Romans 7:21-25 (Amplified)
So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands. For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature]. But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh]. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
The war that rages inside of a believer is many times in that sensitive appetite as the Amplified Bible states it. The part of a personality, generally stated, that wants its own way, no matter what, and is going to show up and throw a fit, if it doesn't get its own way. The War is REAL, and the old man that is "dying" daily as we read the scripture and continue to grow in Christ, as we yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, as we submit our lives and wills to God, is screaming to get out and LIVE. In the most unlikely times, the flesh will demand to have its own way. Let me give you an example.
You wake up in the morning, everything is great, you go to begin getting your day started, fix your breakfast, or coffee, or glass of whatever it is that you drink in the morning, and in your mind you are thinking how great today is. Then when making the coffee, you spill the sugar, or the cream, make a mess and the natural instinct it to say something negative, now whether or not it is a "G" rated word or an "R" rated word depends on the person, but do you see the "sensitive" yet nevertheless beginnings of what could turn the wrong way immediately. Let me give you another example. What if you spill the coffee grounds and they spill over onto the floor? Does that accelerate or exasperate the scenario for you a bit? You know, it doesn't take much sometimes for any of us to go off the deep end. Sometimes, it feels like we are just waiting for what we think is a "reason" to act like a jerk.
Sometimes it can be a person, raising their voice to you. Do you demand respect (i.e., your own way) and have an inner dialogue that goes something like this? How dare that person raise their voice to me, don't they know who I am, don't they know that I am a mature person of (add your age here) and have "earned" respect, don't' they know that I am a "Doctor," "CEO," "PTA Leader," "Mother of grown children," "own my own business"? What is your response, do you stomp off or close up and get silent, or yell back, give that person a "mean face"? Or do you respond the way Jesus did? Jesus didn't have to demand anything, and he was totally sure of who he was, God in the flesh. He didn't walk around telling everyone in loud declaration that he deserved respect, and he didn't pout and get angry when he didn't get it. I dare say there was more times when Jesus was disrespected, then he was esteemed, but it never detoured him from what he knew was his purpose and that was perfect obedience to whatever the father said.
So, right after Paul admonishes us that whatever it is that we want to do that is good we do not do, and whatever it is that we should not do, that we practice (paraphrase mine), Paul then adds
Romans 8:1 NIV "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Can anyone shout with me about this? I mean how very awesome is it of God to show us that we are going to fail, but in our failings there is no condemnation for us who are in Christ. I find Gods unfathomable depth at work here, I know for sure that there is no human alive, or "other god" that will continue in forgiveness as much as Christ has.
Thank you God for how you love us, thank you that you know that we are indeed frail. Father, I ask that you would grant us eyes to see us the way you do, and that when the old man begins screaming to LIVE, that we remind ourselves that our life is in Christ and in him alone. The old man must die, to bring about the new life in Christ. Open this mystery up to each of us as we go about our daily lives. Teach us how to live gloriously in Christ, while putting to death the old deed of our flesh. It is in Jesus name I pray.
Make it your BEST day ever!
Falling forward, Chilon
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