The Inescapable Self – Part 1

This week Michael writes that there are times in life when crisis comes without warning. The sorrow is so overwhelming. However precious moments of sweet memories are also overwhelming.  Sam thanks God for these precious memories. O Lord, Our times are in thy hands. You're a good, heavenly Father and your plan for us is a good plan. Your plan is better than we could ever imagine and your Sovereign Will works for good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose.

Even though we don't understand God's plan and His unfolding Will, Jesus Christ is still at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints (those who have been sanctified). 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” Therefore, despite the trials of this world, we will purpose in our hearts to walk in close proximity with our Lord Jesus Christ. We joyfully serve at the pleasure of our Lord. Our delight is his delight; our wish is to serve our Lord with the love of God in the renewed mind. The bond-slave serves his master from a heart of love. He is not bound by chains of debt, obligation, or law. He is bound by love to serve his master willingly according to the good pleasure of his own will, aligned with his master's will.

We are our own worst enemies. To walk in fellowship with our Lord we must forsake our selfish sin nature. When we come to our Lord, we have found the enemy and it is me. We who have been “born again” of the spirit of God, in Christ, in us, have the freedom to choose whom we will serve. My flesh fights for acceptance, approval, and praise of others.  Men and women try to escape the influence of the flesh through drugs, alcohol, and indulgent fantasy.  The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “egotism” as: the act or practice of magnifying one's self, or making one's self of importance. The self-absorbed person says, "I may not be much but I'm all I think about." Egotism says that self interest is the motive behind every action.  Egotism used to be a vice, but today, it's celebrated as a virtue.  

The devil's original lie to Eve was God's not God, you are; telling her: “You shall be as God, knowing good from evil." Adam didn't uphold the truth of the Word of God when his wife considered the devil's lie. Eve doubted God and disobeyed God's command by believing the devil's lie when she "ate of the fruit of tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Then she gave Adam the fruit and he did eat. Men and women have been worshiping their own egos ever since. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they lost their innocence before God and their spirit died. In their disobedience, their sin nature was unleashed and they understood guilt, shame, and condemnation. Mankind has inherited this sin nature from Adam and has suffered the consequence of Adam's disobedience ever since.

Let's continue Michael's message on "Self" in the nest post.

In Christ, Brian