The Struggles Believers Face In Their Attempts To Overcome Sin As Exemplified By the Apostle Paul! Part 2!

20 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Galatians 5:16.        This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

And it’s a wet and cloudy Thursday morning, the sunshine we’ve had the last few days has disappeared, but life is still great, because we still have Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and with Him we have everything we could ever need or want! Glory be! Now, as promised yesterday, if God saved life today, we’d continue looking at Bruh Paul’s words as he explains his struggles with his sin nature. And since we’re alive and kicking, through God’s great and daily compassions, let’s keep that promise. (smile) 

So, yesterday we saw how Bruh Paul struggled to overcome the carnality of his flesh, not understanding why he did things he didn’t want to do and didn’t do the things he desired to do, claiming that there was nothing good in his flesh, and that fact caused his predicament. And he goes on to further say: ‘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 (want to) do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after (according to) 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.’ (Rom. 7:20-23) 

And so it is with us; our flesh and our hearts play a constant tug-of-war with each other. Our hearts longing after the law of God, while our flesh longs for the law of sin. And thus, many of us cry out like Bruh Paul: ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death (this body of 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.’ (Rom. 7:24-25) 

And the scholars explain that ‘the law of my mind refers to the influence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life to obedience and good works; which in Rom. 8:2 he refers to as: “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” The law of sin meanwhile refers to that in man which is sold under sin. It is the “law of sin and death” in Rom. 8:2. So, apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit, the law of sin would dominate Paul’s life.’ Just as certainly as it would do ours!

Then, as per verse 24, ‘O wretched man: The reference here is to Paul’s tragic condition of defeat and frustration. The body of this death is not the physical body, but the inherited sin nature from Adam. It is that in him which is continually inclined towards thoughts and deeds that yield only to death.’ 

Yes friends, although Bruh Paul was a great and zealous apostle, he was also a man, just like us, which means he had all the same weaknesses that we have, and had to fight, just like we do, to stay on the straight and narrow path. That means to stop berating ourselves when we act carnally. However, to mitigate or lessen those carnal acts, we need to grow spiritually by more studying of and meditation on God’s Word, while also paying closer attention to the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit. That’s the only way we will ever turn down the cries of the flesh for its base desires. 

And Bruh Paul offers these words of advice in his letter to the Galatians. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ (Gal. 5:16-18) 

Oh friends, our lives are indeed battlefields between the flesh and the Spirit, because they both have yearnings and desires either to do good or to do evil. Consequently, they thwart each other and thus cause us to do things we don’t want to do. However, the situation is not hopeless, for when we are led by the Spirit and yield to His good wishes and desires, then we turn away from the flesh’s evil yearnings and keep sin out of our lives. But we need to consciously make that decision to be led by the Spirit, and when we do, we’re not under the law because then we don’t need the restraints of the law, since our moral lives are then governed by the Holy Spirit. 

And as Bruh Paul said to Timothy: ‘But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane…etc. etc… and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;’ (1Tim. 1:8-10) Yes my brethren, the law is made for those irresponsible and disobedient people, not we faithful believers in Christ Jesus. 

Now, here’s one last interesting piece of advice in the war against the flesh. The scholars tell us that ‘By contrasting the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) with the fruit of the Spirit (vs. 22-23) the believer can know whether he is walking by the Spirit or being controlled by the flesh.’ Now that’s an exercise we can all spend some valuable time on today. (smile) 

But that’s not all! Our great God has, in His amazing generosity, also bestowed undeserved blessings on us to help do His earthly work. We call them our Thursday Blessings, which we can activate right now by simply declaring (steups!!!) them in all sincerity and truth. As one strong voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! 

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And with that declaration (yesss!!!) we are now duty bound to go out and use those blessings on behalf of others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…the sins of the flesh…are no match for the power of the Holy Spirit…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   3 May 2023 Galatians 5:23.

03 May 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Galatians 5:23.       If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Oh, what a glorious, wet, damp, drizzly, arthritis inducing Wednesday May morning! (smile) Yes friends, the last few days have been a combination of drizzle and weak sunshine, and the dampness that sneaks into the bones, causing the arthritis malady to raise its ugly head. But thank the Lord the weather doesn’t affect my aching bones. I don’t know why, but it’s never really made my supposed arthritic condition any worse. My pains come around when they feel like, regardless of the weather. And I’ve learned over the years to just grin and bear them, taking the odd medication when the pain gets a bit much. 

What I don’t like about my joint pains is that they are annoyingly intermittent; suddenly showing up out of the blue, with no warning, and no obvious aggravation on my part. They’ll stick around for a bit, then disappear just as suddenly as they came, for another period of time. It’s a good thing Jesus warned us that in this world we’d have trials and tribulations, but we ought to be of good cheer, for He’s overcome, He’s conquered this evil world! Glory be my brethren! 

And we do have to learn to handle some of our pain and not run to the medication bottle as soon as the pain shows up. My logic is that if we use the medications too often then they will cease to work properly after a while. But that’s just me, and I suppose my aches and pains might not be as bad as some of you my fellow believers. Each of us though need to keep Christ first place in our lives especially in our times of illness, for remember He is the Great Physician and prayer is our greatest privilege. So let’s try and use it more than we use the medications nuh.

 And we can begin right now with this prayer I found amongst some papers while doing some spring cleaning in one of the many cubicles on my desk. I found all sorts of stuff, written ages ago, some that I couldn’t even read properly because of the terrible handwriting, and that was just a small portion of what’s hiding there. I’m sure there are many gems amongst the crud, but only time and my persistence in cleaning the desk will tell. Anyway, enough talk. Let’s pray this prayer that’s titled ‘Renew Toronto,’ but is very appropriate for renewing both our cities and our lives. And please don’t ask me where I got it from, (smile) because I haven’t the foggiest notion. 

Instead, please pray with me: ‘Gracious God, in your wisdom and LOVE, You create us in your image and likeness. You call us to be your Presence in the world. Let the Spirit of Jesus grow with us for this journey  – inspire in us insight and vision for our Church community  – ready our hearts and hands to bring healing to our sinfulness  – move our feet to live the Gospel of Jesus with courage and joy. Renew us, GRACIOUS GOD. Renew us by your LOVING acceptance of us. Renew us to do justice, to LOVE kindness, and to walk humbly with you, our God. To renew the face of this earth. Amen.’ 

Ah friends, I like it, and I hope you do too, because it’s simple and straightforward, yet covers all the bases. And oh, do we ever need a total renewing in these ungodly and evil times, where faith and trust in Almighty God is sadly on the wane, and the enemy is getting bolder and more prevalent every day. How we do need the Holy Spirit of Jesus to fill us up like Bruh Paul exhorted the Ephesians. 

‘See that ye walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation, licentiousness); but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.’ (Eph. 5:15-21) 

Yes my fellow believers, that’s how we ought to live; being filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fill us with God’s own life, character and values, rather than the dissipating wine that leads us astray to ungodly and sinful thoughts, deeds and actions. For it is only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God that we can receive the things we just prayed for; that’s inspiration for insight and vision for our Church community, to ready our hearts and hands to bring healing to our sinfulness and to move our feet to live the Gospel of Jesus with courage and joy. 

Then, and only then can we fulfill Bruh Paul’s words to the church at Galatia. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirt, ye are not under the law.’ (Gal. 5:16-18) That’s oh so true my fellow saints, we only have two options; to walk in the Spirit or to walk in the flesh and Bruh Paul breaks down what both consist of in the verses that follow: ‘the lust or works of the flesh vs.19-21, and the fruit of the Spirit, vs. 22-23. 

Please read and study them, so that they can take root in our souls, so that we can therefore do as he later says: ‘And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections (its passions) and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory (conceited), provoking one another, envying one another.’ (Gal. 5:24-26) Now, those are certainly words to live by, especially in these turbulent and contrary last days my brethren! And for those of us who are sincerely trying to live that way, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our fabulous position in Christ Jesus. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

Now, please remember that it’s also been promised that if we stick with Jesus right down to the very end, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Yes, our puny, finite minds simply won’t be able to comprehend it. (smile) So let’s use that as further encouragement to endure to the end nuh. Much LOVE!

…a spiritual walk with Christ…has so much more to offer…than a lustful, carnal walk with the enemy… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ              

Today’s Scrip-Bit   31 December 2021 Mark 14:38.

31 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mark 14:38.     Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Ah friends, let me apologize for the Bit being late, but I had some other heartfelt matters to attend to first. You know that saying when you think you have things bad, somebody else has worse problems than you. Now that’s the gospel truth! And life just takes pleasure in playing these little games with us. This morning I came down to write the bit, complaining about my aches and pains, only to open my e-mail and find a note from an old friend, regarding the funeral for the son of another old friend in T&T. 

The funeral service was being streamed so I just had to watch it. And though my friend Haydn’s face was masked, I could see the terrible sadness and sorrow in the way he walked and his general deportment, because the worst thing that can ever happen to a parent, unfortunately happened to him, he lost a child to heaven, while he himself was still alive. Now that’s something I’ve always warned my children about; please don’t die before me, because I don’t know if I could handle it, and I don’t want to know either! 

Now my friend is a medical doctor, and apparently his son died from Covid. So if a doctor can’t save his son, then who can be saved eh? It’s a rather trying situation my brethren. All over the world hundreds and thousands of people are dying from the virus, but yet, we are not taking the situation as seriously as we ought to. What’s it going to take eh? And today is New Year’s Eve, the night of the biggest parties around the globe. And believe me, there will be many big parties tonight, with maskless people in close proximity to each other, hugging and kissing, ringing in the New Year with joyful abandon. 

But how many of those are going to live to see the end of that New Year eh? Definitely not all, if we don’t get our act together, sooner rather than later. The Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus is spreading like wildfire and we still refuse to take the necessary precautions to fight the bloody virus. It killed us in 2020, when we didn’t know much about it. It killed us in 2021, when we knew more about it. And it’s going to keep on killing us in 2022, if we don’t smarten up and come together and fight it as one! 

And who knows if another more dangerous variant will soon pop up, to muddy the waters even more. Mankind is the most stubborn, foolishly proud, and hard-headed of all God’s creations! Even the wild animals with no sense of reason know better than to let a deadly foe divide and conquer them. But that’s why our world is in such a sad state of deterioration and destruction, with evil and ungodly strife, plus all the other negative emotions currently being so rampant and thus leading the way to our imminent demise. 

Oh my people, it’s only through, togetherness; that’s LOVE, compassion and mercy for and to each other, will we ever be able to overcome our deadly enemy, the devil and his evil minions, who want to destroy our world. And it’s ONLY JESUS who can help us to accomplish that immense but not impossible task. But as He told His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane: ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.’ (Mark 14:38) 

Yes my fellow believers, it’s ever so important that we don’t allow the carnal lusts of our mortal flesh, the lies and deceits of the enemy, to influence our behaviour. Thus, these immortal words of Bruh Paul to the Galatians, re walking in the Spirit. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ (Gal. 5:16-18) 

Oh friends, when we yield to the Spirit’s leading, we yearn to put sin out of our daily life, and He enables us to do it. And Luke, uniquely in his gospel, further expounds on that theory, when he quotes Jesus, saying: ‘And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged (weighed down) with surfeiting (carousing), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth: Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.’ (Luke 21:34-36) 

And the scholars offer these interesting and important explanations. ‘21:34. Surfeiting means “to indulge one’s appetites excessively.” No believer is beyond the temptation to fall into sin. Jesus warns against slackness and lack of daily readiness in the Christian walk.’ And yuh better believe that tonight, all around the world there will be lots of ‘surfeiting’, carousing, debauchery and lots of slackness all in the name of ringing in the New Year, with lots of resolutions and good intentions that will fall apart as soon as the year returns to normal, with the drudgery of everyday work and living asserting themselves. 

But listen to this explanation from the scholars re verse ‘21:36. Prayer is the better part of valour when persevering for Christ under pressure. Prayer alone will enable one to stand before the returning Son of man when those all around are falling, whether in condemnation before Christ or to the temptation to deny Christ under the trials of the hour.’ Blessed be the holy name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, my people! 

And since prayer is so important in our staying godly and righteous, let’s go to God right now in prayer, through our Friday Chant, sincerely seeking His help for our many problems. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And I shouldn’t have to remind us, but I will (smile), that ONLY if we set a good example as faithful believers, will the Lord seriously and sincerely entertain our prayer. Much LOVE!

…good intentions don’t mean a thing…until they become good actions… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8