Overcoming

Temptation

    Overcoming temptation is the final goal for every Christian. I have learned by God that we must walk in the spirit to overcome the lusts of the flesh. I have known for a long time that we need to do this, but it has been sort of a mystery on how to actually walk in the spirit.

    I wondered how do I actually walk in the spirit? do I simply think spiritual thoughts? do I read my bible more? pray to God more? I never really knew just how. Until God revealled to me that we need God more than we think. We think that we can do it alone, we think we are capable of doing anything by ourselves. 

                                                                                                             

    I know this because only Jesus was sinless and perfect before God. We are not perfect and we are not good, but by Gods grace we are made perfect and good. We cannot make ourselves perfect or good, only God can do this. We need God to restore us to perfection and everlasting life, first by washing us from our filth and sin by his Sons precious blood, praise God for that blood, amen.

   God first calls us to salvation, we hear and repent and accept the salvation that was bought for us at calvary by the blood of the Lamb of God. At this moment we are born again and given a new spirit one without spot and wrinkle, we are new born babes in Christ, born again in spirit. But our flesh is not born again, it is still spotted and wrinkled by sin and still has the old man or sin nature.

    This flesh is condemned by God because the sin in it is condemned by the blood of Christ, for when he died spotless and sinless he condemned sin in the flesh. We will carry this body of sin to our graves or the Rapture or Trump of God. At that day we will have a new body of flesh without spot or sin. Until then we have the burden of this body.

                                                                 

   There are two bodies in us, a spiritual body and a physical body. Each is at war with the other. The spiritual body has no sin, it is clean, new, and holy, born again. The other body is flesh and it is not pure, holy, clean or born again. It has sin in it and this sin can control the body it is in unless it can be controlled by the spiritual body.

    If the spiritual body is not saved, but dead to sin, it cannot control the physical body to resist sin, to understand the power of sin we must know that sin is more than we think. There is a mystery about sin that most do not understand. We can find the truth about sin in the book of Romans. Chapter 7 verses 19 & 20, which says, For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not , that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

    Have you ever heard the phrase The devil made me do it? this is like sin in our flesh, our sin nature in our flesh makes us do things we do not want to do but as if we are in a car that is out of control we cannot do anything to save the car from driving over a cliff with us inside. Sin is the transgression of Gods law and Gods law is holy and good.

                                                                                                           

   Our sin has the power to control us and make us do things we do not want to do, sin is like a person that wants to do evil and we are its puppet and when sin pulls the strings we will commit sin like a puppet. Sin is the fleshes puppetteer. The only thing that can control sin is our spirit. But our spirit can be stronger or weaker than our physical bodies and sin. Yes our spirits are strong or weak.

   Like our physical body our spirits need food, our spirits cannot live without Gods Word. All things are made and sustained by one thing Gods Word. Unless he speaks life unto us and keeps us alive by his Word we would die. We think that our spirits and souls are eternal, like God, but this is not true. We are spirits and souls and bodies created. At one time we did not exist. Anything made from nothing can return to nothing, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, nothing to nothing.

   Some think our spirit is a small piece of Gods Spirit and it cannot be destroyed, but we do not know this by scripture and if our spirits were made they can be destroyed by the maker of them. The Word of God says that only God is immortal, and being the only one that is immortal, he is the only one that cannot be destroyed by anyone or anything.

                                                                                                            

   Our spirits can die, and they were damned by sin before we were saved. We were servants of sin before being born again. We were sins slaves out of control and unable to resist sin. But when we were saved and born again we were given a new spirit one not condemned by sin, but new and holy and pure. By this new spirit we serve God and are no longer servants of sin.

   But our spirits need to eat spiritual food daily or they will become weak. Some may think spirits do not need food, but we are not talking about apples and oranges, we are talking about something spiritual that our spirits need to live, and live in strength and power, it is Gods Word. Without God constantly speaking life unto us we would die and turn to dust and blow away to be forgotten forever.

   God has created us totally dependant on him 100%. Food and water, air, the earth etc. And Gods Word and his written word found in our bibles. We are dependant on our bibles for spiritual food, Gods Word. Do not get me wrong, the bible is not God, it cannot keep us alive, only God can do this, trust me we will not die if we do not read our bibles. We are kept alive by God and him alone, but by his spoken Word.

   We are still dependant on his written word, and God has designed it this way, We cannot save ourselves, we cannot stop eating and drinking and live. We cannot in pride say I can live without God. We need God 100% if God wants he could stop our air supply, our food supply, our sunshine, our planet etc. God has made things to show our dependance on him and him alone. And yes God made bibles to show us our dependance on him, we actually need the bible to overcome temptation.

    Yes God can as does keep individuals from sinning without the hearing or reading of a bible. In some areas of the world there are no bibles, so in order to save those people he will send a person full of the bible to save them. In some cases people have been saved never hearing a gospel message or the name of Jesus. God says that some have Gods law written in their hearts by God himself and they obey it. God says he will save whom he will save and harden whom he will harden.

                                                                                                                 

    Am I saying that God has saved people that never heard a single scripture and never read a bible and never heard the name of Jesus? yes and it is scriptural. But the people that were saved had Gods law in their hearts and they obeyed it. In a place that has no TV, radio, missionaries, bibles and contact with civilization are people that God has saved by himself without our help etc. very few people can and are saved this way though. Most places on earth are full of temptation and evil and violence and in places like this which is most of the world, people are inslaved to sin from youth.

   Without Gods gospel message and his bible, man that is chosen by God and saved by God would never have access to his written word which we need to feed our spirits and give our spirits the strength they need to control the sin in our flesh. Our spirits can and will control the desire of sin in our bodies if our spirits are well fed on Gods word and we can get this feeding of Gods word by reading his written word the bible.

    Man likes to believe God needs him, needs him to save the world, feed the world and clothe the world etc. God does not need man at all. God has simply placed man in the middle of the need and said fill it. God is going to feed and clothe and save everyone he has chosen to receive those things whether or not a man chooses to do it or not. God could make Satan feed and clothe and spread the gospel message to the whole world if he chose to. God has all power he is not dependant on anyone for anything, if he was nothing would ever get done.

    We are the ones that are 100% dependant. We are never 100% independant of God. God could make children out of rocks that would serve and praise him if he chose to. We need God for everything, Christ said that even he did nothing of himself it was God that did the works through him, he said we could do nothing by ourselves, NOTHING.

                                                                                                          

     I was reminded of this a day ago as I searched in vain for my coffee cup. I gave up the search and thought of God and how I need to ask him for help in finding the cup. As soon as I stopped looking for the cup of myself and humbly asked God in prayer for help as I was standing in prayer I looked down to my right and saw my coffee cup, like my search our spirits need God, and his Word and his written word the holy bible. We can overcome the power of sin by our spirits feeding on Gods word, like two dogs one good and one evil fighting, one being spiritual, and one, being sin nature. The one that is fed most will win the fight.

     Feed your spiritual dog, your spirit that God gave you, and starve the physical dog by repenting. Watch what you see and hear for you feed your sin nature with your eyes and ears and body, and the only way to overcome that evil dog that carnal dog our flesh and sin nature is by Gods word and a breakfast, lunch and dinner of Gods holy bible daily. And one way we can know if we are feeding enough on Gods holy bible is by our actions and words, if we are not perfect in action and word we are not getting enough spiritual food so if you are not perfect in action or word before God start feeding your spirit an all you can eat buffet of Gods written word, the holy bible. 

    Many wonder which bible to read as there are many versions. I will say this and before God, the devil has deceived the whole world and has blinded many eyes from the truth about which bible is best. He knows mans dependance on Gods written word and from the beginning he has tried to destroy the written word. Originally if any scripture was not perfectly copied word for word it was thrown out. There was only one version of scripture like a book by one author it wasn't written 1200 different ways, no author today allows his book to be re-written by strangers any old way they want, it must be copied exactly as it was written by law and copy right.

    So why when it comes to the most important book ever written and each book was written in the bible by one author, is it so common to find 1200 versions of the same book all different and no ones see a problem? again we see our need for God, and in vain we will look for that perfect bible until we stop, pray to God and ask him to tell you what bible to read. He told me what bible I am to read the original KJV.