But God

“I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.” (Romans 7:22-23)

We have a war inside of us that will rage for our entire life between who we used to be and who we’ve become in Jesus Christ. Paul, the most decorated missionary in the history of Christianity and the author of most of the New Testament, battled with it.

I hate to tell you this, but we’ll always have this battle. We’ll never outgrow it. We can’t read enough Scripture to make the temptations go away. We can’t hide from them.

Until we get to Heaven, we’re stuck with an all-out battle between our two natures. I’ve been a believer for awhile now, but my old nature is still there. My old nature wants me to be prideful, lustful, self-centered, deceptive, and just downright sinful sometimes.

The question is, what am I going to do about it? Willpower won’t solve the problem. Just because we want to change and put everything into making that change doesn’t mean we’ll make the change. It may work for a bit, but we’ll get tired and stop the effort.

In our spiritual walk, we want to choose to follow your new nature, meaning we choose not to follow our old nature. For instance, if we’re tempted with lust but we immediately remove ourselves from the temptation, we’ll starve the old self. If, when we’re tempted with pride, we remember our dependence upon God, our old nature can’t last long.

My challenge for us today is to remember that, as long as, we are in this world there will be a battle for us, BUT GOD......John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

In His Grip.......Pastor Matt Meadows