When "I Told You So" is replaced with "Be Alert"
1 Peter 5:8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. I call it my "coulda shoulda" truth bomb. So many times we mess with the world's teachings and even though God's Word warns against it we find a way to hedge against His truth and the end result is a tragedy. A tragedy that could have been avoided had our pride not kicked in and led us down a path to destruction. Then those fateful words "I Told You So" come into play when they shouldn't have even come close.
When I see someone near a huge fall and they inch closer and closer, I have to say the words "so dumb", but then the other words we all hate to hear. "I Told You So!" All of this comes back to spiritual discernment and God's word is full of warnings in other to help us not trip up. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. As you can see, our battle is a spiritual battle and satan wants to win it at every turn. EVERY TURN!! The enemy never stops in his war to kill and annihilate God's children. So we must be aware of our situations, our attitudes, our armor, and our surroundings. A former alcoholic should not go into a bar and take a drink to show he can handle it. He cannot handle it!! A person with a sympathetic heart (to a fault) should not try to give intense help to someone who is needing counsel and advice from the opposite sex. Many extramarital affairs have ended a marriage trying to do a "helpful" act and fall pray to the enemy. Situations have to be monitored and most importantly be "guarded" against the schemes of Satan.
Sadly enough, Christians fall just like anyone else and are even more attacked at the core of their faith. Many times tendencies that were inherited from parental advice and lifestyle will find their way into a person's thinking and that root of evil will rise and become a problem for even the believer. It becomes even more important for parents to teach their children God's Word and not just use their own reasoning. Proverbs shows us this truth in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.
Satan will use anything he can to defeat you, so be alert!! Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. It is in those innermost thoughts where the Word of God can minister most effectively and give us a Godl perspective on life itself. When those innermost thoughts are brought to light for us we need to respond by repenting and allowing God to replace that thinking with His Word and be changed. This part of the sanctification process is left out in most believers' lives, but it is the most important part because it is where true change takes place. That true change will glorify God and that is the goal.
Many things can be avoided if we will just get in the Word and follow it. There we will see it says "Be Alert" and doesn't say "I Told You So." God is on time and ready to help if we will just ask Him
The Pilgrimage Continues.
David Warren