Are you struggling with sin, bad habits, a temper etc.? I know for a fact that there are things about ourselves that we would like to see changed. Are these things destroying you, your family, your marriage or hurting those around you?
You may have tried several times to keep things under control? Maybe what you tried worked for a while but after a few months things went back to the way they were before. Well there is hope and I have some good news for you.
There is a place in Jesus Christ, a place in God, a place in our Christian walk that, when we get there, we are able to let go of the things that we struggle with and that stop us from fully serving God. When we get there, we allow God to have full control of our lives and direct us as He pleases.
When we focus only on trying to solve the problem(s) we have, it’s as if we were trying to block a whole in a sinking rusty ship with duct tape. We must understand that because of the rust we may just end up with more holes later. The better thing to do is to repair the entire ship (body), remove the rust and make it waterproof so that it will no longer sink. We must not focus on just one area of difficulty but rather on the bigger problem: our walk with God.
We keep sinning or remain stuck in our sin because there is a problem with our walk with Christ. The Bible tells us to walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The Spirit of God wants the opposite of what the flesh wants, Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 and 17 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (King James Version).
When we get to that place in our walk with Christ, we will be able to set aside the sin(s) that so easily traps or entangles us as we see in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1, “[…] let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us […]” (King James Version) and get rid of the thing(s) in our life that hold us back, without focusing on it (or them) per say but rather by focusing on our walk with God.
We can only do so by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, through Jesus Christ, not in our own strength. Will power is not enough, we are told by Christ in John chapter 15 verse 5 that he is the vine and we are the branches, if we remain in him we will bear much fruit and apart from him (or without him) we can do nothing. Even the strength to say yes to God and no to the world and the flesh comes from God. Read Philippians chapter 2 verse 13, “for God it is who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Young's Literal Translation).
How can we get there?
In order for us to get there we need to make up our mind to live for God at 100% (to be totally committed). We often want to obtain the results we read of in the Bible but the problem is that we live our Christian lives one-foot-in-one-foot-out or at 50%. We can live something that on the outside looks, feels and sounds like the Christian life but in reality isn't.
We must take a bold step and have faith in God because it is impossible to please Him without faith according to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (King James Version).
We find the strength to do so in the person of Jesus Christ and we can tap into that strength at any time, all we have to do is call upon God with faith.
We must also understand that God is a god of righteousness and that's what He wants, nothing less! We can't claim that we live the Christian life unless we are totally committed. There is no such thing as “lukewarm-Christian-living” as we see in Revelation chapter 3 verse 16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (King James Version).
Finally, let’s keep in mind that the enemy is out there trying to cause us to fall as we see in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (King James Version). He likes to attack us in our areas of weakness but we must stand our ground as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13, “Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” (American Standard Version).
Let us bring up the word of God on that very matter just like Christ did in Matthew chapter 4 verses 4, 7 and 10 “[…] it is written […]” (King James Version). The word of God is the sword of the Holy Spirit and we need it to fight, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (King James Version). What happens if we have nothing to fight with? For this reason, it is very important that we know and learn God's word for ourselves. Psalm chapter 119 verse 9, “With what doth a young man purify his path? To observe -- according to Thy word.” (Young's Literal Translation).
Practical Guide:
- We must focus on our walk with God rather than trying to make a list of everything that is wrong in our life and see how we can deal with them one at a time.
- If we do not want to fulfill the desires of the flesh, that is, sin against God, we MUST live our lives according to what God’s Spirit wants us to do.
- When we put God first, we can put the things that caused us to stumble, even fall, behind us.
- For us to live the Christian life we must be like Christ (take him as our example).
- We must put God first and keep him there no matter what.
- We need to stop trying to do everything in our own strength and depend on Jesus Christ’.
- We need to understand that God cares for us and trust him with ALL our heart and believe that he is going to lead us the right way.
One last thing, you can do it!!!
Reference: #PRW0000003
