CHAPTER 37: COMPLACENCY 2023
“If the enemy cannot make you sin, he’ll stagnate you..”
Remember that as we go through 37. In Chapter 36, I accept the God of the Bible, not a god of my choosing or of my creation, but the Bible, et all. By doing so, I will now come against the devil in the Bible, et all. Satan, the enemy of us all is real, and just as you have committed yourself to the Lord, Satan is committed to your destruction.
William Gurnall is known by his book, Christian in Complete Armour, published in three volumes, dated 1655, 1658 and 1662. It is a writing for the Christian spiritual battle. I quote Gurnell:
“The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage. And one of his all-time favorite disguises is that of a lying spirit, to abuse your tender heart with the worst news he can deliver-that you do not really love Jesus Christ and that you are only pretending, you are only deceiving yourself.”
Billy Graham in his film, “an extraordinary journey”, spoke clearly on the topic.
“Don’t think of Satan as a harmless cartoon character with a red suit and a pitchfork. He is very clever and powerful, and his unchanging purpose is to defeat God’s plans at every turn – including His plans for your life.”
I have begun a journey in 36 that will constitute basic learning throughout the rest of my life, implementing the tools found in scripture and my first stop on the devil’s plan for my catastrophic failure. Complacency. What is the tool in deciding what is important and what is to be complacent?
2 Timothy 3:16-17
New King James Version
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Complacency can be over my whole life or over just a few chosen items. I can decide such matters in the name of God and the future, family all things that are good and holy — and none of it is true. Let’s get back to basics. As a believer in Christ I am gifted “the promises of God.” The promises of God are explicit and many. There are about 8000 or more promises, but let me sum it up for you.
His Spirit will live in you, giving you new power, new desire, and new capacity, so that you will escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires! Sin shall no longer be your master!
The Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us to live for righteousness (Acts 2:28). He produces fruit in our lives that reflects His character. We are “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11). We will be challenged, of course.
Proverbs 21:21 NIV. To live righteously is to conduct one’s life in
an upright manner and with moral standards that reflect our
relationship with the lord. As representative to the kingdom of God
in all that we do, we should mirror His ways. This will mean in the
face of evil, do what is right.
Complacency gets in the way of all that. A constant battle of doing things correctly or slightly not correctly. The closer I got to a better more correct life, the more things come against me. However, these things make me stronger if I can hold on.
Which brings me to 37. The devil, once you say okay to 36, is out to get you. The more I try to behave the more options to misbehave present themselves. I can get very busy with everything except what I should be doing, why if I’m really on my hideous game I could get all wound up in relationship issues and never get to work at all — and feel quite righteous about it! I might even resign my post because there is just too much going on to cover it all and it shouldn’t be this hard. Unfortunately, given this turn of events, complacency wins ..
“What could have been, will never be.”
Complacency in the dictionary term is this: “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.” A complacent person is very pleased with themselves or feels that they do not need to do anything about a situation, even though the situation may be uncertain or dangerous. The point? Even if you don’t sin, you could remain away from your responsibilities for any number of good reasons. For me, I decided that was very much a sin. Wasting, the salvation of what God had given me, my second chance everyday on useless matters, having nothing to do with the God lessons put before me.
Matthew 4:8-11
New King James Version
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
There it is, everything we go for as a company owner, money, property, prestige. That is not the goal, kids…
10 Then Jesus said to him, [a]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
There is the distraction and there is the solution. The world may be more dangerous today than it has ever been. We need to be aware of what is going on around us in our town, city, country, the world while we stick to the road that keeps us in order. Scripture is clear that things will happen that signals His coming.
Matthew 24:7-9
New Living Translation
7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts
of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains,
with more to come.
Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not
because of the people who are evil, but because of the people
who don’t do anything about it.” Becoming cozy
with complacency and compromise is one of the mindsets
and attitudes that we must resist and overcome.”
Complacent has never been accused of creating anything beautiful. Complacency may in fact be the mother of all disregard and the death of decency. All of us have fallen victim to this unfortunate phrase:
“I need to work on more important matters than these pointless chores..”
Believe me, everything is everything and I can be super gung-ho in three areas of my life and complacent in the other two remaining areas. The result? I am in jeopardy, as is everything I am responsible for.
Luke 16:10
Easy-to-Read Version
10 Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too. 11 If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, you will not be trusted with the true riches. 12 And if you cannot be trusted with the things that belong to someone else, you will not be given anything of your own.
Complacency is a process. I don’t wake up with it one day. It requires commitment. I need to work at it a little bit every day, cultivate it, give away my responsibilities a little at a time, until the majority of my life is at a loss, even though I am a believer! Over a time, I simply fail to calendar things that need to be done, fail to walk in fellowship with those who are a “downer”, or a “buzzkill.” In my confused and deranged estimation I could easily say:
“they do not see the brilliance of my direction, those people only focus on what is not being tended to and then point out specifically what is suffering due to my irresponsibility, hey they don’t understand, somethings have to be sacrificed for greatness.”
When the Lord sends messengers to alert me to my unfortunate state of mind, I politely engage them with a dash of arrogance, pompous self-importance and move the conversation somewhere else. Basically I have given myself permission to simply ignore good counsel. I have finally successfully achieved the worst in myself and am pursuing the finer points of mediocre or less, all in the name of what is right and good.
Proverbs 18:9
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
I wondered what “one who destroys” meant. I looked it up.
John 10:10
New International Version
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
In complacency I bring myself and others misfortune. Breach of fiduciary duty. My breach of fiduciary duty.
Matthew 7:26
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
This complacency problem is with believers and non-believers alike. As a believer I am as guilty as any atheist, antagonist, altruist, agnostic, goofball, martian, whacko, republican gone bad, democrat gone bad, you name it, we reflect our ignorance of the Word when we are complacent with our responsibilities. However, in God, you and I got a shot and recovery!
Proverbs 28:26
Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.
A quote by Carl Jung “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
Complacency is a choice. It’s definitely not a virus, but you can cause your whole world to be infected by it. How do I stop this madness? Don’t do it. Period.
Proverbs 1:32 English Standard Version (ESV)
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
Complacency invites calamity. Beware. Teach yourself strict guidelines of structure.
Ezra 10:4 English Standard Version (ESV)
4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
In complacent behavior, I could easily find myself lost, completely.
Proverbs 1:20-33
English Standard Version
The Call of Wisdom
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Chapter 37 Complacency 2023 It’s real. Fight it, overcome and give thanks. Revolution/Evolution, revolt against yourself and evolve.
In His Holy Name we pray, Amen.
