June 07, 2021: The Struggle of Our "Inward" Person Brings Great Heartache to Our Soul and to God.

On May 14, 2021, the post of that day dealt with living a "defeated life" as a Christian. Many Christians are living a defeated life, a life of failure and of sin, instead of "rest and victory", because they began to see: "I cannot, it is impossible." And yet they do not understand it fully, and so, under the impression, I cannot, they give way to despair.

We do not have to remain in this state of despair in our lives. As a matter of fact, it brings God great heartache to see us struggle in this manner. God knows that we have come to delight in His word, that we "will" to present ourselves a living and holy sacrifice to Him. But there lies the problem..."We will" to present ourselves a living sacrifice to Him.

This is exactly what Romans chapter 7 speaks about. We are constantly trying to will ourselves to be the kind to person God wants us to be, and we cannot, it is impossible with man. It is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit being in full control of our lives.

Romans 7: 14-17 (NLT)

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

When we finally come to recognize that trying to live a "sacrificial life" for God is impossible, then we either come to "defeat" and give up in our Christian life and sometimes walk away from our Christian faith, or we finally "absolutely surrender" all to God and recognize that there is nothing good in us at all. We come to fully recognize that we are sinful people.

Romans 7: 24-25 (NKJV)

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

It is only through the work of the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ, that can give us the power we need to live a "holy and sacrificial" life to God.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

Let us come to the point in our lives of trying to live a life for God by our own power, but to rely on the full power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us stop bringing heartache to our souls and to God. Remember what Philippians 2: 13 (NLT) has to say: "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him". (Read Chapter 8 of Romans to recognize the full power of the Holy Spirit that is available to you).