Game Of Thrones
Game of thrones was first a book that became a highly successful show. Its about various royal families fighting for the Iron Throne. Basically, for the right to rule all of the kingdoms and all of the lands. The only issue with this is that all of the families or, houses, believe it is their right to rule. As you can probably tell this is cause for much bloodshed, deceit, treachery, backstabbing and other horrible things in the lives of these houses fighting for the throne.
I found a bit of a parallel between the show and our lives as followers of Jesus. Once we give our lives over to Christ and He is on the throne of our hearts an all out war ensues and doesn't stop until our last breath is taken. Yes, He is in full control and has all authority but powers that have been on the thrones of our lives for years; Depression, Lust, Pride, Rage, Fear, Envy just to name a few, are still at large. The Enemy comes up with strategies for those vices to reclaim their position on the throne in our lives.
The show has a phrase that is a warning to stay vigilant and on guard for bloodshed is inevitable: Winter is Coming. The thing about the life of the Believer though, is that we can count on Winter to come each and every day. In various ways when our Flesh rises up a battle will ensue, and the Throne of our hearts must be protected. The Bible says “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life, Proverbs 4:23. The throne of your heart must be guarded and protected for out it comes our very life and substance.
Too often we play games with the sins of our flesh, we swap Jesus for Lust and walk out in the thoughts, feelings and desires deep within us. We dethrone Jesus for Fear and instead or walking out in Boldness and Love we let our insecurities or the thoughts of others silence us. Too often we give in to our thoughts of Depression and let it rule on the throne of our hearts. A harsh reality that we all must face is found in the book of James says we are tempted by desires within. So this “Game of thrones” sadly enough, comes from within us. Lets take a quick look at the different houses that want the throne in our lives
House of Bitterness
House of Shame
House of Lust
House of Fear
House of Depression
House of Uncontrolled Anger
House of Envy
House of Pride
Of course there are many other “houses” but these are just what came to mind. The crazy thing to think about is somewhere deep within our souls some of these houses still stand strong. Christ can be on the throne of our lives and come to reside within us but we can still continue to wrestle with the truth that we are loved, that we are accepted, that He is enough. We can sometimes jump back and forth from the victory we have in Christ, to the defeat that we see lurking within ourselves. Jesus may have said it is finished, but until our final breath is taken, the battle rages on.
I believe that in order to stop entertaining the Houses at war with our soul we must begin to deal with sin severely. In Matthew 18:8-9 Jesus speaks clearly on dealing radically with sin. If something causes you to stumble, get rid of it, no matter how close it is to you, or how necessary it seems, it is not worth your soul. We must also rely heavily on the Holy Spirit and trust that as Paul states, if we walk in the desires of the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the Flesh Galatians 5:16. Sure, the bad news is that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking for someone to devour and we are tempted by the desires at work within us. All that pales in comparison to the good news which is that Christ is more powerful then our greatest struggle, and is the true Lion of Judah, exposing all frauds. He is present and active to fortify us where we are weak. So stay focused, deal with sin severely, be thankful but also alert because remember, Winter is Coming.
These posts are meant to encourage, challenge, equip, inspire and help us to realize our regality in Christ.
-Roderick Caesar III, Regality Realized.
