We Are Withering Grass

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

"Generally, the word 'surrender' means to give up something completely, after striving to maintain possession of it.  Are you making the spiritual connection?  Our flesh keeps trying to hang onto the control of our lives, and that control can be seen every time that we fall prey to temptation.  The sin that follows the temptation is a clear indication that we are controlled in that area by our flesh.  Isaiah spoke about our flesh, spelling out the truth about it:

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers and the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass.  The grass wither, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.  (Isaiah 40: 6b-8)

Isaiah compares people who are walking in the flesh with grass and flowers.  According to the verses, our flesh is in a constant state of decline!  Not only are we physically withering and fading year by year, but our sinful flesh which desires to be in control of our whole lives, is getting worse and worse.  Our flesh, more and more, wants to be in control and make all the decisions based on what will both please and feed it.  When we walk in the flesh and under its control, a spiritual type of death begins to take place in us.  While we might be spiritually growing and our walk with God improving, our flesh is declining.  Sinful, human flesh can never be improved upon.  It has no ability to improve since it is in a constantly declining and withering.  The older you get, the more clearly you will see this truth in action."

Through the years my spiritual heart has grown stronger.  But at the same time I have discovered my sins have become more and more about my pride issues and poor attitudes.  This is my flesh.  I am growing spiritually, but my natural, ungodly, self-focused desires have become far stronger than they were 30 years ago.  My spirit is improving, but my flesh is getting worse.

While your spirit can be improved upon, your flesh can not.   By nature, it will become worse and worse, so stop trying to improve it in your own power.  Why not surrender your flesh to the Spirit and walk with Him?  Let Him be in control of your actions and responses.  Then you will begin to see great improvement in your spiritual life!

The Protection Your Heart Requires

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(Excerpted from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory--Chapter 8)

"The next piece of armor spoken of is the breastplate of righteousness.  This piece of the armor is critical if we are going to protect our 'hearts.'  The breastplate was a shield that covered the major organs of the body, from the neck to the hips.  Spiritually speaking, it covers our heart.  If we are going to fully follow God's commands by taking full vengeance on our sins so that we can have a heart that is united and healed by God, then we must use this breastplate in the battle.  Christ's righteousness was credited to us at the point of our salvation.  We were justified in the eyes of our Lord.  In other words, in God's eyes, it was 'just as if' we had never sinned.  But there is another righteousness that we must focus on now that we are saved.  It is the righteousness of holy living.  In order to live out a holy lifestyle, and thus live righteously, we must use the breastplate that protects us from this kind of warfare, making right choices in the midst of the battle of temptation.

Too often we think about making the right choices after we have been tempted and fall prey to the enemy's scheme by making a wrong and sinful choice.  That is why the breastplate of righteousness should be practiced and exercised every day so that at the moment of great temptation, it will be second nature to us to make the right choice.  You must practice seeing yourself as Christ sees you--as His righteous child--and do what a righteous one would do."

Your Sins Are NOT Invisible; You Are NOT Bullet-proof!

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Do you have trouble with temptation and falling to sin?  Are you a disobedient child of God and think that it is invisible to God's eyes or irrelevant to Him?  Consider the Israelites who were disobedient and thought God didn't care.

"Have you spared all the women?  Behold, these caused the sons of Israel . . . to trespass against the Lord . . . SO THE PLAGUE WAS AMONG THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD."  (Numbers 31: 15-16)

"Israel's downfall was not in the keeping of the women and booty.  Their downfall was the moment that they disobeyed the words of God spoken through Moses.  Gods' commands meant very little, if anything, to them once the temptation was before their eyes.  We disobey in the exact same way, by the same process.  Can you relate to these statements?

1. We like what we see, we want it, and we grab it.
2. We like what gratifies our flesh, even when God has clearly said, 'NO!'
3. We want to be in control and not be told by God or anyone else what to do or not to do.
4. We want to please ourselves more than we want to please God.
5. We lack the desire to be in a relationship with God that will require our obedience.

When I was teaching this material in my small group, one quiet, but thoughtful man added one more thing to this list.  This was his comment:

6.  We think that we are bullet-proof and invisible.

I like that answer.  I find it to be completely true!  We tend to think that we can sin, and get away with it, because God surely wouldn't discipline us harshly, would He?  Or we think that He is paying very poor attention to His children, and we might be able to slip one more sin by Him.

Maybe these illustrations don't fit you.  Maybe they do not describe the truth about why you disobey your Lord.  If not, please take some time to identify why you do not obey God's commands, or only partially obey them.  Understanding why we continue to disobey is an important part of the process of learning to obey."

(Quoted from Chapter 7, "Taking Full Vengeance" from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory)

Run From Temptation--Genesis 39

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Eve was not prepared to run from the temptation that the enemy slyly sent her way.  Neither was Adam.  It is easy to say to yourself, "Yes, I know I gave in, but it is our nature to do so.  Just look at Adam and Eve.  I promise I will try harder the next time."   Yes, My precious one, they fell, and now that is the nature of all mankind.  But this is not My way.  It is Satan's way for you. He would MUCH prefer you think of Adam and Eve when he is attempting to pull you away from Me.  Let me show you a better example

Joseph is the one I want you to study.  I want you to keep him in the forefront of your mind, and push the example of the first man and woman far from your thought.  For I do not want you continuing in your sins because you have not been trained to think differently about the topic of resisting temptation.  I want you to see My way of handling temptation, and exactly how you can avoid falling prey to it.

Look at the story of Joseph from today.  Here is a young man who has been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and now lives in a land that is not his own.  I have blessed him in such a way as for him to find favor with a very prestigious man.  Joseph is raised up to a position he would never dreamed of.  It wasn't long before his master's wife took note of him, and desired him greatly.  Satan's temptation was not sly at all.  "Come lie with me," were the wicked words  that spewed forth out of the mouth of  this forbidden woman.  So many times she approached the handsome, young Joseph.  But he never gave in.  Over and over again he turned down her suggestive request.  And over and over again the words came, "Lie with me."

When you are reading the Word it often seems as if events take place quickly, one after another.  But this is not the case.  Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery.  Two years before Joseph became the governor (at age 30) he was sent to prison for his "supposed" sinful act with Potiphar's wife.  When he went to prison he was 28 years old. That means that  he spent approximately 11 years running from from a severe temptation! 

How did stay strong for 11 years?  My precious one, there is no answer other than the fact that when temptation came, Joseph refused to "bite", he kept himself away from where she was, and eventually he was in a position where he had to run. 

I have promised you that when you are tempted, I will supply a way out.  Follow Joseph's lead.  That is the way out of every temptation.

• Refuse the temptation INSTANTLY, and over and over if necessary
• Do not put yourself in a place where the temptation can easily occur
• If necessary, leave everything and RUN FROM IT!

Oh how I want you to do more than understand the concept of running from temptation.  I want you  to apply what you know the very next time temptation comes your way.  Be on the lookout.  Evil is everywhere.  Be prepared by thinking about these 3 steps over and over again, so that when you are tempted, you will "see" the the way out I have provided.  It is through the door of refusal, the door of wisdom, and the door of quick escape.  You have the key to pass through all three doors, because you have Me.  I am the Door and I am the Way.

Watchmen on the Wall

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Israel had completed the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the keen direction and leadership of Nehemiah.  They had overcome several discouraging moments by simply continuing on in the work God had brought to them.  Finally, after just 52 days, their wall was finished, with all the door and gates hung in their places.  It would have been tempting for Israel to let down her guard, now that the wall stood resolute between them and their enemies who still wanted to destroy them.  But Nehemiah's wisdom took them down the path of further protection when he laid out to the people how they should live within their walls.  

Nehemiah taught the people in simple practicality.  The gates were not to be opened to go in and out of until the sun was hot.  In other words, until the sun was very high in the sky.  Dawn would prove to be too risky.  The gates were to be closed while the guard were still on duty.  That simply meant that they would be closed long before the sun went down.  These two rules would, in large part, keep Israel's enemies out, and Israel safe inside except in the brightest daylight, when it would be unlikely that their enemies would attack them.  

Then Nehemiah offered on more sound piece of advice.  At all times there would be guards around the entire wall who were responsible for watching for the attacks that might come.  Though Israel had secured a sound victory in the completion of the wall, the wall could not protect itself!

In our lives, the same is often true.  Have you ever experience a great spiritual victory, say, over a particular sin?  You not only built at stone wall to keep it out of your life, but when temptation came you "stonewalled" it again.  Days passed and the temptation did not return, so you, in the pride of conquering your enemy, settle into that "safe" life.  Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, the enemy returns and tempts you quickly to sin.  Caught "off-guard" you instantly fall prey to it again.  The problem was not that you hadn't been victorious in building a wall to keep it out of your life; the problem is that you did not train your eye to keep watch for its return.

Israel needed men to watch for an enemy attack on Jerusalem.  In the same way we need to be watchmen on the wall who are scanning the horizon for any sign of our enemy who will come again and again to try to defeat or destroy our lives and testimonies.  Our enemy will never be defeated by our spiritual walls.  Quite the opposite!  He will look for more and more ways to re-enter your life, to take you as his prisoner, to lead you back to bondage.

Building a wall against sin through prayer, Bible study, and even accountability is only one part of the solution to sin.  You must add to those a discerning eye, a humble heart that knows how easy it is to be infiltrated by evil, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit that comes from surrender to His commands.

Are you standing on the wall 24/7?

Wrong Way! Go Back!

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David should have been at war.  It was springtime, and his military troops had returned to battle to complete what they started before the long, rainy, cold winter set in.  Instead, David remained in Jerusalem.  Pacing the floor of his balcony, likely thinking of the his men and worried just a little that he hadn't accompanied them, David glanced over and saw Bathsheba.  At that very moment every thought of his nation's battle and his lack of entreaty to the Lord stopped plaguing him, and his mind, as well as his eye, lingered on Bathsheba.  Thus began a snowball of sin coming down the mountain of his life.  Or so I used to think.

As long as I have been reading my bible I was sure that this one moment in David's life, of falling to a fleshly temptation, had ushered in a bushel of horrible choices.  But the truth of the matter is this:  David's sin began long before that fateful night on the balcony.  It began the moment David took his second wife. 

God had clearly given the command that the men of Israel were to be monogamous.  God put the parameters of "one wife" around them to protect them.  Yet David "overlooked" this particular commandment and justified himself as he took wife after wife, and concubine after concubine.  For several years his disobedience appeared to also be "overlooked" by God.  But it wasn't.  With God, appearance is irrelevant.  God hated sin, so He gave commandments to show His people what He expected out of their behavior.  God hated David's sin,  and not just in the moment when he fell to the temptation of not looking away from Bathsheba.  God hated David's sin the moment he fell to his selfish lack of control that opened the door to a second marriage while still married to his first wife.  God hated the lust in David's heart the presented itself long before his sleepless night of pacing.

Caught in his sin, David would now suffer the consequences of leaving his lust unchecked.  Countless times David could have confessed to God regarding his sinful heart, but he never did.  Not until he had been caught by the prophet Nathan in a wicked scheme to keep his infidelity a secret, a scheme that involved lies, betrayal, and a murderous plot.  Nathan called David's honor and integrity into account, and David, truly heart-broken over his sin, confessed to God the truth He already knew.

The ugliness and sin in David's heart began as a tiny seed of dissatisfaction with the wife of his youth, but it grew into a massive, strangling vine.  God let it grow until He had finally had enough.  What David thought God must have "winked at," he now realized had been a critical flaw in his character.  

What sin have you been committing for a very long time now?  Has it seemed that it is just "no big deal" to God since He really hasn't challenged you in regard to it?  Learn from the life of David.  What hasn't been dealt with will surely be!  God is not willing that evil reside in any of us.  If you have let it go unchecked, as David did, you can count on God pulling the rug out from under you sooner or later.  Take a good look into your heart.  What is your ugly, sinful vine?  Surrender now and confess it to God and walk away from it..  It's the wrong way!  Go back!  Get on the right path!  Better to handle it that way than to wait for the discipline of the Lord!