It is very important that Christians should not be ignorant of the devices of the enemy; for he stands ready to oppose every onward step of the soul’s progress. And especially is he busy when he sees a believer awakened to a hunger and thirst after righteousness, and seeking to reach out to apprehend all the fullness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ for him. Yes, this is so true, so real. Every time I commit myself to a deeper walk, a deeper devotion, the enemy seems to pile up every kind of distractions and tricks to cause me to lose heart, to cause me to think… “what was I thinking…  when I decided I want the deeper things of God” and causing me to give up on that decision. The enemy is ruthless. He understands the human heart, it’s propensity to feel first and faith later, or never.

So it is with the feelings we experience once we make a consecration decision. We make the decision, yet feel no different than before; nothing seems changed, even though we’ve been led to expect it would be, and we are completely baffled, asking the question almost despairingly, “How do I even know when or whether I am consecrated?”

This grand temptation occurs often. It’s one if the enemy’s tricks, to use our emotions against us. The soul cannot believe it is consecrated until it feels that it is; and because it does not feel that God has taken it in hand, it cannot believe that He has. As usual, our soul puts feeling first and faith second.

We are however responsible for dealing with faith, for living in faith. Nowhere in the Scripture are we asked to live with emotion, or by emotion. Neither are we asked to live by what we see, or sense with our natural senses. We are however, commanded to live by faith, and faith in the promises, ability and good nature of our Father, God.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16