In my flesh dwelleth no good thing

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.


This was said approximately 2000 years or so ago and it's still very revelant to us all today. In our flesh dwells nothing good. Our flesh is weak and corrupted by years of sin. Only Christ overcame the flesh and it's through Christ we overcome. Does this mean we get some magical power that does away with our flesh desires? No. Many, many men and women of God get caught up in the trap of begin supposedly able to overcome their sins and they feel good when that happens. It might last for one, two, ten years but more often than not there are set backs and slips into that same sin and it becomes depressing to succumb to something you thought you'd overcome. The key there are the words - you'd overcome. We get to this place where we believe we are doing the necessary overcoming and we begin to rely on ourselves for that overcoming.


I've never been in a 12 step program but what I know of it from tv and whatnot I think a person is taught to take one day at a time and the famous serenity prayer is recited-


God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr


The first part of that is known more widely than the rest but read the rest...


Living one day at a time.
Enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as HE did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that HE will make all things right
if I SURRENDER to HIS will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.


Now while I agree with most of this prayer the bit about being reasonably happy in this life is a fallacy. We can't even expect that as much as we might want to.


We do have to surrender to God's will. We do have to trust that God will make all things right. We can't believe in ourselves or our own goodness, we have to trust in God fully. When we start to believe we are good in and of ourselves we start to get caught in a trap of Satan's making. We need to have Christ before us always. We need to fall at His feet in surrender. It's not pitiful to surrender, to admit our weakness in the face of God's strength. Yes, we to believe this--


God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.


And to understand this--


Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.


And believe this--


Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.


We have to thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord that we can serve the law of God, we can. Trusting in Him fully that HE overcame the flesh and we through Him will overcome. Our hope is in Him and Him alone.


May God help us to place our trust fully in Christ now and forever. Life will give to us through Satan any and all challenges to snare us and we have to trust solely in Christ, not even in ourselves.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord, our Savior, may we hold fast to Him now and forever, trusting in His ability to overcome the flesh.


In Him always.


Amen.