Galatians
5:13 & 16-19a “You, my brothers and
sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve
one another humbly in love. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and
the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other,
so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious.”
Our new year’s church
calendar year starts October 1, 2013 and with it, we've began gathering weekly
for our Friday evening small group home Bible Study again. This first series,
selected by our group, is on identifying, removing and defending against
destructive temptations in life. The introduction of this lesson explains that
as Believers, Followers & Students in discipleship of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have made the most important decision of our lives, but probably
discovered that the Christian life is not problem-free. Yes, we have the Holy
Spirit living within us to provide guidance and spiritual strength, but we
still struggle to live the way we know we should.
Romans
7:14-25a “We know that the law is
spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law
is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it
is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is,
in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry
it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not
want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who
do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at
work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my
inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see
another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the
law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our
Lord!
This is because,
this side of heaven, we are battling three enemies: Satan, the God-rejecting
world system, and ourself in the flesh. The Holy Sprit dwells in a body of
sinful flesh desires by our fallen nature, which is why we still find ourselves
struggling to do the “right” (righteous – right in the eyes of the Lord) thing.
Sometimes we wrestle with certain habitual behaviors that we fall into when we
try to get our needs met apart from God. The source of that struggle is called
“the flesh” or “the old man”. And if we live by the flesh rather than by the
Spirit, these habitual sin nature flesh desires will distract us from our
pursuit of righteousness. These “fatal distractions can literally corrupt and
are deadly to our spiritual growth and keep us from maturing in our walk with
Christ. They are diversions that distract us from nurturing our relationship
with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and, left unchecked, can even be fatal
to our spiritual journey. So we ask God to help us identify, through the
indwelling Holy Spirit, any subtle distractions in our life and to help us
conquer and crucify these destructive temptations, as we live by the Spirit, so
that we can walk in victory as we keep in step with the Spirit.
Father God, may our
thoughts, words and actions be pleasing in your sight, in the name of our Savior
and Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Galatians
5:24-25 “Those who belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live
by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Blessings, Brian
2 comments:
This is very timely for me Brian. I struggle with issues and am asking God into this.
Yeah, I know what you mean Tim. We all have issues that we struggle with in the flesh this side of heaven. That is why the Bible says in Romans 3:21-26 "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Nobody's perfect, except Jesus and that's by God sent Him. We don't depend upon our minds and our abilities to live right and make it into heaven, because we can't on our own. By faith, the Lord gives us an indwelling helper, counselor, and guide in our heart, along with His Holy "living" Word in the Bible, and church (the body of Believers), plus personal relationship in prayer and service for this pilgrimage walk along the bumpy road of this fallen world full of temptations and distractions. We are not strong in our own strength, but strong in His strength. He has over-come the God-rejecting world system. In that alone, both you and I can recognize, acknowledge and work on the issues in our lives with Him and have joy and peace. Sin is sin and wrong is wrong, so nobody can brush issues under the carpet and pretend that all is okay, but as it says in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Sin is bondage and slavery, but redemption and forgiveness in Jesus Christ is liberty and freedom. In John 8:31-32 Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” It's great that you are thinking about and acting upon your issues in life to improve. That's what Christians disciples, brothers and sisters in the body of Believers. Sanctification is a life-long process of growing and maturing into the likeness of Christ (the head of His body - the church). Thank you for coming by and putting out on the table an issue that we all need to think about and deal with personally. We are all truly in the same boat Tim. Glory be to the Arc of salvation. Blessings Brother.
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