I've been reading through Romans lately and am just incredibly challenged by the guidelines for authentic Christian living that God lays out. I've been repentant at times, rejoicing at others and just so humbled at other times throughout the first 13 chapters. Does your Bible have those subtitles for chapters? Well mine does, and the little title over chapter 12 is "dedicated service" Specifically verses 9-21 outline for us what our lives are to look like as believers. It's always a struggle, as Paul says in 7:19-24, "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
I've been reading a lot about what my life should be as a believer lately...I think in my "inner man" there is this struggle that Paul describes, and I keep coming back to this, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." Ro. 7:18 I've almost been feeling bogged down by this struggle because at times it seems like there is no 'end' in sight. Which really there isn't because we will never "get it" we will never be "complete" until the Lord takes us home, and I think sometimes it's easy to accept a mindset of mediocrity..although that is most definitely not what we are called to. I think in Revelation how the Lord says, 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. " Revelation 3:16. Then this morning as I was again reading through Romans, the Lord gave me the answer to how I am to live out the life He has called me to, "But put on the LORD Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts." Romans 13:14. I love to word study, I love the Greek and Hebrew the richness of these two languages really exceeds that of the English language (in my opinion) so I went to the concordance and found this...put on means to sink into, or to clothe oneself with. So, essentially Paul says to us, "But sink into the Lord Jesus......clothe oneself with the Lord Jesus." And when he says provision, it means "make no forethought or providential care for" So we are to make no forethought or providential care for the flesh in regards to its desire for what is forbidden (lusts).
As I'm daily wrestling with the struggle of doing what I ought and not doing what I should not, I'm incredibly encouraged that the answer of course is in Christ...to put on the LORD Jesus to sink into Him and to clothe myself with Him. How can I do that without knowing Him? And how can I know Him without being in the word? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God." John 1:1 (emphasis mine) I have to have this passion for the word that I expect God to teach me, even as I'm reading through Leviticus, and that laws of motherhood, I have to expectantly come before the LORD and cry out the words in Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to Me and I will answer you and teach you great and unsearchable things you do not know." I have to believe in my heart that God is and will teach me through every penned word that He inspired. I feel like sometimes as reading God's word is routine (as it should be, not out of duty but rather out of delight, and passionate pursuit of the One who laid His life down for ours) it can become commonplace...it can become almost stale...not because of anything other than my own sinful mindset. Lately I've had to call out to God and beg Him to renew within me a steadfast spirit, as David did in Psalm 51:10. I need so desperately to daily SINK INTO the Lord Jesus..to allow Him to captivate my thoughts to obedience to Him. Does that mean I do not have the freedom to do all the things my flesh wants to do, absolutely. It means sometimes I don't even turn the computer on til noon, and even then maybe I turn it off immediately so I don't get carried away on cnn.com or facebook or something silly like that so as to live out, "no solider in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him." 2 Timothy 2:4. I should not be so far removed from the world that I can not know what is going on so that I will actively PRAY for our world, but I should not be so involved that my thoughts are captive to what is going on around me, but rather that my heart and mind are actively aware of the Holy Spirit's presence in my life and His leading so as to glorify God with the life He has given me. Again, I have to sink into the Lord Jesus by seeking Him in prayer and His word. What a delight it is to get to know the One who created me, ordained my days and the days of my children, and who is carrying out a good work in me until completion for His glory!
I'm praying for us...sisters in Christ (the mothers, daughters, sisters and friends of this world) to stand firm in His word, to sink into Him, trusting Him to lead and guide our hearts to His word daily, not out of ritual or just so that we can say we read God's word, but out of a passionate heart yearning to know Him and do His will.
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