The “I Am Enough” Debate
The Dangers of SELF-Motivation and Recognizing the Ways Satan Uses Our Flesh Against God.
"He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:30 (Image: Unsplash)
Introduction:
If we serve an omnipresent and omniscient God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, who has the power to create and provide all that man could need, why do we, in our ignorance, continue to seek gratification within ourselves?
In one breath, we scream to the mountains that God is our source. In the next, we unquestioningly chant the mantra "I am enough."
Self-gratification, a form of vanity, is a sin against God because it operates in the natural realm instead of the supernatural, manifesting and idolizing ungodly pleasures for worldly gain, instead of submission to Christ and humility through the Holy Spirit.
This three-part series examines proof of God's existence, provision, and warnings of what could happen if man continues to cling to the false affirmation that they, in their sin, are enough without God.
Example One: Jesus and Simon Peter – Denying Christ through the Flesh – Matthew 16:24
In Matthew 16:24, Satan, through Simon Peter, tried to rebuke Jesus for saying that he must suffer many things from the elders, scribes, and chief priests. Jesus knew that this day would come, but Satan tried to stop it by using the vulnerability of Peter, one of Jesus' most dear disciples.
Peter sided with his emotions, forgetting the plan set forth of old, and almost interfered with it.
Jesus first denounced Satan for placing that thought in Peter. Then he reminded Peter and the other disciples that following Christ - following the plan of God - meant first denying themselves; their desires, their way of doing things, their plans, and following Jesus, no matter how little they understood it. No matter how much it would hurt. No matter how they personally felt about it.
Because the bottom line is that he had to die (be sacrificed) to redeem man back to his father, the atonement required righteous blood - sanctified blood, holy blood, not just for the total forgiveness of humanity's sins in the eyes of God, but to create a true pathway to God for those that will believe.
Without this, humanity would be under the original sentence of death for sins, and the penalty for this death is eternal separation from God. We needed an advocate. And Satan almost took that away from us through us.
What does this scripture teach us? Satan can use our hearts and emotions to further his plan to dominate God's people. As I wrote in a devotional, the heart, mind, tongue connection (the Unholy Trinity) is Satan's most potent weapon of mass spiritual destruction against God. Through these avenues, Satan can infect us with the poison of fear, jealousy, vanity, and worst of all, greed, to develop unbelief in our souls, tearing man away from God.
Evidence of this is active today in the often-propagated phrase "I AM ENOUGH."
Popularized by Generation Z, the term "I AM ENOUGH," according to writer Aimee Jordan, a blogger and contributor to The Gospel Collation Magazine, provides mental empowerment to individuals who feel slighted by changing societal norms but fail to recognize the omnipresence and provision of God in their lives.
