The Spirit Is Willing But The Flesh Is Weak

Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to resist certain sins in our lives? We really want to get away from it, we pray, we confess, we repent but as soon as the opportunity presents itself we are right back into it. There is no sense pretending that we are perfect or that we have got a grip on everything in our life. If someone happens to look behind the right door they will discover what a mess some parts of our lives are in. Thank the Lord that Jesus knows and understands, and that this life is about growth and not perfection.

When Jesus found his disciples sleeping after he asked them to keep watch and pray during the most difficult moment of his life on this earth, what did he say?

"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41, NKJV)

We recognize that he was speaking to his disciples but he was also speaking to himself. Jesus was faced with temptation in that moment, not because he was unwilling to obey Father but because his flesh wanted nothing to do with the pain of torture. He overcame that temptation by his love for Father and endured the torture that lead to and encompassed the cross.

Jesus knows exactly what we are facing when we are confronted by temptation and everything in us is screaming "run" but our flesh stays put. Someone said it this way: "To overcome temptation one should not run from it but run to Jesus." It may seem like a subtle difference but it is a big one. It indicates where we have put our eyes. If our eyes are on Jesus we will overcome but if we are looking to the temptation we will be overcome. Consider what Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1, NIV, 1986)

Our bodies are the weakest part of the process because our bodies will not be redeemed until Jesus' return. We have a new mind and heart but we are stuck in this weak vessel, which speaks loudly to Yahweh's grace and glory. If only we could see ourselves as living sacrifices, not living for our own pleasure but as servants of our God. If we could see the turning away from temptation as being part of our worship, our eyes would be focused on the object of our worship and not on the thing pulling on our flesh. John the apostle was very familiar with this subject as we recognize his message to us :

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4, NKJV)

Jesus' authority in us is greater than any spirit or temptation that belongs to this world or the evil one. Because he has overcome he has made it possible for us to overcome. Be careful where you fix your eyes.

As servants of the Creator of all things, our desire ought to be like Jesus in our attitude of service. No sacrifice is too big or too small considering the mercies he has shown us. Each day, let us offer not only our heart and mind but our bodies as well, as we get our focus off of ourselves and onto our Father. Have an overcoming day in service to our King.

God Has A Plan

It is easy to forget in this world that God has a plan and we are part of it. Sometimes we may wonder what God is doing as we see so much ugliness, hatred and injustice in the world. At times it seems so out of control and we may even be tempted to say, "Where are you God?" It's at these times we need to take a step back and remember some of the big picture.

Do you remember the parable Jesus told about the farmer who planted good seed and the enemy who came in and planted weeds? When the farm workers realized what had happened they asked the farmer if they should pull up the weeds. Makes sense, right? But the farmer told them to leave the weeds and the good seed to grow together because pulling up the weeds might damage the seed. He told them at the harvest they will separate the good from the bad. That's the big picture we need to remember.

This is the reason Jesus told us not to be afraid of the world because he had overcome it. He told us that there would be bad things because we are left to grow among the weeds, but he would strengthen us to go all the way. This was the same encouragement Paul was telling us when he told us to run the race to win, to go to the end of it. Our responsibility is to not allow the weeds to overwhelm us but instead to remember we are the good seed and we must go to the end of it to see God's justice. Don't let the evil, the hatred, the ugliness take away God's glory from you, he has a plan.

The good seed says together:

For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; 
   I sing for joy at the works of your hands. 
How great are your works, O LORD,    how profound your thoughts! (Psalm 92:4-5)

We do not fret over evil but instead we fix our eyes on the maker of heaven and earth and trust his plan. We are not overcome by evil but instead we overcome evil with good. We allow his light to shine through us with love and are determined never to take glory away from that light by allowing sin to overwhelm us. We do not belong to the weeds, we are of a different nature. We know the full story. We know how it ends:

The senseless man does not know, 
   fools do not understand, 
that though the wicked spring up like grass 
   and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. (Psalm 92:6-7)

It doesn't matter if the weeds seem to be winning or taking over. It doesn't matter if we seem to be outnumbered a thousand to one or even a million to one. It doesn't matter if our whole society slips into the anarchy of godlessness, Jesus Christ is still going to win, has already won, has snatched victory away from the enemy. If you have read the book then you know you have a choice to remain a weed or be transformed into the seed and if you have read the book then you know which will be victorious in the end.

No matter what we have to grow up with, the good seed can rejoice because God has a plan and together we proclaim:

But you, O LORD, are exalted forever. (Psalm 92:8)

This is what we know to be the truth, the promise we have been given because it is the plan of our Lord and nothing can come against him. This is his plan for us and because of it we gather to rejoice today:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, 
   they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 
planted in the house of the LORD, 
   they will flourish in the courts of our God. 
They will still bear fruit in old age, 
   they will stay fresh and green, 
proclaiming, “The LORD is upright;    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92:12-15)