1 Peter 2:11-12
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
1 Peter 2:11-12 NIV
This passage is about living honorably, even in the face of oppression and enticement. This is a call and challenge for us to see the world differently so we can respond in kindness and virtue. The world, with all of its lusts and evils, is not to be the place of our identity or the place in which we want to be enveloped. Rather, it is to be the place we are to influence.
We can be influencers even if we are being influenced from the wrong areas and guidelines. Our guidelines come from the character and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. If they come from any place else, our thinking is influenced, and thus, all we think and do becomes inclined toward the negative. Then, we become the carnal Christian who repels people from the Lord, giving the message that Christ is not sufficient or adequate.
We are on a journey in life. Basically, we are not made for this world, we are made for eternity. We are here on this earth to live and learn, to experience and grow so we can personally and passionately know Christ and make Him known to others. We do this best with our good character and virtue, seeking Him, so all that we are as in our will, thinking, heart and direction is permeated by His care and call. This all comes down to how we are in this world and that all we do is to be glorifying to God. When we are lined up to this, then our conduct is honoring to God and others.
We are engaged in a spiritual war, and in order to gain an inner victory of the soul during our earthly walk, we are to abstain from fleshly lusts and carnal desires which war against the soul. But this requires us to be able to say no to the continuous pull of the flesh and to resist the old sin nature, that constantly and consistently is at enmity with our new life in Christ, our new born-again spirit which was made alive by faith in Christ.
In order to do so and to have victory over our fleshly lusts, we have to say no to all that is from the old sin nature. These fleshly lusts are the sinful cravings, passions, and desires that lurk deep within us, but are not under the control of the Holy Spirit.
The preeminent battle in the life of every believer is this ongoing fight against the lusts of our old, internal, sinful nature which, though severed at the Cross, is still rooted within our inner soul.
Temptations of the world and attacks from the devil are not the principle enemies of the soul, but the internal, fleshly lusts of our fallen nature. And we have a choice. We can either respond by faith or we can react in the flesh. For only in the power of the Spirit we can overcome external temptations and trials of life and do all that God desires of us.
It is by in His power and not our own that we conquer the ongoing internal lusts of the sin nature. We can grow in grace and mature in the faith when we choose to abstain from fleshly lusts, which can only be carried out in the power of His Spirit.
When we yield to the Spirit of life, we will be victorious. However, it is a choice that each believer has to make!!!
Father thank You for this day and for the secured hope of eternity in Christ. Lord let Your abundant blessings pour out over my friend and family today. Lord we know that this world is not our home, help us to be a faithful witness to You in body, soul, and spirit by resisting temptations of the flesh and the threats of the enemy. Lord help us to walk worthy before You all the days of our lives. Lord our new spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak, help us to make the right choices when we are confronted with the lusts and desires of the flesh, in the power of Your Holy Spirit. Lord use my friend to be the voice crying in the wilderness that Your are the Way, the Truth, the Life to all today. Be a blessing. Love ya
Father, we love you amen !
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