"Those who live according to the sinful nature
have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
(Romans 8:5)
Do you ever find yourself in a situation in which you are very likely
(and do!) make mistakes? It’s not as if we are deliberately choosing to go down
the path of disobedience, or consciously making poor judgment, but maybe we
don’t try hard enough to avoid it either! Every Christian wants nothing more
than to behave and conduct their manner similar to the way Jesus behaved.
Unfortunately we are not free from the internal struggle and temptation of sin.
Our flesh continues to serve sin, while the Spirit desires to serve
uprightness; they are at constant war with one another tempting us to ask the
question “do I give in to the flesh or the spirit; who wins this battle”? One
thing I am sure we have all learned is that we must never underestimate the
power of sin or attempt to fight it in our own strength. And the good news is
that God does provide a way out so that we can stand up under it!
There are many times we can probably
relate to Paul’s anguish and frustration of his personal struggle to defeat the
sin of the flesh demonstrated in Roman’s chapter 7…
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do
what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (vs 15)
Regret…there will be many times that
we will look back and wish we had done things differently, but we must seek
forgiveness and not let it stop us from moving forward. Mistakes are bad enough
on their own; there is no need to multiply the damage by dwelling or holding on
to them. `
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry
it out.” (vs 18)
We are desperate Christians who
desire to please God, but our body seems to have a mind of its own. Thankfully
God never demands perfection, but to those of us who are willing to admit that
the sinful flesh is always with us and wants to control us, He will give us the
grace, through faith, to defeat sin.
“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not
want is what I keep on doing.” (vs19)
We have an amazing ability to
make excuses, but we are all responsible for our own actions! And we do have
the ability to reach out to God for victory over sin rather than trying to
overcome it on our own.
“Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do
it, but sin that dwells within me.” (vs 29)
And so begins the internal
struggle! We want to do good, but the flesh continues to serve sin. However the
best we can do with the sin that dwells within us it to confess and learn from
it, rather than justifying it and continuing to do it. We must realize that we
are forgiven, and move on to a faithful life of obedience.
It’s all too
easy to feel defeated and let our mistakes haunt us, but we should not become
preoccupied with the past and let it cripple us. We have a choice; obey the old
nature which is in the flesh, or obey our new nature which is in unity with the
Spirit within us. The choice we make is the key to our relationship with God.
"God gave us the law because He knows that the bad
news of our terminal condition leads us to the good news: it's
treatable; there's a cure. Best of all, the cure is 100 percent free! Small
wonder it's called "good news". (Charles Swindoll)
Linking up this week with:
Hi Denise! Thank God He always gives us a way of escape! And thank God for His sweet Holy Spirit, AND His grace and mercy!! But, with all of that we must still do our part by making sure our spirit man always wins the battle over our flesh! A quote that I love, goes like this..."two natures beat within my breast, the one is foul, the one is blessed. The one I love, the one I hate. The one I feed will dominate!" Pretty much sums it up, huh? :-) Thanks so much for linking up this week! Have a blessed weekend my sweet friend!
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard that quote before Michell...and I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing. Weekend blessings to you too! :)
ReplyDelete"It’s all too easy to feel defeated and let our mistakes haunt us, but we should not become preoccupied with the past and let it cripple us."...That is such a great sentence. Too often we get stuck in negative feelings because of the mistakes we have made.
ReplyDeleteNot always so easy to bounce back Wanda; so thankful for God's amazing grace! :) Blessings!
DeleteHugs to you Denise!
ReplyDeleteHugs back Grace! Blessings sweet friend! :)
DeleteHi Denise, such great encouragement here today. I love the one statement you make that God does not expect perfection (thank goodness) but He does expect us to be real and continue to try map our lives after Christ's! Just the words I needed to hear today.
ReplyDeleteGod bless my friend
Tracy
So true Tracy; love the "be real" comment! Love ya' lady! :)
DeleteHi Denise,
ReplyDeleteI always love your little banners!
Ahh, yes, I completely understand where Paul is coming from when he made that statement!
Thank the Lord He never gives up on us, He knows we have so much potential in us...through Christ...and He did warn us that there would always be that battle between the flesh and the Spirit...makes sense that He would need to put His Spirit within us, and not just standing beside us...since the battle is waged on the inside.
And Praise the Lord that we do not have to give into the temptations of the flesh because God has provided a way out...every single time!
~Blessings and love~ Lisa
Dear Denise
ReplyDeleteAnd then .....!!!! Our Lord Jesus!!! Therefore, says Paul so eloquently, it is now not he who lives, but Christ who lives in him. Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus!
Hugs XX
Mia
Your blog is always so full of wisdom and beautiful pictures supporting the text! Thank you that you want to share this with me.
ReplyDeletehttp://sieraadvooras.blogspot.nl/
So glad for God's grace and forgiveness. I read that whole Romans 7-8 portion of scripture and feel like the guy at the back of the temple who beat his chest and said Lord, forgive me! Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!
ReplyDeleteSonday hugs to you Denise.
ReplyDeleteI just try to keep my eyes on Jesus. I am a sinner but He loves me still. It's a mystery.
ReplyDelete