‘The natural life itself is not sinful. […]
Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do
debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. […] “Those who
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh . . . .” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything.
Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself. .
.” (Matthew 16:24).
That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus
Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to
the funeral of your own independence. The natural life is not spiritual, and it
can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice
the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high
or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own
hands. It is not a question of praying,
but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.’ CHAMBERS
Devotion to the things of this world can cause
many spiritual problems for Christians. They
seem innocent enough … many are spiritually neutral. In other words, the Bible does not speak
against them. But they become a
stumbling block because our desire to possess them becomes an obsession which
leads to actions and decisions that the Bible does speak against. The
flesh wars against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Galatians
5:16-18 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of
the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit
what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
The struggle is common to all of us. The question is, which do we submit to .. the
flesh or the Spirit. Many of us believe that
we can do both. That is not what the
Bible says, but it is what the reasonable man says. Having possessions is not the issue. Being controlled by the desire to have the
possessions .. being willing to compromise on what we know is true to have them
… that is the issue. Jesus said that we
must deny ourselves .. say no to what the flesh desires and follow Him. Remember when He talked with the rich young man .. who
did everything right … but for one thing … Matthew
19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you
want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for
he had great possessions.” The man was living a good life … but he
loved the things of this world more than God. He would
not give them up. Even for eternal life.
Is there something that is controlling your
life? Holding you back from where you
know God wants you to be? You need to
let it go. Release it and the death grip it has on your spiritual life. Having a hard time with that? Maybe you are not doing what you should to nurture
your spirit. Stop depending upon
yourself and trust God.
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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