I Just Wanna Be Successful

I have been talking on my YouTube channel about celebrities worshipping the gifts of God (money, power, success, etc) instead of the giver of those gifts (God.) And my friend sent me this devotion today that gives a biblical example of that.

Sometimes the very blessings God has showered on us make us forget him (Nehemiah 9:28). We often tempted to rely on wealth for security rather than on God. As you read what happened to the Israelites below, look at your own life. Do your blessings make you thankful to God, and draw you closer to him, or do they make you feel self-sufficient and forgetful to God?

“But despite all this, [the Israelites] were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from their enemies.
28 “But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!
29 “You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen.30 In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.31 But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
32 “And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors—all of your people—from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now.33 Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved.34 Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws.35 Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness.
Neh 9:26-35 (NLT)

Recognizing the Tricks of the Devil

The playlist above emphasis that things that we have to deal with in life are 'not for nothing'. There is a reason behind everything: God has a plan for our lives, but so does Satan. And Satan has studied us and taken meticulous notes on what it takes to distract us, to make us feel "less than", and to keep us from knowing God's plan for our lives. And he uses those same tricks (guilt, shame, etc.) over and over again to keep Christians from what God has for us. A lot of Christians don't even go to church because they feel so guilty about things they have done. Satan uses that guilt to keep them away from God. And once Satan finds out what it takes to keep you away from God, he will use that against you.

But I think one of the first steps in overcoming Satan is recognizingthe tricks he is throwing at you. For me, once I realized that I was falling for the same tricks each and every time it gave me more of a reason to resist the devil. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7 (NLT) But you can't resist him, until you first recognize him.