Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Way Crooked … made straight . . .


The Way Crooked … made straight . . .

Given #1: The wicked heart/soul, with human nature being twisted, has a law of sin that operates in all hearts. The flesh of our Adamic father passed down a penchant for rebellion and evil. No amount of self-disciplined or self will can overcome this force, this “law” that operates within what we are. We are doomed to sin, to rebel, to defy what stands in the way of the self-seeking satisfaction. We sink into deep oblivion of rebellion and twistedness as we let sin rule and ultimately the end result is death -- life being swallowed by the curse of death. Our spirits are dead, dormant, unmoving, and held captive to our heart/soul/will/mind of a fallen nature. We walk in a darkness we cannot see, we exist in a prison of our own self that we cannot escape on our own. We need help.

Given #2: Our only hope is in the life, death, and resurrected life of Jesus Christ, He alone has overcome this curse. By faith in the gospel of His delivering power, in His salvation, through His life-giving spirit -- we can escape the condemnation of being a slave, a condemned slave to sin within us. Only the Spirit of God can reveal this to us. Only His voice can speak to us. And only by His loving grace, mercy, and power can we be delivered. If we reach out to Him, believing in Him, in even the weakest faith --He answers us and puts His life, His revelation of Himself within us. Then the battle of overcoming by faith, overcoming self begins. But even that battle must be worked out in us by His power and His Spirit. Never can our own strength be depended upon to overcome. Somehow we must gain revelation of His overcoming life, Christ in us, to walk as overcomers of the world, the flesh (self), and the devil. “Oh Lord… have mercy on me -- a wretched sinner,” is our honest cry before Him.

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