"I know I'm in the dark and I gotta find my way to the Son; Cause You're calling on your name and I know I can't run; But I feel so back and forth." Andy Mineo - Tug Of War

Tug of war is a contest in which two teams pull at opposite ends of a rope until one drags the other over a central line. A couple weeks ago now, before mid-week two brothers and I had a little brother dinner were we just talked and ate. Outside the building we meet there is a volleyball court and some trees. There is a group of guys that come daily to just hang out, play volleyball and to train tug of war. These guys actually compete competitively, my pastor asked and confirmed. They use one of the big trees to practice. They wrapped the rope around the tree and just pull.

• This is something we do with God. We try to play tug of war with something that we are never going to bear and that is virtually immoveable. 

Every day is a new battle. You wake up with a rope attached to you. Each decision you make that day (every day) depends on what side you want to let win. At the two ends of the ropes are God and the devil.

• Sometimes we have to have certain battles throughout the day and our life. We are constantly fighting with our self and the desires that the devil throws are us. If we let it win, we will enter a battle we will not win.

Today we will take the negative approach on it, with the tug of war with God.

• The battle we cannot win.

In the end whether you are in a tug of war with the devil or the desires of the flesh if you are letting them win you are entering an impossible tug of war with God.

We wake up and sometimes we are straddling a fence. This is the fence that God is trying to pull us across and the devil is trying to push us off. We straddle the fence but we choose what side to go to. We decide if the devil is going to push you off onto his side or if God is going to carry you down to his.

• Romans 8:6-8 says, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, not can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God." Daily the Spirit and the flesh are battling and pulling at the rope attached to our body. The Spirit is stronger than the flesh, in the end the Spirit will always win. But it is our choice, we can choose to believe and follow God. It is the same way of who we decide to give the extra rope.

1 Peter 2:9-10 says, "But you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

• You are either in the darkness or you are in the light. There is no in-between. You cannot just be live a half-way life.

There are so many people out there thinking they have no choice. They are thinking they are naturally hell bound and they cannot change it ("Oh I am going to hell anyway." - I use to be one of those kids). The only way they are going to go to hell is if they do not change their sinning ways and live the life God desires of them (but in the end it is not up to be it is up to God, the one that desires for all of us to join him in salvation when it is all said and done).

• 1 Timothy 2:4 says, "who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

God wants us to go to heaven, he longs for us to go and be with him. A perfect example of why this is a fact is that he sent Jesus. In the end we have the choice, he is not a demanding and an enslaving God. We have the choice to live the life worthy of the Kingdom or to live the life that leads to destruction.

• We are naturally hell bound. We are natural born sinners. But the good news is that Jesus came to save.

He is constantly tugging at our heart. If we think and stick with hell bound mindset we enter the Ultimate tug of war. God hates the way we are living. He wants us to change, but we are so lost in the "treasures" and temptations of the world.

• He is constantly whispering and yelling in our ears enough. Yet we ignore him daily. We know we are sinning, but it feels so good and it makes me so happy. These are all lies of the devil that he uses in order to tug against God.

We fight the lines and lies that the devil feeds us. We question whether what is right is right or just feels right. Sometimes the right thing is the wrong thing. This can lead to our death; it may lead to the treasures here but take away your treasures that are abundant in heaven.

We walk away. We pull away and flinch at his loving hand. We stay away from him and we ignore the call. We try to do it on our own. We try to do it on our own and it leads us right into sin. We walk down the path and grab at anything that looks enticing. We go against everything God warns and tells us about.

• God tells us not to do it and tries to pull us away, but we pull right back and do it anyway. We give up our seat for a second of "happiness."

God tells us all the time to change he tells and shows us what is good for us. He gave us the Bible which is our playbook. He gave us Jesus which was our living example.  But sometimes we think we know more than he does, meanwhile we do not.

We choose to the easy route. We choose the one that is beaten and talked on by the world. We sit in the shame of the world engulfed and stuck in the chains of the world. We reject the key that is being handed to us. Sometimes we have to change our ways.

• Sometimes if we stay the same, it will lead to shame and keep us in the chains of the world.

• Sometimes if we change it will lead to joy and the freedom that is promised in Christ.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

• There are people around the world today making an idol out of anything. They may not be literally and physically bowing down and worshipping it, but metaphorically they are. There should be nothing in your life that you give more time and love to than the One that gave us life and constantly grants us mercy and grace.

James 4:4 says, "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

• We are constantly fighting with God over our life. We have to give it to him fully, God does not like to share. He definitely does not want to share us with the world. When we do not give him our all we are not only going against his will, we are fighting his will and him. It is a battle we will never win.

Andy Mineo has a line in his song Know That's Right, "My homegirl started strippin'; I said chill get our degree; She told me, Andy you trippin', 'cause you don't make more money that me; Well you know that's right; But some money always comes with a price."

• In the world there are three main gods, they are sex, money, and power; they are the unholy trinity of the world. There are millions of people in this world that are selling their souls and spots in heaven for a little more money and power. Money comes and goes, it is not everything. No matter how much you make in this world, it will never follow you to eternity.

• These gods are some of the biggest things that take us away and help fuel the tug of war against god. They are what makes up the strands of the rope that we try and pull from God.

We will never win when we try to battle with God. When we try to battle with God we let the devil win, we enter a trail of broken hearts and become people full of regrets. We enter death and destruction. The devil wants us to go against everything we believe and have. He wants the world to be dark and broken, and when we battle with God it lead to nothing but destruction.

Cheap thrills lose their sparkle after a while. They are only fun and games for a short while. They have temporary charm and are only temporarily fulfilling. Sin promises a fun life filled with worldly possessions and thrills, but it is all a lie.

• We lead ourselves to down the path of destruction when we fight with God. We have to let go of our sins. It is what is holding us back.

There is no outrunning God. One of the most popular stories in the Bible is the story of Jonah. This is where one of the most famous prophets, Jonah, tried running away from the command of God. He entered the Ultimate tug of war and did not even stand a chance. God wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah to spread the word of God and to tell them all they were doing wrong. Jonah lacked so much trust and refused, he was scared. Jonah tried running away from God and said he would go somewhere else. God was not having that and when we was trying to go somewhere (the safer place) God caused storms and destruction to the boat he was on. The people on the boat kicked him off the boat and Jonah was swallowed by a big fish for three days and three night where Jonah prayed and told God he would go to Ninevah.

• No matter where we run to God knows where we are and he is always with us.

We daily if we do not choose God and give him our life fully we enter a tug of war that we will never win. Choose him and he will give you all the treasures and the promises of the world. Let go of the rope.

Lord, you truly are an amazing God. There is so much that we do that is against your will that it is insane. We daily enter a tug of war that we will never will win. We try and try to beat you but even if we had the whole world on our side of the rope we would still never win. I pray you continue to cut our hearts and change our minds. Set them right. Let us see you and see your grace and mercy. Let us be with you and help us let go of the rope. I pray all this in your son's glorious awesome amazing name, Amen.

Andy Mineo - Tug of War

Andy Mineo - Know That's Right

http://truthbehindtheword.blogspot.com/2018/05/daily-devotional-5222018-wolves.html

http://truthbehindtheword.blogspot.com/2018/08/daily-devotional-882018-his.html

http://truthbehindtheword.blogspot.com/2018/08/daily-devotional-8132018-tug-of-war-pt-i.html

http://truthbehindtheword.blogspot.com/2018/08/daily-devotional-8142018-tug-of-war-pt.html

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