WE NEED TO BE DELIVERED!

When a man who professes to be converted says that he goes into the world and into sin for pleasure, it is as if an angel went to hell for enjoyment. –Spurgeon

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25

Many Christians are bound up in their sin because they have not yielded their life to the Spirit living in them. While the natural man cannot get out of yielding to the flesh, the carnal man has the means in which to be set free but continues to live in sin. What makes the difference? What gives victory in a lost man’s life? What sets the captive free from the bondage of sin? What gives the carnal man the freedom from sin he desires? Jesus Christ is the only hope for peace the natural man or the carnal man has.

Are you living in sin? Do you battle with your flesh? Is there a war raging inside you that no one else knows about? Jesus can deliver you! Yield you life to Him! Give in, give up, and give it all to the Lord!

DON’T TEMPT YOURSELF!

Your thought life will either be victorious through faith or it will be a fatality because of your flesh.

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:14

             In James 1 we have the proof that our number one enemy is self. James doesn’t identify the world or Satan as the catalyst drawing us away into sin but it is our own lust. Lust means; allure, entice, or beguile. Our own flesh tricks us into believing the lie that sin will satisfy what the soul longs for. Our flesh will trick us into believing that sin will secure us lasting happiness. Our flesh will trick us into believing we are saved and on the way to heaven based on our good works but scripture plainly says salvation is wrought by grace through faith.

If my number one enemy is my flesh, and it is, then I need to do what scripture says, “Crucify it”! I need to die to it daily. I need to surrender my fleshly desires to God’s will. I need to surrender all and serve the Lord whenever, wherever, and however He wants!

WHO’S GOT CONTROL OF YOU?

When it comes to the control of our lives, we are either "body" men or "spirit" men. --Eric Lindholm

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8:9

I once had a remote control car. I loved that thing. I would sit up ramps to jump, obstacles to maneuver around, and mountains of dirt to climb! I loved it, until the batteries went dead. It became nothing more than something on the shelf to collect dust!

Our lives are as useless as that remote control car with dead batteries without the Spirit of God dwelling within us! We can’t do anything for Him without His Spirit living and abiding within us! We can’t do anything for Him without Him having control of our life!

Spirit versus Flesh

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies; for the hardest victory is victory over self. –Aristotle

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

How do we obtain this type of bravery? Throughout scripture we see men and women valiantly fighting against enemies abroad. But that type of enemy is easy to identify and fight against. What about the enemy within, the enemy that affects us the most…our flesh? Go to the same place to find strength—scripture. Consider with me Hebrews 12:1-2; “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Child of God; Confess and forsake sin. Die to fleshly desires by getting into the Word of God—DAILY. Quit making excuses why you can’t get to church and other church functions. Get busy doing something for the Lord. Share the Gospel with someone. The boldness and bravery that will follow will even surprise yourself! You can do it through Christ!