Are You An Easy Target?

I was reading my devotional this morning & the subject was "Easy Prey". It spoke of David & how at one time he shared a great intimacy with God, yet at another time he was falling into the trap of sin with Bathsheba. If you read the Psalms, the beauty of the relationship between him & our Lord fills the pages. He evidently had a deep spiritual connection with the Lord. So what happened? How did he stray?
When David became King of Israel, he no longer spent as much time with the Lord. When we read about David at that time, we don't read about him worshiping. Perhaps he'd become too busy with his new responsibilities. Perhaps he'd become over-confident. Whatever the reason, it happened, and it is the very same thing that happens to us, especially in this age of busyness & selfish distractions. The worst thing we can do at any point in our lives is to stop spending time alone with the Lord. We were, after all, created for his pleasure. Revelation 4:11 says, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.".
What?? You mean I wasn't created for MY own pleasure? I wasn't created so that I can enjoy all the things the world has to offer? It's not ME first, THEN God? Isn't that funny when you read it? We can often times get so confused about what our purpose is in life, and yet Revelation states it clearly, we were created for His pleasure. The problem is that we were given free will because God didn't create a bunch of robots. He wanted us to CHOOSE to love & obey Him, and that's the part of us that the devil continually waits for the chance to pounce on.
During the time that David was King, he needed to spend time alone with God more than ever before. God had elevated him to a high position, but when he tried to go it alone, he got caught in a trap of his own making. He let his guard down & made himself vulnerable. Once his guard was down, he became easy prey! The rest, as they say, is history.
While fighting this demonic attack, the one thing you must never forget is to spend time alone with the Lord. Each step you take, remember that He is walking right beside you. The Bible has all of the resources you need to combat this enemy, but it is YOU that needs to call upon them when you need them. The devil wants to destroy you, my friend, just as he wanted to destroy David through his sin with Bathsheba. David's lust for women was his downfall. For us, it is our lust for food. Just as David could not take his eyes off of Bathsheba bathing, it is often times difficult for us to take our eyes off that one food that will restart our bad eating cycle.
What could David have done differently? He could have stopped and prayed, asking God to remove the temptation from him. He could have walked back inside, got down on his knees & asked God to forgive him for lusting. Unfortunately, he did not do any of these things, and he walked right into the snare of the enemy.
How many times do we do that regarding our gluttony? "Man that bag of Doritos looks good!", "I just gotta have that bubbly, cold, thirst quenching soda", or how about the infamous, "Oh, just one piece". Hey listen, unless you are strong enough to fight against that second piece, you need to stay away from the first! Do not give the devil a foothold! This sets you up for a bigger fall. The devil knows what he's doing, he's been doing it for a LONG time! God is the only one that has never been defeated by the devil, and He promises to walk you right on through to victory. You must never let your guard down. The one way to ensure that, is to never let loose your grip on the Lord. I promise you, the minute you do, the devil will pounce faster than you will ever notice. He's been watching you & he's been waiting. He knew just when to step in on Eve in that garden, and he knows just when to catch you too. Don't let him catch you off guard! Don't become an easy target!

God bless you as you walk in your freedom!
Michelle