Tag: flesh
Don’t bet on the horses!
Scripture reading for July 25: Isaiah 31-35
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek help from the Lord. Yet He too is wise and can bring disaster, He does not take back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked, against those who help evildoers. But the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together.” Isaiah 31:1-3
Our city, state and nation are obsessed with gambling. Our state governor and some elected officials are constantly trying to find a way to institute more revenue through gambling. Betting on the horses, casinos, lottery or any other human scheme is a futile endeavor.
Now I know that Isaiah wasn’t writing about gambling. He wasn’t writing about horse racing either. He was writing to God’s people who had a tendency to trust in man and man’s ways rather than in the Lord and His ways. It was a problem in Isaiah’s day and is still a problem today. Trusting in man and horse-power is folly. Man and horses are flesh. The flesh profits us nothing; it is the Spirit that will bring life and peace. (Romans 8:6-8) Isaiah went on to tell the people the real key to all that they needed. If they would just fear the Lord, they would have all the treasures of security, righteousness, justice, wisdom and knowledge. (Isaiah 33:5-6)
If you want a real tip for a winning ticket for life, don’t bet on the horses or lottery! Fear the Lord and humbly trust in Him and He will bless you with all your heart desires and far more!
“The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:5-6
The armor of Light!
Scripture reading for June 1st: Romans 13, Psalm 109, Proverbs 16
Romans 13: 10-14 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Believers are in a battle with darkness, the flesh and the devil. In order to stand victorious, we must put on spiritual armor each day. We are to live a life of love in the power of the Holy Spirit and grace that comes from God’s mercy in our own lives. Each day brings us closer to the time of our Lord’s return for us. This should motivate us to cast off all the works of darkness from our past live in the flesh. We do this through daily consecration of our life to God and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. After putting off these old besetting sins, we put on the armor of light! Light comes from God’s Word and obedience. Light comes through the illumination of the Holy Spirit living within us, revealing truth and the path of holiness. Light comes from the “Light of the World”, Jesus Christ, the Living Word and coming King!
Psalm 109:26-28 “Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to Your steadfast love! Let them know that this is Your hand; You, O Lord, have done it! Let them curse, but You will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but Your servant will be glad!”
Prayer: Father God, I am blessed and filled with joy today at Your steadfast love for me, a lost sinner! Clothe me again today with the armor of Light and Truth! Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and the power to put off my old ways of sin and walk in the newness of life through Your love and mercy. I know that the time is short and want to be ready for Your Son’s return and help others as well, particularly my family!
Proverbs 16:31-32 “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”
Inheritance determined by faith!
Scripture reading for May 26th: Romans 9, Psalm 105, Proverbs 12
Romans 9:6-10 “But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Paul was perplexed about his own Jewish people. They had every advantage to find faith and God’s righteousness. But the truth Paul shared was that not every descendant of Abraham in the flesh was actually part of God’s elect. It was only the children of promise, conceived by faith, that were part of God’s forever family. Abraham and Sarah themselves had to trust God and leave their former land and relatives behind and go to a land God would show them. They were promised offspring as numerous as the stars but had no children of their own. When they were beyond childbearing, God again promised them a child. Isaac was born because they counted God as able to bring life from their dead bodies! It is only believing God and acting in faith that delights God. Our ancestry won’t help us without faith.
Psalm 105:4-6 “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered. O offspring of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen ones!”
Prayer: Father, I thank You that you made salvation and adoption into Your forever family a matter of faith for both Jew and Gentile. Thank You for drawing me through the Gospel of Jesus Christ to believe and receive the Holy Spirit of adoption. Thank You for those like Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob who walked with you by faith and received the promises. Use me today to share this truth and delight You.
Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are His delight.”
Walking by the Spirit in Freedom!
Scripture reading for March 28th: Galatians 5, Psalm 62, Proverbs 31
Galatians 5: 13-18 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use you freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Paul was writing to Jewish believers who were thinking of returning to Judaism and Jewish traditions. He exhorted them to continue to live in freedom by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and the Father. He exhibits the fruits of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. The Holy Spirit lives in us and guides us into Truth and away from the deeds of the flesh–sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Those led by the Holy Spirit are no longer under the law but under the Spirit of love, “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself!” If we live in love, we are free indeed!
Psalm 62:11-12 “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to You, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For You will render to a man according to his work.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your power found in Your Word and Your steadfast love. Baptize me afresh in Your love that I might serve and love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and that I might love my neighbor as myself. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and lead and guide my hands, my steps, and my lips to do Your will and works and bring glory to Your Holy Name! Amen!
Proverbs 31:30-31 “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”
Thanks be to God!
Scripture reading for February 17th: Romans 7
Key Scriptures: Romans 7:21-25 “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
Most commentators agree that Paul is here reflecting on his life as a strict Pharisee who loved God’s law and tried hard to apply it to his life. He wanted to obey and please God, but found within another law, that of sin and death, at work in his members. He ended up in a wretched condition feeling enslaved by the law of sin at work in spite of his desire to live in obedience to God. But thanks be to God Who by grace provided the remedy through Jesus Christ our Lord! Paul understood at last how to be free from the condemnation that trying to keep God’s law through human effort brought. By faith through grace He was set free! Thanks be to God!
Psalm 103:2-4 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, . .”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your gift of grace to me and all who will believe. Thank you for delivering me from the law of sin and death and my flesh. Help me to live in the power of the Holy Spirit today in joy and freedom.
Galatians 5:16-18 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”