the battle...are you engaged?

i'm not taking marriage stuff...i'm talking about spiritual warfare and the battle of flesh...willingness to confidently take your stand against all odds.
Sometimes i want so badly to have a heart like Christ's but i can't seem to muster it up within myself, no matter how hard that i try. i want to think like Christ, love like Christ, but i can't seem to shake this earthly flesh of mine off - it just will not go away!
As Elizabeth Elliot said:
"i was wishing that my wishes were what God wished, but if my wishes were not what God wished, i wished that i could wish that my wishes would go away, but the wishes were still there." ...Sounds a lot like Paul in Romans 7, eh?
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." Romans 7:14-20
I was born into sin and the flesh has left a permanent tattoo upon my soul that will not be erased until i make it home to my Saviour and am given a new body. So what do i do in the mean time? BATTLE! ENGAGE!
First line of defense: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provisions for the flesh. We can do absolutely nothing on our own "muster." The Holy Spirit definitely helps. But reality is: until the day we die, sin is ever present, tempting, prodding, whispering lies, stealing our joy, and attempting to murder our fervor for the Lord. If we're not on guard...the enemy will attack in our weakness. We must be engaged in the battle that is before us - lest Satan take advantage of us (2 Cor 2:11). Do not fear the battles ahead, but T.R.U.S.T. God leads us in triumph in Christ!

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