Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength. Napoleon Bonaparte

A very strange thing happened this morning. It was time to get up, but I lay in bed for half an hour. I got up, had a shower, took my sheets off the bed and went downstairs, put the dog out, and looked at the clock. It was 2:20 Am. I went back to bed.

I was sure I was up at the right time, even later than I had planned. I’m not one that does well without my sleep. I could have used the early hours, but the rest of the day would probably be a write-off.

What makes us so sure we are right about something that we are wrong about? It can be about anything. Other people can even point out to us we are wrong, but it doesn’t resonate with us.

It seems we are at war with ourselves sometimes. We want something, and yet we sabotage ourselves on our way to achieving it. We succumb to temptation, but sometimes it is temptation we agreed to. Last Monday, I fasted until dinner, went to the gym and the chocolate bar I love was on sale at a store close by, but I had to drive to get to it. I told myself that because I fasted it would be okay to buy the chocolate bars. I bought them and ate them.

Sugar is one of the things I stay away from, so if I’m going to do the good thing by fasting but then sabotage myself by eating chocolate bars, I wouldn’t eat if I didn’t fast, am I accomplishing anything?

If we’ve ever felt God spoke to us, do we also feel spoken to by someone who doesn’t have our best interests at heart? Who wants to lead us into temptation, lies, and deceit? In Wild at Heart John Eldredge tells us we must be warriors, to be honest, he’s talking to men, but women have their own battles to fight.

Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength. Unknown

I looked at a book yesterday called Jezebel and the author was saying he performs exorcisms and who is exorcised the most is Jezebel. She and her husband are mentioned in the bible. According to what I read people influenced by the Jezebel spirit have fear issues, and use control and manipulation to ease their fear issues, and fear of rejection. They need to be in control because then they feel they can’t be hurt or wounded.

One of the things we have to be careful of according to John Eldredge is after we have resisted deception and intimidation; we are encouraged to simply cut a deal. John Eldredge says many of us fall when we feel we have accomplished something. We begin to kick back, relax. Do we really think when we hear of politicians and ministers being taken down by an affair that they decided to torpedo the whole thing they’ve spent their life achieving? That this was their aim? They had a moment of weakness, maybe the battle seems won, and they relax their discipline. It doesn’t take much for whatever our weakness is, the siren call gets louder and louder, we drive to the store with chocolate bars, a bar, strip club, or where hookers hang out. We put our diet, sobriety, marriage, livelihood, or life in jeopardy.

The bible tells us to say, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

Some of us may not have deep faith. Jordan Peterson says he lives as if there is a God. What if we do that? We can ask for strength even if we aren’t sure there is one. We can act as if there is someone who will help us deal with our demons, someone who will help us with our choices, and someone who will give us strength in our times of adversity.

What if we don’t need to be sure, what if we ask for help even if we aren’t sure? What if we get help, and still don’t know where it came from? What if we act as if we believe, and live by the principles that seem to produce better lives?

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more ‘manhood’ to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflexes. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind. Alex Karras

Most great people have attained their greatest success one step beyond their greatest failure. Napoleon Hill

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul Paperback – Apr 17 2011

by John Eldredge (Author) 4.2 out of 5 stars 299 ratings

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