Sinful housework

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by MarieA27

I hear what you're saying KeptBTW, and I agree with some of it, of course with some changes, but I have to agree with MTD. Yes, it is a constant battle, war within ourselves to fight our flesh each and every day. And each day that that battle comes about, you can overcome it.

Originally Posted by MarieA27

The thing that I think is a hangup for people, is that they keep feeling that if a temptation comes their way, then they have sinned, and that is simply not so, because if that was the case, then Jesus would have been far from perfect. You see the devil tempting Him with suicide, tempting Him with arrogance and pride, tempting Him to worship the devil. There's like this misconception of Jesus. I don't know exactly what people think, but it seems that when Jesus was walking around here in the flesh, they have made Him out to be this weak, wimpy, being. Jesus was constantly rebuking people, and He showed anger, righteous anger. You're not going to be in this place of calm, peace and harmony all the time, showing an abundance of love, sprouting out rainbows everywhere you go, when nothing effects you, and this seems to be, (at least to me) what people equate being perfect and sinless is, as if never a negative human emotion will come upon you.

Of course the devil will continue to fight you, to wage war against your soul, he's going to do anything and everything within his power to take you onto hell with him, and as long as he makes you feel that there's nothing that can be done, he's already won. The devil would be never ending, because he has nothing to lose, he's going to test you, to try you, to tempt you, in every way possible that he can, he knows your weaknesses, and he would play on those things to tear you down. And he would have you think that the temptations in your flesh, is stronger than the power that you have with God, that the flesh is just too strong, and that you can't overcome it.

And no, you can't battle this alone by yourself, but if you cleave to the Holy Ghost, to the spirit, to that of God, to the side of right, it can be done. In your flesh, you'll feel heavy, worn down, burdened, loaded with something, and of course you'll feel that way when you're constantly battling, but there will be peace within your soul. And like you said, there will never, or rarely ever be an, "Aha! I'm done!" moment because this is a battle for as long as we're here, which would never be truly completed until death, or Jesus comes. But you can die out to your sins, and have it lose its luster, but you still will be tempted...

So true Marie. The spirit and mind of Christ should reign in us, and can. It works to continually perfect us. But our flesh will always resist, and that is the catch. We are still in the flesh, we have not received our glorified bodies yet, and we are still in the war. It is a battle, but we can continue to overcome, and be conquerors on a daily basis.

I would like to address the temptations that you brought up. I have heard the saying "You can't help that a bird flies over your head, but you can keep him from building a nest on your head." So yes, we cannot control the thoughts, desires, and things that the flesh will use to fight against the spirit. Just because we experience a temptation, does not mean we have sinned. The difference is when we begin to entertain and give place to the thoughts that come, to the temptations that show up.

HOW we deal with thoughts/temptations/desires, determines whether it becomes sin or not.

We can resist and fight back against the temptations/thoughts/desires of our flesh with the Word of God and the Spirit of the Lord.... or we can entertain those things, allow them to take up residence, and become eventually a sin in our lives. There is a big difference, and very important to understand, so that we don't beat ourselves up for things we shouldn't.