Devotion

Are You Depending on Flesh?
by Shellie R. Warren

"Are you so foolish and senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh? 

Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing (to know purpose)---if it really is to no purpose and in vain? 

Then does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing in, adhering to and trusting in and relying on the message that you heard?" --- Galatians 3:3-5 

This is one of my favorite Bible texts of all time. Why? Because it candidly addresses an issue that we as Christians either consciously or subconsciously battle with on a daily basis. 

How many times have you thought: 

• "I want to come to God with this issue, but I need to wait until I get it right." 
  
  
• "God, how would I look saying that I want to quit this habit if I know I'm just gonna do it again?" 

Or even worse: 

• "I can go and hang out with my friends that drink, I have overcome that weakness." 
  
  
• "I can meet up with my ex, what we did was months and months ago." 
  
  
• "I haven't done 'this or that' in forever, why would I still need to pray about it?" 
  
  

And I'm sure if you're really honest with yourself, these mindsets almost always cause you to either remain in the habit you are in or to go back to what you've been delivered from. 

Remaining in bondage (whatever that bondage may be) is the Enemy's mission and when we succumb to his reasonings, his mission almost always gets accomplished. It amazes me how many times the Enemy has gotten me into some jacked up positions with this backward mindset. 

It is because of my flesh that I wanna cuss people out sometimes, not tithe, have sex, not study the Word, so why in the world would I think that the very thing that got me into trouble will be the thing that gets me out? 

I'm sure a little of it has to do with my pride (which the Word says comes before the fall...mmm). We live in a world with so many inconsistencies. We trust people to help us. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. We trust people to respect and protect our innermost feelings and thoughts. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. We trust certain activities to make us feel good. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Which leads us to believe many times that the only person we can rely on is self. Which, when you think about it is ridiculous because the very thing that has harmed and hurt us (flesh) is the very thing that we live inside (flesh). It is only a matter of time before our own flesh does us in and then who will we have to turn to? 

The Enemy knows this all too well. That is why he has us believing the "when you give it up, then you should repent" hype. On your own, he knows that probably will never happen because in order to overcome the flesh, you cannot rely on it. Which is why many of us are still fighting the same battles that we could have overcome months, even years ago. The text says that we suffer so many things for nothing. See, it's not always that the temptation is so hard, it's that when we try to use our own powers to abstain, we fail, feel guilty and then try to do better on our own. 

The Word says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Galatians 5:16-18 

Sometimes, I think we fail to realize that our mindset is also made of flesh. It takes the Holy Spirit to transform even our thinking, so that we can believe in God to help us overcome whatever we are trying to battle on our own. 

So think about it? What have you decided to give up or abstain from? Have you decided to stop lying, stealing, having a nasty attitude, gossiping, fornicating, withholding God's tithe? Great! 

So when are you gonna stop and deeper, yet, how are you gonna stop? If you are answering any of these questions with "I", then you are already on your way to being defeated. First, ask God to heal you from the fear and pride of being totally dependent on Him and then trust Him to help you overcome. If you don't know where to begin, read James 1:5-8, which basically says that if we lack wisdom we can freely ask of God. 

And then DO WHAT HE SAYS. If overcoming lusts means no secular music, do it. If reading your devotional means waking up an hour early, do it. If releasing someone from your past means forgiving them and refraining from association with them, do it. If tithing means that you must take it to the church the minute you get your check, do it. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He holds the solution to overcoming any obstacle that you face. All He's waiting on is for you to overcoming the obstacle of trusting and depending on yourself. Unlike the Enemy, He violates no one. Get over yourself (your flesh) and trust Him. He's waiting. 

Shellie R. Warren is a writer, poet and entrepreneur in her own right. Check out Shellie's debut book Inside of Me: Lessons of Lust, Love and Redemption or visit her Web site.