Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Which List Best Describes You?
Pastor Scott
Thursday, August 27, 2009
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“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
(Romans 13:14)
Galatians 5:16-17 says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
We all experience that battle internally.
And then in Verse 18, "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." We declare that we don't want to be under the law! Then be led by the Spirit and you won't be! You will fulfill the law in your obedience to Jesus.
Paul continues in Verses 19-23.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
We know whether we are in the flesh or in the Spirit by the evidence in our life. Which list dominates our life? Which list best describes us? What are we doing habitually? What are we defending? Our heart will be where our treasure is.
Verse 24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
There are two powerful words in Verse 24: "affections" and "lusts."
"I have affection for that. I really have an affection for fornication."
No, those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh and any affection for anything on that list. Affection turns into lust, which is strong desire, covetousness, longing for, sighing for, a dissatisfaction unless I partake, a preoccupation (we can't think about anything else).
There is a daily crucifying and a daily putting to death. "I now belong to Christ and this list is no longer a part of my life. I have no affinity towards those things and I give them no place. I will make no provisions for the flesh. I will abstain until I have power over. Even if it is something that may not be wrong in itself, all things are lawful but not all things are expedient, I will not be brought under the power of it. I must deal with anything that has power over me other than Jesus and the Word of God."
This is what happens when you are walking in the Spirit. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit lusts against the flesh. They are contrary the one to the other. We are at war every day. We are always putting the flesh down. We have brothers and sisters who know these things in our lives and they're checking up on us.