random thoughts... My name is Aaron, sometimes called Max because it's my middle name. I recently married a beautiful woman who just so happens to be the love of my life.

Okay, so I totally stole this quote off of Pete Wilson's blog. Who, in turn, got it from The Kingdom Life, by Dallas Willard.

"Ideas and images are the primary focus of Satan’s efforts to defeat God’s purposes for humankind They form the primary arena of the battle of spiritual formation. When we are subject to Satan’s chosen ideas and images, he can take a holiday. When he undertook to draw Eve away from God, he did not hit her with a stick but with an idea. It was with the idea that God could not be trusted and that she must act on her own to secure her own well-being."

If you go to his blog, you can see the great discussion they're having about what we must believe about the attributes of God in order to follow and honor Him with our lives.

After reading that quote, my heart and mind attached to the last two sentences; where Willard mentions that Eve was drawn away by an idea. Now, the discussion of Original Sin and who's fault it was has been argued one way or another I don't know how many times. What drew me to these words was the underlying theme of TRUTH vs. LIES.

This is something we all struggle with. Everyone struggles with sin, in one form or another. And we all struggle between what we believe to be true and what we believe to be false.

For a good portion of my life I danced between both camps; choosing one over the other as it suited me at the moment. In my heart I knew there was a God, that He loved me and died for me, but I was also set in doing whatever I wanted when I wanted to.

As I grew up, I learned to tell the difference between what was truth and what was a lie, but I still struggled with applying it to my life. Sometimes the lies we let ourselves believe are so powerful, or so ingrained, that they become the "truth" we base our lives upon.

It wasn't until three years ago, when my life became a train-wreck of a mess, that I began to realize just how much the battle between truth and lies was effecting me. Since then I've been more aware of that conflict in myself and others around me.

This was the same issue Adam and Eve dealt with at the beginning of time. Will I trust and believe in what God told me is true, or will I give into a convenient lie?

Will we trust in our Creator and His timing, or will we work out for ourselves what WE think we need when WE decide we need it?

Even after realizing the conflict, and being aware of it, the struggle continues.

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."