Is there an area of your life where Satan is too much for you? A besetting sin that repeatedly knocks you off your feet? A habit you’ve given to the Lord yet still wrestle to overcome?

What’s its name? Greed. Gluttony. Pride. Strife. Anger. Fear. Corrupt communication. Negative thinking. Bitterness. Lust. Unforgiveness. Addiction.

I read this in my daily devotional, Streams in the Desert. “Go right ahead and leave no Jericho behind you unconquered and no place where Satan may say that he was too much for you” (A.B. Simpson, June 18).

You remember Jericho, where the walls came tumbling down. After wandering in the wilderness for forty years because of their doubt and disobedience, the Israelites prepared to enter the land of promise. But there were enemies to subdue.

When they came to Jericho, the Lord told the new leader, Joshua, “I have delivered Jericho into your hands.” That was before it actually happened, meaning it was a done deal. His instructions: “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in” (Joshua 6:2-5 NIV).

That’s what they did and that’s what happened. God gave the victory. All that was required of the Israelites was obedience.

Let’s talk more about that besetting sin.

Of course, I’m thinking about Hebrews 12:1-2. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

That’s the King James Version. The New International says “the sin that so easily entangles.” The Amplified Bible says “that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us.”

Many of us understand that all too well. Despite our determination and resistance, we continue to be entangled, often giving in, which always ends in regret and self-bashing. I thought the problem was my clinging to the habit I so want to forsake. The Amplified Bible gave an interesting perspective—the sin clings to me and entangles me.

Not trying to avoid responsibility here, but that gave me a better understanding of what’s going on. I want to lay aside the sin that so easily besets me, but it clings to me. The enemy stays close, waiting for an opportunity to tempt, entice, and overwhelm me. Do I have any hope?

God said he would fight for us. We need to let him. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to keep still” (Exodus 14:14 NIV).

The problem with relinquishing our sin is that we do not hate it. We love it. Crave it. Nourish it. We defend it. We insist we’re doing everything we can to conquer it. We hope to get it under control. What we need to do is get rid of it. And that requires a power greater than our own—God Almighty.

The problem with relinquishing our sin is that we do not hate it. We love it. Crave it. Nourish it. We defend it. We insist we’re doing everything we can to conquer it. We hope to get it under control. What we need to do is get rid… Click To Tweet

What if Jesus spoke into your situation saying, “You no longer have the option of indulging. Choose. Your sin or me.” That would get my attention.

That’s pretty much what he was talking about in Matthew 6:24. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

He calls for total surrender, putting everything into his capable hands.

Romans 6 teaches that we who belong to Christ are dead to sin. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2).

Listen up. “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:9).

Are you in bondage? These steps will access the incredible power of God that he’s made available to us:

• Choose to confess and forsake the sin.
• Surrender the habit to God.
• Believe he accepts your surrender.
• Live surrendered, keeping your focus on Jesus, not on your sin.

He has promised victory. The only requirement for us is obedience.

“Go right ahead and leave no Jericho behind you unconquered and no place where Satan may say that he was too much for you.”

Go right ahead and leave no Jericho behind you unconquered and no place where Satan may say that he was too much for you Click To Tweet

Would you share a victory the Lord has won in your life? And please pass this article along to your friends.

© Dianne Barker 2021