PRESS ON! I had the best of intentions. Really, I did. The plan was to spend at least an hour each day reading/studying Gods Word and praying. In my orderly mind, I vowed to fast one day each week with a three day fast at the end of the month. And since I was being so disciplined, surely I could do a full seven-day fast each quarter! My idea was that by the time I had followed this regimen for a while, I would be floating along on such a high spiritual plane that no trick of Satan could ever affect me! Well, well, well.....I wish I could tell you this plan was easily implemented and a superior spiritual realm was soon attained. But it didnt happen. In fact, its been at least twenty years since I set this goal and Im still trying to get there. If youre a human being (and I assume you are :) ) you are subject to all the vagaries of your carnal nature. Even the esteemed Apostle Paul struggled with it. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:18-25) The best thing to do is throw guilt out the window. The key is to understand we are in a battle of flesh vs Spirit. Flesh will always make its demands. But we can overcome by recognizing it for what it is, by following what we know to be right and good, rather than the emotional manipulation the enemy uses. If the man who wrote over half of the New Testament, founded churches and guided the early Christians recognized the frailty of his carnal nature, who are we to wallow in a sense of failure? So you got sleepy and only prayed fifteen minutes instead of the hour you planned on? And you got so hungry on fasting day that grabbed a snack halfway through the afternoon? Dont let those little mess-ups derail your planned goal. Keep talking to God, keep reading His Word. Day by day, little by little, you will grow stronger in Him. The fleshly nature will decrease, and He will increase. (John 3:30) Its true that, as sincere Christian believers, we have a strong desire to draw close to God. But our spiritual mind is contained in a body of flesh. Flesh makes incessant demands that are at odds with the Spirit within us. The solution lies in giving the Lord preeminence, or superior influence. (Colossians 1:18) These words of wisdom from the great Apostle Paul sum it up nicely: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14) Press on, friends, press on!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:32:17 +0000
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