God has been teaching me soo soo much lately so I'm not sure if I can focus on just one thing so sorry if this blog is a little all over the place! But anyway, I've been learning lately a lot about confession, desire, and joy. I know these seem kind of random, but it's pretty neat how they fit together.
I've been reading the book, Set-Apart Feminity by Leslie Ludy and going over this whole process of what she calls fortification. I would kind of explain it like this: Building a wall around ourselves that is impenetrable by the enemy so we can be more like Christ. One of things that has recently been popping up in my book and also bible study is confession. In order to realize where we are letting the enemy have access we must first identify those areas in which we are weak. I've been continually asking God to show me my unconfessed sin and where the enemy is targeting me. I've found that one of the areas was just confession in general. Was I being sincere? Was I actually saying I'm wrong and you're right God? 1John 5-6 says:
"This is the message we have heard from him
and declare to you: God is light; in him there
is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship
with him yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth."
By not bringing my sin into the light, my fellowship with God was hindered because God is light and he can't dwell within us if we are walking in the darkness. All God requires of us is a broken spirit and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
Now, to have earthly desires is not a bad thing. Everyone desires to get married, buy a house, start a family, but its when our lives are consumed by these desires that is where the trouble starts. Galatians 5: 16 says:
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not
gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Skipping to versus 18-23
"But if you are led by the Spirit, you
are not under law. The acts of the sinful
nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,
selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I
warn you, as I did before, that those who live
like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law."
Sometimes I have days when I can't see the fruits of the spirit in my life. And I often wonder, why is this happening? Why am I not joyful, patient, or gentle? And I realize that when this does happen the question I should ask myself should be, what desire of the flesh am I letting myself be consumed by?
If we are walking with the spirit and desiring the spirit, then we will produce his fruit, BUT if we are desiring the things of the flesh, then the result will lead to sin. The characteristics of God are encompassed in the fruits of the Spirit and are GOOD. Verse 23 says "there is no law against such things." But the desires of the flesh are sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery, and it says "those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Verses 24 and 25 say:
"Those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature
with its passions and desires. Since we live
by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the
Spirit."
Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Christ set us free from sinful desires! If we don't accept this freedom and desire the things of the Spirit, it's like saying okay I know that my jail sentence is up, but I'll stay in jail for a little longer! That is just crazy! We should live in the freedom that Christ gave us and keep in step with the Spirit by continually confessing our sin and asking to be filled by Him!
Finally, there is joy in freedom. Just knowing that Christ died to set us free should be our joy EVERY DAY! Even though circumstances change, we have been saved from eternal death by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! That alone should be our reason to be joyful no matter what little things in our day or our week go wrong, we know that we have eternal life and peace in Jesus Christ.
I'm so thankful for the Spirit's teaching in my life lately. As a Christian, I think if we are not struggling to grow, then we can't be walking with the Spirit because Hebrews 4:12 says,
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
We should be convicted by the word. It should point out our sin and bring us to repentance. Oswald Chambers says, "The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, because sin dulls our senses." Wow.
This is the joy we have in Jesus, He loves us so much that he is always trying to lead us closer to him and closer to the overwhelming peace that can only be found in trusting him. He doesn't want us to be unaware of our sin, so the Holy Spirit is always leading us to repent and turn back away from our sin so we can grow closer to Him. So ultimately, confession leads to JOY!! Because once we have let Jesus take our burdens, we are free from sin and death and can enter into a relationship with the greatest love of all time; JESUS! :)
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