"If you…remember that your brother has something against you first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift…" —Matthew 5:23-24
Has the Spirit of God ever spoken something to you that was contrary to what you wanted to do? If you are born again and therefore have been sealed by the Spirit, He has. Why? Because we tend to follow the ways of the flesh. The Spirit convicts of sin, which is to say we are living or doing in a way that is contrary to the nature of God and our new nature. The question is, “How do you respond when He speaks?” Do you say “yes Lord”? Or do you “turn the music up to drown out His voice” because you don’t want to do the very thing He is saying – do? The Bible calls that quenching the Spirit or putting the fire out. Oh Saint, this life we live in the flesh we live by faith.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Galatians 2:20
God will always prompt you to obedience. To deal with those things that hinder your unfettered relationship with Him. You cannot offer anything acceptable to God if you do not have “clean hands and a clean heart”. If you choose to ignore the prompting of the Spirit you are doing nothing more than practicing vain religion. Praising God with your lips while your heart is far from Him. (Matthew 15:8) You might as well be watching TV for all of the spiritual good that is being derived! We are a stubborn lot. Holding on to attitudes and habits that are clearly contrary to who we are in Christ. You are not alone in this struggle.
"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." - Romans 7:15-19
But God has given you the power to overcome, and the means to live in victory. You must pick up your cross daily and yield your life to the leading of the Spirit. That requires faith and that comes from God.
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