Murmurers, complainers... walking after their own lusts

'Walking after their own lusts…'

We are CONSUMED by walking after our own lusts.

Don't mistake the word lust solely for sexual desires. People lust after many, many things. Being self consumed seems to be the flesh nature we are taught to nurture.  Giving into the wants of self is taught to be acceptable, and normal. We use that word a lot. Normal. It's normal to want this, it's normal to want that, it's normal so that makes it acceptable.  Yet who decided what is normal? Without guidance we are at the mercy of believing we know what is best for ourselves and with each of us individuals having differing opinions on what is best how can we ever truly know what is ultimately the best. The best turns out to be what a majority decides which doesn't necessarily make it truly the best, it only makes it a majority desire, a majority lust.

Again we come back to the fact of WHO we choose to believe in, who we choose to follow. Do we believe in a Creator? Do we choose to follow the outline for living given to us by our Creator? Or do we choose to follow our own outlines, or the outlines others like us have made?  Who do we choose to follow?

You might say you follow the laws of the society you belong to and that's a good thing or you'd be in jail. But on a more personal level where society's laws fall short, what do you follow, what moral principles do you adhere to? 

Are you consumed by walking after your own lusts? 

God has given us guidelines in His word. We know the truth. Do we have to like these truths? They will WAR against our FLESH nature, the part of us that is inclined to sin. The thing is, do we serve the flesh with our mind? Or do we serve the Lord with our mind? Do we choose to serve self or God? We make that choice and we make it all the time.  We face daily choices, daily temptations, daily trials and we have to choose who we will follow. We can CHOOSE to follow our own lusts, we can, and we most likely will because of our flesh nature that wars against our spiritual nature. We need to choose to follow God with our minds and seek forgiveness for the times we don't follow His will but our lusts. We must NOT willfully, recklessly, thoughtlessly embrace the lust warring against us.

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

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.

This is truth--  read this--

Jud 1:14  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Jud 1:15  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

That is truth also.

We must not choose to walk after our own lusts. We must be mindful that we have these lusts within us and give ourselves to our Savior, asking for His help, His forgiveness, His saving ability because we truly are helpless to do anything but constantly choose to follow Him, constantly choose to serve Him, and to follow His will NOT our lusts.

Please Father, please we would be YOURS always!

In YOU, in Christ Jesus our LORD now and forever!

Amen.