Romans 7:14-25 (TLB)
15 I don’t understand myself at all,
for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want
to—what I hate. 16 I know perfectly well
that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I
agree with these laws I am breaking. 17 But
I can’t help myself because I’m no longer doing it. It is sin inside me
that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things.
18 I know I am rotten through and
through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn
I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. 19 When
I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20 Now if I am doing what I don’t want to, it
is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.
21 It seems to be a fact of life that
when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love to do God’s will so far as my new
nature is concerned; 23-25 but there is
something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind
and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In
my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still
enslaved to sin.
So you see how it is: my
new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves
to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my
slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus
Christ our Lord. He has set me free.
- My doing good and my doing bad have nothing to do with me – the ability to both be good and be bad has no connection with my brain, or seen as my forte. This ability is not my area of specialisation in any sense.
- There are two forces constantly contending over my life – BUT one is far more SUPERIOR than the other. What I need to do is to identify the place of the SUPERIOR FORCE and give it full expression in every area of my life.
- The Controller of the Superior Force (God) needs a platform in my life to aid and guide its full expression – Jesus is this PLATFORM! He is always ready to revolt the residue of the strength of defilement in my life.
- The “enemy within” constantly leaves my life open to spiritual setbacks, weakens my spiritual defences, triggers character flaws and helps the devil to fulfil his mandate to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). These are all designed to truncate my divine purpose BUT THANK GOD FOR THE VICTORY THROUGH THE CROSS.
PRAYER:
- Thank God for what He has done through the CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST. Thank Him for the victory He has given us over the conflicts between our flesh and His Spirit. Thank Him for the great impact of the CROSS on our lives.
- Lord, please repair all alterations that are not in line with Your will for my life. Deal with anything that seeks to frustrate my intentions to serve You faithfully – do something to all “the goliaths within” that are suppressing my defeat over the works of the flesh. Quicken the SURE VICTORY OF GRACE in my life to conquer these goliaths permanently.
- Lord, affect the seat of my soul in a unique way and destroy anything that is clogging my upward level in Christ. Crush my appetite to any form of defilement. Deliver me from my refined way of patting sin on the back and giving place to the devil.
- Lord, deal with all the instruments of imperfection in me. Help me not to spare my spiritual weaknesses. By Your Grace I disown every weak area in my relationship with You that I have claimed and carried this far – let there be no ground for me to claim them anymore.
- Lord, de-house the lower nature in me; do not allow it to find habitation in my life anymore. Lord, I desire a definite shaking from heaven to inactivate the source of dead works in every area. Deliver me from the grip/hold of sin; destroy the platform of the fulfilment of devil's mandate in my life.
- Lord, please open my eyes and life to what makes someone to be convinced by Your Word, but not changed by it – consume me with the FAITH and the LIFE that are wrapped in Your Word. Help me to believe and accept Your Word as it concerns my life, everything and everyone connected to me.
- Lord, fuel my life constantly with the Grace to have an unhindered relationship with You. TAKE ME TO THAT PLACE WHERE MY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE BECOME THE EXPRESSION OF YOUR HEART!
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