flesh

The Champion

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Genesis 32:28
“And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’”

2015/01/img_1338.jpgThe Bible is filled with fascinating stories and amazing promises. I think it is safe to say, the most amazing events ever recorded are written in the pages of our Bibles. Of all these stories, this one records perhaps the most striking statement of them all,

” . . . you have struggled with God and prevailed.”

The same truth is recorded later

Hosea 12:4
“Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed. . .”

It does not surprise me to read that Jacob fought with God; that is an all too common occurrence. All of us have had times when God has instructed us to do something and we have resisted Him, to our hurt. I have found, when I fight against God, not only will I lose, but sometimes, I will bear scars from the battle. How is it that Jacob fought with God and came out victorious?

I think the answer is quite simple. Victory was achieved, not by the fight, but with the surrender. It was when Jacob stopped fighting and gave in to God, that he became the champion and received the spoils. We will never win a battle against the will of God, or the ways of God, but we can come out victorious if we are willing to surrender to God. Years later, when the book of Hebrews was written, the writer refers to the heroic faith of Jacob, who leaned upon his staff. The reference is to the victory won when his knees bowed in submission to the the Lord.

Whatever stage of life you may find yourself, it is high time for a victory. The losing streak needs to come to an end. Why not give in to the ways of God, and begin to experience the blessings of a champion, rather than the agony of defeat.

Pastor Jim

 

The Battle Is Won

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Genesis 21:10
“Therefore she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.’”

Post_image-720x360.jpgOn the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham and Sarah celebrated by throwing a party. Because they had waited so long for a son, and since Abraham’s camp was large, this would have been quite a celebration. Tragically, this joyous occasion is cut short when the teenage son of Hagar began to mock his half brother Isaac. While it is not shocking to any parent that one child could tease another, we might all be taken back a bit by the strong reaction from Sarah. When she hears his scoffing, she calls on Abraham to “Cast out the son of the bond woman…” In response, Abe will give Hagar and Ishmael a canteen of water and a loaf of bread and send them packing. On the surface this seem like a colossal over-reaction. What was it about Ishmael’s actions that warranted such a harsh reaction?

Two thousand years later, Paul explained to the Galatians church that this event, while literal, is also designed to illustrate one of the oldest and most difficult struggles we face. That struggle is the battle within, between the flesh and the Spirit. This is a struggle every child of God knows all too well. Each and every day we find that some of our desires are pleasing to God and complementary to Scripture, while other desires are an out right rebellion against God. Just about every night, we lay our heads down on our pillows regretting some action or reaction from our day. This is not the struggle of some, but is the struggle of all. Fortunately, the Bible gives us insight into how we can be victorious in the battle between flesh and Spirit. Paul gives the following recipe for success:

Galatians 5:9
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

Galatians 5:16
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Galatians 6:7-8
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

We need to cast off our flesh or our own desires. If we want to see victory in our lives, we need to be sowing to and walking in the spirit; only then can we see the battle being won in our lives.

Pastor Jim

 

Can’t Eat Just One

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Proverbs 27:20
“Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/b9a/30989304/files/2014/12/img_1902.jpgA few years ago, the Frito-Lay Corporation ran an ad for their potato chips with the slogan, “Bet you can’t eat just one.” The concept was simple, their chips were so good, so addicting, that once you tasted one, you would keep eating until the bag was empty. In this verse, Solomon points out, sin is like that. The word he uses for hell is Sheol, and can mean the grave. He is declaring, just as death is never satisfied, so desire for sin will never be satisfied by sinning. Often, when we are facing greater than normal temptation toward sin, we think one more look, touch or taste will satisfy the craving. What we find is, the desire comes back with greater force after it has been fed.

The children of Israel experienced this in the wilderness. Each morning they awoke to breakfast being served from heaven. This “Manna”, as it was called, was designed to satisfy their appetite during their journey through the desert. After years of the same food, they began to hunger for something else. When their craving became so great that they could no longer withstand it, they began to threaten Moses. In response, God promised to send them meat to satisfy their intense craving. Soon, a flock of quail flew into the camp and was trapped and killed by the people. With their lust for meat in full swing, they began to tear into the fowl, not waiting for it to be cooked properly, and the people became ill. With their lust for meat driving them, many died from sickness (Numbers 11). Later, this area became known as the Graves of Lust.

Feeding lust will never make the desire go away. The Bible tells us, the only hope for overcoming the desire for sin is to deny it. Paul declared, he considered himself to be crucified with Christ, and he treated sin as a dead man would (Galatians 2:20). We are exhorted to do the same. We are told, since we died with Christ, we are to treat sin as a corpse would. To do this, we must treat it as something of our past, not our present. We accomplish this is by not sowing to our sin nature, but removing ourselves as far as possible from its influence. In another place, Solomon asks, “can a man put fire on his lap and not get burned?” (Proverbs 6:27) The answer is obviously NO. In the same way, we cannot bring sin close, increase our desire for it, and not fall into it. The secret of success in the battle with the flesh, is to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

Pastor Jim