Victory in the Spirit

September 6, 2015

Devotions:

        “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”  ‭Galatians‬ ‭5:16-18‬ ‭NASB‬‬

        “For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths. His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.”  ‭Proverbs‬ ‭5:21-23‬ ‭NASB‬‬

        Our own sin and iniquity is what tangels us up and destroys us.  When we refuse to listen to God's wisdom and choose to go our own ways, our sins blind us and we fall into the snare of the evil one.  

        Jesus came to set us free from the snares of sin and iniquity that would devastate us and ruin us. Jesus paid the price for all our sins so that we do not pay for our sin, Jesus did.  

        Paul says then that if we will walk by the Spirit, the overcoming power of the Spirit that over came all our sins, sicknesses, diseases, and even the power of death we will not give into the weakness of the flesh that wants to yield to sin.  The flesh says, "if it feels good, do it!" The flesh will fight to be comfortable and experience pleasure above all else.  But comfort and pleasure can be the bait to snare us.  Many times they come with a price. 

        God is not against comfort and pleasure but not at the price of righteousness, not in violation of Godly love.  

        God hates sin, trangressions and iniquity because they do great damage to His beloved, us even to the point of destroying us if possible.  

        The way out? Know the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, Know His leading in your heart. Believe in the Holy Spirits desire to see you succeed in all that you do.  He came to set us free from sin and He succeeded.

        “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  ‭Romans‬ ‭8:10-11‬ ‭NASB‬‬