The flesh tries to take what Jesus did for us and say “I didnt ask for that. I didnt ask for You to suffer. In fact, I didnt ask to even be here. To even be given the chance to sin. You sent me here knowing I would sin. I didnt ask for this so Im not going to made to feel guilty for it.”
But the spirit replies “the beauty of it all is that I didnt ask for it. I didnt ask for the opportunity to live this life, under this new covenant, and be led to the Jesus who saved me and gave me access to spend eternity with God. I didnt ask for the chance to one day be in heaven rejoicing with overflowing joy every second. I didnt have to ask. God sent me anyway. Jesus died for me anyway. I am in awe of the fact that God wants me here so one day I can be there. God wants to spend eternity with me! What Jesus did wasnt to bring me guilt but to release me from it.” I may have to suffer the battle of the flesh and spirit while I am here, but in the end the spirit wins. Even my flesh will be perfected on that last day. Flawless.
Not today
Not you. Not today. Others before you may have, but it stops here…with you. You will not burn out and fade away. You will not give up. When the demons come calling you will call on God and fight. You will notice the fight doesnt seem so hard as you keep moving forward. You will notice different fights and different battles but you will learn to hit your defense quicker and faster and with more assurance. Your call to God becomes the new habit instead of wallowing in the enemies words. God’s word becomes your guide. The scriptures, the prayer, the bible studies…get you through to fight another day. Not just to fight but to find joy again. Because the enemy….the enemy was never as tough as you made him out to be. Not once you became a part of God’s family. Not once you realized who and what Jesus really died for. You will not give up today.
How do you choose to suffer?
One of the bible studies I am doing speaks a lot on suffering with Christ. I have always had problems with that thought. Why would Jesus want us to suffer with Him? Didnt He become our sacrfice so we can have an abundant life?
As I grow in learning I have come to realize that to suffer with Christ is to deny self. Ugh, again, who wants to do that?? But then I realize that everything I dont like about myself comes from lack of self denial.
Overweight=lack of self denial with food.
Messy house, piled up school work=lack of self denial from procrastination.
Harsh mouth=lack of self denial to quelch anger/self centered thinking and show agape love instead.
I suffer from those actions. When I give in to lies of the flesh I suffer the consequences.
When I suffer through self denial then I only suffer a little while. Not only do I only suffer a little while, but the outcome from the suffering yields good fruit! I am a better person because of it. God’s glory shines through it! Even better, we do this through the power of God!!
So, if I am going to suffer either way….why would I NOT choose suffering for Christ? He is truly the way to an abundant life.
1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Matthew 7:17
Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
2 Timothy 1:8
…Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
How much more does your Father know?
And on the flip side…sometimes we are unknowingly asking for a stone instead of bread and a serpent instead of a fish. That is why some of our prayers are answered with a no. How many of you would give your kids something that would hurt them just because they requested it? If even you know to keep bad things out of the hands of your child, how much more does your Father know to do the same for you?
Leviticus 19:18
The theft of a spouse
Ok, so, my bible study this morning is over David and Bathsheba. Now, for those that aren’t familiar…David saw Bathsheba bathing and lusted for her. Bathsheba was already married to a very loyal soldier of David’s named Uriah. David had an affair with Bathsheba anyway which resulted in pregnancy. David then went on to cover up his sin a few unsuccesful times but did finally succeed by sending Uriah into battle to be killed and then taking Bathsheba as his wife. Of course, his cover up only lasted so long because you can’t hide anything from God. God sent prophet Nathan to speak to him about it.
Ok, to the point of this post. In the Enduring Word bible study guide it breaks down the parable that Nathan used to talk to David about his sin. It was about a man with a huge flock stealing from a man with one ewe. This signified David, who had been so greatly blessed, stealing from Uriah. Adultry is the act of stealing from a spouse. But not only adultry, in the sense of sleeping with a married person, is considered theft. Nakedness is made for a spouse. So, when one watches porn or nakedness on tv…in essense he/she is stealing something that belongs to someone else, even if that person isn’t married at the time. Now, let’s look at premarital sex. This world has made that acceptable, but God’s word says it is a form of adultry. God made our nakedness to belong to our spouse. So, when we give that away prematurely we are giving something away that belongs to someone else. And on the flip side…taking something that belongs to someone else. I have seen in my own life where doing this has caused major issues. Not just my life either. I didn’t hold my body as something special to give to my future husband. I didn’t respect it in that way. It has run its toll in my life, my kids lives and many others that my path has crossed. I felt some pretty big conviction on this. Not condemnation, I can’t change my past. But I can make a better future. I can respect another’s body even if they aren’t respecting it themselves. I can be more mindful of what I watch. Even including how men are portrayed. I know this may sound like old school, prude like thinking. But think about how this world has desensitized us to what the bible teaches. Your body belongs to your spouse and until you are married it belongs to God. I once heard a preacher say that until you are married, the person you are dating is your brother or sister in Christ. How would you treat your brother or sister? Kindof makes you think “ewww” but it gets the point across.
Had David turned away quickly with respect of Bathsheba’s body not being his to look at then so much turmoil could have been avoided. That first sin escalated very quickly. We cant change our past, but what decisions can we make in obedience to God’s word that will change our future? You never know where that “little sin” may end up taking you, but you always know where God’s word will take you.
09/11/2001
It is no surprise that the majority of people rioting and looting and causing havoc today are far too young to remember this day in history. They didn’t feel what we felt. They didn’t see what happened when a whole country unified against a tragedy. They have no idea what that felt like. Just as I have no idea what it felt like to lose someone on that day. Many prayers going up for comfort and peace that transcends all human understanding. May God be with you, with us, with this country today, just as he was that day.
United we stand…
May we never forget. ❤🇺🇸09/11/2001🇺🇸❤
Isaiah 55:10-11
John 8:51
