I Want To Do What Is Right, But I Can’t

“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.” Romans 7:18-21

Recently a sister wrote into to WeUsed2bu.com who was born again about a year ago. Her concern was that she did not feel like a new creation because she was still having a lot struggles with sin. She said that like Paul in Romans chapter seven, she wants to do right but can’t seem to. She keeps doing what she does not want to do. I am sure that we can all relate to what this sister is going through because all though we are saved we still battle the sin nature that lives in us. So I wanted to take some time and share what the Lord has laid on my heart about this. More importantly I want to share what His Word says about our struggle with sin and how to overcome it.

Let me begin by first addressing the first part of this sisters comment, “not feeling like a new creation”. She is referring to 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” I believe to get a better understanding of this verse we need to go back up a couple verses to 14 & 15.

“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

When we believe in Jesus we are born again in our spirit man, but our mind doesn’t automatically become new. We still have to go through a process of dying to our old life. We have to CHOOSE to no longer live for our own selfish desires and sinful nature. We have to CHOOSE instead to live for Christ Jesus who died for us.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you CHOOSE to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can CHOOSE to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey his teachings we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16-18)

We have a choice to submit to our sinful desires or to submit and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is in our obedience to the Word that we find freedom from our slavery to sin. It is our love for Him that moves us to give up our old life and selfish ways to follow Him and live a new life in Christ. I am reminded of when our Lord said to His disciples,

“If any of you wants to be My follower, you MUST turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

Be Strong In the Lord and In His Mighty Power

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10)

We need to truly realize that on this journey through this world we do not have to do anything in our own strength and power. Instead we are to be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power, not in our own power. That should be a great relief to everyone. I know it is to me. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities and the calling that I have on my life. There are also times where I feel I am not strong enough to face certain troubles, tests, and even people. Feelings of inadequacy creep in and I feel incapable of fulfilling the visions that our Lord has given me for my family and ministry. Then the truth hits me dead on. I am NOT able to accomplish any of these things and have godly results in my own strength or power. Over and over again I am humbled by this reality and that is when the sweet Spirit of God reminds me of what His Word says, “For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength”. So it is not by our strength or our might but by the Spirit of God that we able to do all that the Lord has called us to do. Thank you Jesus!

As we go through this life living as a servants of Christ Jesus we must remember that it is truly by His grace and mighty power that we have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading the Good News and by being living testimonies. We don’t have to worry about how everything will be accomplished or where the provisions will come from because our Lord is faithful to always provide everything we need. He will give us wisdom and favor. He has given us His power and might. He has given us every spiritual gift we need to do His work and His will as we eagerly await His return. He will keep us strong to the end. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Ephesians 3:7, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8)

We don’t need to fall apart when we feel weak and incapable. There is no point of beating ourselves up. Instead let us rejoice because when we are weak God’s power works best in us. When we go to Him humbled by our weakness we will see that His grace is truly all we need. When we are weak that is when we see Christ’s power manifests through us. So draw close to the Lord when you feel like you don’t have enough power or strength because there is an incredible greatness of God’s power available for us who believe him and take Him at His Word. This incredible power that helps us is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. It amazes me that this power is available to us! But how many believers actually live by this power? I guess the evidence would be in their fruit. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 1:19-20)

Brothers and sisters be encouraged by these scriptures provided above because the Lord does not want us to feel like we are without power or strength. Through His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower us with inner strength through His Spirit. We just need to trust Him with everything in our lives. With every problem, trial, tests, persecution, with EVERYTHING we have to rely on Him. He is the Source of our Strength. We can not face this life and its circumstances on our own and that is not what our Lord intended. So remember to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power! Don’t rely on your own strength and power.(Ephesians 3:16)

Blessings to you all in Christ Jesus name..

Picking Up the Broken Pieces

“For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13

In my last posting I wrote about how I bought a beautiful mosaic candle holder. Well, I wanted to share another word the Holy Spirit spoke to me about that mosaic. You see when I saw the beautiful red and gold glow behind the cross I remembered what my sister in law had just recently told me about a project that her and her mother took on. They were making a mosaic tile for her mother’s garden. She said that they found the project to be difficult because the glass would cut their hands and fingers. I heard the Holy Spirit say,

“When people try to pick up the broken pieces of their life on their own they will find themselves getting cut and hurt. It is too painful. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that I pick up the broken pieces and make a beautiful master piece for all to see and stand in awe of.”

We don’t have to worry about picking up the broken pieces in our lives. That is not our job. This difficult job belongs to our Lord and Savior. When we surrender to the healing power of the Holy Spirit He puts the pieces back together again, better than we ever could. Then He fills us with His joy and peace. His fire will be in us and will illuminate us.

I remember when I lost my mom at the early age of sixteen. My life was shattered into a million pieces. The years after her death were consumed with drug abuse, extreme feelings of loneliness, and depression. I was a mess for many years. Every time I tried to pick up the broken pieces of my life I found myself more frustrated and discouraged. The more I followed my own ideas and ways of healing the worse things got for me. I needed the Healer to come and mend my broken heart. I needed Him to help me forgive. Most of all I needed to surrender to Him and lay down the broken pieces of my life at His feet. And that’s exactly what I did.

He has healed me and has showed me that He can use any situation good or bad, happy or sad to make us stronger Christians. We don’t always understand why we go through some of the troubles that we do, but we have to know with all of our heart that He truly does work everything out for our good. We have to trust Him with every part of our life. There is to be no holding back from Him.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 reassures us that He does have a good plan for our lives. It promises us that when we call on Him that He will hear and answer us. The Holy Spirit can heal every part of us and make us beautiful in Christ Jesus.

If you are still trying to pick up some of the broken pieces of your life on your own, STOP IT! That is the Holy Spirit’s job. Allow Him to have His way in you. He loves you and has a wonderful plan in which He will use every broken piece to make you whole again. Trust Him and you’ll see that your faith will make you whole.

Slavery To The Deadly Lower Nature

“I know that I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned.” (Romans 7:25)

“I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; 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 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.” (Romans 7:22-25)

“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.” (Romans 7:20)

“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 the deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.” (Romans 7:25)

I am quite sure that I am not the only one that can relate to Paul’s words regarding the struggle within. I have to battle daily with the old Lisa that was enslaved to sin who loved to gratify the lust of the flesh. She still lives in me and wants to lead me away from everything that is good, away from God. That sinful nature makes me want to react to certain situtions or people the wrong way. I am not that old person any more who was full of anger, nasty, bitter, spiteful, selfish, and vengeful. That person was being lead around by a hook in her mouth, enslaved to sin. I don’t ever want to be her again.

Although we are new creations in Christ Jesus we still live in these sinful bodies with our old nature that is still inside of us who loves to sin. It battles with the new nature that lives inside of us that desires to please God. Paul says it is a terrible predicament and I agree. However he goes on to say the best part, that we have been freed from our slavery to the lower nature by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set us free. It has been done! We don’t have to be slaves any more to the old us and its desires. We have the power through the Holy Spirit to put our lower nature in its place.

“So, dear brothers and sister, we have no obligations whatever to our old sinful nature to do what it begs us to do. For if you keep on following it you are lost and will perish, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you crush it and its evil deeds, you shall live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:12-14)

I want to walk in love all the time, control my tongue, be kind, patient, and not gratify my lusts. My desire is to please and obey God. There are times when I fall short that I get so discouraged, full of shame, and guilt. If I begin to meditate on my failures, mess ups, and sins I want to give up. I forget that the battle has been won. However we can not give up when we fall down.

“But if we confess our sins to Him, He can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.” 1 John 1:9

As I am writing this the song “We Fall Down” starts playing and I am hearing the chorus in the background saying “A saint is just a sinner that falls down and then gets up.” That is so true! As children of the Most High God when we fall we must we get up. We can not allow condemnation, shame, and feelings of unworthiness to rule over us. They will keep us from entering God’s prescience to seek His forgiveness, mercy, and grace when we need it most. No..we have to be quick to confess our sin and repent so that we may be forgiven. God will not reject a broken spirit that is full of remorse and penitence. A broken and contrite heart God will not ignore. When we accept God’s forgiveness He can heal us. Then we can grow becoming stronger in our faith. (Psalm 51:17)

Let us remember that there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the vicious circle of sin and death. We can obey God if we follow the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old nature within us. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus and it is in Him that we are made strong. (Romans 8:1-2 & 4)

Heaven's Grocery Store

Many years ago someone very special to me sent me this poem in one of her letters. I have kept it in my bible ever since and I want to share it with you..

Heaven's Grocery Store

I was walking down life's highway a long, long time ago. One day I saw a sign that read, "HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE."

As I got a little closer, the door opened wide, and I found myself standing inside.

I saw a host of ANGELS. They were standing everywhere. One handed me a basket and said, "My Child, shop with care."

Everything a human needed was in that grocery store. And if you couldn't carry it all, you could come back the next day for more. First, I got some PATIENCE. LOVE was in the same row. Further down was UNDERSTANDING, you need that everywhere you go.I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH. I just couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST, for it was all over the place.I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE TO HELP ME RUN THIS RACE. By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered I needed some GRACE.I didn't forget SALVATION, for SALVATION was free. So I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.

Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill. For I thought I had everything to do the MASTER'S will.As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER; and I just had to put that in, for I knew when I stepped outside, I would run into sin.

PEACE and JOY were plentiful; they were last on the shelf.SONG and PRAISE were hanging near, so I just helped myself. Then I said to the angel,

"Now, how much do I owe?"He smiled again and said,

"MY CHILD, JESUS PAID YOUR BILL A LONG, LONG TIME AGO."

Written by: Ron DeMarco & Friend

"Not By Might, Nor By Power, But By My Spirit"

To those that did not shrink back and accepted the call to truly serve the Lord by dying daily to your own selfish desires; I would like to say you have made a wise choice. You have a great responsibility and I know it is not easy. You will be talked about and persecuted for your commitment to serve Him and to be different from the world. The tests and trials that you must endure will be overwhelming at times. The transformation process that the Lord brings us through may seem strenuous but it fulfills its purpose to refine, purify, and prepare us for the work that Our Lord has for us.

King Solomon understood that he had a strong calling with tremendous responsibility to govern God’s people. When the Lord approached Solomon in a dream and offered him anything he wanted the king answered, “Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. For who by himself is able to carry such a heavy responsibility?” (1 Kings 3:9) We should follow King Solomon’s example to pray and ask God to give us wisdom to fulfill His calling on our lives. We need His wisdom to make wise decisions in our own lives for the sake of our families and our ministries.

I want to encourage you by telling you that this burden/heavy responsibility He has given us to serve Him comes with His power and anointing to fulfill our calling. It is not in our own power, strength, or wisdom that we are going to succeed. We do not need to worry and fret about how we are going to accomplish the dreams and visions that He has given us. So if you are feeling unworthy of your calling or perhaps you feel weak and incapable, praise God!

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the Lord Almighty-“You will succeed because of my Spirit, though you are few and weak”. (Zechariah 4:6)

“Take courage and work, for “I am with you”, says the Lord Almighty. My Spirit will remain among you; so don’t be afraid. (Haggai 2:4-5)

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So it is Christ’s power in us that will help us to fulfill our calling not by our own might, nor by our own power, but my His Holy Spirit we will succeed! Amen to that!

Lord, help our hearts not to be troubled and afraid about all that you have called us to do in your son’s name. Teach us to rely on your Holy Spirit for wisdom, courage, and strength as we determine to run this race and win souls for your kingdom. We long to be a light in this dark world and we are relying on your Holy Spirit’s power to help us. In Jesus Name..Amen.

God's Spirit Lives In You

When you received Jesus as your Savior the Spirit of God came to dwell in you. We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple of God. We are His home. God’s Spirit is not far away. He is in you and with you all the time!

Take a moment and really let that sink in…

God’s Spirit lives in you! You are the temple of God!

If you truly meditate on this Word it should be life changing. We are supposed to keep God’s home holy and clean. We are not to defile or spoil it. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Knowing that God lives in us should really help us be more accountable and aware of what we do, say, think, where we go, and who we spend time with. We do not belong to our selves. God bought us with a high price. So we MUST honor God with our bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Smoking, drinking, doing drugs, going to sinful places, listening to sinful music, and watching in appropriate shows or movies defile the temple of God. His Spirit lives in you offering you help and guidance in this life. His Spirit encourages you when you need comfort. So don’t ignore the Holy Spirit when he is nudging on your heart to stop what you are about to do.

You see the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to do a work in and thru us. His Spirit in us is what helps us to express Jesus’ actions and attitudes in our lives. He is God’s fire dwelling in the believer. The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” Or another translation reads “Do not GRIEVE the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We bring the Holy Spirit sorrow when we act out in sinful manner and when we follow our own worldly desires.

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did. (1 John 2:6) We are to follow God’s example in everything we do because we are his children. We need to try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord by reading the Word constantly. The Word of God will help us remain pure by showing us what is wrong in our life so that we are constantly changing and becoming more like Christ. (Ephesians 5:1-13)

And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind God will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good, pleasing, and perfect His will really is. (Romans 12:1-2)

Forgive us Holy Spirit for causing you sorrow. Remind us constantly that you are with us and in us. Let us be lead by your Spirit Lord and help us to bring your name glory in everything we say and do..In Jesus name.. Amen…

Power and Ability

Do you feel that you are spinning your wheels in your walk with God? Perhaps you feel like your missing something or just feel like you want more of God. The Lord desires for us to have power (ability, efficiency, and might) to help us fulfill the calling on our lives.

Just recently the Lord has really been laying it on my heart again about the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I really don't know the differences between what different denominations think or teach on the baptism of the Holy Spirit because I did not receive teaching on this issue directly from or through a church. I did not grow up in the church. I spent some time in prison almost 10 years ago and it was there that I spent quality time with the Holy Spirit and He taught me His Word. Over the past weeks as I sit in church and see many souls come to surrender their lives to God I began to become concerned. I realized that we are leading these brothers and sisters to the Lord and then sending them on their way with some instructions on what to do next that they can read later on. Then I began to ask myself what about the power and the ability that they will need to fight against the enemy and to continue to spread the Word? I speak of the power that is given to us in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I remember the Lord showing me in the book of Acts that once the disciples where baptized in the Holy Spirit they began to preach the Word with power and ability. (Acts 1:8) They began to fervently fulfill the commission that Jesus gave them to preach the Word to the ends of the earth. It was then that the disciples began leading others to the Lord and then they would pray for these new believers to receive the power of the Holy Spirit too. They did not wait. It was done immediately. There were all on fire. Where is that fire today? I feel like so many new believers today are lacking because they do not know of the power of the Holy Spirit.

I urge you all to read the book of Acts for your selves and ask the Lord to give you wisdom and understanding as you read the Word. Most of all I pray that you all would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and begin to experience this power in your life.

Enclosing let me remind you that the Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever it does not change. Don’t let the enemy tell you that this was just for them.

Acts 2:17-18, Acts 4:29-31, Hebrews 13:8

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