Naughty or Nice

We often times observe children and based on the way they act we conclude they are full of the devil.  Just because a person acts like the devil, it does not mean they are connected to him.  Likewise, just because a person acts like a godly person, it does not mean they are connected.  Jesus spoke to the most religious people of the day and said to them:
 
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father you will do.
 
These Jews were not demon possessed, but they were definitely influenced by the devil.  The devil is a disembodied spirit in search of a body to use for his purpose.  What is the devil’s mission statement? To oppose everything God wants to do in the earth.  Some folks struggle to do the right thing but no matter how hard they try something in their nature always leads them to the naughty side of life.
 
Romans 7:15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.  Instead I do what I hate.
 
The apostle Paul wanted to be nice but something inside of him pushed to do what was naughty.  What was Paul dealing with?  Why couldn’t he do what he wanted to do?  He had the nature of his father the devil and the lusts of his father he would do. Paul finally found a way to resist and overcome his devilish nature, he found a law that was greater than the one he was under.
 
Romans 8:2 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
 
Paul discovered that if he would obey the Word of God, it would deliver him from the devil’s law of sin and death.  No matter what the devil tempted Paul to do, he would do what the Word said despite how he felt about it.  The devil strokes the flesh by encouraging vengeance, the Word says to forgive all those who persecute you.  When we choose to obey the Word, we defy the devil and there’s nothing he can do about it.
 
Philippians 2:13 For it is God who is at work in you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.
 
We are so inadequate in our own strength that we need God Himself to enable us to obey Him.  None of this is fair to the devil, thank God, the devil has never been fair, he is the father of deception.  Let him yell and protest all he wants to, the day will come where he is kicked into the pit and a lid will seal him in for good, we will never hear from him again.
 
Do not judge Christianity by the conduct of Christians, judge it by the conduct of Christ.
 
We are not perfect but He is, God does not want us judging one another.  The imperfect have no business judging the imperfect, however, God does tell us to judge ourselves.  If a man wants to be naughty, he is equipped and ready to go.  If a man wants to be nice, God is ready to equip him to be like a Son of God.  Jesus was Son of Man and Son of God, He got his flesh from Adam and He got His spirit from the Father.  Now we can be just like Him and act just like Him.

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