Pastor's Corner
The Spirit is Willing....
Mark 14:38- 38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. KJV
One of the major realities in the Christian life is that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Like Peter we all have a willingness to follow and obey Jesus, but the flesh can at times get the best of us. Peter talked a good game, but as we all know he denied Jesus three times. What happened to Peter? Why couldn’t he follow through with what he promised Jesus, he said he would never deny him. Haven’t we made similar promises and failed to keep them. This flesh is indeed weak. We all have experience failure one time or another in our walk with God. The devil knows this better than we do. That is why he uses the same three attacks all the time against us. Something that has worked for him since the beginning of time against God’s people. 1 John 2:16-17- 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. KJV
Keep in mind these are the same three attacks he used against Jesus in the wilderness of temptation. Matt.4:1-11. So how did Jesus overcome all these attacks. By the written word of God. And yielding to its commands and promises. Jesus always relied on the Holy Spirit to do everything.
Comment: The Lord depended on the Holy Spirit at every turn. He was conceived by the Spirit (Luke 1:35), baptized and anointed through the Spirit (Luke 3:22; Luke 4:18), led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1), lifted up in crucifixion through the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and raised by the Spirit (Romans 8:11). What more was left? Nothing. Jesus’ whole life was and is constituted by the Spirit. (PAUL LOUIS METZGER, Patheos)
Now, going back to Peter. Once Peter was indwelt, and baptize with the power of the Holy Spirit, he was a totally different person. And that is the difference, the Holy Spirit now is residing in him and enabled him to overcome all the deeds of the flesh. His life was radically transformed, and he even died a martyr’s death, tradition says he was crucified upside down at his own request. Wow! So, the indwelling Holy Spirit in a genuine follower of Jesus will lead him into a life of obedience, overcoming the flesh!
Comment: The Work of the Holy Spirit unto Obedience
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:27) When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were born again. We were made new in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We received a new spiritual heart, as promised of old. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26).
Now, how does a new creature in Christ grow in a life of obedience? Our natural thinking might assume that a Christian could grow in obedience by simply doing his best to walk in the will of God. The next verse in Ezekiel's prophecy reveals that God has a better plan in mind. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes." The born-again follower of Jesus is not designed to operate on his own best efforts. The Holy Spirit is to be the heavenly dynamic in developing a life of obedience.
A disobedient life would include attitudes and actions that our fallen physical bodies naturally crave. These are to be taken to the cross, to be rendered as crucified with Christ. "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5-6). It is when we depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in the path of obedience that we will truly live as obedient children of God. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14).
Until the trumpet sounds – 1 Thess. 4: 13-18
- Pastor George -
One of the major realities in the Christian life is that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Like Peter we all have a willingness to follow and obey Jesus, but the flesh can at times get the best of us. Peter talked a good game, but as we all know he denied Jesus three times. What happened to Peter? Why couldn’t he follow through with what he promised Jesus, he said he would never deny him. Haven’t we made similar promises and failed to keep them. This flesh is indeed weak. We all have experience failure one time or another in our walk with God. The devil knows this better than we do. That is why he uses the same three attacks all the time against us. Something that has worked for him since the beginning of time against God’s people. 1 John 2:16-17- 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. KJV
Keep in mind these are the same three attacks he used against Jesus in the wilderness of temptation. Matt.4:1-11. So how did Jesus overcome all these attacks. By the written word of God. And yielding to its commands and promises. Jesus always relied on the Holy Spirit to do everything.
Comment: The Lord depended on the Holy Spirit at every turn. He was conceived by the Spirit (Luke 1:35), baptized and anointed through the Spirit (Luke 3:22; Luke 4:18), led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1), lifted up in crucifixion through the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and raised by the Spirit (Romans 8:11). What more was left? Nothing. Jesus’ whole life was and is constituted by the Spirit. (PAUL LOUIS METZGER, Patheos)
Now, going back to Peter. Once Peter was indwelt, and baptize with the power of the Holy Spirit, he was a totally different person. And that is the difference, the Holy Spirit now is residing in him and enabled him to overcome all the deeds of the flesh. His life was radically transformed, and he even died a martyr’s death, tradition says he was crucified upside down at his own request. Wow! So, the indwelling Holy Spirit in a genuine follower of Jesus will lead him into a life of obedience, overcoming the flesh!
Comment: The Work of the Holy Spirit unto Obedience
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:27) When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were born again. We were made new in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We received a new spiritual heart, as promised of old. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26).
Now, how does a new creature in Christ grow in a life of obedience? Our natural thinking might assume that a Christian could grow in obedience by simply doing his best to walk in the will of God. The next verse in Ezekiel's prophecy reveals that God has a better plan in mind. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes." The born-again follower of Jesus is not designed to operate on his own best efforts. The Holy Spirit is to be the heavenly dynamic in developing a life of obedience.
A disobedient life would include attitudes and actions that our fallen physical bodies naturally crave. These are to be taken to the cross, to be rendered as crucified with Christ. "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5-6). It is when we depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in the path of obedience that we will truly live as obedient children of God. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14).
Until the trumpet sounds – 1 Thess. 4: 13-18
- Pastor George -