flesh

Decisions

July 8, 2023 by Bill 1 Comment

Every day we make decisions. When to get up, what to wear, what to eat, what program to watch, which way to go, what to say, what to look at, what to do, family decisions, job decisions, Spiritual decisions and more. Research says that we make about 35,000 decisions per day! And what do we base those decisions on? Something we’ve experienced, something we’ve read, something we’ve been taught, something someone has told us? And, sometimes, we make wrong decisions. Some wrong decisions may not affect us very much but other wrong decisions can mean life or death. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Lean not on your own understanding.” Good advice. The point here is to lean on God’s wisdom and not our own. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, (Isaiah 55:8). God knows what’s best for us and wants to help us with our decisions especially those that could result in harm to us. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5).

There is a constant battle going on pitting our flesh against our Spirit. Paul says in Romans 7:19, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” That’s the apostle Paul saying that! The devil is always trying to get us to decide with our flesh and not our Spirit. But the devil can’t “make” us do anything, as I wrote last week. It’s our choice, we must decide. The temptations of life will bombard us every day but God will give us a way out if we’ll listen to Him, (1 Corinthians 10:13). The devil is out to “steal, kill and destroy” us, (John 10:10) but we must make the right decision when he comes around with his lies. Now let’s look at those 35,000 decisions we make daily. Most of them aren’t going to kill us, unless we mishandle a gun or disobey traffic signs or something like that. But there is one decision that we have to make that is more important than all of these. That is the decision of where we’re going to spend eternity; in Heaven or Hell. If you haven’t made that decision, do so today. Repent and ask Jesus into your heart. You may not have another chance. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Focus

July 21, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2).

We’ve heard it said, “If the enemy can’t destroy you he will distract you.” Is anyone experiencing any distractions? There are lots of things in this world that will distract us but we have to first FOCUS on the things that are truly important. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). We see, hear, think about and consider things that are all around us on the Path of Life. We must assess these things and see how they line up with God’s Word. Do we know the Word? Jesus said, “It is written.” (Matthew 4:4).

God showed me something once about the phrase, “It caught my eye.” For something to, “catch your eye”, you must first “cast” your eyes on it. Someone can’t catch a ball until you throw it. Be careful what you cast your eyes on. The devil is always whispering, “Oh, it’ll be alright, it’s just a little. It’s not that bad.”Just say NO! I might have mentioned this before but I was in a train station in D.C. once and saw all the trains coming and going and people deciding which one to get on. I thought, that’s like our thoughts; we have many options daily but we must decide which one we’re “going to get on”. With wisdom, choose the right one.

As we walk the Path of Life, we must be sure to have Jesus at our right hand so we’ll not be distracted to get off the Path. Oh, and we will be tempted. Stay close to Jesus, know His Word, listen to Him and do what He says. He will help us FOCUS. “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” (Proverbs 4:25).

Idols?

September 18, 2021 by Bill Leave a Comment

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5).

As I was praying at our weekly prayer time at church last week, I had asked the Lord to deliver anyone in our congregation who were trapped in addictions. I was thinking of the usual addictions most of us recognize; alcohol, drugs, sex and those mentioned in the verse above. But then I heard the Spirit say, “Almost everyone has an addiction of some kind.” I thought, “Wow!” And then the word, “idols” came to mind. And I realized, yes, we all may have some kind of an idol. “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” (1 John 5:21). Anything that we would place above God on our list. “Oh, I’d never do that!” we might say. Well, think about the things we cherish: people, sports, social media, cars, food, celebrities, hobbies, TV programs/movies, clothes…the list could go on and on. We can probably add many things to it. Anything that we may put above God is an idol and we may be addicted to it.

So, what do we do with an addiction or an idol? The Bible talks about our flesh and our Spirit and how they are opposite and in a constant battle, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). I could paraphrase that to say, “Feed your Spirit and starve your flesh.” We were born with that “sin nature” from what happened in the Garden of Eden but Jesus has given us an “advocate” (John 14:16), the Holy Spirit that abides within us. We can overcome.

I’m reminded of another blog post from 2009, Don’t Feed It! and an update from 2020, HERE in which I painted a scene of someone who got a cute little black puppy but, after feeding and caring for it for a while, it became a large, mean, uncontrollable dog. Another scene is someone who had finally gotten a harassing demon under control in a cage, starving it, but felt sorry for it and fed it and it broke out of the cage stronger than before. Starve the flesh and strengthen the Spirit.

We have to identify, recognize and confess what our idols are and take actions to starve them or, at least, move them further down our list. If God is at the top, we will be able to handle our addictions and idols. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24).

Maybe it’s time to do some house cleaning and getting our list in order.

Who’s In Charge Here?

May 23, 2007 by Bill 1 Comment

Given January 18, 2007

I’ve heard it said that we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Our spirits will live forever and is really who we are. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions which all have something to do with how our spirit and body operates. And, our body is just the vehicle we need to get around and interact with others here on earth. As we all know however, the right part of us is not always calling the shots.

In order for us to live Christ-like lives and operate as effective servants of God here on earth, we have to consciously and purposely dictate which part of us is in charge. If we do nothing, our flesh – our earthly nature – will take over by default.

So how do we do that? We have to build up our spirit with the Word of God, and I don’t mean a little dose every now and then. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2”. This has to be an every day thing very similar to what an athlete goes through to attain top physical condition. It’s hard but it’s worth it!

Be assured, our sinful nature just won’t step out of the way and let our spirit take over; not at first. But, as we build up our spirit with the Word, change the way we think, and the way we talk, our flesh will have to take a back seat and let the spirit drive. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8”.

Let’s get to work!

Under New Management

April 27, 2007 by Bill 1 Comment

Given April 24, 2007
As I was doing my walking this day and listening to some teaching, the speaker made a comment about getting saved that made me think. When we get saved, our spirit is reborn, right? “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17“. But our flesh; our bodies and minds are still the same old mess. We have to, through a conscious effort, begin to remake our flesh and re-train our minds to get in line with our new Spirit. This is not an automatic deal like some people think.

I likened it to someone who buys an old store building. The old tenant is out and the new owner is in but the building doesn’t just change because it has a new owner. No, the owner has to decide on a plan to fix the place up. He has to repair any damage, apply some fresh paint, add updated equipment, and maybe even change the type of structure it formerly was. How ridiculous it would be to expect the outside to change just because the inside has a new owner.

When we get saved, we’re under new management inside but we have to work on changing the outside and the things that come out of us. The goal should be to strengthen the Spirit within until it takes over and controls the old flesh. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Romans 8:13“. Then we’ll be victorious on a regular basis.