Power To Please God

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)

The Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome the sin that we carry around within us because we still live in bodies contaminated by sin. This is the purpose of the Spirit's filling. To help you understand and appropriate the reality of this, let me make five observations about the exciting, powerful, yet often misunderstood verse we're reading today.

First, Paul is definitely talking about yielding control of your will to another. The drunk yields to alcohol. We are to yield to the Spirit. That's a big difference, but the principle is the same in each case.

Second, notice that the positive statement is a command. Paul is not saying, “If you'd like to, it would be nice if you were filled with the Spirit.” He is saying that if you are going to please God, then you must be filled with His Spirit.

Third, this is a plural command. It applies to every believer. The Spirit's fullness is not for the elite few. There are Christians you may look at and say, “If I could just be like them. They love Jesus so much, and they walk so closely with Him. Why can't I be like that?” You can. The difference is the filling of the Spirit, not the fact that they have something you don't.

Fourth, this plural command is also passive. You can't fill yourself. This is the sovereign activity of the Spirit. That means your attempts to fill yourself are going to be very unfulfilling.

Fifth, this plural, passive command is also present tense, meaning it is a continuous action. You don't get filled today and expect it to cover you tomorrow, just like you don't eat Sunday dinner and expect it to carry you to next Sunday. The Holy Spirit's filling is a dynamic, moment-by-moment experience.

Why is it that way? Because we live in a world that depletes our filling. Sin depletes the filling. When you go against your conscience, it is depleted. So the Spirit's fullness is constantly being depleted, not because He is deficient, but because we are imperfect Christians who still carry the principle of sin around with us.

Have you asked the Holy Spirit to fill and control you today? He will, if that's your prayer.

Excerpt from "Time to Get Serious" - Tony Evans

Application Of God's Word: Psalm 32:5

Verse: Psalm 32:5

I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Application:
God wants to forgive sinners. Forgiveness has always been part of his loving nature. He announced this to Moses (Exodus 34:6,7); he revealed it to David; and he dramatically showed it to the world through Jesus Christ. These verses convey several aspects of God's forgiveness: He forgives rebellion, puts sin out of sight, clears our record of sin. Paul quoted these verses in Romans 4:7,8 and showed that we can have this joyous experience of forgiveness through faith in Christ.

Many people don't know what repentance means. They offer a little prayer something like, “Lord, I'm sorry for the sins I did today. Forgive me in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
True repentance makes no excuses. It says, “This is my problem and my sin. I didn't have to yield, but I did. I can't blame it on anyone else.”
To confess our sin is to agree with God, acknowledging that he is right to declare what we have done as sinful and that we are wrong to desire or to do it. It is to affirm our intention of forsaking that sin in order to follow him more faithfully.

That is not repentance. It begins with confession, which means to agree with. True repentance means agreeing with God that what you did was wrong and needs to be cleansed. True repentance is coming to grips with your rebellion against God so that you see you have been sinful and need to be cleansed.

Resources:
“Life Application Bible Notes” by Tyndale House Publishers
Excerpt from “Time To Get Serious” by Tony Evans

The Beating Of Jesus

Let’s talk about the beating of Jesus.

Not the soft version many people imagine.

The real one.

Because the cross did not start at Calvary.

The suffering began long before the nails ever touched His hands.

When Jesus was handed over to be crucified, the Roman soldiers first scourged Him.

This was not a simple whipping.

The Romans used a weapon called a flagrum or flagellum. It was a whip with multiple leather strands. At the end of each strand were pieces of bone, metal, and sharp hooks designed to tear flesh.

The purpose was not just punishment.

It was destruction of the body.

The victim was tied to a post, stretched so the back was exposed. Each strike caused the metal and bone to dig into the skin. When the whip was pulled back, it ripped flesh away from the body.

Early historians and medical researchers describe that Roman scourging often exposed muscle tissue and sometimes even bone.

Isaiah prophesied this hundreds of years before it happened.

Isaiah 52:14 says

“His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being.”

Think about that.

Guilty But Free

A young woman was caught going one hundred miles an hour in a fifty-five-mile-per-hour zone outside one of those small towns. The policeman brought her into court where the judge fined her one hundred dollars. “But I don't have one hundred dollars,” she wailed.

“I'm sorry, but you will have to spend the weekend in jail,” the judge told her. “You owe the court one hundred dollars. You may not have the money, but the law is the law.”

She began to cry. “Please, your honor, I don't have one hundred dollars, but I don't want to spend the weekend in jail.”

The judge said, “I can't change the law.” But the young woman begged for mercy again - and to the surprise of the bailiff and the policeman, the judge did something very interesting. He pushed his chair back from the bench, took off his robe, walked around to where the woman was standing, pulled out his wallet, and gave the bailiff a one-hundred-dollar bill, went back to the bench, put his robe back on, and sat down.

Then the judge picked up his gavel and said, “Young lady, I see someone has paid your fine. Case dismissed. You're free to go.”

That's what God did for you and me. We stood before the bench of His justice, and He said, “You've been found guilty of sinning against My holy character. You've either got to pay the price of perfection or spend eternity in the prison called hell.”

But God the Judge also heard us cry out for mercy. He knew we had nothing to pay our debt with. So in the Person of Jesus Christ He stepped out of heaven, “zipped down” His deity, put on the robe of humanity, and paid the price Himself on the cross. Three days later, He put His robe of deity back on and ascended back to the bench of heaven.

Now He looks down and says to anyone who comes to Him and begs for mercy, “I can't change the law, but I can pay the price.” You will never have to worry about heaven again if you know Jesus Christ.

The Judge who pronounced sentence against you also paid your fine. He'll do it for anyone who comes to Him.

- Tony Evans
Provided by his devotional entitled: "Time To Get Serious"

The Danger of the Drift

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard,

so that we do not drift away.”

Hebrews 2:1 (NIV)

Sitting at the beach, I watched my grandnieces ride the waves. Wade out. Ride in. Wade out. Ride in. The water came in to the shore at a wind-driven angle, so each time, the waves carried the girls just a little to the left. Then a little more. Then a little more.

I watched as the ocean spilled them further down the beach with each ride. They were oblivious to the potential danger of drifting away from the safety of where they began, but finally I walked down shore and waved them back to where our family was.

Like the girls’ subtle, slow drifting, we can be happily riding the waves of everyday life when one unwise decision spills us back onto the shore a little left of where we started. Then the next poor decision takes us a little left of that one …

Before we know it, the tide has taken us far from the safety of where we were once planted in God’s Truth, and we struggle to find our way back.

Hebrews 2:1 warns us about this: “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

The Greek word for “pay the most careful attention” is prosechein, which also means "to give heed, to be cautious, to devote oneself." We’re called to pay attention because the progression of one small temptation can lead to one wrong decision, and then another wave can lead to another wrong decision, which takes us further away from the intimacy we crave with Jesus.

For instance, if I don’t pay attention to what I’m watching on TV, I’m more likely to view something slightly offensive. Then I might watch something more offensive next time, and if I keep drifting, it becomes difficult to imagine Jesus watching beside me on the sofa.

Sometimes we ride so many waves that Jesus seems distant or far from view. But here are two words that bring us back from the drift: repent and return.

To repent means to have genuine remorse, turn away from sin, and go back to God. When we repent, God forgives: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And “all” means all.

Oh, friend, I want you to envision Jesus standing on the shore of where you are right now. He’s waving for you to come back to His safety - just as surely as He waved Peter to the shore even after he denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62; John 21:1-25). Christ is always waiting to lead us back to intimacy with Him, no matter how far we’ve drifted.

Heavenly Father, help me recognize when my decisions could cause me to drift in my relationship with You. Thank You for standing on the shore and always welcoming me home when I repent and return. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Sharon Jaynes
(Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries")

Application Of God's Word

Verse: James 4:17
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 

Application:
It is never a minor thing to know God's will and not do it. God calls this sin. We can make excuses for our lack of obedience: “I'm just not ready yet” or “I'll do it later!” or “I don't think it will make a difference” or “I can't afford to!” We rationalize, we procrastinate; yet, in God's eyes, rationalization and procrastination are nothing more than disobedience. At times we deceive ourselves into thinking that good intentions equal obedient actions. They do not. A good intention without corresponding activity is disobedience. When we encounter God and He gives us a direction, it is not enough to write down the date in our spiritual journal, or even to tell our friends and church of our “decision.” God's call is not to “make a decision” but to obey! Deciding to obey is not equal to obeying (Matthew 21:28-31)! Loudly affirming the necessity of obedience is not the same as obeying (Luke 6:46). Making commitments, even publicly, is not the same as obeying our Lord. Substituting our own good works is not the same as obeying.

Excerpt from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry and Richard Blackaby

Scripture: Isaiah 5:20

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20 (NKJV)

When people see no distinction between good and evil, destruction soon follows. It is easy for people to say, "No one can decide for anyone else what is really right or wrong." They may think getting drunk can't hurt them, extramarital sex isn't really wrong, or money doesn't control them. But when they make excuses for their actions, they break down the distinction between right and wrong. If people do not take God's Word, the Bible, as their standard, soon all moral choices become fuzzy. Without God, they are headed for a breakdown and much suffering.

- "Life Application Bible Notes" by Laridian

Application of God's Word: Ezekiel 36:26

 

Verse: Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Application:

Sin hardens the heart (Matthew 13:4,19). The more sin we allow to pass over our hearts and through our lives, the more resistant we become to a word from God. The sin of unforgiveness stiffens our hearts. We cannot continue to resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit without becoming hardened against Him. Exposing ourselves to evil and ungodly influences desensitizes us to God and His word. Over time, our hearts become like stone, unreceptive to a fresh word from God. We become anesthetized to sin.

Has your heart grown hard toward God? Do you feel as though nothing could soften it? God has a solution. He will separate you from the influences that are destroying you (Ezekiel 36:24). He will cleanse you from all filthiness and remove everything that has taken His place in your affections (Ezekiel 36:25). He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, tender toward Him and His Word. If your love for God is not what it should be, ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him.

Excerpt from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry and Richard Blackaby

Anatomy of a Surrender: Idolatry

 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”

¹⁷ Therefore “Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”

7 ¹ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

---

Paul points out the obvious conflict between light and darkness to urge the Corinthians to disassociate from corrupting influences. The principle applies to our social relationships, but it also applies to the struggles within our hearts. If light and darkness do not mix within the church, which is the temple of God collectively, they do not mix within ourselves, who as individuals are the building blocks of that temple. We cannot entertain elements of the kingdom of light and elements of the kingdom of darkness simultaneously and expect God to bear fruit in us. He wants purity.

That's a problem for every human being who has ever lived. We aren't pure. Long after we've made that landmark decision to follow Jesus, we still have internal struggles with sin and obedience. The decision was right, but the follow-through proves difficult. And it's the follow-through that makes the difference between unusual blessing and mediocrity. We cannot be mature Christians until the initial decision to let Jesus be our Lord actually becomes a way of life. We cannot make a commitment to light while maintaining our grip on darkness. We must surrender ourselves.

Nearly every Christian has remnants of darkness that cloud his or her discipleship. We like to call them character flaws or weaknesses of the flesh. In reality, they are idols. They may range from the alarming addictions of temper, lusts, and obsessive greed to the relatively minor flaws of bad diets, time mismanagement, and mild obsessions with hobbies. Regardless of their severity, they are our battlegrounds. They are points of conflict between us and our Creator. They test us on whether we will, or will not, obey.

All Christians have had their struggles with idolatry. Many of those struggles rage today. Some of them rage within your heart. The issue is not whether they are big or little sins; the issue is whether we trust God enough to do what He tells us, even in the small things. Choosing our will over His, at any level, is idolatry.

“Whatever a man seeks, honors, or exalts more than God, this is the god of idolatry.”
- William Ullathorne

[An excerpt from "The One Year Walk with God Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen]