UCAN CG sharing: Not just No but Yes Scripture: Jn 8:12, Jn 11:25-26 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. Jn 1:4 Main idea: In our battle with flesh we often use resistance. Resistance is when we tell ourselves it’s bad and then try not to do it. There is a positive way that added to resistance gives power. Substitution is when we look to God the person and see his glory and choose to love him rather than the flesh. It is no competition for God to outshine the darkness. The question is whether we want God? The Issue: When we are tempted we often tell ourselves not to do it. Our spirit fights to resist the allure of the object of temptation. As we resist our flesh, it having been given power rises to want the object of temptation. Since it is from within us it seems we have no way to fight off this kind of powerful desires so we give in. Once we have given in sin is and we receive the consequences. Paul tells us that the Law was misused by sin to stir up our desires (Rom. 7:10-11). When something is forbidden it seems that we must do it. When told not to do something our flesh motivates us to do it because it is desirable. There is something exciting about doing wrong. This is why men tend to act bad so to make others think they are exciting and cool. “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” Prov. 9:17 We are trying to use negative conditioning to correct our flesh but our flesh is not correctable. We must turn away from the evil desires but to keep us going we need something more. The Discussion: God knew that we would have to struggle against our fleshly desires so he has provided us with a way out. 1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. That way is God himself. When we are in battle with our flesh we can turn to God and seek His presence. We can call on his name and worship. We can remember his word and the promises that go with it. We can remember all the things God has done for us and how faithful he has been. All of these things help us move our eyes from the flesh to the glory of God. We offer a substitution that is far superior to fleshly desires. God’s blessings truly satisfy and if we have experienced this previously we will recall this. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn 8:12 When we are close to God we can’t be close to darkness. Our flesh must submit to God’s presence and in doing so we are able to walk righteously. This only happens when we are focused on really loving God as God. It is not about what we do but rather our relationship with God; our heart motivation. When we are in God we can overcome our flesh. How? God’s beauty. It is God’s very presence that is life and light as we learn to stay in him we gather to ourselves His love (light and life), this is the greatest thing we can have to fight the flesh. We need to understand a few things to see this work in our lives: 1. We must love God for who he is. People have many reasons to go to God. Many go to get something from God but God wants us to be with him in relationship. He truly wants to be with us and we need to seek to respond to his love. See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; Isa 49:16a God has written our names on his hand to show how much he loves us. How does this affect your motivation towards God? 2. Nothing happens if we are not in Christ. If we are in sin or rebellious or far from God this is not going to work. We must be surrendered, be purified by the blood and want to walk this way. This means God calls all the shots not us. If we are living by our own will we are not in Christ. We won’t be in Christ till we are right with Christ. Love God, obey. 3. Unbelief kills See Jn 11:25-26 Mary and Martha didn’t believe. Jesus had to teach them. If we don’t really believe God we won’t follow. If we believe we will obey because we love God. We can only love who we know. Seek to know God. Anyone can learn to walk in Christ and live daily an overcoming life that leads to joy, peace and a life serving and being with God. If we are lazy or stubborn we will suffer and lack God. Again it is all up to the individual. Notes: All of us have those moments when we are tempted and fall. Later in regret and guilt we wonder why. Well it is often because we don’t make knowing God intimately a priority. We let the things of this world take us away from Him. Instead of reading our bible we watch movies; instead of prayer we spend time on Facebook and instead of sitting in his presence quietly we use our time unwisely. These things are not wrong till they take us away from God. Till we want them more than being with God. They become idols. We want the power to overcome but power comes through love. Since we don’t really spend time with God we don’t really love him. How do we know that we love God? We are delighted to give up everything for him. Phil 3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ Everything! Paul uses the term “garbage” which in the original Hebrew means poo-poo. Nothing is sweeter than knowing and being with God. Nothing. Seek to love and know God.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 12:34:04 +0000