Your flesh and my flesh have a daily agenda to fight against everything the Spirit of God wants for our lives.
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
Our flesh wants to soothe our consciences into thinking we “deserve” to give into our sinful desires, even though we know deep down inside it goes against everything we know that is right.
That is exactly what the flesh does every time, every day, every moment. The flesh convinces us to justify the wrong in order to ignore the right. Know this, our flesh can justify every wrong that we face.
For every sin there is, the flesh has an excuse to give into it. The flesh will overlook evil in exchange for temporary pleasure.
But you and I can overcome this.
The flesh talks a big talk, but it is weak!
Moses made the faith chapter in Hebrews 11 because he DID NOT let the flesh win.
“It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.
He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26 NLT
How did Moses win?
The first thing the scriptures tell us is that he REFUSED. He refused to associate himself with the Pharaoh’s daughter who represented everything the opposite of God. There are things in this world you have to say no to.
Not everyone will understand your no. Not everyone will understand why you don’t do certain things or why you don’t go certain places, why you don’t participate in certain conversations or why you don’t participate in certain activities.
I promise you this, there will never be anything you say “no” to that will be greater than all the “yeses” that God has for your life.
I have always regretted when I did not say no to my flesh. I have never regrated a single time that I have said yes to God.
The second thing that Moses did was he made a choice. He chose God over the fleeting pleasures of sin.
If you want to win over your flesh, the first thing you must do is refuse what is offered to you and the next thing you must do is choose God.
Christ is better than anything that this world has to offer you.
But, you cannot do this alone. You cannot fight this battle without God.
David took off his physical armor and defeated the giant in the Name of the Lord.
Everything you are trying to do in your flesh will fail.
You and I cannot do this by ourselves. We need God’s Spirit living inside of us. It is His Spirit that allows us to become overcomers.
Look what Paul said to the church of Galati.
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension (discord), division,
envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Galatians 5:16-25 NLT
The only way you are going to win is by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you.
The good news is that His Spirit has been promised to every single person. “Whosoever will” can receive the gift of His Spirit, just like it talks about in the book of Acts. The promise is for you today!
