Struggles and the believer

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July 15, 2017
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July 15, 2017

Scripture: (Romans 7:14-20) NLT

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. ^^But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So 1 am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Introduction

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines struggle as (To try very hard to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems). We as believers in Christ will, from time to time go through struggle and challenges in our life that might defeat us at times, and put our salvation to the test. Satan uses out struggles and shortcomings to take us off course and to stagnate and hinder the move and plans of God for our lives. We as the believer must always remember that if we should fall down we can always get back up in God. Here we find the Apostle Paul addressing this very issue. The bible does not tell us what Paul’s struggle was we might have to fill in the blank for that one; however, it states that Paul had a never ending challenge he faced on a daily basis this challenge was so strong that he asked the father three times to remove it from him. How many people know that God  May not remove the desire from us, however, he will use it to keep us humble and forever relying on his power to sustain us. Paul also states that he is a human and a slave to sin, if we think about what Paul is saying he really means that because we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity we have and ongoing battle with sin that rages within us. The sin nature is that principle in man that makes him rebellious against God. When we speak of the sin nature, we refer to the fact that we have a natural inclination to sin; given the choice to do God’s will or our own, we will naturally choose to do our own thing.

Where did sin come from?

Where did the sin nature come from? Scripture says that God created humans good and without a sinful nature: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). However, (Genesis 3 records the disobedience of Adam and Eve. By that one action, sin entered into their nature. They were immediately smitten with a sense of shame and unfitness, and they hid from God’s presence (Genesis 3:8). When they had children, Adam’s image and likeness was passed along to his offspring (Genesis 5:3). The sin nature manifested itself early in the genealogy: the very first child born to Adam and Eve, Cain, became the very first murderer (Genesis 4:8)

Reject evil

(Psalm 36:4) says He plots trouble while on his bed, he sets himself in a way that is not good: he does not reject evil. You

may ask yourself why we don’t reject the chance to sin when we have a chance, because sin feels good at the time when we are engaging in it. When we feel in our spirit that there is a possibility that we can sin, we must not allow our struggles to win, we must put our unredeemed flesh in control. We as believers must not allow our unredeemed flesh to control our lives. We must take authority over flesh and tell it to have several seats. This thing called sin must not overtake us. We must allow God to work those inner challenges out in our life.

When iniquities prevail

(Psalm 65:3) When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. Iniquities prevail against us as believers when we allow guilt and shame to inter our thoughts and take over. We must allow God to purge and cleanse us form hidden faults, and make us whole again. We must have confidence in God knowing that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has already atoned for every sin we will ever commit, the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all unrighteousness. God has hid our transgressions away; we need not to be ashamed of the struggles we may endure. We as the believer must remember that when we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we feel that we are weak in ourselves, we must go to Christ, receive strength from him, and continue to press on moving forward in the things of God forgetting the pass and pressing on to for-fill our calling in God.

In conclusion

In conclusion the believer will always have struggles, there will always be something you and I must endure until Christ returns. We must not allow our hidden snares to overtake us; we have a loving God that has paid the price for all of our sins, past, present and future. Condemnation and shame are a trick of the enemy that keeps us from walking in victory. Satan knows that if he can keep us feeling bad about our hidden faults we will become paralyzed with guilt and remorse. When we become paralyzed we tend to move away from God this is the time to draw near. Christ atonement on the cross does not give us a licensee to continue sinning, however it is a guarantee that if we do fall we can go back to him repent of our sin and keep moving forward in the things of God.

 

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