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Trojan Horse

20 Apr

Trojan Horse

1 Peter 2:11-12     Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The draws of sin are ever present, and the tugs of sin can become overpowering if you do not pursue a strength through the Holy Spirit to abstain from them. We all have the battle between good and evil that rages inside us as a result of the falling away in the Garden of Eden. Even after Salvation the inner war rages on inside us in a Spiritual realm that we all feel on a daily basis. Salvation does not bring perfection and the freedom from that war, but it brings the eternal freedom from the punishment of sin when Christ has paid our eternal debt on the Cross at Calvary. In  Romans 7  Paul speaks of the battle of good and evil inside us; that even the great apostle wonders why he does the things he really does not want to do.

Even in my early morning hours when I arise to spend my time with God, I will awake sometimes to a battle within my mind I was not even aware of while I slept. Anxieties, pressures of life, worry, doubt, and lusts can enter into our thoughts at the beginning of the day even before we are awake.  But we must pursue the time spent with God to fight that battle, and to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-17  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. This pursuit and strength that come from time spent with God, is the necessary weapons that you need to fight these battles. Do not let pride creep in with the thoughts of conquering this war alone. Pride is the Trojan horse of Satan and will destroy you from within.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Temptations

17 Feb

This morning I was spending time in  1Peter and realizing how those that Peter was trying to encourage, faced the same battles we do today. It constantly amazes me how the scriptures are timeless. Today the battles of lusts and all the categories of it, are of biblical proportions. The sin of sex and pornography is available 24/7 on every phone we keep at our side. The sin of idolatry of anything is thrust at us in every media, and every thing someone else has, that we desire. Matthew Henry said, “The grand mischief that sin does to man is this, it wars against the soul; it destroys the moral liberty of the soul; it weakens and debilitates the soul by impairing its faculties; it robs the soul of its comfort and peace; it debases and destroys the dignity of the soul, hinders its present prosperity, and plunges it into everlasting misery. Of all sorts of sin, none are more injurious to the soul than fleshly lusts. Carnal appetites, lewdness, and sensuality, are most odious to God, and destructive to man’s soul. It is a sore judgment to be given up to them.” Pray for the strength to resist whatever temptation you are facing today, and tomorrow.

Temptations

1 Peter 2:11-12      Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Today’s society breeds lust at every turn. We not only are subject to the lusts of the sins of sex, we are subject to the lusts of the sins of idolatry heavily in today’s world. It is a battle of biblical proportions to anyone who has air to breath another day. These fleshly lusts are part of an invisible war that rages deep within our souls. This is the spiritual war that how we respond to affects our daily walk with God. It is not something that we see, but we can feel. Our flesh will want to lash out, or pursue, or even just satisfy our desires in our mind. But the mind is the battlefield.

We only can prepare for these daily trials through the strength that God provides. Galatians 5:16-17 says,” Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” We must pray for strength to resist the temptations that will arise today. We must consistently pursue a relationship with Christ for our feet will only be here for a while, as we are described above “as sojourners and pilgrims”. He is the only way to obtain the strength to have victory if the battle that rages within us.

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pursuits

06 Feb

We ain’t perfect, we all sin, and we all wanna be a better person. We all try to do our best, but sometimes the world grabs a hold of us, and drags us back down. But even when all of that is going on, where is our focus? How do we conduct ourselves on a daily basis? Do you realize that your actions every day reflect how others may view Christ? If you profess yourself a Christian, and can make a sailor blush, or compromise your integrity whenever it benefits you, how does that make others view Christ? How do you think it makes Christ feel? He is living inside you, and wrenching at your gut when those things happen. The immediate satisfactions passes, and you realize what you have done…….that is called desires of the flesh.

 

 

Pursuits

Romans 8:13     For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Life here on earth is not eternal. Our flesh here was condemned by sin, and therefore will return to the dust from which it was created. But deep inside us lives our soul, where true life exists. Our soul was designed for eternity, and that is how we must invest our time here, in preparation for eternity. If we continue to live in pursuits of the things that only satisfy our fleshly lusts, we are not feeding the Spirit that dwell inside us. Verse 13 is speaking of death and life for eternity.

In the book of Colossians 3:5-10, it speaks of the these types of deeds that drag us away from Christ. The earthly desires that may deceivingly promise satisfaction. But when the Spirit resides in you, these earthly pursuits grieve the Spirit, and that is the conviction of sin that you feel. Romans 8:8,9 says So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Only God can change you from the inside out by His Spirit, that you receive when you accept Christ. You will begin to see things from a different perspective, and that perspective is now living inside you.

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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