because it could scatter when you try to implement yours into a system that might not fit it. After mastering it, you would know how to merge the two and figure which policy to do away with and the one to maintain.
- Identify your enemies; know those on your side before you match to the battle front. If you take off without identifying them when you are at the battle front you might discover that you are the only one fighting, this example was presumed when the commander of the philistine army told Achish to send King David (He was not king then) and his men back when they were about to go to battle against King Saul.
Another thing you should know while in high Government position is to note that your innocence doesn’t count all time but putting your trust in God. Why I say this is because when your enemies know that they are guilty they look for a loop hole to capitalize on, so their guilt could be covered up and your innocence could be disregarded. A typical example is what happened to make Daniel enter a lion’s Den.
Moving on, how do I identify my enemy in the health sector? As they say health is wealth, but if you have money without good health, you are as good as a dead man alive. That is to say the way you take care of yourself through regular medical “check-up” matters a lot. What you eat, drink, how long you rest and how frequent you exercise play a heavy role in your wellbeing. All these are part of what makes you healthy as a human being. Most of the religious fanatics will always resort to faith saying that Jesus would heal me, but if Jesus wanted to do that, He would have prayed to the father and everyone in the world would be healed both then and now but he didn’t, because that would look like magic if He did. One reason why Jesus did miracles and healing was for people to know He was from God and not on His own accord, that’s why Nicodemus said “no one can do this miracle unless he is from God”. One illness that is paramount now is high blood pressure and God has made doctors available to solve that problem, they are the miracle you need with their supplements and antibiotics. If by chance you came across a bad one with a bad experience, you change and look for a good one than quitting medical treatment as a solution, because if you allow it to linger an ordinary slammed door could give you heart attack and send you to your grave sooner than you think no matter the amount of blood Jesus you call. This is not to annul the power of Jesus, He still does miracle at this time, but since you are not sure pray and do what is medically necessary, unless Jesus appears and tells you he wants to display His power for someone to know Him through your healing.
Personal stagnation is one that really halts most people both believers and unbelievers, they do so, because of many reasons that is unseen to us. There was a radio station that I was listening to and I was listening to people who were competing to travel outside the country (which most Citizens in my country pray and wish to exercise) through the sponsorship of a non-alcoholic beverage company.
As I listened overtime I observed some things
1. Most were not ready, because the radio station were screening people and over time they realized that most of the participants didn’t have their International passport that would give one passage to a foreign land. SHM
- Some of the participants didn’t even know the last four digits of their phone number. You gat to be kidding me are you for REAL! For you to be a success you have to get more information before hitting the challenge especially when your Judges give you time to participate, don’t think your talent would do the trick for you just like that. As surprising as it may sound, this challenge went on every week day for weeks.
Talents and gifts are not all you need to succeed, though they are vital but not all. I have met a lot of young ones who have talents but don’t go far or do much, because they are dealing with too much made up motivational stories that don’t give the chunk of the road to their success. In order to succeed, you have to know more about yourself and what works best for you, with other elements that would make it possible. Someone that read 20books in 3months to be successful, doesn’t guarantee your success if you do the same. You who lack the ability to read 1book in 3months you are not left out, maybe you have to listen to 20books for you to move fast, or watch 20 books for your progress. It is important to know that we are all different learners, carry out what works for you and don’t be an imitator of another person.
In relationships your opponent comes in different ways and areas but i would just mention one for each gender in order not to cross the line. A lady who wears skimpy things that exposes different private parts of her body claiming she knows God and He knows her heart that she means well, is not doing well to the Male gender in any way. Yes God knows your heart but the men lusting after you don’t know your heart and if they don’t get sex from you they pounce on another. As for the men, you shouldn’t see all ladies as meat or a different desired dish, you can’t just sleep with every female, because you want to know how it would feel to sleep with her, stick to your wife and move on.
In all these, the best way to conquer your opponent is to be properly informed and be thinking continuously, because time & season changes and things could be modified as people change but the basic righteous values keeps you going.
In Business, lacking money could be a challenge to progress but it shouldn’t be a barrier to your progress. Have you ever stop to think, since the existence of Pepsi and Coca Cola, when they began their rivalry did you notice that they have never stop competing regardless of the money they have made or are making, despite the bad news that flies around about their product. Their secret is continuous thinking and regular strategy.
Pepsi and Coca cola continue until the referee blows the whistle saying game over, the moment one stops during the battle that is when its company starts losing its grip until it perishes. That is where this scripture comes to play “my people perish because of lack of knowledge”.
One might step back and conclude that human beings are the cause of their own down fall with all that is said but is not completely true, because we are gods over all creatures on earth. We can manipulate nature and control it against our fellow humans; Moses hand held up by Aaron and Hur is an example when they fought the Amalekites, or the scripture that says “The sun shall not smite me by day or the moon by Night”, who made it to smite in the first place? We have dominion over all living creatures through our weapons and invention that is evident in what we see and do today. Looking beyond that there is a war between light & darkness as to know who would take charge of these gods on earth. The devil and his cohort appear in different ways and instill fear in different ways but God sends His angels to spread the light with Love. The devil and his cohort appear at your blind spot to trap you in a way which can be discovered or solved through common sense but because of the news that has clouded your sight to see things differently, you keep running to and fro without understanding, while those who seek God will hide under the shadow of the almighty to have their vision clear.
In order not to bamboozle you with so many words or frighten you, I would end with these few sentences. If you are emotionally down or heavy at heart look for humour to make you laugh but remember to come back to the main focus. If you need to cry, cry in your closet, if you are not satisfied, lean on the shoulder of someone you trust and let it loose with discretion.
It is good to read and think but read to your strength or listen if you may, I hear you complain that it is too much information, well what would you expect when knowledge from the beginning of time is poured on one generation’s shoulder would they not have a lot to handle or break down, if is not handled with caution? That is why King Solomon said “And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” Ecclesiastes 12:12-13 (Authorized KJV).
Written by
Ikenna Akaolisa Anyadike
Photo by: Lucian Milasan.
Image Copyright
LONDON, UK – FEBRUARY 27, 2011: Coca Cola vs. Pepsi competition concept with cans against red background (illustrative editorial)
Copyright: <a href=’https://www.123rf.com/profile_miluxian’>miluxian / 123RF Stock Photo</a>.
