Prepare For War Pt III
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (Amplified Bible)
4For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 6Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.
Romans 7:18-25 (Amplified Bible)
18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] 19For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. 20Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [[a]fixed and operating in my soul]. 21So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands. 22For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature]. 23But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh]. 24O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? 25O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
One of the most challenging aspects of this walk with the Lord is guess who? You guessed it “us, you and I.” We are our own greatest challenge and greatest obstacle to progression in the natural and in the spiritual (if we are not put in check and our minds renewed). Our mind is such a powerful and useful tool, but, my, my how it can be adverse, if our thinking is not controlled. Our thinking will eventually give way to our actions which could lead us into a place that separates us from God, His will and the very knowledge of who He is. Sin usually begins with the inception of a thought and then it moves to the heart and then it is motivated into actions, words, or deeds. Our mind and our flesh can become that stumbling block that keeps us tripping, tripping over ourselves, and in some cases falling into or knocking down others in the wake of our own disasters. For many of us the battle is not coming from the outside but it is an internal thing.
The Bible says we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. So it is only through rebirth do we give our spirit access to a renewal and the recreative process. Everyday we have choices and decisions to make. There are inward battles that take places regularly over these very choices and decisions without us even realizing. Last week, my daughter and I were in Wal-Mart, and we picked some things, we had gone through the line and checked out. We got out to the car and as we put our groceries in the car I lifted both of our purses to discover two cards that I had intended to purchase. I immediately snatch the cards up and made a run for the entrance of the store, upon entering the store I showed the greeter and explained to her what had transpired, that my daughter mistakenly missed them when we checked out and I came back to pay for them…She looked at me placed her hand on her chest and said God Bless you. I could tell she was in shock and disbelief, because I am sure that this is and was not a regular occurrence. As I left the store after my purchase she smiled brightly and smiled back, knowing that I had done what was pleasing in God’s sight. That my spirit had won and not my flesh. I had spent enough time in God’s word, enough time sitting under Pastors that teach the word and enough time in prayer that the Holy Spirit in me overrode the fleshly mindset (I can say that 15 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, maybe even five given the right day… that may not have been the case). It is decisions like this that are founded in integrity, truth, and selflessness that often are flesh, our sin nature will win in. We battle against what our flesh, society and even our peers would do or say, but the question that we should be asking is who are we living for? Are we living for ourselves, friends, or society or does God have dominance and supremacy in our lives? It is when we take up an active fight, campaign against our flesh our sin nature that it will die on the battle field and our spirit man will have the opportunity to live and declare victory ( it’s the God in us).
It is time to take up arms. Not against the enemy on the outside but against the enemy within. It is time to get rid of the stinking thinking and the bending of the rules (for some of us writing our own rules). It is time to let God be God and to submit to His ways over our own. To live a life that is a representation of Him and a true reflection of Jesus. The battle is raging who will win, will it be the skin your in and mind you were born to, or the mind that is in Christ (that should be in you too) and the Spirit that you have been resurrected and recreated to? The choice is always yours!
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