wants the Holy Spirit to have com plete control. When you fall, the first thing is to go to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness (I John 1:9). When the world sins, since it has no Saviour, it is condemned. But when we sin, God says that we will be chastened for disobedience. While my chil dren at times may have failed to do my bidding they never stop be ing a part of my family. The same thing is true with us as believers. Sin does not cause us to lose eter nal life. If it is eternal life, then we will never perish. When we sin we break fellowship with God, not re lationship. There is a great deal of difference there. God says that if we will judge ourselves we will not be "spanked" by Him. He wants us to judge our selves. Look at yourself for what you really are. Do not look for some excuse, or try to roll the blame on someone else. You are bound to be wrong every time you do! When we have something God brings to our conscience to convict us, con fess it before Him. It feels so good to get it all out in the open. The Greek word for “ confess" means to agree, or to say the same thing. If the Lord says you are wrong, you had better admit it. When you confess your sin you are forgiven and washed clean again. It does not require pennance or agony for the days and weeks to come. God says that He remem bers our sins against us no more. This is the grace of God.
I have often thought how much this is like us Christians. God says in the Bible, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." How long does it take to learn to walk in the Spirit? It is really a lifetime experience. What a great promise to be able to avoid being overcome by the flesh. We sing, “ Yield not to tempta tion, for yielding is sin." Tempta tion is not sin. It is when we give in to Satan's appeal that it becomes sin. We are to cast down imagina tions and everything that exalts it self against the knowledge of God. We are to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Do you have any problems with your thought life? The Psalmist's petition should be our motto, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be accept able in thy sight." We are living in a day of sex exploitation with everything seemingly geared to ap peal to man's depraved nature. Yet, as believers we do not have to fulfill the desire of the flesh. The simple secret is to walk in the Spirit. This word "walk" in the original Greek really means “ to walk in de pendence upon." In other words, to allow the Holy Spirit to control us. There are just two steps to walking: the left foot and right foot. So, in the spiritual realm there are these two things of which we need to be aware. Number one: confess ing of sin. Number two: control of the Spirit. We walk in the Spirit when we allow Him to control our lives. The minute we grab the wheel we have lost out. But even grown people stumble. It probably causes us more pain and agony than a young child. Who is behind the steering wheel of your life? God Page 26
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