Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 11/18/2010)

There Is An Enemy In My Camp…

2 Samuel 15:1-12 (New Living Translation)

¹ After this, Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him. ² He got up early every morning and went out to the gate of the city. When people brought a case to the king for judgment, Absalom would ask where in Israel they were from, and they would tell him their tribe. ³ Then Absalom would say, “You’ve really got a strong case here! It’s too bad the king doesn’t have anyone to hear it. ⁴ I wish I were the judge. Then everyone could bring their cases to me for judgment, and I would give them justice!” ⁵ When people tried to bow before him, Absalom wouldn’t let them. Instead, he took them by the hand and kissed them. ⁶ Absalom did this with everyone who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts of all the people of Israel. ⁷ After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and fulfill a vow I made to him. ⁸ For while your servant was at Geshur in Aram, I promised to sacrifice to the Lord in Hebron if he would bring me back to Jerusalem.” ⁹ “All right,” the king told him. “Go and fulfill your vow.”So Absalom went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But while he was there, he sent secret messengers to all the tribes of Israel to stir up a rebellion against the king. “As soon as you hear the ram’s horn,” his message read, “you are to say, ‘Absalom has been crowned king in Hebron.’” ¹¹ He took 200 men from Jerusalem with him as guests, but they knew nothing of his intentions. ¹² While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors who lived in Giloh. Soon many others also joined Absalom, and the conspiracy gained momentum.

Have you ever had someone close to you smile in your face, tell you how much you mean to them and then turn around, start talking about you, turn your friends and family members against you and then take things that rightfully belong to you? I can say with great zeal that I have experienced this situation more than once in my life. It has been at the hands of individuals that I never thought in a million years would be the offenders. I have watched relatives go behind my back and date a guy I was seeing, I have had other relatives do things and manipulate situations that caused me to lose out on things that rightful belonged to me. I have had friends that I befriended when no one else would, sleep with spouses, and boyfriends. You see betrayal is not a foreign issue to me. The funny thing is for many like me, you never think for one second that the enemy is in our camp, we think the threat has to be coming from outside what we know as our inner circle. I hate to burst your bubble and let you down for your place of illusion or fantasy, but the enemy is most of the time sitting right next to you and is close enough range for you to smell there breathe.

Recently, I have watched as Mothers have openly betrayed their daughters and laid them to waste to save face for themselves. I have watched friends lie on one another and tear each other apart and still smile in the persons face to maintain a pretense and an image. I have watched Fathers put children in the middle of situations and circumstances that had nothing to do with them. I have heard children say that they have heard one parent tearing down another to win favor in the eyes of all who may see what is going on, to try to gain or maintain an upper hand, in the poll or public opinion. God’s greatest nemesis, came from His closes set of creations. Satan was an angel, one that was over praise and worship, one that was closest to God, but we see how that turned out. Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, and He was one of Jesus’ disciples, he walked with Him day in and day out, he handled the finances, all the while making back alley deals to hand Jesus over to the Religious Leaders. Jealousy, greed and self-serving motivation will lead us to tear people’s lives apart, and betray them and become and enemy and even an assassin that has his or her sights on taking us out to gain, power, authority, influence and even love.

There is a saying that “we need to keep our friends close and our enemies closer.” Trust me when I say our enemies are closer than we think and we do not need to look far to find them. It is vitally important to know who has been assigned to us, to distract us, destroy us, or take us completely out. We need to be alert and ever seeking God for the eyes to see and the ears to hear what the Spirit of God is trying to tell us about those who are around us. Love everyone, but some we need to feed with a long handle spoon and not allow them to get too close, for they are the ones assigned to snatch our anointing, our marriages, our focus or anything else that God has for us. Stay on the wall, allowing God to guard our hearts and our minds. Showing us who is for us and who is against us!