Wednesday, December 13, 2006

God is in control...

Romans 8:9, "You are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." (NIV)

God, who lives in me by his Holy Spirit because I belong to Christ, controls my life. My sinful nature is not in charge of me anymore. Those truths hit home last night at BSF. (See Beware of Wednesdays.) Though I mess up all the time. I'm far from perfect. God is directing my steps. He is maturing me. I am being made more like Jesus every day by God himself.

Are you a believer? God is in control of your life! You are not controlled by your sinful nature. Live like those things are true. (They are! Hallelujah!) Quit trying harder to defeat sin. You can't do it by yourself. You've tried to control sin all your life. Before you were saved you couldn't do what was right in your own strength. You couldn't resist what was wrong. After you chose Christ, your flesh didn't get stronger. It's still weak. You still can't do what's right with out help. You still can't resist sin without outside intervention. Listen! Contrary to conventional wisdom, God doesn't help those who help themselves. He helps those who ask. So ask God for his help and he will, through the Spirit of Christ who lives in you and every other believer, make you more like Jesus.

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