Month: July 2020

The Battle Between The Flesh and the Spirit

As members of the Body of Christ, we cannot be under the law and under grace at the same time. They are in total conflict and opposition to one another. You will find yourself under one or the other, not both.

This is a major problem in the Body of Christ because of the distortion about the law of sowing and reaping, which has been made to seemingly be primarily about money, when the New Testament Biblical application is really about living according to the desires of your flesh (the law), or living according to the desires of the Holy Spirit, grace.

In Galatians, the Apostle Paul uses the law of circumcision to explain this. Circumcision brought the Jews under the law, only it did not work. They could not obey God’s laws by being circumcised.  They still repeatedly fell into idolatry and other sins, as do we when we are living under the law.

When someone teaches or advocates the law as opposed to grace, they are placing themselves under the law.  When you are under the law, you are under a curse because the law requires perfection, which none of us can do (Galatians 3:10).

How do you know when you are living under the law?  You will do the deeds of the flesh which is in opposition to the deeds of the Spirit.

When you are living under the curse of the law, you will not have the freedom to live under the grace of the Cross because you will be ruled by your fleshly desires, which will not allow you to inherit the kingdom of God.  The Apostle Paul tells us which are the desires are of the flesh: idolatry, meaning you will have ungodly desires, such as an excessive desires for worldly things like money and success; adultery, meaning you will not have control over how you look at your neighbor’s spouse (Galatians 5:19-20.

Living by the flesh will not allow you to love your neighbor as yourself, which is the real law.

How do you get out from under the curse of the law? You repent and cease from wrong teaching and believing.

I am DianaForHim

Prayer is communicating with our heavenly Father,  The focus of this short article, however, is not about who we pray to, or even in whose name we pray; but how we pray.

The point being, we can pray wrong.  This is exactly what our Lord Jesus said.

He said we should pray with the right motive, and not just pray to be seen or heard. like the hypocritical pharisees.

He also said we should not pray vain repetitions. Think about what he is saying.  Here, Jesus is talking about the content of our prayer.

Remember, prayer is communication, and communication should be effective. Every communication should have a purpose. That purpose could be to simply bless the Lord  or to praise him – which is wonderful! But when you have a problem, don’t just praise the Lord in prayer and never address your problem with him.

The Apostle James said that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2). In other words, not only can we pray with the wrong motive, but we can also pray in an ineffective way. If we fail to ask, don’t expect God to answer a request that has not been made.

When Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, he said something interesting. He said, the Father already knows what you need before you ask. He didn’t say don’t ask. He said the Father already knows.

Imagine this. You have a problem and you go to your earthly father. You tell him how much you love him and trust him, but you go away without sharing the real reason for going to him in the first place. That is disingenuous in that it shows a lack of confidence or a lack of trust in your Father.  It could even be a matter of pride. You may be too proud to humble yourself and admit your own inability.

Here is the real crux of this message. Jesus said this next, and we pray it all the time: “Thy kingdom come. They will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

God is building his kingdom right here on earth, and he builds through believers. As believers do his will in our situations and every-day lives, as we apply his solutions to our problems, we are doing his will the same way his will is being done in heaven, where his kingdom rules. Do you see it? It is as we do his will, we do our part in establishing his kingdom here on earth.

Now here is the important part that I’ve been getting to. In many cases, we only know his will in our situations when we ask for it. Father, I desire to know your will in this situation.  When we approach the Father in prayer like that, he is more than happy to share his will with us.

But don’t stop there. It is even more important that we do his will, and not just ask for it. That is effective prayer and kingdom building.

I am DianaForHim

Your Spiritual Coach

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What would you like to do today, is the question I would ask the Holy Spirit as a young Christian working in downtown Chicago (also called 'the Loop), I developed the habit of asking the Holy Spirit who He wanted to bless today.  It was exciting and so much fun to participate in his adventures as He brought people my way.

I'll never forget this one day when I was sitting in an Amtrak train station waiting for my train, and He brought an older woman who sat her down beside me.  Of course, we began to talk. As I shared my faith with her, before she left to catch her train, she asked me if I would call her brother who was in a hospital, and share the gospel with him.  He was not doing well, and she was concerned about his salvation; as was I now.

I immediately told her, of course! I would call him that night once I got home. She gave me his information, left to get on her train, and I never saw the lady again.

When I got home, I thought to myself, wait a minute, Diana. Are you really going to call a total stranger on the phone.  Isn't it funny how quickly our courage can melt into doubt? I mean, what would I say to this total stranger? But, since I had committed to the lady, and more importantly to the Holy Spirit, I would call and I did.

Yes, it was a strange feeling, but I called.  He answered, and I explained to him that I had met his sister in a train station, and she had asked me to call.  I was surprised at how willing he was to talk and listen, and thrilled as the opportunity opened for me to lead him to Christ.  It was amazing!  And all because I chose to step out in faith.

I never met or talked to the man again, nor did I ever see his sister again.  But I have often reflected on the adventures of being used by God when we make ourselves available to him.

I am DianaForHim