Tag Archives: flesh vs spirit

November 13, 2024 · 5:29 AM

Destroying False Arguments

I’ve always loved court shows on TV like Law and Order. The writing combined with the drama and actors makes for a great show. Because of that, I’m also a person who has wanted to be on a jury. I want to see the arguments up close and to be able to decide. When you think about that word argument in this context, that’s what these persuasive speeches by lawyers is called. Their job is to take the same set of facts and argue what the truth is from them. They want to persuade the jurors to their side of the truth. They both will tell compelling arguments in order to sway the jury to either act or decline judgment.

In 1 Kings 12, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, had just taken over as king. In verse 4 the people said, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (ESV). He sent them away for three days while he decided on what to do. He brought in the elders who had advised his father to hear the argument they would make on what he should do. They felt like he should ease the load on the people. The. He brought in his friends who were young and inexperienced to hear their arguments. They thought he should be harder than his father and rule with an iron fist. He was persuaded by their arguments. When he told the people what he decided, they were angry and the kingdom split.

Each of us face similar arguments all day every day. We have the voice of the Holy Spirit making an argument for how we should live and make decisions. We also have our sinful nature making arguments against the desires of the Holy Spirit. No wonder Paul gave us instructions in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We are constantly hearing arguments from two skilled lawyers on what actions to take. It’s important that we destroy the arguments that go against God’s design for our lives. We must learn to bring them captive or we’ll live divided lives, which are unstable. God has give us the choice, and also the power, to destroy false arguments. Seek Him for wisdom and courage to listen and obey the Holy Spirit.

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

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August 24, 2022 · 6:08 AM

No Compromise

In the late 1850’s, Abraham Lincoln was running for president against Senator Stephen Douglas. The American public knew something had to be done about slavery as the country teetered on the edge of a civil war. Stephen Douglas was offering a compromise. With his plan, slavery could remain in place, but wouldn’t be permitted to expand as states joined the Union. Lincoln began saying that there could be no compromise, and painted himself on the side of freedom with Douglas on the side of slavery. Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” He was right.

In the first chapter of Haggai, the Lord spoke to and through Haggai. He said that the people were saying that the Lord’s Temple shouldn’t be rebuilt at that time. It had been taken apart and looted by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon. Then God asked if it was ok for the people to live in nice houses while the Lord’s house lay in ruins. God saw that they were divided on which house was more important: theirs or His. He told them that He had withheld blessings from them and to consider their conduct. Their loyalties were divided between their desires and God’s just like ours can be. We struggle between living and doing what we want to do versus what God wants us to do. Only one side can win.

It was Jesus, in Mark 3:25, who initially said, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (AMP). You and I must choose. There can be no compromise between living in the desires of our flesh and living according to what the Holy Spirit says. We can spend our lives building ourselves a house out of things we want or out the things God wants. What are you building? Are you living a divided life right now? Just like in Haggai, God is calling us to choose. We can’t go on doing what our flesh wants while starving the Holy Spirit within us. A divided life will fall apart. Let God stir up your spirit today to begin building your life the way God wants. You don’t have to try to fix things first. As my pastor say, “You get to start right where you are.” Live a life of no compromise.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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February 24, 2022 · 5:30 AM

An Elijah Moment

As I stood on top of Mount Carmel looking across the valley, I remembered the story of Elijah where the land hadn’t seen rain in three years. The now fertile valley was dry and bare then. King Ahab was looking for grass to save his horses from dying of starvation. Elijah, whom the king wanted dead, told him to gather all the prophets of Baal and to meet him on top of Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal made an altar and so did Elijah. They were to pray and ask for fire to ignite the altar. The god who answered would be the real god. After the prophets of Baal had prayed all day with no fire, Elijah poured water on his altar three times then called down fire from Heaven. It consumed the altar from top to bottom drying up all the water as well.

In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah addressed them, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (NLT) When I read that, I can’t help but internalize it. Our lives are a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit. We waver between wanting to give into the desires of the flesh and doing what God requires. As long as we go between them, we are miserable as Paul described in Romans 7. Also, according to James 1:8, it also makes us unstable in all our ways. That’s not the way that God wants us to live. In order to live His way, we need to have an Elijah moment in our lives where we force ourselves to choose the way God wants us to live.

Colossians 3:5 says, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” We need to put to death the things that we have put before God. Verse 10 tells us, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” We all have this choice to make. Either we will continue to live unstable, idolatrous lives or we will put on the new nature that’s been given to us. It starts with calling down fire from Heaven into our lives consuming the things that are not of God. It’s a continuous process, but it starts with an Elijah moment.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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June 23, 2021 · 5:47 AM

Competing Voices

Several years ago I was an Uber driver. I would always start off near my home, but before long, I would end up in places I had never been. I would have to pay close attention to the map. There were times when a rider would be in the car giving me conflicting information with the map. That was always worrisome to me. Do I follow what the rider is telling me or choose to disregard their advice and go where the map is leading me? The map sees ahead and has information we don’t have, but the rider seems to know the area and gives me the tip. Every time that happened, I either had to tell them, “Thanks, but I need to follow the map,” or hear, “Rerouting” over and over in my ear until I would just turn down the volume. Each time it happened, I had to deal with whichever consequence.

Being a Christian is very similar I’ve found. There are two voices in my head constantly trying to give me directions on how to live, where to go and what to do. They’re in conflict with each other quite often. The Holy Spirit is much like the GPS. He knows the way better than anyone, He sees things that are ahead and is constantly trying to reroute me when I make a wrong turn. My flesh is the other voice telling me, “Turn here.” My heart tells me to follow my God given guide, but there always a strong pull to listen to the other voice. Each time I choose which voice to listen to, there’s a consequence. I give up something that my flesh would really enjoy and please God or do something that’s not right and feel shame. It’s a constant struggle for all of us as Christians.

Paul put it plainly in Galatians 5:16-17. He said, “Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you!” (TPT) That’s the choice we have to constantly make. Who’s voice are you going to listen to? They’re at odds with one another, and we’re stuck in the middle. Each voice produces very different fruit in our lives as Paul goes on to describe in this chapter. The good news is that it’s easier to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit if we will decide ahead any situation that we will choose His voice. The more we make that choice, the more we be empowered to live the way God wants us to. The voice we listen to the most grows the loudest within us, so choose now which voice you’ll listen to today.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

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August 22, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Surrender


White flag. Tap out. Give up. Submit. Yield. Say, “Uncle.” Throw in the towel. Surrender. I don’t know anyone who likes to do it. Surrendering is admitting defeat. It’s embarrassing really. I, like you, don’t like to give up. I don’t like to face defeat. It goes against everything in me. Maybe you’re the same. When all the odds are against you, your theme song starts playing. Maybe it’s “The Eye of the Tiger” or “This is my Fight Song” or whatever, but it plays and pumps you up to keep you from surrendering and giving in.

In the prophet Jeremiah’s day, Jerusalem was under siege and there was very little hope. God was pronouncing His judgement against the people who had turned their back on Him. They refused to repent so God was sending them into captivity. The king secretly went to Jeremiah to ask what he should do. Jeremiah told him if he wanted to live, he needed to surrender. In Jeremiah 38:19, the king responded, “But I am afraid to surrender” (NLT). He was too afraid of how he would appear if he surrendered, so he disobeyed and it cost him his freedom.

Romans 8 tells us that the flesh and the spirit are at a constant war with each other. The flesh wants to do things its own way, and the spirit wants us to follow God’s way. For so many Christians, it’s a daily struggle and a guess as to which side will win. As Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” More times than not, our flesh wins because we fail to surrender to God’s plan for our lives. Surrender is so foreign to our flesh that we fight against what the spirit is trying to accomplish in our lives.

In Luke 14:33, Jesus put it this way, “So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple” (AMPC). If we truly want to be God’s disciples, we have to be willing to surrender all we have for all He offers. According to Romans 8:13, when we surrender to what the spirit wants, we will live. You and I are given the same choice that the king of Israel had. Don’t make the same mistake he did. Surrender and live.

What is God asking you to surrender today in order to be His disciple?

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July 4, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Declaration Of Independence 


On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress ratified a document known as the Declaration of Independence. It was a formal declaration that the 13 colonies would no longer live under British rule or be subject to the decrees of the monarchy. They had enough of the tyranny and taxation without representation and decided to fight back. They knew there would be a difficult road ahead and it was filled with uncertainty. They knew that the odds were against them, but they also knew that freedom was worth it.

The birth of the United States of America is an inspiration to me in life and in my spiritual walk with God. You see there comes a time in our lives when you and I have to decide if we want to continue living under the old law. We have to choose whether we want to be bound to the dictates of the flesh or be set free. The moment we choose Jesus to be our Lord, we choose to throw off the chains of the flesh. Just like the colonies, that Declaration of Independence will be a declaration of war.

Galatians 5:17 says, “For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do” (GNT). How God wants us to live and how our flesh wants us to live are two completely different ways. If we choose to declare our independence from our human nature, then we will need to live how the Spirit wants if we want true freedom. Verse 18 says, “If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law.”

If you’ve decided to accept Jesus as your Lord, but haven’t ratified your Declaration of Independence, let me encourage you to do that today. After you’ve done it, read Romans 7 and 8. These two chapters will help you understand the war you’ve just started and give you the keys to victory. You are not alone in this war for your spiritual independence. You have an Advocate in the Holy Spirit and you have Jesus interceding on your behalf. You also have a whole body of believers in the same trenches as you are fighting the same battles. It was for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1), so let’s declare it today! 

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