Grouchiness when I am tired, and a quick temper when I feel threatened in any way are my two troubling sins. We are more susceptible to the flesh when we make our own plans than when we allow Christ to live in and through us. There is forgiveness for sins when we quickly repent of them as the Holy Spirit convicts us of our vile behavior.
Our failings to walk in His ways is a ladder to rise into greater heights of spiritual union with the Trinity of God within us. Our weaknesses remind us that we need our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, we are not driven to sin when we trust in the Lord with our whole heart, rather than depending on our human understanding and strength.
Missing the mark of God’s standard for our behavior is not a necessary part of life. The more unified we grow with Christ in us, the less we desire the things of this world, the more Christian character replaces our carnality, and the less we choose a sinful avenue rather than one inspired by the fruit of God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God replaces:
· hatred with love,
· depression with true joy,
· discontentment with peace,
· irritation with patience,
· criticism with gentleness,
· backbiting with goodness,
· pride with meekness,
· excess with self-control,
· and worry with the faith of God as we are controlled and guided by His Spirit.
Jesus lives out His perfect character in and through us. If we focus on sin, we will sin more often. As we view Christ as the center of our life, we walk more in the Spirit than in the flesh (Colossians 3:3-4; Hebrews 2:18, 12:2; 1 John 5:18). The power of Christ in us keeps us seeking to live more like Jesus (2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter 2:9).
Prayer:
Father God, remind us that satanic temptation and lies influence us to express his evil character through our life (Luke 4:13; 1 Timothy 6:9), but Your tests of our nature prove to us the growth we have made in expressing Your character through our thoughts, words and actions (1 Peter 4:12). We traverse trials through Your strength within us (James 1:2,12; 1 Peter 1:6).
Therefore, help us to cooperate with Your endeavors to express the divine nature of Christ in and through us (2 Peter 1:3-4). Remind us that trails do not come from a failure in us to walk in Your Spirit, or due to a lack of our faith in Your faithfulness, or from a deficit of our devotion to You. As we draw near to You, and resist demonic influences, they must flee from us (James 4:7-10). Teach us not to blame our shortcomings on other people, but to take full responsibility for our own failings. You are our all-sufficient One.
Thought for the Day:
Religious efforts on our part to attain perfection in Christ leads to unrest and striving in our soul to receive what Christ already accomplished for us through Calvary’s cross, because He took our sin and gave us His righteousness in exchange; this allows us to honestly and uniquely live in reality and truth, rather than in our human effort.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8:32,36; 14:6, 10:10
