Blinded By The Darkness

2 Corinthians 4:4"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them".

We were all at one time we all were none believers, trapped in darkness blinded by the god of this world. The bible represents Satan as the master manipulator of human nature. He uses our weakness combined with his influence  leads to sin. Because of Satan's deceptions and the sinful tendencies of human nature," all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We must understand, however, that the devil cannot force us to sin, he simply influences us through our fleshly weaknesses. But several major areas of our fleshly nature are easily manipulated by Satan.

First, our selfish, fleshly desires often get us into trouble. The lust of the flesh, the desires of the flesh which calls us out side the will of God. Second, our natural deviousness, including self- deception, is a major weakness of the fleshly mind. We naturally look for ways to  justify our lust, our sinful desires, and the behaviors that arise from them. We deceive ourselves into believing that, since our desires are natural, they are not so bad after all. But God's word reminds us that" there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death". Third, we have a natural tendency to resent having our fleshly desires limited by rules, even God's rules. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, set their minds on the things of the spirit.

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God and blinded to the light of his truth, and love by the deception of the god of this world. One locked in darkness find it hard to see. Those that are in the flesh cannot please God. These and other fleshly weaknesses are what we call human nature. Satan takes advantage of our weak and greedy nature by persuading us to rely even more on our emotions, needs and wants than we normally would. But we play our part. Without the positive influence of God's Spirit, we are simply not naturally inclined to live according to God's instructions. If you live according to the flesh you will die in darkness, but if you live by the spirit of God you will live in the light, in a life everlasting...........