Friday January 01st, 2021
Happy New Year beloved.
Remember Christ in you the hope of Glory, therefore it is well with you. Colossians 1:27
Memorize: 1 Corinthians 9:27 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
« I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified. »
Read: Galatians 5:16-26 Good News Translations (GNT)
16 What I say is this:
let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature.
17 For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants,
and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants.
These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do.
18 If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law.
19 What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions;
20 in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups;
21 they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these.
I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires.
25 The Spirit has given us life; He must also control our lives.
26 We must not be proud or irritate one another or be jealous of one another.
Message:
Many people think that the greatest enemy of man is the devil.
Yes, the devil is an enemy of man because he hates everything loved by God and God loves man.
However, the devil is not mans greatest enemy.
The elders say that if the enemy within cannot kill a man, the enemy without would not be able to either.
The greatest enemy of man is the enemy within the flesh.
By flesh, I don’t mean your physical flesh, but your worldly desires.
You must not lose the battle against the flesh as such a loss would result in the automatic defeat in other battles of life.
– The flesh will tell you not to pray even though the Bible says Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
– The flesh will tell you not to fast even though Jesus said When you fast (Matthew 6:16) not If you fast.
– The flesh will tell you not to witness even though Jesus said the branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off (John 15:2).
– The flesh will tell you not to give even though Luke 6:38 says Give and it shall be given unto you.
– The flesh will tell you to spend your tithe even though Malachi 3:8-10 says if you don’t pay your tithe, you are a robber.
– The flesh will tell you to commit sin even though the Bible says those that sin are of the devil (1 John 3:8).
Doing the will of the flesh may seem pleasurable for now, but believe me, it would ultimately bring sorrow.
King David decided to indulge the flesh for just one day and the result was killings upon killings in his household (2 Samuel 11:1-27 , 2 Samuel 12:1-31). Up until today; the sword has not left Israel.
Romans 8:5-6 says: The greatest victory of all is the victory over the flesh and to have it, you need to constantly say No to its desires. Romans 8:5-6 CEV says:
5 People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things.
6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.
When next the flesh comes to you with its enticements, say: Joy to the wise; joy to me. I refuse to be a fool!
Prayer point: Lord, give me the grace to win the battle over my flesh and to live only according to the Spirit in the mighty name of Jesus.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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