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WisconsinChristianNews.com
Volume 25, Issue 9
Healthy Homes & Families Natural, Biblical, Healthy Living The Great Arm Wrestle By Chris McMahan February 2025 really grab ahold of my attention… “the spirit in- deed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Friends, for every spiritual arm wrestling that we go through, we have authority over the rule of the enemy, we carry the light that rebukes the darkness, we have the spiritual force that is far superior to every force of evil that comes against us. Victory is our heritage and our great gift in the Holy Spirit. As a born-again believer, are you excited about growing up in your faith? Go from victory to victory by using the power that God intends for you to claim here on earth…the strong arm of the Holy Spirit. Be as excited as my son when he was little about growing up into the strong-armed man or woman of God that you were born to become! Your flesh is weaker than the Spirit that resides in you. The flesh has desires, but the desires of the Spirit are superior. The flesh has its own will, but the will of the Spirit is yours to yield to. The flesh is weak. The Spirit is strong! Take hold of that which is yours in Christ Jesus and participate in this Great Arm Wrestling that is the spiritual underside of our physical life. Chris McMahan,
When my son Parker was little, like most little boys, he was excited about growing up to become a man. Occasionally he would come up to me and ask me to arm wrestle with him. “Come on, Mamma,
So often we use our ‘flesh’ as an excuse to sin… “well you know, my flesh is weak, I couldn’t re- sist.” We miss the declaration of truth that Jesus made in these verses: “THE SPIRIT INDEED IS WILLING...” What an amazing gift we have been
let’s arm wrestle…I bet I can beat you!” There were plenty of times that I could have beaten him fair and square of course — but not anymore — now he is a man in his own right and has fully grown into his own ‘strong arm.’ There are times in our lives, many times, when we have a great arm wrestle with the Lord. Sometimes we wrestle against Him and sometimes we wrestle together with Him against our circum- stances or the enemy. Our Heavenly Ad- vocate and Brother, Jesus, understands this. He, too, had His moments of wres- tling while He was in His earthly body. Matthew 26: 39-41, “And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is will- ing, but the flesh is weak.’” It is remarkable to me that Jesus, even though fully divine, had to struggle and wrestle while on this earth. It is the latter part of those verses that
given in the Holy Spirit…His willingness is ours to claim and grab hold of. Instead of using the weakness of the flesh as an excuse to sin, we should instead claim the strength of the Spirit as our reason for wrestling toward victory. We know, from our youthful arm-wrestling days, that the stronger arm always wins. The Holy Spirit is our strong arm! When we wrestle with the Lord, using the strength that is our gift in the Holy Spirit, we are assured victory. Ephesians 6:12 ESV, “For we do not wrestle
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This is What I’ve Learned...
... From My Friend, Carl
By Layton Howerton February 2025 Jesus said, “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its
determine what the right thing to do in this circum- stance might be, even though he knew, he had every right to do whatever he wanted to with his own prop- erty. The morning the dozer was scheduled to come and clear the lot, my friend arrived early, and instructed the op- erator to clear only the very center of the lot, leaving the entire perimeter of the prop- erty, next to the neighbors, undisturbed.
unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.” Matthew 5:43-45 (MSG). In a recent article here, I shared with you one of the many life lessons I learned from my longtime mentor and friend, Carl…who passed through Heaven’s gates in 2019. Perhaps you have had some extraordinarily wise person that spoke into your life, who has now gone on to be with the Lord. That from time to time, you can now more clearly hear, and glean from their experiential wis- dom, when challenging circumstances occur in your life…as they do in mine. So in this month’s edition of the Wisconsin Christian News, I want to share a little more of “Carl’s” wisdom on the practical applica- tion of how he followed through in obedience to the Lord’s command, of “Loving others, as well as you love yourself.”
A while back, a friend of mine bought an overgrown wooded lot in the panhandle of Florida as an investment property. When he decided to clear the lot in preparation for sale, according to his custom of always seeking good will, he spoke with the neigh- bors about what he planned to do.
His reason, as told to me was, “Layton, sometimes in life, even when you sense you’re in the right, what may seem right, may be wrong! Because sometimes what may seem wrong may be trying to tell us to change course and move in another direc- tion that is actually right, not only for our- selves, but for others in many of our life circumstances and relationships. Smart guy! So, if your sense of “Right…ness” is greater than your love and consideration of others, then what may seem right, may be wrong. Remember… “Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.” — 1st John 4:21 (MSG).
The first neighbor he spoke with was vo- cally displeased.
The second, unhappy, also erected a sign that read, “No tracks, No debris.”
The third, sarcastically said, “Well, I guess that’s progress!”
So after speaking with the neighbors, and hearing their displeasure, my friend decided to think about his decision for a few days to
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