Why Some Aren't Winning the Battle

GALATIANS 5:16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whateverc you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I get it! I know that we all love God, love Jesus and really want the Holy Spirit to live within us. However, we cannot get over that hump of living without guilt. The reason why is that we have allowed the flesh to win the battle even though we have within us the power to be "more than conquerors through Christ."

Here is my challenge this week:

1. Look at the verses above 19-21. This describes the person who is living according to the flesh:
-sexual sins
-idolatry
-relationship sins: Hatred, discord, envy, rage, etc
-personal sins: drunkenness, orgies, etc

2. Look at the verses above 22-26. This describes the person who is living according to the Spirit:
-love, joy, peace, gentleness, self control, etc

Here is the deal: Nobody judges anyone else. We judge ourselves by looking at the battle that is going on within your life, your soul and spirit. 
God wants us to be FREE!!! And we can if we live by the rule of the Spirit of God....

If you need help this week understanding the scripture, please let us know. We are more than willing to help you win the battle within!


NOTES: 
-Yesterday was an awesome day to worship in one service as we met at 10:45 AM. I hope you met some new folks as the crowd was very large (225)
-Our Memorial Day picnic was awesome with many new faces AND some of our brothers and sisters from our hispanic congregation, Nuevo Pacto, joined us! 
-Please remember that we are starting a new Mid-Week Study on Wednesday @ 7 PM...If you really want to grow in your walk with God, this is sure to help....Ephesians 4-6







Comments

  1. Martin LaBarJune 1, 2013 at 9:14 PM

    That's a great Bible passage, worth hearing, reading, and studying, often.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NO FEAR: The Fear of Failure

Image
LIST OF PHOBIAS: There are so many phobias in America today there is even a website - www.phobialist.com- that lists more than 500 human fears that people actually experience. In fact, it is estimated that there are about 50 million people in the United States who actually suffer from some type of phobia in their lifetime. You won't believe some of the fears that I have found. Some of them you will recognize. Claustrophobia - The fear of confined spaces. Dentophobia - The fear of dentists Pentheraphobia - The fear of your mother-in-law (several men confessed to this one!) Homilophobia - The fear of sermons Arachibutyrophobia - The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Luposlipaphobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a freshly waxed floor. WOW! I never knew there were so many phobias. However, even thought Wikipedia lists all the phobias that we either have or could acquire, the Word of
Read more

Changing Directions

Image
Yesterday was a beautiful day and a great day for Easter worship. God continues to show us here at United Wesleyan that He is leading and blessing our congregation. A full parking lot is a good problem to have in the life of the church and that is what we were dealing with on Sunday.  However, the highlight of the morning for me was when I asked the congregation a question: "What was the signature dance of your generation?" Wow, you should have heard the answers! Carolina shag, Funky chicken, Duggie, Wobble, Macarena just to name a few! I threw in the only dance that I knew, The Hokey Pokey!  We realized that all these dances have something in common: The participant must constantly change directions! Do you realize this is what Peter said during the first sermon after the Day of Pentecost? When asked what they must do, Peter said: "Repent (change directions) in the Name of Jesus Christ!" I am praying that many people at worship services all around the world chan
Read more

Breaking Down the Walls

Image
We can have friends and relationships with those that are different from us! God takes great interest in breaking down walls that separate groups and people from one another. That is one reason He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to our world. God wants us to be ONE, especially in the church that Jesus died for: Ephesians 2:14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. The aforementioned scripture is mainly written about the relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles. They were so different in their traditions and their
Read more