The Enemy We all Face
Hey Friends,
Last week we talked about the spiritual war we all experience and the attacks of the devil. No one is immune to his wiles. This week let’s look at a force and foe we ALL face, called the flesh. It is the enemy within each one of us. There are several names the Bible gives it: “the old man, sin nature, law of sin, wicked heart…” From the moment that you are born again you have within you two natures and they are in direct opposition of each other. As a matter of fact, they hate each other and they will war until the day we die and meet Jesus.
It is critical to our success in life and the Kingdom that we realize and recognize our inner struggle. This is why so many fall by the wayside in the race. One of the keys to winning this war is to daily allow and ask the Lord to take His rightful place as the Lord of our hearts. He should always sit exalted on the throne of our lives. The problem is that the old nature wants back on the throne. He likes getting his way! The question is - whose will will win?
We blame a lot on the devil when it is the flesh tempting us to do wrong. We know sin will hurt us and yet we are still drawn to it. How many hearts and homes have been torn apart by our old nature wreaking havoc in our lives? As leaders, it is up to us to win the war within us and help those we influence to do the same. I would encourage you to read Galatians 5:19-21 as it lists some of the actions of the flesh.
- Who is on the throne of your heart?
- Are you daily surrendering to the Spirit to have full control of your life?
- Are you daily dying to the old life and living the life purchased for you on the cross?
Tomorrow we will talk more about this evil foe from within.
Think about it!
Pastor
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I would like encourage all who will, to lift our leaders up in prayer today, for putting forth this much needed series. As we study and digest the lessons put forth by FP what I have noticed by thinking back everytime I have studied this subject is that eventually I experience tiredness. That,s the reason to pray for the Holy Spirits refreshing for our leaders.
This subject is definately one that the devil and his coherts would rather us not grasp and understand. I was tempted myself to leave it beginning on Sat. I think, but because of FP encouraging influence I decided to stand and pray and continue to study.
Today, I read from a book by Derek Prince on Spiritual Warfare and would like to share some encouragement also.
“2 Cor 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
No wonder Paul says, “thanks be to God.” Thanking God could not be helped if you really grasped the message of that verse. God always causes us to share Christ’s triumph over satans kingdom. There are two averbial phrases, “always” and “in every place.” That means there is no time and no place when we can not visibly share in the triumph of Christ over satan’s kingdom.
In Mt.28:18-20, Jesus declares: Then Jesus came to them and said,”All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey EVERYTHING I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. (empasis mine, sabrina on EVEYTHING)
Here Jesus says that through His death on the cross, He has wrested the authority from satan, obtained it for Himself, and God has vested in Him all authority in heaven and earth. Then He says, “Therefore go and make disciples….” What is the implication of the “therefore?” Jesus says, “I have won the authority, you go and excersize it. You go and demonstrate My victory to the whole world by fulfilling My commission.”
I would like to make three simple statements about the victory of Jesus. First, in the wilderness temptation, Jesus defeated satan on His own behalf.He met satan, resisted his temptation, and defeated him. Second, on the cross, Jesus defeated satan on our behalf, not for Himself, but for us. He did not need the victory for Himself because He already had it, but He won the victory for us and defeated our enemy. He disarmed our enemy, stripped him, and made show of him openly on our behalf. Third, it is now our responsibility to demonstrate and administer the victory of Jesus.”
End Quote.
I see and hear Pastors calling out from scripture, “Make no provision for the flesh.” If Jesus made on open show of the enemy, we should do the same with what our flesh wants to keep hidden that we know by the Word or Holy Spirits revelation, is sin living in us (flesh).Ask someone….. who is a trustworthy leader,…. to pray for what has ensnared us. Get it out in the open in hopes and faith that by making an open show of it we can visibly obtain the victory Jesus secured for us and then go about making other disciples in Jesus’ and our commission. Because if we cover it we make provision for it.
Pastor Chris,
Thank you so much for being honest and humble enough to admit that you have flashes of undesireable thoughts. I struggle with this big time and it means everything to me to know that I am not alone.
What a needed message for us all. It is so hard to ignore the call of the flesh sometimes, but when I see and hear so many others fighting also, it makes me feel less alone. I think I have heard it called “accountability,” that word is used in our small group a lot and I’m just now learning how important it can be. Knowing others are watching your fight against the sinful nature in all of us, others that care that you win the fight, seems to uplift me so much more than just keeping it to myself. How well God knew we needed our friends in Christ, how crucial they are to our sense of finding and following the right path! Great blog thoughts everyone….
Great message this weekend and looking forward to the daily walk on this blog to help me stay accountable.