The greater the struggle the sweeter
the victory is something that lingers somewhere in my mind as I hope for it to
be validated by scripture. Because let’s face it, we should all understand that
if a perceived truth isn’t validated by scripture it will bring about death.
Death may elude an individual’s perceptions for a while but eventually at the
end of its course, when it has fully played out it will be clear, and it will
have its part in eternal damnation. Sadly we are all governed by our carnality,
which is enslaved to sin, and therefore our design is about the here and now, our
nearsightedness steering so many of our perceived perceptions into believing
lies.
Do you recall the very first
enticement before sin was conceived? Satan engaged Eve in conversation, with
one intention, to deceive! To get her to follow his instruction at the expense
of God’s command and our human natures are the same in character, by default it
always looks to pull us in the opposite direction to God’s voice. The flesh and
the Spirit are at war with one another and yet it is obvious that in these
fierce battles there can only ever be one victor. Harmony is not something the
flesh and the spirit will ever share. We have been asked to choose whom we will
serve and I suppose that would imply a daily action on our part. It is not
enough to confess the Lord as our Saviour once and then to forget our
commitment to Him and then to live like we once did, enslaved to our sinful
habits. Today must be a day where we make a choice and confess our heavenly
Father, God or Satan, the Spirit or the flesh, sin or righteousness, life or
death. It is a constant war that continues to rage on and this will be our lot in
life until we take our last breath. It is now part of God’s design; we have
choices that constantly need to be made. Knowledge helps us make informed
decisions. If and when we learn to understand the Apostle Paul’s argument
concerning our characters we will learn to shift gears and prepare for battle;
this is his conclusion after a lengthy synopsis about his own fleshly
character; “Wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but
with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25)
The strength of sin resonates in this
clue; Satan said to Eve “you shall not surely die”. She ate of the fruit and
her eyes where opened to another realm, “the knowledge of good and evil”. It
was not as if the fruit was filled with poison that killed instantly, she woke
up the following morning and still breathed. Her fleshly mind now believed
Satan and not God. However where is she now, she is dead! Her carnal body has
decayed and become part of the earth, there is no more trace of her and yet her
soul is alive and awaiting judgement. She has entered the spiritual realm with
great regret. The moral of the story is that she was told that if she disobeyed
God’s voice she would die. Satan tricked her into disobeying God’s command and
she ate of the forbidden tree. She may well have believed the lie for a time, for
she didn’t die immediately, physically that is! Her understanding of death was
carried out over a process of time, but she is now fully aware of the magnitude
of what God meant. We too will all come to understand the extent of our actions
if we neglect the Words of God; it is therefore imperative that we make every
effort to hear the voice of God before we too are filled with eternal regret. As
Christians our minds must learn to serve the law of God.
And yes my initial thought can be validated
by scripture. Samson was filled with the Spirit of God when a lion attacked him
and he was able to kill the lion. On his return a couple of days later he came
across the corpse and what has his reward; a swarm of bees had nested inside
the carcass and he was able to eat something sweet. Life with all its challenges
can be trying, they are meant to be, but if we put on the mind of Christ and
abide in the Word of God through it, it will reap reward. But it is not only
the individual that reaps the reward but those closest to us will also benefit.
Samson gave some of that honey to his mother and father.
Signing off
Tyrone
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