June 10, 2009
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Will by Pastor Don
2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Many of us have a focus that God’s got to do something for me. God has to stand up and fix the setback. But that is self-centered and we need to get things into perspective.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
There are things that God expects us to do for ourselves. Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
It is not written in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves. We have to put ourselves into position. If we are not seeking God first, it is like working without a head. We do not put self first in our scenario.
God comes first because He knows us better than ourselves. He knows what is best for us. He knows the order that is best. When we get in trouble it is often that we have a wrong assessment of ourselves. We justify and make excuses for ourselves.
2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.
Paul is pleading. He is saying, I know who I am and how I behave. It takes maturity where we can accept the responses of people to us. We justify that they treat me that way because (fill in the blank) but we are all sending out a message and receiving a message. We try to put the blame on others. We are usually the last ones we check out. What are we putting out? We need to get a handle on what we are putting out. People don’t listen to themselves. We want others to hear us.
2 Corinthians 10:2 But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
Paul spent time thinking about the way he responds. He knew that he could be emotional and blurting out things. He knows what has to be dealt with and how he has to be bold against some (not all). He planned a measure of boldness and divided it up as to who gets what.
It is scriptural. He saw that there were those who think of him according to the flesh and segregated them out.
Self introspection is who we are when we look in the mirror, not the confusion and sickness in our brain. Some of us are still fighting old battles.
Someone brought up memories that cause pain and Pastor Don stated that when we are healed the memories are facts that are not laden with emotions.
So often we are not aware of what we are projecting. How many layers of denial have we put on these things?
If pastors do not have some transparency toward the people, people will get the wrong idea that their pastors are perfect, and that makes it hard for them to approach their pastors when they are hurting. Pastors have their frailties and successes, have been knocked out, beat up, scarred and hurt.
James 5:13-18 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespassesc]’> fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
The works of the flesh are EVIDENT. So we can discern when we are in the flesh and when we are not.
There was a great song called “Jesus take the wheel.” A few of the verses are:
Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can’t do this on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I’m on
Jesus, take the wheelPastor Don said that he wants to hear a sequel to this record – six months later when there is another decision to be made who has the wheel?
It takes courage to say I give you permission, to tell me when I am out to lunch.
SABATAGE – SABA is a wooden stave and they would stick that into the machinery to stop the gears. We sabotage our flesh. When broken we have needs and wants that we seek from the flesh. This can jam the Spirit up. Our spirits become loaded with feelings of unworthiness, discrimination, and going through spiritual motions.
People come to Living Word Chapel hoping for a 30 day fix it Church, but often our healing is a process that you will get fixed, get some word and get fixed, and then get some more word and get something else fixed. It can take a lot longer than 30 days to get fixed.
We need a clear vision of what we are supposed to do. The passage tells us that the works of the flesh are EVIDENT, but that is not true for everyone. No one may have helped us get to the place where the works of the flesh are evident to us.
We looked at what the works of the flesh are.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,d]’> drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
BUT
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Notice, it does not use the word “EVIDENT” for the fruit of the Spirit. The spirit of flesh is evident. The fruit of the Spirit is more FELT than TELT.
Galatians 5:24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
We crucify the flesh – like Jesus on the cross. It is a powerful process of strongly killing what the flesh wants us to do.
If we are in the flesh we are under the law (verse 18-21) But when we are in the Spirit there is no law, for we are being guided the way God wants us to be, and our love for God will keep us from doing what are the works of the flesh.
We are to WORK out our salvation with fear and trembling. We do not work for our salvation, but once we are saved we begin the process of growing in Christ. We fear (love, awe) the Lord and that is the beginning of wisdom. When we seek to do what God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit wants, we begin to change and then there is no need for the law. When we know the Lord, we will know the Spirit of the law.
When we have looked in the mirror and identified the flesh, then excuse making is over. The blame game is over. We take credit for what we have done. Pastor Don told us that we all have baggage to carry, but we can keep the handle and drop the baggage. Only God can forget, we can remember, but we don’t have to carry the load.
Jesus came to give us access to the Father, before He ascended He descended to preach the Gospel to those who are captive. Jesus went to the cross to make us free from sin and death. The law is written on our hearts, we do not need to be under the law because it is written in our hearts.
Galatians 5:25-26 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
If we apply these truths we will get to peace, and realize that we don’t have to defend, when God corrects us or feel judged. We don’t have to judge others, envy others.
We want to examine our words before they come out of our mouths. Don’t say them if we will ultimately have to defend or explain them. Our flesh, if we are not careful, will try and present things in a contentious way.
Our walk of life is the way we live.
A lot of good stuff to take in this Bible study for me!!!! Hoping your day is blessed.
Heather
