Abstain from fleshly lusts

ABSTAIN. 1 Peter 2:11

DENY YOURSELF. Luke 9:23

PUT OFF.  Ephesians 4:22-24

We find it a great hardship when we are told to abstain from food eight hours before a medical test. Deprivation in order to have some procedure done, from the testing of blood to surgery. Deprivation why? We are told it's because the 'fasting' bloodwork reveals differences from the non-fasting bloodwork. We are told we must have an empty stomach  to lessen the chances of vomiting during surgery. We are told to deprive ourselves for our own good.  We generally listen,  with perhaps a few liberties such as a sip of water, a swallow of coffee, or some such and even as we take that liberty we know we could be endangering ourselves by our action- according to doctors/surgeons and all the history they have to draw on that led them to the conclusions fasting is better for certain things.  We listen because we want to be safe. We want the correct blood work done in order to show the results untampered with in order to determine if we need various medicines to help us should our blood work reveal things that aren't so good. We want to keep from vomiting during surgery and after surgery, we don't want to choke, we don't want to injure ourselves from the forceful throes of vomiting.  We are protecting ourselves. We are abstaining to protect ourselves.  We only feel a mild irritation that things have to be this way, that we have to abstain because we know it is what it is and we can't change anything. 

Our Lord in His Most Holy Word tells us to ABSTAIN from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

Definitions:

Fleshy lusts-

G4559 sarkikos,  pertaining to flesh, that is, (by extension) bodily, temporal, or (by implication) animal, unregenerate: - carnal, fleshly.

G1939 epithumia, a longing (especially for what is forbidden): - concupiscence, desire, lust (after).

These flesh fueled cravings that WAR against us, what are they? If they're things we desire then how are they warring against us? 

We know the flesh is at war with the spirit, right?

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Again, if we want to do things, why are they wrong things? 

What sort of flesh desiring things are contrary to the Spirit?

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

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.

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Evil. What flesh desiring things are evil?

What is evil?

In a nutshell, evil is selfishness, self-centeredness, evil is self-indulgence, evil is self.

We are to abstain from anything that would keep us centered on ourselves!

How can that be? How would we live at all if we weren't concerned for our own well-being- feeding, bathing, clothing ourselves?  All these things are necessary just because we exist, right? So how can they be evil?  They can be perverted. There is an acceptable indulgence of self so that the needs of living are taken care of, but beyond that shouldn't our centered be on God and others and off of ourselves?

No wonder so few will be known by our Savior when He returns. We are a world filled with self indulgence, self centeredness, selfishness.  We come first simply because we exist, and others may come first only as it suits our selfishness to put them there.

More tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ- the PERFECTLY SELFLESS ONE!

Amen!

*******

1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

Luke 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Ephesians  4:22-24 Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

War against the soul

Decisions. We have to make constant decisions throughout our lives.  Daily decisions. We choose whether or not to 'feed' the old man or the new man.  When we are born again in Christ there is NO magical transformation that takes away all our flesh ruled tendencies. The deceitful lusts that war against the us will do just that… WAR.

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Eph 4:22-24.

Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 13:14.

We have to choose to put on the LORD JESUS CHRIST.  We have to choose to put off the former ways.  We have to choose to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. 

Choices, so many choices. Our old nature doesn't disappear, as much as we want it to. We are in a war, a real war even if it's not a war in the flesh alone but in spirit as well. The war of our mind… no wonder we have to be RENEWED in the spirit of our minds.  Our minds NEED constant renewing! Our minds are under constant assault! We need to put off the old man! We need to put off the corruption in us! The lusts in us are deceitful, trying to convince us that they are GOOD. We talked a little about this the other day.  The calling of evil, good and good, evil.  The deceit in us is overwhelming so we must cling to CHRIST! We must CHOOSE to abstain from anything that would keep us from Christ!  We have to CHOOSE CHRIST constantly throughout our day. 

It is a choice and we CAN'T forget it! We can't let ourselves be so caught up in our selves we fail to see Christ in everything! When we shut Christ out because we don't *feel* Him, or we are too caught up in anger, or wrong doing, or even doing good selfishly, we are not putting on Christ.

So often it is revealed to me as I'm in the throes of flesh passions that war against the spirit that I am NOT putting on Christ, and what I need to do is STOP right then and put on Christ, not let the deceitful flesh lusts rule in me.

It's true, this is what I need to do and CAN do only by the grace and mercy, the love of my Savior, through the Holy Spirit that He has sent to me.

This is TRUTH!

We have to choose Christ and Christ's way, not our own, not Satan's way.

Please Father, please renew the spirit of our minds! We need this renewal CONSTANTLY, daily! 

You are our RIGHTEOUSNESS! You are our HOLINESS! You are our SAVIOR! Please, save us from ourselves and all that would keep us from being Yours! Please!

All by Your love and grace, your mercy, by Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, always! 

Jesus stood and cried... if any man thirst

Joh 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Living water.

Remember when Jesus said we must be born again?  Born of the spirit and water.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Life giving water.  The Holy Spirit is promised to us, and without the Holy Spirit we will not see God.  We must be born of the SPIRIT. 

Joh_14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever

Joh_14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh_15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The Holy Spirit is sent to us. Except we are BORN of the water and of the SPIRIT- we will not be able to enter the kingdom of God. If we cannot enter the kingdom of God we will NOT have eternal life  with our Savior. 

We must have the SPIRIT and Jesus wants us to come to HIM to receive the SPIRIT.  We must THIRST -

Mat_5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

We must thirst.

Please Father, we THIRST after You, after the Spirit, after the Lord our Savior!

Kept from Evil

Departing from evil.

When we understand- we depart from evil. We are no longer inclined to embrace evil- at least not spiritually.  Jesus asks our Father to keep us from evil, knowing this was paramount to us as those who would belong to Him.

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Depart from evil.

Kept from evil.

Evil would have us if it can, it will stop at nothing to get us. Jesus spoke nothing lightly! Jesus asked the FATHER to keep us from the evil.  Jesus wanted us to know that He was asking the Father to do this for us.  Jesus PRAYED for us and His prayer will be heard! For all who would be His, He would stop at nothing to keep us in His love. WE MUST desire this. WE have to desire Christ to lead us now and forever.  We need to be kept from evil!

We need to also depart from evil.

We cannot  choose evil over Christ. We cannot choose Satan over Christ. Satan is the ruler of this world and so much in this world belongs to him. The evil has only grown and grown and the only way we've been able to live with ourselves is because we call evil good now. We do. We call evil good.  We've blinded our eyes to the evil. We have accepted the evil and call it life. If a person in a coma for a hundred years woke up today and witnessed our world they would be totally overwhelmed by the EVIL of today. They would NOT be amused by it. They'd be appalled. We make movies of this sort and find it humorous to watch the people from the past pulled to the future stumble about and find themselves drawn into the evil. Rarely do we make movies that would have a person NOT accepting the evil of this world.  WE laugh at what isn't funny, but we do so to fit in. We play along because we are helpless to do otherwise in so many ways. The evil is surrounding us in this world and is it any wonder our Savior prayed for us to be kept from the evil?

The only way we are to be kept from the evil is by our God keeping us from it. WE must look to Him for all things, for all hope!

Depart from evil.

Please, Father, save us! Come Lord Jesus, come soon! We need You, we need You desperately! This world is covered in evil. Keep us from that evil so we may be YOURS! Please, Father, please once again I beg You to save us from ourselves, from our flesh selves, from the evil that we are prone to do in the flesh. Please, Father. In the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior!

Amen.

Depart from evil

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Wisdom - when we comprehend the Lord and know that He is our Creator, our Redeemer- and ALL that entails.

Understanding- departing from evil.

Evil--

'Evil -E'VIL, a. e'vl. [Heb. to be unjust or injurious, to defraud.]

1. Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief.

Some evil beast hath devoured him. Gen 37.

2. Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.

3. Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

E'VIL, n. Evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.

Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.

There are also evils called civil, which affect injuriously the peace or prosperity of a city or state; and political evils, which injure a nation, in its public capacity.

All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and right are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.

2. Misfortune; mischief; injury.

There shall no evil befall thee. Psa 91.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. Prov 22.

3. Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity.

The heart of the sons of men is full of evil. Eccl 9.

4. Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.

E'VIL, adv. [generally contracted to ill.]

1. Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable.

Evil it beseems thee.

2. Not virtuously; not innocently.

3. Not happily; unfortunately.

It went evil with his house.

4. Injuriously; not kindly.

The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us.

In composition, evil, denoting something bad or wrong, is often contracted to ill.

(Webster's)

Departing from evil.

When we understand- we depart from evil. We are no longer inclined to embrace evil- at least not spiritually.  Jesus asks our Father to keep us from evil, knowing this was paramount to us as those who would belong to Him.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord.

All in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Amen.de-art

Do you know you are bought with a price?

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

Our lives belong to Christ once we accept Him as our Savior. Yet we live as if that doesn't matter at all. We don't act like we have a king. We don't live as if we have a real Heavenly Father.  We treat God as a genie in a lamp, rubbing at that lamp in prayer hoping to get the genie to grant our wishes. We don't treat God as our true Heavenly Father. A Father interested in our ETERNITY, not our temporal life except as it pertains to our eternal life.  Our earthly fathers are supposed to take care of our temporal needs, they are supposed to guide us as we grow to maturity. They are supposed to be examples to us as we take on the role of Fathers. Our Heavenly Father is our eternal Father.  Yet we barely acknowledge Him at all let alone as a Heavenly Father.  We are crucified with Christ when we accept Him as our Savior.  Yet His crucifixion took His earthly life leaving Him with a risen body ascended to the Father returned to earth, touched by disciples and ultimately taking His place beside the Father in Heaven.  We are figuratively crucified with Christ and yet we live on, the crucifixion   is our death to self and life to Christ therefore we can say that Christ lives in us.  We live on in our flesh bodies,  we do so by FAITH in the Son of God, who LOVES us and DIED for us.

Do we realize that we are BOUGHT with a price?

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are NOT our own and yet we don't act as if we've been bought. We act as if we are our own.  We live as if the world revolves around us and NOT around Christ.  Our every action is not made with Christ in mind, and why not? WHY NOT! Because we are sleeping Laodiceans who don't realize our wretched, poor, blind and naked state!  We think we are RICH in Christ, we think we SEE, we think we are CLOTHED with the righteousness of Christ but the truth is we are so caught up in our SELVES we don't live for Christ at all! We play act! We pretend! We put on the guise! We are fools, stupid, stupid fools, the lot of us!

GOD FORGIVE US! FORGIVE US GOD FOR OUR WRETCHED STATE!

Save us, Father! Save us from ourselves!  We would buy of You gold tried in fire! We would buy of You eye salve! We would buy of You Your righteousness!

Rev. 3:18

Bless us, Father, bless us!   In the name of Your holy  Son, Jesus Christ our LORD, our Savior!

Amen!

His thoughts Perish

When we die.

Psa 146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

This is truth.

Psa_6:5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psa_88:11  Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?

Ecc_9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

This is ALL truth.

Yet, people don't believe. They've concocted fairy tales that suit their desires. They've manufactured lies and call them truth.  And now they call the truth - lies.

Why say these words-

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do- do it with they might.    Why? Because…   THERE is NO work, nor device, nor KNOWLEDGE, nor wisdom in the grave.

If this is true, then why do people believe that their dead loved ones have all their knowledge, all their wisdom intact after they die? Why do people believe they even have THOUGHTS after death? These words say otherwise- when our last breath is spent then our THOUGHTS end, they perish. There is NO thinking after we die. 

The comfort people take in believing their loved ones are living on in a better place, is a lie. What harm is there is believing a lie? Who is the father of lies? Satan is.

Joh_8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

So what harm is there in believing lies? You are believing in Satan then, not God.

God's truth about death is that it is a sleep.  Thoughts perish. Work is over. Knowledge ceases. Praising God is no longer possible.  Why is it so horrible to believe this is the truth about death?  Sleep isn't a horrific thing at all. But being able to watch your loved ones on earth suffer through their lives, that would be horrifying not pleasant at all. Why would ANYONE believe that their loved one is watching over them helping them, knowing they are in pain? Why would that be a GOOD thing for the loved one?  Why would it be good for all our ancestors from all time to be gathered together just spending their heavenly time watching their descendants suffer life? Where is the joy? Where is the comfort?  We talk about our loved ones being happy to see those who passed before them, how they're spending time with them all happy. So I ask again, why would they all be happy knowing they are no longer among their loved ones left behind to suffer without their being there to help them? Any help they can give as supposed spirits obviously isn't very significant because the suffering does not stop.  The lie is a horrific one, and it has deceived millions.

There have been deaths in my family lately, and among friends and endlessly people talk of their loved ones being in heaven with Jesus and all happy now, and this gives them comfort. The lie comforts them somehow. They're happy their passed loved one is no longer suffering yet by their own logic they are still suffering if they are knowing that they are now watching their earthly loved ones suffer their loss. How silly would it be to believe their loved one in heaven is happy while watching them suffer.  Yet, to believe the truth, that death is a sleep that is TRULY knowing our loved ones are no longer suffering. This is the TRUTH, this is the comfort we have! The true comfort!  Our loved one NO longer suffers! This is less selfish than believing they live on and know our constant pain and suffering.

Please, Father, please help us BELIEVE Your truth! 

In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ our Lord!  Please help us, save us, keep us, love us, forgive us! Know us!

Amen.