“Self” in front of a word, is a lie we have believed that feeds our flesh. Here are a few examples: self-protection, self-centered, self-made man, self-hatred, and self-rejection. Self is our flesh exerting itself that blocks the fruit of the Spirit.

Lies bear fruit. Hosea 10:13 says, “You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way…” Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Self is pride. James 4:6 says, “…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” He saved us by His grace, and He desires us to live in His grace-strength through humility.

I read an account in Abraham Lincoln’s biography. He was in Lexington. He heard the story of a tall elegant slave woman being auctioned. There were two high bidders. One was a young American man, and the other was an older Frenchman. 

The bid kept getting higher and higher. Finally the Frenchman stopped at $1585.00. The auctioneer’s words were, “You got a mighty fine prize here. What are you going to do with her?” The young man shouted back, “Free her!”

Us. We were bound to satan’s slave block of sin. We could not free ourselves. Yet, Jesus paid for us with His shed blood. He set us free! John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” We have a New Master.

Romans 6:18 says, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 says, “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will be clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

We are created for good works. Ephesians 2:10. The Lord charted our course before time began. He chose us before He laid the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4. We came into this world with nothing, and we will take nothing away ~ except souls.

We are called to be evangelists. 2 Timothy 4:5. Jesus commanded His disciples in Mark 16:15. It applies to us today. It says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” As we submit our hearts to follow the Holy Spirit, He will lead us to those whose hearts are prepared to hear the gospel.

If our thoughts are not righteous, we will be insensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We will miss His still small voice through our preoccupation.

When I was young, my dad would say, “Turn off the lights when you leave the room. We are on an austerity program.” I thought of that in light of our time. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

In a sense we are on an austerity program with our thoughts. Dialoguing with negativity is a waste of time. So is rehearsing things from the past that cannot be changed. These are the enemy’s counterfeit to meditating on God’s word.

Paul quoted Isaiah 49:9 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. It says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

We are living in unprecedented times. Are we redeeming it by being about our Father’s business? 1 Peter 1:17 says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves through the time of your stay here in fear.”

We have an enemy that uses deception to entrap us. He is a liar and cannot speak the truth. Therefore our inner weapon is God’s word hidden in our hearts. His words then become like an attentive sentinel on the wall. The well planned fiery dart is aiming for our mind. It is designed to penetrate and set up a hidden stronghold. 

As the suggestion comes to our mind, God’s hidden word discerns the lie. His truth within us deflects the fiery dart. However, according to James 1:14, if we have been entertaining sinful thoughts, the lie of the fiery dart entices us and the trap door closes.

2 Timothy 2:26 is very picturesque. It says, “And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” The devil’s will always opposes God’s will.

As we consistently read God’s word, the Holy Spirit will reveal what hidden lies stealthy taunt us. He exposes those self-demoralizing thoughts which are keeping us bound. We then must renounce (disown) them. 2 Corinthians 4:2.

Psalm 1:3 says that those who meditate will have their roots deep in the river of God. They will be fruitful, they will not wither, and whatever they do will prosper. God told Joshua that if he would meditate on His word, God would make his way prosperous, and he would have good success.

I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit what verse He wants you to meditate on. Then write it out and keep it with you. Meditate on it for a full week and see what insights He gives you that you didn’t think about before. Meditating is pondering and considering. However, as we do, the Holy Spirit begins to compare Scripture with Scripture. Meditating on a verse is like looking into a spiritual kaleidoscope.

If you have an area of defeat, meditating will implant or embed His word. It will uproot and reveal what is keeping you from spiritual maturity. Psalm 63:6 says, “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.” Awake in the night? Meditate on God’s attributes. It will refresh you.

Proverbs 23:7. We become what we think about throughout our day.. As I meditated on Romans 6:4, I took it phrase by phrase. It filled my mind. If you noticed, the last devotionals have come from that verse seeded into my heart by the Holy Spirit. It gave Him the fodder that He needed to reveal the insights that I needed.

Philippians 4:8 says to meditate on these things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, with virtue, and praiseworthy. Matthew 5:8 says that those with a pure heart will see God. Remember that Moses asked God to show him His glory. The Lord hid him in the cleft of a rock, and put His hand out to cover him as He passed by. Exodus 33:22.

Yet we see something amazing in God’s relationship with Moses. Aaron and Miriam tattled on Moses. God took them all out to the woodshed. Carefully read His commendation of Moses. Numbers 12:8 says, “I speak to him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord…”

James 1:14 says that we are tempted, drawn away by our own desires, and enticed. Here’s another aspect of a hard heart to consider. Hebrews 3:13 says, “…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

We are to live by the Holy Spirit’s guidance. However, when we harbor secret sinful thoughts in our hearts, we become insensitive to His promptings. Our hidden sinful desires become the trap’s door. We are lured into the trap, and then the door shuts fast behind us ~ ensnared through our own lusts.

Ephesians 4:22 says, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” Remember every temptation is a deception. It looks good but it is a deadly trap.

Renewing our mind is a daily discipline that empowers us to fulfill verse 24. It says, “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Romans 6:4 says, “…we were buried with Him through baptism into death…” Dead things are impervious to stimulation. Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

Ephesians 2:2 is a great description of how we were enslaved. It says, “In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.” 

We were chained to satan’s slave block of sin. Sin was our lifestyle. We didn’t have control because we were controlled ~ like puppets on a string. Verse 3 says, “…conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind…” We sinned mindlessly.

Romans 6:7 says, “For he who has died has been freed from sin.” Do believers sin? Yes. Why? They are lured through deceptive temptations and they take the bait dangling in front of them. 

It is good to remember how God sees our self-righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf.” In Matthew 23:25 Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. They cleaned the outside of their cup, but the inside was full of filth.

Verse 26 says, “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” What cleans the inside? Ephesians 5:26 was written about the church, Christ’s bride. “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.”

Psalm 119:9 says, “How shall a young man cleanse his ways? By taking heed according to Your word.” Verse 11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Psalm 19:8 says, “…the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”